Anyhow, I'm learning to stick up for the right, or rather for those who are disabled. I had an incident at the Aquarium (they do not allow strollers but they do wheelchairs) where an employee got angry with me and argued with me over whether Max's wheelchair was a stroller. You see, in order to go through the aquarium with Maxwell's wheelchair I need a special tag so people know that I am allowed to do it and am just not trying to sneak in a stroller. I wrote a nice, yet firm, letter to the dirctor of the Aquarium letting him know of the incident. His response doesn't end it and he referred me to the employee who oversees the handicap issues of the Aquarium. Hopefully when I call her I can get it all straightened out so that future quests to the place do not have experience what I did. Oh well. I have promised myself one more try at the place and if I am still given a hard time we will just go somewhere else.
It snowed last night, kind of. It has snowed so briefly before that nothing ever stuck to the ground. So, when I left the house yesterday afternoon to run some errands I didn't think much of the snow that was falling or the small bit that was on the ground. Next time, I stay home when I see snow. When we finally got done with the errands, Abby and I, we were told there were wrecks on the roads we intended to travel home on. I decided to take the back way to avoid traffic and to avoid the steeper hills. I do not know if my plan was any better than the more heavily traveled roads full of stopped cars, but I did get home.
When I left the store it was 5:30pm. When I got home it was about 6:45pm. The store was maybe 8 miles away from home. I'd say I went much further than 8 miles because I had to take a back way, and then I had to take an even longer way home after the back way. My first plan failed when I started skidding, not bad, and realized I would not make the turn, so I continued on. When I finally got to a road to turn on there were other cars off the roads. So far so good and no big hills. (really, hills, you wouldn't think they would pose a problem, but they sure do) I slowly made it to the the highway that I usually take home and there was so much traffic going my direction and none of it was moving. I knew that as slick as it was there was no way I was going to make it up the hill that they were all stopped on and of which my turn was at the top of. So, I squeezed through the line of cars to continue driving on the road I had been on for the past half hour or so.
Some roads I just don't travel on enough to remember what they are like. I hadn't hit any hills going up but when I got to the top of a hill I could not see over it was kind of tense because not only are the roads on hills they are also very curvy and windy roads, sometimes they curves happen just as you get over or the top of a hill. I ventured on, reminding myself that I had said a prayer with Abby to get home safely and we would be OK. We made it down the hill. When we came to the top of another hill that would lead us down I noticed a car on the other side of the road facing in my direction. I was trying to figure out if he was coming from the driveway in which he was at the end of or if he got turned around. That question was easily answered as I noticed the tire tracks on the road in my headlights. He had been coming up the hill. He must have been having trouble getting up to the top and so gunned it just as he reached the top. I stopped to look in and make sure he was OK then went on my way. He sat there a few more minutes, I think he was getting over his big scare, then he started down the hill after me.
When I got to another turn, and closer to home, I breathed a little sigh of relief but knew that I had one chance to take a short way or I had to go the extra long way. I figured that I would try the hill which is less than a quarter mile from the house. The only problem I would have would be the 20 or 30 feet of pavement before the dirt road which I figured would give me traction. The pavement part is the only wide part as well. It was worth a shot and no one would be on it. So, I tried it. Not far up at all the car stopped going up. Abby said, "it's out of gas, Mom." I'm glad we weren't out of gas though, but I put it in reverse. Reverse did not really help much. I didn't just slide down and into the road I had just been on though. I did have most control over my situation! Really, I did! After the car was in side position I tried to manuever it so the front of the car would be, well, facing the right way. That was a hard task and to my fortune there was a tiny hill to which I could manuever with. I would've gone straight onto the road that I had been on, but a whole bunch of cars decided to pass at that exact moment. I wonder what one person thought as they stopped to watch me. I figure they were just stopping to make sure I was OK.
So, I used my tiny hill and it was the perfect aid in getting me back on the road which now led to the long way home. This is where I met all the hills. One hill I couldn't make up. The rear wheelse were just spinning. I managed (I think I am smart for this one :0 ) to get the passenger side of the car onto the grass on the side for some traction. It took awhile to make it over the hill, but it worked and no one was behind me. My next hill someone was behind me on, but slowly I made it. I was glad, there wasn't grass to do what I had done before. After that I finally got to the road that would lead home and it was the easiest road yet. I think Abby was quite happy to be home and she dug into the chicken I had bought more than an hour earlier.
Now, for pictures. Abby goes in the bathroom sometimes and stays there. I wondered what she was doing. When I opened the door I found out. She sure loves her new toothbrushes.
Maxwell is just a ham. He loves the camera.
I try to encourage the kids to play together, after all, it took Abby a long time to even want to play with Max. So, I let her play with him. At first it always looks a bit rough but he is usually happy and enjoying himself. I had gone upstairs to a minute and came down to them playing. I think he was done at this point.
He fell asleep shortly after playing. Poor kid was very tired.
While Maxwell slept Abby decided to decorate the tree. Yes, this is the tree Sam had on his mission. I don't know where the blue star came from and Sam doesn't either, he just remembers it came with the box of ornaments his parents gave him. So, inlaws, where'd it come it from?
The star does not fit on the tree, it is way too heavy so an angel sits there now.
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