Yes, honey, I made it home in one piece, with both children. No problem. Well, minimum troubles.
I really did double check the weather forecast for her college town. I knew there was snow on the way, and that the winter weather advisory had changed to a winter storm warning. Last night the weather channel said the southern part of the state was expecting 6-9 inches. This morning they only predicted 4-7. I thought to myself, "Self, you are a Wisconsin driver. You can do this. Not a problem. Par for the course." So I put on my boots, loaded a shovel in the backseat, told Amigo to meet me in the van, poured coffee into my travel mug, and took off.
The drive usually takes about two hours. This time it took three and a half. Visibility was poor, and roads were, as they say, snow-covered and slippery. Normal Wisconsin driving, right? Right. I pulled into La Petite's unplowed apartment parking lot, loaded her suitcase and over-flowing hamper into the back of the van, commiserated with the UPS driver sharing the parking lot, helped with the bunny travel cage, and then hit the road again.
Then it happened. My one and only weather-related mishap of the day.
We saw three cars in ditches, one that had rolled off the road into a cornfield, four that had been in fender benders, and a few moving very slowly down the highway behind snow plows. Me? I got stuck in McDonald's parking lot, two blocks away from the campus. To add insult to injury, when I sent La Petite out to help shovel under my front tires, she laughed. Out loud! It seems I had hung up the van on a large block of solid ice with only an inch of snow on top. There was no way she could chop that ice block, and no way I could reverse over it. To the rescue: the snowplow driver, the one who had actually blocked me from coming into the lot the way I wanted in the first place. He came over with his industrial strength shovel, chopped the ice under my front wheel, and guided my minivan back onto (semi-dry) pavement without laughing too hard.
Then we got our McLunches, hit the highway, and headed home without any trouble. Well, without any unusual troubles, that is. It was a Wisconsin snowstorm, after all.
Oh, the sacrifices we make for our children, even as they grow up. But next time she laughs, she's driving. Hah!
And they say it's spring, silly, silly, weathermen!
Posted by: justmylife | March 27, 2008 at 04:38 PM
The good thing about living in the big city - older son can take public transportation home from school, when the weather's bad. (Although the trip - involving el trains, walking several blocks to the Metra station, and then hopping the commuter train - is tough to make when hauling two gigantic garbage bags full of dirty laundry.)
I sympathize, Daisy - it's snowing right now. Will spring EVER come to the upper Midwest??
Posted by: melanielynnehauser | March 27, 2008 at 04:58 PM
I think you were quite the heroine, Daisy. I hope you made her do her own laundry!
Posted by: Laura Benedict | March 27, 2008 at 10:08 PM
I was wondering about that whole "Spring" thing when I was playing golf in silk long underwear, three layers, a winter hat and gloves yesterday.
Posted by: Di | March 30, 2008 at 06:42 AM
We got a foot of snow dumped on us this Saturday--you'd never guess it was APril out there, it looks more like December.
Posted by: Michelle at Scribbit | April 07, 2008 at 01:14 PM