Birthday Surprise!

I am a bit emotionally and physically tired these days.  Unremitting snow and cold weather take their toll on me physically.  I feel like I may never be warm again.  However I keep chanting that we are close to spring.  Maybe the goddess will hear me and it will stop snowing!?  Right now the city where we go to church has the dubious distinction of being the snowiest city in the entire US.  Not a title any of us have particularly aspired to!  At our house, the snowbanks are taller than Chet who is nearly 6 feet tall.  Roads are narrow, sidewalks non existant for the most part.  The National Guard has helped out our city, trying ot clear major intersections a bit for safety and to help dig out fire hydrants. I really feel for the plow crews, both the city employees and the private contractors.  They are worn out to a nubbin. Today there is a huge wind chill so I have not been out in the snow with the kids.  Frost bite warnings abound so we are staying in.

I am also car-less as my car stopped working on my way home from work Friday evening.  It was a bit scary as I was in the middle lane of a multi lane highway and all of a sudden the car went form 30 to maybe 1/2  a mile an hour.  Traffic was not amused, I was fairly freaked.  Thankfully though most of the electrical died, my blinkers worked and I was able to use a hill to coast myself into a parking lot unscathed.  My mechanic had it towed to their shop but they do not work on weekends so he is trying to fix it today.  A bit worrisome is the fact that no clear cut thing is jumping right out as "this" is the problem.  There are a number of smallish things that it could be--the battery terminals are corroded. The alternator cables look a bit worn.  Maybe the alternator though appearing to work properly now is on its way out.  I hate the unsureness of this, although I trust my mechanic and appreciate that he is willing to say that he is not 100 per cent sure it is any of these things.  But we will have them fixed today and see if all goes well.

On the plus side of things, the kid's godmother and I managed despite my car-less state to pull off a birthday surprise for my kid's godfather.  Greg's birthday is Friday the 13th.  I was supposed to bring a cake to the coffee house for Greg's birthday to surprise him but Friday night found the cake in my pantry and me car-less because my wife was at work with our one remaining vehicle.

Wendy and I concocted a new plan where she and Greg would both drive to the coffee house and bring us.  The boys would ride with Greg and Lissa and I would ride with Wendy.  Somehow I would smuggle the cake into her car without Greg seeing and from there into the church without his knowledge.  Fates were smiling on us because Greg was so busy chatting with the boys that he did not see me skulk out the front door with the cake.  A traffic jam on the highway brought all of the traffic to a stand still.  However I knew a back road and was able to direct Wendy on how to use that to get to church. Thus we got to church 10 minutes before the guys and could have the cake safely tucked away without Greg being the wiser.

He was so surprised when it came out at intermission and everyone sang to him.  He loved the cards the kids had made for him.  I will remember all those smiles for a long time!