Afghan To Keep in the Car

On Wednesday following the day of the snow, Robby & I didn't go into work. The temperature dropped to zero with wind chills well below that. It was brutal out there and I don't mind telling you I didn't so much as put my nose outside.

All I could think about was the ordeal I had been through the day before and how I never wanted to go through it again. I decided to get stuff together to keep in my car just in case anything like that ever happened again. I will go into detail a little later about everything I am planning for my car. I will be calling it my 'Get Home Bag'.

The first thing I decided to do was make an ugly afghan to keep in my car. I went to the craft room and plundered in my stack of yarn until I found colors I didn't particularly like and a crochet needle I thought would work nicely. I carried them back to the warmest room in the house (my living room/bedroom) and got started. I was determined to make sure it was as warm as possible and in colors that were not like anything I had ever made before. This way I would know it was strictly for the car (and so would everyone else). I didn't want anyone to fall in love with it and just have to have it. I worked for the next two days on a simple large granny square afghan.

By Wednesday evening our water had froze again. I honestly wasn't surprised. It was just so bitter cold. We had water in gallon jugs so I was sure we would be ok until the water thawed and we could repair it.

Robby was getting stir crazy sitting at home, so by Thursday he was ready to go back to work. They opened a few hours later than normal and he went in. I stayed home and kept working on my afghan. I did not want to even try driving because I knew the roads would still be icy and I didn't want to be stranded again.

That evening when he got home, he fixed the water leak, but we still didn't have water. We checked everywhere to make sure there were no leaks and couldn't find one anywhere. Robby finally tracked it back to the water meter. It was frozen inside the meter, under the ground. It was too late to call the water company that night. So, the plan was for him to go in to work Friday and I would stay home and wait on the water company.

Later that night, I was able to finish my afghan.Yay me! It was ready to go in the car!
Here is a picture of it.

The Day Hell Froze Over

Tuesday morning, we were running late. The alarm didn't go off. We were both so tired after the busy past few days that we over slept. Robby & I hit the floor running, tripping over each other in our haste to get dressed and get out the door before we were both late for work. We didn't even have time to grab a quick cup of coffee. It was just get dressed and dash out to the car. We only work about 15-20 minutes from where we live and we were both cutting it too close for comfort when we pulled out the driveway.

I was almost to work when I realized I forgot my cell phone. I had left it on the desk charging. Oh well, there was just simply not enough time to go back to get it. I would just have to make do one day without it. So, I just kept going on in to work.

On the radio, the weather man was telling us that we might get a few afternoon snow flurries, but nothing to worry about. It would not be sticking and the roads were going to be safe for travel. If we got anything at all it would be late afternoon or early evening. The snow accumulations would be well south of my location by about 100 miles. Good, the last thing I wanted to worry about was icy roads when I knew I would be running errands that day at work.

I went on in to work and got ready to go back out into the cold to run my errands. When I left, I noticed the sky was dark and gray and it looked like snow, but I had faith in the weather man. He knows more than me about what it is going to do, right? Well, by the time I got to my first stop, it was starting to snow. It was just a few little flurries, nothing to get excited about. By the time I finished my third stop, it was snowing heavily and the bridges were icing over and the roads were slick in spots. I got back to work and told them the situation.

We started watching the weather even closer, the weather man was still saying nothing to worry about. The bad stuff was going to be south of Montgomery. A few schools were starting to close, but again we were told that it was not going to get bad. Within 30 minutes all of that changed.

Almost every school system in Alabama was closing, most of the roads in Birmingham were almost impassable. It was snowing harder and it was sticking to the roads, cars, the ground, and anything it touched was freezing to it as soon as it dropped. We closed up at work at 11:15 and headed home.

