I Don't Like Driving In Snow...

Our day was somewhat adventurous!
*This is kind of long. I got lost in re-living it I guess!*

The girls have been sick (as I said.) Gracie is finally feeling better and has been without a temp for over 24 hours, which is the magic number for going back to school. Autumn, however, is still pretty puny. She just can't seem to shake her cold. She's terribly congested and continues to run a low-grade fever. It's always worse at night, so we haven't been sleeping very well. For the past several nights we all go to bed like normal, and then sometime around midnight, Gracie comes and gets me or I hear Autumn crying. So I send Gracie to bed with Daddy and I spend the night with Autumn in her bed. (The girls share a room, so it's impossible for Gracie to sleep in there when Autumn's not feeling well - which I want to add is very RARE.) We go about 25-30 minutes sleeping and then Autumn wakes up super congested, half asleep and pitiful! So it takes about 10 minutes for me to get her calmed down and settled. We repeat this process until morning and are, by then, both equally exhausted!

Mike took several sick days last week to take care of the girls on the days that I had class. We give it our best team effort, so this morning when I realized that I had to leave at 0715 to get to class by 0900, and he was left getting Gracie, himself and Autumn all ready by 0800. Then dropping Gracie off at school and taking Autumn with him to work. I decided that school would have to come second. Normally my Monday is lecture from 0900-1200 & Lab from 1300-1700. With a 1 & 1/2 hour commute BOTH ways, it makes for a long day. Anyway, I (by the grace of God) only had lecture today giving me a half day of school. So I sent a message to my carpool group and my instructor that I was needed at home and would be arriving a little late to lecture. We got ready and I dropped Gracie off at school at 0825.

It was raining pretty hard the entire time, but no big deal. I headed on to Hopkinsville and at about Exit 89 (just over the KY line) the heavy rain turned to heavy snow. I didn't know we had snow coming because we don't have TV and I didn't check online before I left. So I figured it was a KY thing and trudged on to class. By the time I got to HCC, the snow was starting to cover the ground, but nothing on the roads. We finished class 1 & 1/2 hours early (by the grace of God) so I was headed home! When I stepped outside, I immediately realized what a blessing it was to be leaving early. The parking lot was completely covered and the roads were just about there as well. I don't like driving in the snow! It makes me nervous. And, as much as I love my little car, it's pretty much a wimp in the snow! So with 2 strikes against me, I called Mike and let him know I was headed back to Clarksville...SLOWLY!

I made it back just fine and the roads in Clarksville weren't nearly as dangerous so things were good. I picked Autumn up at Mike's office, stopped at the bank & grocery store and headed to pick Gracie up at school. I had received a phone call that schools would be dismissing 2 hours early. If/when we have bad weather, I always pick up the girls instead of letting them ride the bus. I'm nervous like that! And today, it paid off!! In the less-than one hour between picking up Autumn (when the roads were fine) and Gracie, the roads were completely covered! It was very scary. I didn't like it when I was by myself, but even less when I had my girls with me. We buckled up and prayed the whole way home! After slipping and sliding a few times, we pulled into our driveway. It is 4 miles from our house to the school. It usually takes us around 7 minutes to get there. Today it took us almost 45 minutes to get home from the school!

Around 3:30, 2 hours after school was dismissed, I received a call from the school letting me know that the bus the girls would have been riding had to go back to the school because of terrible road conditions. Praise the Lord for giving me the sense to pick them up! I love their bus driver and I know he does the best he can, but those roads were extremely dangerous for a vehicle with 4-wheel drive, let alone a big school bus! I'm just so glad we made it home safe and sound!

I'll post some pictures of our snow tomorrow! So far, 5 inches!!! And (by the grace of God) I have no school tomorrow! Normally I would be back in class...

I'm glad to be sitting home with my family. Safe and warm. So warm and cozy in fact that this is the scene here at 6:30 PM...

Maybe snow days aren't so bad :)