that rosebud girl

damn you, snow!

in the span of 24 hours….

* i lost my keys in the snow.

* i totally spun out into a snowbank.

yup, driving and snow and me really don’t mix. of course, stupid me for thinking the off-ramp was totally plowed off….

so i was driving to work and cruising along quite nicely on 95. it was totally plowed (a big contrast to last night), so the driving was pretty good. but i hit the 141 offramp to get to work….and saw that it wasn’t completely plowed. i saw all that snow and immediately knew i was going to have issues, since i was going a bit fast. i hit the snowy patch and actually held up pretty well, swaying side to side and kept the feet off the pedals. but i still wasn’t able to slow down enough and finally started to jerk from side to side….and then i finally spun out and wound up in some deep snow in the shoulder. luckily, i didn’t hit any guardrails, didn’t hit anyone, and didn’t flip over (which i thought was going to happen for a split second). it was quite a ride, to say the least.

an elderly couple pulled over and made sure i was okay. the man hopped out and helped me drive out of the snow — it must have been a foot or so — by telling tell me when to back up and speed up and all that stuff. so i got out in one piece, went on my merry way to work, and now i’m sitting at my desk with freezing feet. at least i didn’t have to shovel my way out. and as far as i know, my brakes still work. i don’t know if the underside of my car is shot, but everything seems okay.

note to self: slow the hell down. and don’t assume everything is plowed! those stupid snow patches always get me.

at least i got quite a ride out of it. sheesh.

and i’m telling you, there’s nothing worse than knowing you’re screwed and there’s nothing you can do about it. i knew i was going to spin out. and i knew i wasn’t going to be able to stop it. it was just a matter of when and which direction.

crazy.

lots o’ snow.

okay, so the final tally of snow is around 10 inches. copious amounts, yes, but at least the cars were in the driveway and we don’t have to shovel it all off. and having a neighborhood association kicks ass since they actually plowed the streets — not the case when i lived in the old house and had to dig out all 20-something inches by myself, practically.

but the snow day turned into quite a fiasco for me last night. i was about to leave work when i realized i didn’t have my keys on me. and i knew i’d walked out of the car with them. and i had this terrible feeling that they were buried under six inches of snow in the parking lot. i figured i’d dropped them when i got to work — and of course it had snowed a ton while i was there. so after much tantrum throwing and getting pissed off, i ventured out into the parking lot, near my car, and kicked around some snow — and found the keys. a minor miracle. at least i hadn’t dropped them in the roadway, where the snow plows had gone through about a million times. or on the sidewalk, where crews had already shoveled most of the snow into 5-foot high piles. (imagine looking through those.)

so, all’s well that ends well.

and now, some snow photos!

can you see ed’s car? it hadn’t moved all day…

our neighbor’s house.

the front yard. yes, that is snow about halfway up the trunks of those trees.

more neighbors. at least our street is clear.

yikes!

there is a wicked amount of snow falling outside. it’s crazy. i took a short video and a couple of pictures on my phone.

looks like we have another blizzard on our hands….though i doubt it will rival the 2 1/2 feet we got on president’s day weekend at few years ago. at least i’m actually in state right now and not stranded in virginia. sheesh.

now the question is, will i be able to get home? the roads are pretty crappy out there….

a dusting …

we had snow today…..really, the first major snowfall of the winter season here in delaware. i mean, it wasn’t anything too terrible….maybe an inch or so on the ground. enough to make everything look nice. driving was an adventure, though. i was late for work and didn’t bother to scrape all the ice off my windshield…..which made trying to look through it an interesting experience. sheesh. at least i could still see. well, sort of.

otherwise, my life is still busy and fairly insane. at least i will earn major bucks at the Y this pay period because i am prepping to sub a whole bunch of dance classes….woohoo!

money….you gotta love it. i also got my retro paycheck today for my retroactive raise….and my (teeny tiny) raise has kicked in.

woohoo again.

fight on!

usc trojans…2005 national champions!