Drivin' in a Winter Wonderland

We got a ton of snow last night and today (my DH says we got 15 inches & there were other towns near us that got 18 inches!). So this afternoon, I needed to go pick up Savvy at my dear sister Jilly's house (a Martin Luther King day slumber party - what's not to love?) As I was getting ready to go pick her up, my DH kept saying how it was really snowy and bad weather - and I needed to be careful. After about the 3rd or 4th time he said that, I rolled my eyes and said - "I'm not the village idiot - I've driven in snow before." (I will admit - this was not a wise statement to make considering that we are in our 13th unlucky year of marriage).

Now, I pride myself on my driving skills. I don't speed (which drives my DH and others crazy if we are in a hurry). But, I know all the secret short cuts to get me to my destination faster. I'm also a pretty decent driver in the snow. Truth be told, we usually only get 3-4 inches at most - so really it's not that much of a challenge. But, I have seen other jokers stranded on the sides of the streets in snowbanks - so I must be doing something right (that is, until today, when I became the joker in the snowbank).

Anyway - as I was getting into my van, my DH saw how deep the snow was in our driveway and said, "Wait, let me shovel the driveway - you'll never make it." Again, I rolled my eyes and humored him for a minute -- till I discovered it took him like 10 minutes to do one strip 1/2 way across the driveway -- it was deep, wet and still coming down! I said, "Look - I've got a plan, I'll be fine. I'll just go straight back - won't stop for anything and I'll be on my way."

Famous last words. I did attempt to go straight back, but was pretty much fishtailing the whole way back. Then, instead of clearing the mountainous snowbank the courteous snowplow had made at the end of the drive - I backed and swerved right back into it. Talk about awkward. It took about 45 minutes to dig out - and then we still had to have assistance from our great neighbor - who ran home and grabbed his ice melt to make the whole pushing thing - a whole lot easier.

So, the new and improved (albeit humbled) Nicole, headed to my sisters at a careful pace. Happily, no other snowy issues--and we made it to Costco and then home safely.