Michigan Winter

If you're from MI, you probably already know what direction this post is going to go. Michigan winters are crazy.

CRAZY!

On my way to work the other day, I think I drove through 3 different seasons.

Crazy.

Yesterday, the day care center didn't have heat, so I had to leave work early to pick up the kids. No big deal. Except that it was the beginning of the insanity that has been the last two days...

Tuesday morning, I was trying to get my class assignments printed, but I didn't realize that the clock on my laptop was 10 minutes fast. The kids were playing, and I was working away. I looked at the clock and about freaked out when I saw that it was 7:58...or so I thought. I yelled to the kids to stop what they were doing and get their stuff on. They ran around frantically until Julia said "but mommy, it's 7:46!" Needless to say, the homework waited, and the kids and I were waiting for the bus with plenty of time! As I drove to class after work, I started having this "pure Michigan" moment.

See, we had started getting a nasty wintery mix of rain, sleet, a little snow, and some freezing rain.  My windshield was freezing as I was driving despite my defrost being on. I didn't have it as hot as it could have been, nor was the fan going full bore because I was hot! So, what does any Michigander do in that situation? Crank up the defrost as hot as it will go, with the fan as high as it will go...and put the windows down a little! Ha! That was repeated for my drive home, too.

Wednesday...Wednesday was special. All of that precipitation Tuesday night was all on top of the layers of packed down snow-turned-ice from prior days. School was canceled, so I made arrangements for the kids to go to day care. We all got ready to go, put everything in the truck, and headed out. The road didn't look nice, but it didn't look terrible so I skipped the 4wd.

BIG MISTAKE.

Keep in mind, there's a guardrail blocking a sizable drop off on the other side of the road *just* past our driveway. I pulled out, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary...until the back end of my truck decided it needed to be in front of me. Thankfully I wasn't going fast at.all, and I hadn't quite gotten over the hump in the middle of the road or else we might have gone over the edge of that nice drop off. Anyways...the front of my truck wound up part way in the ditch facing my house, and all I could think was "I really hope no one comes down the road right now!" I put it in 4wd and started inching my way out of the ditch, and headed back to the house. We noticed a truck coming down the bigger hill, so we waited for them to make sure they made it ok. Once they went past, I managed to get out of the driveway and past the drop off. There was lots of slipping and sliding for the next half mile, but we eventually made it to the main road.

Needless to say, both mornings really got my heart rate going!

You know you live in Michigan when...

Stay safe, and God bless!
Stacy B.