Frozen Wastes / Playing With Fire

"I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me."
~Noel Coward

Between snow actually falling on Saturday night, then the resultant rain mixing to make it an ice-covered wasteland, I bravely faced the element (not elementS, there was only one: water. And a lot of it. Frozen.) and shovelled the driveway before church. It needed to be done. We have an uphill driveway facing a downhill street so if I didn't do it we'd be out of control on the uphill before completely losing it on the downhill.....

So when I got up in the morning, I threw on some yardwork clothes and headed out to the driveway. I asked my wife to make coffee (my first meal of the day) and I'd get the driveway done. No shower, no breakfast --just get the job done.

I was hoping she'd bring me a mug at least to the garage so i could enjoy a sip or two whilst finishing up, but no, that's too much to ask apparently. I was talking to the neighbor's son when he came out to their driveway (we go to the same church and he came out to do it really late on a Sunday --like 30 minutes before the service starts). I asked him why he didn't do it earlier and he said his Mom made him get ready for church first and then shovel the driveway...

And immediately I had a flashback to my own childhood... well, at least my youth. My mother always --and I mean always asked me to do some chore right before a big date or dance (or both!). Seriously, even after the always-embarrassing parental prom photos in my senior year, my mom says, "Oh! One more thing! Can you do the kitty litter?"

Ahhh, memories:

But seriously. That's not me, by the way... just a little Photoshop fun for your enjoyment.

When I got in, I grabbed a mug of coffee (frickin' frozen is a good description of me at this point) and my wife said I didn't really have time for both coffee and a shower since I'd taken too long. So... down slams the mug of coffee, off to the shower I go, full of grumbles and mumbles about the "thank you" for doing the bloddy drive in the first place. I shower, get dressed and look at the clock to see we still have 20 minutes to get the 3 blocks to church. So, now it's time to piss off my wife:

My 24oz. Travel mug is filled with caffeinated goodness to bring along to church. I'll be slurping away during the whole service. And if anyone asks, I was too busy shovelling the driveway to have breakfast and then I'll ask for their forgiveness. I mean, 2 people in the choir bring coffee up to the fornt of the church with themevery Sunday, so me doing it on a day most places are shut down won't exactly be frowned upon.

We're also picking up my mother-in-law, who lives on the way, so it's just a quick stop to get her. As it is, only about a third of the congregation showed up for the service and a few of those people were form other churches which were shut down because of the weather. Our church stays open every Sunday ever since there was a weather cancellation and a woman who usually lives in Africa drove over 90 miles from a worse-off town just to find the church doors locked. In esssence, no more excuses from the people living just down the street.

But before I left to shower, I mentioned the neigbor's son shovelling so late and that "his Mom made him get ready for church first." As I was about to continue to remind her of my youth when similar things happened, she instead lashes out about me being so negative and derogatory against women.

Wha?

The hits just keep coming later on in the afternoon. After lunch, we're waiting for "Mom" to finish up at the bank and notice, despite the freezing rain, a man standing outside an apartment building in a tank top and sweat pants. As we drove by, we could see why. He was waiting for a truck to pull up and to help carry a baby inside the building. "That's a father," I said, "You can tell ebcause he's putting everyone else ahead of himself no matter what."

So what do I get for a response? "That's good"? No. "Just like you"? Nope. "That's what's appreciated"? Uh-unh. "That's the way it should be." Oh yeah. There you go. I'm just pointing out the obvious --and obviously not doing my best, right?

That evening, the power goes out because of the ice on the wires and broken branches falling down. I don't have an excuse to back away and work on the computer and instead sit in the living room, light some candles, and offer to play games with the kids. This is good for about an hour or so, but I'm tired and feel the need to curl up on the couch and have a nap. In the meantime, my wife is also sitting in the living room and reading by candlelight. She's brought a couple of candles down off the top of the entertainment unit (about 4.5 - 5 feet off the ground) and put them on an end table --within reach of our 18 month old son. Sure enough, she gets up to get something out of the kitchen and my daughter screams when he walks towards the candles. I wake up in a start and lose my balance jumping off the couch to stop him before he burns himself. Down I go, on my right hip and my son starts to cry because of my shout and subsequent fall. So, my wife rushes back to make that my son is alright. And 30 minutes later, she asks me why I feel the need to shout all the time.

I assure her it had nothing to do with my falling on the floor and hurting my hip (nice purply bruise there, by the way) and how much I appreciate her concern.

'Twas a long night. Fortunately, the power's back on today.