Ice Blue

This morning began like any other school morning in winter. Up early to check the no school reports. The Young One had a two hour delay because of the ice. I went back to bed.

Now a two hour delay today seemed rather silly. The Young One began mid-terms today which means they go on a short day scheduled. Be to school by 9:30 and out of school by 11:30. How were they going to manage home room and the two exams? Not my monkey.

I went out early to warm up the car and to scrape the windows. The driver's door was frozen shut. I uttered some phrases like @!$@!# and $%&%$^ and ^%&%^. Finally, after a few good yanks, the door opened. I got the car started and went inside to finish my tea and to give the defrosters time to heat up. So far, so good.

I went back out to scrape the windows. I noticed ice built up around the left front tire. Gave the tire a kick to break a bit of the ice. Got in the car to move it and rrrrrrrrrrrr. Back tires spinning and going nowhere fast. I tried reverse. I tried drive again. The car wouldn't budge. I started speaking in tongues again while I got the sand bucket and spread sand under all four tires. No go.

By now, I was running out of colorful phrases and the Young One was close to being late for the first exam. So I called her in or tried to. The line was busy busy busy. Other people must have been having problems too. Misery sure loves company. I dialed *66 for callback and waited. When I got through, the secretary told me because of the delay, the kids would be getting out at the regular time (1:50pm) and the second exam would begin at noon if I could get her there. Fine.

I thawed out. Had another cup of tea. While waiting and sipping tea, I emailed a whine to Himself. We talked about things to try. I waited an hour. The temp had gone up a degree to 24. I tried more sand. Nope. I tried a kettle of boiling water. Nope. I tried ice melt and another kettle of boiling water. Eureka! The car moved and I moved it to the end of the driveway. Got the Young One and off to school we went. I went with her to the office to make the official excuse.

I walked out with another mom who was there dropping off some cash so her child could buy lunch. See, they were supposed to be home for lunch. I asked her if there had been a memo about the kids getting out at the regular time. Nope. The school has a contingency plan for a snow day, but I don't recall hearing anything if school was delayed. The other mom and I agreed school should have been cancelled today.

On the way home, I noticed how the ice glittered on the trees. Gorgeous glittering diamonds. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue. Though a frustrating morning, it could have been worse. We didn't lose electricity this time around. The sump pump didn't go out and the basement didn't flood. I guess that's why today is called the present. Each day is always a surprise.