Our Tuesdays always seem to be fraught with excitement (of an unpleasant nature), and yesterday was no different. Remember the fire dept. visit two weeks ago? Toby waking me by throwing up on me in November? Abigail and I waking with a stomach bug our last week before Christmas break, a second floor mouse and the screams it provoked weeks ago... and last week?*
Tuesdays are the one day a week we meet with our homeschool group. Bad weather was forecasted for later in the morning, but all of the schools were still on, so we stayed on, too. Our normally 32 minute drive took a little longer because freezing rain was spitting and freezing on our windshield, making it impossible to see without washing the windows every few seconds.
When we got to St. Mary's, I drove up the big hill cautiously, as other families were arriving and the lot didn't look well cleared from the snow we'd gotten over the weekend. We were a little later than usual, and I pulled all the way up and parked in front of the door to unload everything- my huge board, my heavy bag, my globe for our orbit and axis lesson, all of the kids... as I usually do before parking further down in the lot. I didn't want the kids to have to walk far up the hill. I unloaded everything into my classroom and moved the desks around a little. The big kids usually help with getting the younger kids to the gym for Pre-Grammar and nursery, so I went back out to move the van.
On my way out, my friend Erin walked with me and told me how she and her daughter were heading back home because her husband's truck was stuck and he needed help. As soon as we got outside, I lingered there a few seconds by my van wrapping up my conversation with her, when the van (our 12-passenger), with its side passenger doors still wide open, began rolling backward. A very long hill stretched down behind it, all the way to the main road.
Erin and her daughter, Grace, were walking right behind it, and quickly got out of the way, as I was calling out, and they saw it coming their way. I just remember screaming out, "Lord, God, Jesus, help!" and the like, while clinging to the inside of its door, with one of my booted feet down, scraping along the snow and ice, trying to bring this huge mass with wheels, rolling downhill, to a stop.
"My God, help me!" I felt so helpless, and was sure that it would go all the way down. I pictured it finally crashing into the house across the street (It likely would have crashed into an embankment first (or another vehicle), but in my mind, I knew there was a house across the street from the church's parking lot, and I pictured that. There were still families getting out of their vans to walk up to the school building, and I was praying and screaming loudly so everyone would know to get out of the way of our runaway van.
MIRACULOUSLY, it came to a stop right before it entered the main parking lot that was filled with vehicles (it had rolled all the way down the drive up from the parking lot to the entrance, probably about 50 feet. And then my pleas turned into praises of thanksgiving, "Thank you, Jesus!" "Thank you, Guardian Angel!" I quickly ran around to the driver's side and hopped in, calling over to Erin, who had witnessed the whole thing, to make sure that everyone in the parking lot would stay clear as I attempted to go back down. The twelve passenger van is rear-wheel drive and doesn't do great in the inclement weather (clearly). I should have considered that before taking it yesterday morning, but it wasn't even supposed to start doing anything until nearly lunchtime, when we would be done.
The van was parked where I was standing to take this picture (You can see where the back tire started sliding and where my foot was dragged in the snow as I was first grabbing onto it). It finally stopped right beside that pole on the left. You really can't tell from this picture how steep that hill really is!
I parked way down at the bottom of the lot, sideways to the incline. When I came back up, I saw Opal and Toby standing right outside the door with their coats and backpacks still on. They had witnessed the whole thing, too. Poor things. I asked Opal later what that was like, watching the van and me slide down the hill. "I thought the van was going to crash and that you were going to die." Sweetheart! :'(
When I went down the hill a few minutes later to get something I had forgotten from the van, I didn't even have to pick up my feet. I could ice skate the whole way down, the pavement was so slick. There is no way, once that huge van was sliding down on that that it would stop on its own (or with the power of my legs and foot). I have Jesus and my guardian angel, and whatever other heavenly beings were sent to assist me yesterday, to thank for bringing that van to a stop. And what are the chances that it would only start rolling as
soon as I got back outside beside it? I had been in my classroom for two or three minutes, putting up my board and world map and arranging some of the tables and chairs. If I had come out a mere ten seconds later, my van wouldn't have been where I'd left it. It would have already been on its way down the hill.
I was pretty shaken up for a little while afterwards, but the other moms stepped in and helped me finish getting everything together for my students. The rest of the morning went smoothly, and I had gratitude on my mind and my lips all day. Of course, it wasn't a coincidence that our virtue focus of the day (which changes weekly) was Gratitude.
I didn't think I had injured myself at all, but when we got home yesterday afternoon, I noticed a couple of pretty painful knots/bruises on my legs and they were at the right places to have been from the van. I guess the adrenaline from that made it so I didn't feel any pain. I'm sore today. Trying to stop a van of that size would do it!
Next Tuesday, we have a field trip to the UW Space Place in lieu of our usual group meeting. What excitement will it bring, I wonder? ;-)
*You didn't hear about last Tuesday's excitement? I was awakened a little after 5 in the morning to what felt like someone pinching my bottom lip with sharp tweezers and shortly after felt the same pain on my hand. I sprang from my bed and caught a mouse bounding across our bedroom floor, stopping to look back up at me. That's right. A mouse had bitten my my lip. While I slept. I had a little drip of blood coming from just below my lip when I looked in the mirror. I set some traps and tried in to go back to sleep, but I kept imagining I was feeling little movements around my head. No thanks.
:-)
The boys showing off their new rug (picked out by Jack)
My class :-D
Making Ninjabread cookies, a fun gift from Iris's godparents
Watching his siblings playing outside
It began snowing last Friday afternoon
And we awoke to this!
Abigail prepared this amazing (donations only) "Bakery Sale" for us on Saturday.
The wind left snaking, relief-like patterns in the snow.
We got more snow from yesterday to today (probably 10" more today, in addition to what was there from Saturday!)
We were grateful to have Mike working from home today (and for his adept snow-blowing skills)
You can't tell from this picture, but it was deep- up to my knees when I went down later to feed the animals.
My sweet bakers!
Abigail has been loving the dance lessons she got for Christmas (she was moved up from ballet 1 to private lessons to pre-pointe)
Always making in the kitchen...
Brrrr ("Feels like -16")
Abigail's first attempt at bread
Farm drawing by Opal (6)
We are blessed.
