Yesterday was our office holiday party, which started at 1:00 p.m. and lasted until 5:00 p.m. All I can say is that this new company throws a heck of a party and is exceedingly generous with employee gifts (and cash, too). The cash is all going to the electric and cable companies, but I still ended up with enough presents that I may end up re-gifting some of them. I was very impressed.
The bad thing about yesterday is that it snowed all day long. My car slid a little as I got into our office parking lot in the morning. By the time I left the office to go to the Christmas party about 25 blocks away, there was a significant amount of snow on the roads and I had to proceed carefully.
I stayed at the party until about 4:45 and offered to take a co-worker home. I would ordinarily need no more than 15 minutes to reach my neighborhood from where we started out. It took an hour and a half. My poor little hybrid car started to smell like singed electrical components after tackling certain slick hills. It got around quite well compared to a lot of cars, but it was still a struggle.
Once I'd dropped off my co-worker, I was just a few blocks from home. I took a route designed to avoid two steep hills near my house, but my car started sliding before I got to my turn, and I slid right past my street and down the steepest hill. There I was, stuck in a trough between two hills, getting uncomfortably warm in my heavy coat from the adrenalin and stress. I tried several times to proceed in my original direction so I could go back around and try again, but I couldn't make it to the top of the hill. I turned around and tried to go up the hill to my street, but it was steeper still.
I finally turned back the way I started and backed up as far as possible, kept my car in first gear and doggedly climbed to the top of the hill. Did I mention I'd forgotten my cell phone that day? I was so late that I really wished I could call my husband, but I had no way of doing so. I debated stopping for food and to make a phone call, but decided that I'd had enough of being out in the snow. I circled around, controlled the slide enough this time to slide around the right turn into my street, and finally made it home.
It kept snowing all night long and I seriously doubt I'll be going to the office today. Fortunately, I can handle most of my work from home. In a pinch, maybe I can talk my husband into taking me to work in his Jeep.
It's a shame that adults can't revel in the joy of a "snow day" the way children can.
As a SAHM, I have to admit that I did revel at first in yesterday's snow day. However, the snow day meant I had to skip my Gym Day AND my husband had to fly out yesterday evening. So, I was pretty cranky by the end of the day due to lack of exercise and worrying about the husband (his flight was delayed by 4 hours!)
Posted by: cagey | December 08, 2005 at 10:03 AM
Glad you didn't get hurt. Boy, I that is a true statement about letting adults have snow days. However, in Los Angeles I'll never need one, and if we did have one, it would be an automatic snow day off.
Posted by: The Misanthrope | December 08, 2005 at 10:53 AM
I actually changed my mind about staying home once I accessed my web mail and realized how difficult it would be to get anything done from home. My husband offered to drive me to work in his Jeep and I eagerly accepted.
Posted by: Jane | December 08, 2005 at 12:25 PM
Yikes! Glad you made it home OK with no harm done to you or the car. It's supposed to start snowing here tonight and we could have 4-8 inches by tomorrow morning. It's supposed to get heavier after midnight. My husband works until 2 AM. We have a little jeepy-baby SUV sorta thing that has 4-wheel drive and he took that, but I'm going to be a basket case until he gets home. I'm so spoiled by working at home. I don't ever really have to drive anywhere.
When exactly do we stop being excited about snow days? Is there an internal switch that gets flipped at some point? Do we trade it in for our college diplomas?
Posted by: Jenn | December 08, 2005 at 04:04 PM
I don't revel in the snow days as much, but it is a whole new kind of fun now to hunker down with the little angel and watch the snow fall from the couch...even when she is puking on me at the same time, it's still kind of cool.
Posted by: Dorothy | December 08, 2005 at 04:31 PM
In response to Jenn's comment, I think we cease being excited about snow days around the same time we are no longer excited about the prospect of going to a swimming pool. Maturity bites.
Posted by: pharmgirl | December 08, 2005 at 04:58 PM
Ditto on Phargirl's comment!
Posted by: cagey | December 08, 2005 at 08:43 PM
It took me TWO hours to get home. Those roads super sucked!
Posted by: me | December 08, 2005 at 10:28 PM
Aw, I miss having snow (here in Seattle). Yet, when I hear these stories...not so much. Glad you made it home all right. Oh, and I don't think I'll ever be too old to enjoy a snow day!
Posted by: bitterkat | December 09, 2005 at 12:53 AM
It took me 5 hours to get home on Thursday, due to the snow.... It's only 1.25 hours on a good day, so my trip was only 4 times as long as usual, compared to your 6 times. How's that for a silver lining?
Posted by: kevboy | December 14, 2005 at 09:39 AM
I just wanted Travis to show me how to do this!
Posted by: Barbara | December 22, 2005 at 11:46 AM