It's supposed to be spring. At least the calendar says so. But April just seems like an extension of a dreary cold March which extended from cold, damp, gray weather beginning in November. I'm not a cold weather person, but I dislike rain & damp cold most of all, so I've had a difficult few months. Although in stating this I risk hearing my sons laugh from miles away, I think I may have a touch of seasonal depression.
February brought a road trip to Nashville for Brooks' senior concert (which was wonderful!) The trip there, however, will now supplant the former "trip from hell" (a night drive through a dense fog in the mountains of Maryland with Adam & Trent). I was driving my dad with plans to stop every couple of hours to stretch & of course, stop for lunch & dinner. My dad needs to each at regular intervals for his diabetes & should walk around frequently. We stopped for lunch after getting through Huntington & proceeded west. Less than an hour later we got a call from Jan & Eddie about a little freezing rain they had encountered in the Lexington area. A few minutes later we hit the freezing rain. I was driving my dad's car & asked him where the defrost was. Well, he wasn't sure. Meanwhile my windshield had frozen solid. I ran the windshield wipers at high speed while he located the defrost. As we are driving along we see wreck after wreck after wreck. The median is littered with vehicles. The interstate going east has been shut down by police. I asked my dad where low or first gear was. Again, he was not sure since he never uses it. He begins to tell me why he prefers neutral. I suggest we stop & wait for the roads to be treated, but my dad says he would prefer to keep going & that if it's making me nervous, he will drive--which would only serve to increase my uneasiness! All of this time we are creeping along with hundreds of others at about 5 MPH with the tires on one side off the road. Finally, I pull of to the side of the road to just take a deep breath & find first gear. My dad thinks he now might like to stop & stretch. We continue to an exit but it is so icy that he finds when he tries to get out of the car that he can't stand up. I suggest getting gas, but my dad doesn't want to get it at BP--the only station off the exit. So we proceed & keep getting these updates from Jan & Eddie that we surely must be out of the freezing rain by now. Meanwhile, we hear on the radio that there have been over 100 accidents in a 5 miles stretch & that the severe weather could continue till noon the next day. Hours & hours later we finally get out of the ice. We are now nearly out of gas--the low fuel light has been on for several minutes. It's way past dinner time, but we don't want to spend any time eating so we stop for gas, snacks & to stretch. The last hour of the time was dense fog & driving rain, but we arrive in Nashville. I had mapquested the directions to the hotel, but dad assured me that Jan would just talk us through it. And she almost did except for one wrong turn. Tired, frustrated, & at the end of my rope, I stopped to ask directions which did not really help much. Finally, Brooks got one the phone with me (he tells me that I was pretty bitchy) & stayed on the line until we arrived at the hotel. Nearly everyone had weather issues--some were unable to get there at all. I don't think five minutes elapsed between putting my bags into my room & getting a glass of wine at the bar! I must say that other than the drive there, we all had a great time!!!
My second trip was our annual "gal pal" at Deep Creek, & we experienced similar weather. Fortunately, we had the option of staying in on Saturday night when the conditions were the worst. A great time with friends just hanging out!
WVU basketball has been fun to watch, both in person & on tv. It was great to go to the Pitt game with Drew & Adam. Drew loves his "hoopies" & clapped like there was no tomorrow. Amazingly, he sat in his seat & took everything in the entire time! And speaking of Drew, one day when I was taking care of him he was fussing when I put him down for a nap. The fussing then became pleading as he called for me. I attempted to stand firm until he said, "Nina, Nina, Nina, Drew CALLING!" Well, of course, I could then no longer resist going into his room.
I took a vacation day & went to Marietta to take Owen to "Horton Hears a Who." When I picked him up I told him I would take him anywhere he wanted to go for lunch--his choice was pizza at the mall food court! We both loved the movie, split a box of popcorn, & played skee-ball at the arcade. Owen amuses me when I ask him a question because he begins to answer me with either a "WELL . . . . or ACTUALLY . . . " Both are really dramatic & followed by a rather large sigh before he proceeds.
For a case of the winter blahs, nothing works better to cheer me up than some time with the grandsons!
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