I'll Never Dream of a White Christmas Ever Again.

This Christmas, I managed to purchase all gifts on time, hosted a girls Dirty Santa dinner party, wrapped all gifts with ribbons and bows on top, had the tree up the day after Thanksgiving, mailed off Christmas cards, and attended loads of holiday events, birthdays and festivus.

Somehow and someway though, I missed Christmas. It was the fault of the weather though. I've never missed Christmas with even a part of my family. Ok, I've never spent Christmas alone even. It wasn't entirely alone though, as Tula was here keeping me warm. But I am still in a bit of shock that I did not see any of my family or friends on Christmas Day.

New Year's eve however was a different story. I woke up to light sounds of sleet tapping on the windows. I trailed on to work though with little difficulty driving. There were not many people around anyhow since most were on leave. I had so much work to complete so I did not call in, but should have. The airport and the office officially closed at 11 a.m. and I made it home by 11:20 a.m. and had the car packed by noon. I needed some cash for the turnpike toll, so went across the street to the ATM where I got stuck in the snow, but managed to back out of it. I made it back onto the main street with little visibility and none at times. I felt claustrophobia settling in, and turned around for home.

Driving Conditions

I barely made it up the driveway into the garage for one, but then realized that I had no food in the house because I had not planned to be here. I called for pizza, where it was an un-guaranteed delivery, and a two hour wait at that. Soon after, my next door neighbor called asking me for a lunch date, so I cancelled the pizza and we went to the grocery store instead. We laughed at the extreme snowfall and blizzard like conditions, she helped a couple of people out of unmoving situations, and walked with me through the grocery store for staple items. Even went running after my knitted hat that went flying off when I wiped out onto my bum in the parking lot after slipping on ice.

We got back home and heated up frozen pizza's and watched the snow drifts develop in the back yard. We munched on snacks and then decided to take naps. I managed to get back to my house in knee deep snow, and came in thankful for the tile entryway. The power flickered on and off throughout the afternoon, and Tula sat by me as I napped all afternoon.

Christmas morning rolled around, and I realized that I could not give my gifts to those I purchased for. I always enjoy watching people open gifts. I spent the afternoon on facebook, watching movies on television, and enjoying a hot bath or two. Oh yeah, and the bucket of frozen cosmopolitans in the freezer came in handy too.

Saturday I did not feel up to risking a drive to Tulsa, of which I have heard the streets are still in poor condition compared to those in Oklahoma City. I did clear off the driveway though and went to babysit my favorite little twin six month olds. I had no trouble driving in the neighborhood despite no shoveling and little melting, and soon discovered the main roads were in excellent condition for driving, yet a few cars and trucks sat on the sides of the highways waiting for their owners to come pick them up.

Before

After

I went to babysit, left after the ice on the streets began to freeze up again. Made it back to the neighborhood no problem, but then got totally stuck turning the corner onto my street. I woke up my neighbor asking for help when a total saint in a Jeep came up behind. Dude seriously had a snow shovel in his truck too. He dug me out of the snow, and I made it home. It took about seven tries to get the poor MINI up the driveway and into the garage, but I made it. I didn't dare leave the house today though.

I heard this evening there is to be more snow this week. Will I ever make it to visit my family and have a Christmas? Celebrate things I've taken for granted? It was something to spend Christmas cooped up in my own house for four days with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and macaroni and cheese. Thank goodness for Tula here, she has definitely kept me most entertained. I am thankful though, it could have been much worse. I heard there were many people stuck snowed in under inches of snow on the Turnpike and with no movement because of accidents and such. I don't know how many of those people had no blankets or water or food with them, and how many of them had small children and pets with them too.