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.
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