Deer, Ice, & Other Nonsense

Friday Steve woke me up about 6 in the morning to tell me he hit a deer (10-point buck) and either I needed to take him to work or let him take my car. "I'll take you to work," I said. I sat up and put my socks on, then said, "Never mind, just take my car!" I had just gone to bed around 2:30 and I knew I wouldn't be able to drive on that amount of sleep.

I've been having more trouble with my back since the day after Christmas. Plays havoc with trying to sleep. Friday I had appointments for a flu shot and a massage. Abby and Justin gave me a gift certificate for Mother's Day and my birthday combined, and I hadn't used it yet.

After cancelling both appointments, I took a two hour bath in the whirlpool tub, then piddled around on the computer till Steve called me after work. We watched movies again that night and headed off to bed. Saturday Steve took his truck into Maaco for an estimate. When he got back, I talked him into driving to Tama for a while.

Neither of us checked the weather forecast, which is not like us at all. When I was probably ten miles from our exit onto 30 E, the road iced up. The vehicle in front of me was swerving all over the road. I slowed down to 30 mph and kept on driving. There were cars off in the ditch on both sides of the road from then on.

When I turned onto the exit of 30 E, my car started sliding toward the right ditch. Remembering to turn the direction of the slide, the car corrected itself and I just kept driving. Talk about scared. My heart was pumping so hard in my chest, I started holding my hand on my chest. I was a little hesitant to do anything that involved touching my brakes. Steve had had a few brews so I wasn't letting him drive, though he seemed to think he'd be just fine. Ha!

There's just something wrong with turning your car the direction of the slide. Okay, my car is headed toward the right ditch. I'm supposed to turn my wheel to the right? Sounds scary to me! But, they were right, and it worked, thank goodness.

By that time, we were too far to turn around (and I was not about to try going back down the road I had just turned off of). I'm now driving 20 mph and no one is passing me. There must be something about all-wheel drive as I didn't have as much trouble as the cars around me.

There were some idiots who came onto the road and passed everyone, driving like nothing was wrong. Amazing how stupid some people can be. I figure we'd see them again in the ditch down the road. What I want to know is "Where were all the road people with their safety equipment (you know, to sand the road and make it safe)? When we were about five miles from our destination, I told Steve to call a hotel and make a reservation. No way was I driving again until the ice let up.

Luckily, we were able to get a room (I had my doubts as I figured everyone would stay the night rather than continue driving). Of course, we didn't have our sweats or toothbrushes, but who doesn't live for a little adventure once in a while, huh? When I mentioned at check-in that we weren't prepared to spend the night, the clerk directed us to their gift shop. Wasn't that nice? Sheesh, Holiday Inn would give you toothbrushes.

Oh, well, at least we had mouthwash and were able to take showers. That makes you feel a lot fresher. I tried to sleep without my shirt, but that lasted about 20 minutes. What the heck, if people couldn't take a few wrinkles in my shirt, they don't need to look at me.

Of course, we had a birthday party to go to Sunday for Jadah, and no time to go out home to get fresh clothes. The choice was to go with wrinkles, or go on home period. I chose to arrive on time (ala wrinkles) and be happy I had taken a shower and was clean.

Jadah is so funny. She told Stevie, "Dad, last night I was two and now I am three!" She's always coming up with cute ones. The other day she said, "Dad, is Grandma Kathy your Mom?" When he replied with a yes, she said, "Then is Grandma Kathy my Mom, too?" What a Hoot! She may have just turned three but she's really three going on ten. A very smart little girl.

Heather and her kids were there and Josh and Shelley and their two kids. Sydney wasn't able to come as she was out of town. They played the usual game of placing the crown on the princess (which used to be pin the tail on the donkey).

Then Angie got out the butterfly nets for the kids and this little machine that shot butterflies up in the air for the kids to try and catch. What a Hoot! Carter just stood there with his little net and basicly watched. Finally, Angie picked him up and helped him catch some butterflies. That game was really cute, they played it over and over.

After the opening of the presents, and cake and ice cream, it was finally over. Yay! We dropped Stevie off at his apartment and headed home. It was a relief to pull into the garage. When we got in the house, I said, "Isn't it great to be home?" Steve agreed wholeheartedly.

It had been a long weekend and I'm not looking for any more adventures for a long time to come (hopefully)! I hope you all stayed safe during the ice storm. I'll be content to stay home and watch movies once again. Halfmoon