Strangers' kindness

We got more snow Wednesday.

OK, so that's nothing new. I met Tim at Lowe's to pick up the kiddos. The roads weren't too bad, but I wasn't going any faster than 30 mph. Even driving on the highway was slow because they hadn't cleared it yet. So far we'd only gotten 2 inches.

After I got off of I81 and headed toward Gerrardstown, the roads got bad. I kept it in a low gear and took my time, and the kiddos were so good behaving in the back and letting me concentrate. We were all saying little prayers to overcome our obstacles on the way home.

The first obstacle was going up the mountain. We got 1/2 way up and had to stop for a stopped car. We ended up sliding, and only through his help and the help of a truck that stopped behind us, we were able to go back down the mountain and into the Post Office's parking lot to turn around. By then the snow plow had made a pass, and we were able to make it to the top.

The second obstacle was going down the mountain. Again, we kept it in a low gear and stayed far behind the car in front of us. We only slid once during the trip down, and there was a long line of cars, but we made it safely to the bottom and into Glengary.

The third obstacle was the bridge. I made it almost over the first time, but couldn't quite get all the way up. I started to back down, but ended up sideways across the road. I cranked my wheels all the way to the left and put it in reverse, and it walked me to the right until I was pointing down the hill again. I decided to go down, turn around, and give it another try. In the mean time, I waved down and warned a man in a big silver truck about the bridge (remember him for later). He made it over OK, and with a running start, we did on the second try.

The fourth obstacle was going up the mountain road of our development. Remember that silver truck? He was sitting at the bottom waiting for his neighbor to get up the road. If he didn't make it, he was going to give him a ride home. I decided to try it, but didn't get 10 feet. It was far too slick for me. The man in the silver truck, Brian, offered us a ride home, so I parked the car at the bottom and climbed into his truck with the kiddos. I told him I'd make him a cake for helping us. He looked at me and asked, "Did you make a cake for someone last year?" I told him that I'd made a cake for someone who'd helped my husband out of a ditch. Would you believe it was Brian? How cool. He drove us all the way to the house and even backed up our driveway so we didn't have to walk it. Wow, our neighbors are cool!!!

So, 2 hours after this ordeal began, we were home. I immediately called my boss and told him that there was NO way I was going to be able to get to work Thursday. He understood. Tim made it home with some difficulty that evening, but safely. We spent the day Thursday trying to shovel the driveway. Tim finally talked one of our neighbors with a suped-up Polaris go-cart and plow combination to plow the driveway. She will be getting a cake as well.

The kiddos helped me bake 48 cupcakes for Sunday, 2 cakes for our neighbors, and our second attempt at the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Lots of baked goods in our house, and I still have Amish bread to bake tonight.