I tried to go my normal route home. The interstate was already barricaded off. I tried another more direct route. I couldn't make it that way either. Cars were sliding into ditches and sliding into one another. I turned around and tried another way home on the main road. It was already blocked off by police. I had one option home left and headed that way. I made it across a very scary, slippery bridge and thought the worst was behind me. I made it about another half mile at a snail's pace until I came to a small hill. Cars were not able to make it up it. They were slipping and sliding into each other on the icy road. It was like a bad nightmare. I knew at this point I had no choice. I had to park the car and start walking home.
I was about 7 miles from home. The temperature was dropping and the snow was coming down harder. Never in my life have I been stuck in weather that became so rough so quickly. I knew I had to try to make it home the best way I could. It was all up to me. Of all the days for me to forget my cell phone, I had no way of calling for help. I had to hurry to get out of the weather as quickly as possible, but had trouble seeing beneath the snow. I constantly tripped over tree roots, curbs, and other debris on the sidewalk. I was just about in tears. I knew it would not help to cry, it would only make things worse. So, I just kept walking.

After I made it about 3/4 miles, I saw a man pulling into his driveway and asked if I could use his phone. I tried calling my husband, but it went straight to his voicemail. I left him a message to let him know where I was and that I was on foot if I did not make it home, to come find me. The gentleman who loaned me his phone told me that the phone system was not working very well. I thanked him and kept walking. I was even closer to tears at this point. I just bit back the tears and kept going.

It reminded me of something from one of those end of the world movies. I was freezing and I couldn't get home, and the worst part was I was on my own. I had no way of knowing if my husband would even get my message. So I did not know if anyone knew where I was or if help was coming. I just had to keep trying. I was basically on the main street through our town. The roads were empty. All the businesses were closed. There was nowhere to even get in out of the weather for a moment. It was a little scary and a lot cold.

After I had walked about another 1/2 mile, I passed a gentleman closing up his business and asked him to borrow his phone. He told me that the phone system was down, but he would be glad to give me a ride. Thank goodness! He had a 4-wheel drive and was able to take me the last few miles to my house. Bless him for being a good person. I was so cold that my fingers had started burning and hurting. I bet I thanked him over a hundred times on the way home. We took a short cut home and avoided a traffic jam on the 4-lane. We saw school buses that had slid in the ditch with kids still on the buses. There were wrecked cars everywhere. It was terrible. I was just so thankful to get home. I don't think I have been happier in my life to see my house. It had been over 4 hours since I left work.

As soon as I hit the door, I took off all of my wet clothes and wrapped up in my big fluffy house coat, grabbed my phone and called my husband. It didn't go through, so I called Mom to check on her and see if she had any word about my girls. Thankfully, my youngest was at home with my granddaughter. The oldest one was stuck in the next town over, but she was staying in a motel. She was safe and warm. Phew! That was a load off of me. Mom said my Dad and uncle were stuck in the big traffic jam on the 4-lane, but they were on their way home. I got off the phone and tried to call Robby again. This time, thankfully he answered. He was stuck in the big traffic jam too. I think he almost cried when he heard from me and knew that I was home safe and sound. He had received my voice mail and had been worried to death about me, but he was not able to get to me because of the traffic.

While I was waiting on him to make it the last 3-4 miles home, I started a big pot of chili with left over red beans. I felt better knowing that if we lost power, at least we would have a good hot meal. If need be, we could always heat it up on the grill outside. We would be warm because we had the propane heater installed and our bed was in the same room as the heater. I made sure my water jugs were full in case the water pipes froze. It took Robby another 2 hours to make it home. He would have been home sooner, but he kept stopping to help people who were having car trouble. I was proud of him for helping. I wouldn't have made it home if someone had not helped me.

It was a day from Hell. I didn't relax until Robby and all of my other family members made it home. I was not the only one with a horror story. Almost everyone in several counties had some version of the same story. They were stuck on the road and it would take them hours to get home.

Our bedroom moved to living room

Monday it was back out in the arctic cold to go back to work. It was so hard to believe that it was so cold here in Alabama. We looked like were Eskimos getting ready to go ice fishing, just bundling up to go to work. The cold was just bitter and harsh, but we braved it and headed out to put in our hours at work.

