Snow Day

It has been snowing since I woke up this morning.  From 6am to now, 10pm, and it's still going. 

I realize there are so many of you that live through snow every day of your long winters.  And I totally admire you for it.  But I live in Dallas.  Where it doesn't snow.  Several weeks ago, it was patio weather.  In a typical year, it will stay that way January through the spring & summer.  But today it's snowing!!! 

The day was bittersweet for me.  It was of course beautiful to see my surroundings enveloped in a white blanket.  I tried to remember to take pictures so I could remember that beautiful part.  But then my camera died, and the pictures I took weren't fabulous, so I didn't save them.

It would have remained beautiful if I could have stayed at home all day. 

But I had an event.  Which means there was lots of driving from my new home several tens of miles away to my job.  Then there was lots of being in the cold & getting wet loading & unloading equipment.  Because of the snow, and because most of Dallas doesn't like driving in it as much as I don't, there was lots of worrying that we would be delayed in traffic. 

My worries were unwarranted.  My wonderful boyfriend drove us safely into town, to our equipment in the storage we call the fortress, to the restaurant & to the event.  And we were even a little earlier than usual. 

They loved everything, even the Brownie Cookies that I baked last night.  But I guess that's a whole other post, because I've never baked anything before in my life, but I am baking now. 

By the end of the event, it had been snowing so long that the ground was layered in deep slush & water, and Marcus knew how cold I was getting.  So he unloaded everything. 

Somewhere in all of that, a crack developed all the way across my windshield.  I think it was Marcus's tactic of clearing the snow with a piece of wood.  But he knows it couldn't have been that.

He drove us back home, where he got his truck stuck in the mud/snow/rock that he ran it into. 

Then there was more driving to go pick up his son.  There was even more snow where his mom lives in BFE.  This was the first yard full of snow that made me want to play in it. 

We were just going to take him for a quick bite because the roads were rumored to become icy soon.  But he insisted on the far away Saltgrass, where he has to go every time we see him, because he loves their pizza. 

When we returned, I wanted to throw just one snowball, but in the process, I stepped my feet into the deepest pile of snow and soaked my shoes.  That one snowball was worth it, even though I didn't throw it at anyone or anything.

Marcus pumped my gas & put air in my tires.  And then he drove us safely home.  But on the way home, there was an idiot who cut us off on the interstate and another one who ran a red light, both who almost hit us. 

These bad weather driving moments & these moments where idiots almost hit me & hurt me & my family are the only times I am ever stressed.  Marcus thought our son wouldn't approve of the language I used.

Walking through the parking lot that never has any parking spaces, there was less snow & more of that snow slush, so my feet were drenched in freezing water.

Marcus attempted to get his truck out of the rock in the snow/mud.  And I cuddled up to warm clothes, my couch Hattie, & my computer Mona. 

What a crazy day for me.  Long, tiring, full of surprises, stress, & laughter.  I am mostly now full of gratitude that my boyfriend is so resourceful, caring, loving, and helpful.  And I am even more grateful that me, my boyfriend, and my son - my family - are despite my fears of extreme weather, all safe. 

On our way to work in the morning, I sang a song for Marcus that the Kipapas used to sing every time my dad would leave town for work or before we would all travel... 

Jesus, be a fence all around us every day.  Oh oh oh Jesus, won't you protect us as we travel on our way.  I know you care, yes Lord, I know you will.  You'll fight our battles if we just keep still.  Oh Jesus be a fence all around us every day, every day oh every day. 

I cried a little.

I Hate-Love Coming Home

My first two days back from vacation...  So very frustrating. 

This is probably why I never ever go on vacations -- because I hate coming back. 

I have such a hard time, not just getting back into the groove of things, but I have a hard time doing anything.  I miss things that happen at work, I'm behind on school, my outgoing work email doesn't work from anywhere but home so I have all these emails in my head to send, then I have dreams that I'm never going to complete all the tasks that are piling up.

But then there is my bed.

Despite those horrid dreams, all I want to do is sleep in my unusually comfortable bed. 

Are beds on vacation uncomfortable just because they aren't yours??  When I was gone, I was asking my sister if she had trouble sleeping, if every position was worse than the one before, & if her back always hurt.  None of that happened when I got back home!  Yay for me now, but according to my sis, it will start soon regardless of whose bed I'm in.

There were some other wonderful things...

I got to hear my baby's heartbeat again.  It's exhilerating how fast it beats.  They always (4 times so far now) prepare me by informing me that the baby may be hiding & we might got get to hear it this time, but she's never hiding.  She's always right there letting me know that she's okay. 

Another high point...  I got to see my boyfriend after several days of being apart.  I don't care what any of you say (especially him), days away from him are more difficult now than before I was pregnant. 

It's like I'm missing him for two. 

He finally read this email I sent him days ago, a post from Dear Baby, when the father writes after hearing his daughter kick for the first time.  And then instead of saying "Awww..." or telling me how sweet that was, or doing nothing, he got down on his knees & started talking to our baby.  He took turns talking & laying his head on my belly. 

And then we got to cuddle the night away.