Monday was a really bad for probably everyone in the town in which I live. Because on Monday we had a fairly decent SNOWPOCALYPSE. And it was not pleasant.
Monday was the day that Opie was supposed to get braces. His first set of braces. Because he's lucky enough to need them twice (and while we're on the subject, teeth are ridiculously expensive. If you're planning on having a lot of children and you have small mouth genes, just DON'T DO IT, the orthodontics bills are killer).
I had worked out my day perfectly. The Jr High gets out early on Mondays so I had scheduled Opie's appointment for when Two Bits would be home to watch Spike. Because being baby free for an hour long orthodontics appointment sounds pretty heavenly. However the skies were being the opposite of heavenly.....if hell can come in frozen form.
It snowed. And snowed. SO MUCH SNOW.
I went outside an hour and a half before I needed to pick up Two Bits and Opie and tried to clean off the driveway a little. There was over a foot of heavy snow out there. I spent 20 minutes freezing all of my parts off while Spike screamed (alone) inside, and it didn't really make any difference because the snow had recovered every dent I made. So I gave up and hoped our minivan could power through it all.
It just kept snowing.
I left the house 45 minutes early because I was afraid it would take longer to get to the schools. I bundled up Spike and he thankfully fell asleep in his carseat, because the next hour was pure torture.
For the record, our minivan CANNOT power it's way through deep snow. In case you were naive enough to think it would....like I did.
Also, here's some handy information - if you run out of salt, using potting soil and charcoal briquettes DO NOT work the same.
After trying to dig myself out for an hour my next door neighbor came out and tried to help. Then I slid off the edge of the driveway into an area between our driveways that has gravel and we knew I was doomed. So she tried to get her car out of her driveway so she could help me get my kids. But then her car got stuck.
And it just kept snowing.
And then severe desperation kicked in.
The Jr High is about a mile from our house, and Two Bits was expecting me with no other way home. So I got out our wrap and attached Spike to my chest. I threw my coat on backwards to keep him warm and started walking.
In over a foot of snow.
In my jeans and boots that really weren't meant to ever see snow in their lives.
And it just kept snowing.
DESPERATION.
Luckily I had only gotten to the end of the block when a teenager we go to church with offered me a ride in his truck. Because it was going to take me a LOOOOOOOOOONG time to go that mile. And then back.
After that I made Husband come home early from work. And between him, our next door neighbor, the 12 year old boy across the street, me, and another hour we managed to get both vehicles unstuck and back in the garages. Then Husband stayed outside shoveling the rest of our driveway and pushing every car that attempted to go down the street.
That day I know of at least 5 cars, a delivery truck, and a school bus that managed to get stuck in our neighborhood. Trees and bushes (including two of ours) were breaking and falling from all the extra weight. Then every cell phone and landline in town went out. And the internet went down everywhere. And I wondered if we should start boiling water or pulling out our oil lanterns.
Every time the internet goes down I feel like the world is ending, and this time it felt so much more real. Because, you know, SNOWPOCALYPSE.
However the world didn't actually end. And it didn't even snow much other than in our little town. And we woke up to phone and internet service the next morning. And everyone was expected to resume life as usual even though there were still mountains of snow outside and the mild cold I had been sporting had turned into razor blades in my throat and a monkey doing calisthenics in my cranium. But we did it anyway - we resumed.
But we did have to reschedule that orthodontist appointment. I don't think Opie minded.
Monday was the day that Opie was supposed to get braces. His first set of braces. Because he's lucky enough to need them twice (and while we're on the subject, teeth are ridiculously expensive. If you're planning on having a lot of children and you have small mouth genes, just DON'T DO IT, the orthodontics bills are killer).
I had worked out my day perfectly. The Jr High gets out early on Mondays so I had scheduled Opie's appointment for when Two Bits would be home to watch Spike. Because being baby free for an hour long orthodontics appointment sounds pretty heavenly. However the skies were being the opposite of heavenly.....if hell can come in frozen form.
It snowed. And snowed. SO MUCH SNOW.
I went outside an hour and a half before I needed to pick up Two Bits and Opie and tried to clean off the driveway a little. There was over a foot of heavy snow out there. I spent 20 minutes freezing all of my parts off while Spike screamed (alone) inside, and it didn't really make any difference because the snow had recovered every dent I made. So I gave up and hoped our minivan could power through it all.
 |
| This wasn't even all of it, because at this point it was still falling. |
It just kept snowing.
I left the house 45 minutes early because I was afraid it would take longer to get to the schools. I bundled up Spike and he thankfully fell asleep in his carseat, because the next hour was pure torture.
For the record, our minivan CANNOT power it's way through deep snow. In case you were naive enough to think it would....like I did.
Also, here's some handy information - if you run out of salt, using potting soil and charcoal briquettes DO NOT work the same.
After trying to dig myself out for an hour my next door neighbor came out and tried to help. Then I slid off the edge of the driveway into an area between our driveways that has gravel and we knew I was doomed. So she tried to get her car out of her driveway so she could help me get my kids. But then her car got stuck.
And it just kept snowing.
And then severe desperation kicked in.
The Jr High is about a mile from our house, and Two Bits was expecting me with no other way home. So I got out our wrap and attached Spike to my chest. I threw my coat on backwards to keep him warm and started walking.
In over a foot of snow.
In my jeans and boots that really weren't meant to ever see snow in their lives.
And it just kept snowing.
DESPERATION.
Luckily I had only gotten to the end of the block when a teenager we go to church with offered me a ride in his truck. Because it was going to take me a LOOOOOOOOOONG time to go that mile. And then back.
After that I made Husband come home early from work. And between him, our next door neighbor, the 12 year old boy across the street, me, and another hour we managed to get both vehicles unstuck and back in the garages. Then Husband stayed outside shoveling the rest of our driveway and pushing every car that attempted to go down the street.
That day I know of at least 5 cars, a delivery truck, and a school bus that managed to get stuck in our neighborhood. Trees and bushes (including two of ours) were breaking and falling from all the extra weight. Then every cell phone and landline in town went out. And the internet went down everywhere. And I wondered if we should start boiling water or pulling out our oil lanterns.
Every time the internet goes down I feel like the world is ending, and this time it felt so much more real. Because, you know, SNOWPOCALYPSE.
 |
| That's our tree - - it USED to stand upright without problems. |
However the world didn't actually end. And it didn't even snow much other than in our little town. And we woke up to phone and internet service the next morning. And everyone was expected to resume life as usual even though there were still mountains of snow outside and the mild cold I had been sporting had turned into razor blades in my throat and a monkey doing calisthenics in my cranium. But we did it anyway - we resumed.
But we did have to reschedule that orthodontist appointment. I don't think Opie minded.
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