After work, I treated myself to a little pampering and went to have my hair done. My oldest daughter, Laura is a beautician. She gave me a cut and style and then we went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant (my treat of course since she did my hair that was only fair). Time with family is always important. We get it any way we can, wherever we can.

When Robby & I got home that evening we started trying to move the living room furniture out to make room for the bed in there. The weather man on TV was telling us that the cold was only going to get worse as the week went on. I was so tired of freezing every night and running electric heaters wide open just to try to stay warm. I was also so scared that if we lost power we would really freeze in the bedroom with just an electric heater.

After about an hour of struggling with the sofa and loveseat, we called in reinforcements. I made a phone call to my nephew Cameron. He is 21 years old and has more muscle than me. Bless his heart, he came right over and not only helped to move out the love seat and sofa, he also helped Robby move the bed into the living room.

I was so grateful. I was exhausted after a very busy weekend. I just couldn't muster up enough strength. We gave him a few dollars for braving the cold to come to our aid. He was was proud to have a little extra spending money. It was well worth it to have him do some of the heavy lifting.

After he left, I made up the bed and crashed almost immediately. I was past the exhaustion point. Rest was the highest priority for me at that point.

Some projects accomplished!

On Sunday of last week, 1/26/2014. we were finally able to get some of those projects finished. Early that morning, my husband went to Tractor Supply and was able to get the heat lamp (for our side porch -my washer & dryer are out there and it is a favorite sleeping spot for our pit bull). The plan was to keep the pipes and the dog from freezing.

Robby (my hubby) also was able to get the items to fix the toilet, the sink in the kitchen, and pick up the other items we needed to get our propane heater installed. While he was gone, it was my job to get everything ready to make his repairs easier.

My first task was to clean out from underneath the kitchen sink. I removed all of the cleaning supplies and other items that seem to find their way underneath there. I scrubbed the area and had it empty and ready for him when he got back. Before I put everything back in its place under there, I found a plastic crate and placed everything in it. It now serves as a drawer to slide out to access those cleaning supplies. It looks so much nicer, plus I don't have to climb all the way under the sink if I am looking for a certain cleaner. I was proud of myself for coming up with this awesome idea. I will post a couple of pics a little later so that you can see how easy it is to get to things now.

I then started in the living room, moving furniture around and making sure everything was clean and ready to install that heater. I was past ready for it to be in there. I washed the walls down, and swept and mopped and got everything ready.

While I was busy doing all of these things, I also put a big pot of dried red beans on to cook. I just let them boil and do their thing. I just popped through to make sure they had plenty of water every so often. I wasn't sure if they would turn into chili, red beans and rice, or maybe just beans and cornbread. It really didn't matter at least we would have something warm to eat for dinner that night and left overs for the next couple of nights and I wouldn't have to slave over the stove to get that done.

I stayed busy all day, using expanding foam insulation in every crack and crevice I could find. I used up a whole roll of 3mm plastic sheeting putting plastic over windows, doorways, around the side porch and everywhere I could think of to block some of that cold, bitter wind. My husband said he was scared to stand still for too long, he was afraid I would wrap him plastic and seal his mouth shut with that foam insulation! I was an insulating madwoman! For some reason I felt a very strong urgency to get it done as quick as possible.

That afternoon, after my husband completed all of the small repairs, my Dad came over and helped him install the propane heater in the living room. It was so nice to feel good warm air coming out of it. I was proud! We were able to save some money too by re-using our old copper pipe and some of the fittings from the old place to install it. That was awesome to be able to take some of the things back to the store and get our money back.

Mom came over a little bit later with my granddaughter and we all ate dinner together while enjoying the warm heater. It did wind up being beans & cornbread, with a few sides and I even made a lemon cake for dessert. We were so tired by the end of the day that we were not able to get the bed moved in there, but like Scarlett O'hara once said "I will think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day."