No`sh

Well now. Home at last to our little apartment after spending the past 5 days stuck in Madison County. If I ever see snow again, it will be too soon. We got a foot - A FOOT - of snow in Madison, and my car was conveniently buried under all 12 inches. To make matters worse - or funnier - my car was at the tippy top of the mile-long driveway, off a back road.

So what happened was this:

I had work last Sunday, and was scheduled for work last Monday but called in sick due to one of my joyful migraines. I had been planning on leaving here after work on Monday and heading up to Boone to spend some time with my mama, but due to the hangover I had from my migraine, I didn't. I left some time Tuesday after getting some much needed darkness and sensory deprivation. Spent Tuesday and Wednesday with mom and had loads of fun. Had a grand old time. Quality bonding with Ian (the son of my mom's boyfriend - John) whom I had not seen since... at least 2 years ago. We went to high school together, and I think we might have even been in the same grade. I know I had Earth Science with him, with Mr. Dixon. Loved that man. I wonder if he's still teaching? He was funny... had a sort of Canadian-sounding New York accent.

Anyway.

I intended to leave Boone around 9am on Thursday morning, but I ended up leaving around 11am because I got all wrapped up in this fascinating conversation with Ian and mom over coffee. But as soon as I got back to Asheville, Poncho and I departed for Madison County to spend the rest of the day with his mother (Kathey), stepfather (John) and younger sister (Charlotte). We decided to stay the night with them and leave for work early Friday morning so Poncho would a) have more time with his family, and b) get back home in time for work Friday evening. Well, turns out Poncho was able to figure out a way to use some PTO for Friday and we stayed with the family one more evening.

This is where things start to unravel.

I was scheduled to work Saturday evening, and by the time the festivities were over Friday night it was dark and I decided we would leave for Asheville the following morning. I awoke at 11am to find 4 inches of snow on the ground. I called in to work. It kept snowing. All day. All night. More snow. Called in again. Freaking out. No way to get out. Trapped. So much snow.

Man. That was fun.

So all the while that we're stuck in Madison, my dad's kind of upset with me. I'm not entirely sure why, since I don't control the weather. But he wanted Poncho to get out in this mess with no snow-appropriate wardrobe to his name and shovel the damn driveway. I'm sorry, but no. That driveway is curvy, unpaved and a mile long. Even if he did manage to shovel the whole thing clear in a clearly counterproductive downpour of snow, my car is not equipped to drive in those conditions and we would not have made it out anyway. And why is that? Because he didn't see fit to buy me a car with 4-wheel-drive because - and I quote - "I shouldn't be driving in those sort of conditions anyway".

So we were stuck and I was stressed out about it.

And what's funny about it is this: my dad hadn't even been able to make it up to the cabin as scheduled either. The roads in that part of Georgia were highly treacherous and they were still at the townhouse until things cleared up. They're still there now. I'm calling tomorrow before heading down there because the roads might not be okay for driving yet. But it's my fault we're snowed in and Poncho needs to resort of manual labor and yada yada. Gimme a break.

****As an aside, it took me nearly 3 days to work up to this level of dismissive sardonic anger. Before that, I was fighting back tears.****

Oh! And Meredi and Frank are in town. Surprise! They get into town tomorrow afternoon. We're supposed to be leaving for Dad's cabin at 10am since he wants us there by 2pm. I guess I could do what Poncho jokingly suggested and blow off dad, but I still kind of feel bad about running 3 days late and I don't think I have it in me. So unless it turns out that the roads in Big Canoe are still treacherous, I won't get to see my friends.

Here's hoping everything works out for the best.

Tastebuds

So about 2 months ago, I noticed that I wasn't really drinking my coffee. I'd pour a cup, sip on it, and then it would go cold with neglect and I'd dump it out.

I recently started realizing that I didn't drink it because I didn't like the way it tasted anymore.

I was familiar with this scenario from my trips to visit dad, because he always makes really strong coffee and I didn't enjoy drinking it. What sucks is that it was undrinkable no matter how you doctor'd it up. Too much sugar made it taste like syrup, and too much creamer made it taste like cream. I want it to taste like coffee, but I want it subtle and mellow and smooth - not kick-me-in-the-face flavor.

So anyway, I've been experimenting with weaker coffee. Adding less scoops to the pot. It's amazing how weak I like it nowadays. I used to add one scoop for every cup of water. Now it's less than half that. All I can come up with as far as a reason why this change has occurred is that I quit smoking 6 months ago and my mouth has healthy, sensitive taste buds with different, refined preferences. Which is kind of cool. I like to think that I am recovering from the crap I sucked up into my system daily for 5 years.

24

So I'm now officially twenty-four years old. And have been for about a week now. I got a Kindle for my birthday. I downloaded over a hundred free classics and all I've wanted to read is Twilight. Which I had to pay for. Which becomes even funnier, considering I have the physical books. But they're really heavy and not very good for prolonged reading. So I love my Kindle. I use it all the time while I'm on duty, and it makes reading between calls soooo much easier. Funny story - when my dad gave me my Kindle on my birthday, the box was empty. Apparently someone stole that one. But it's all good, 'cause he raised hell with Best Buy and they gave us a new one. Phew.

We had Midnight Cake from Alon's Bakery. Yum. In fact, we still have some left over that we're trying to get through. We ran out of milk half-way through the week and I haven't eaten any since we got more milk since I had a killer migraine yesterday and the thought of eating cake made me gag.

But yeah, killer migraine from hell yesterday. Started around 7pm and even after taking two of my migraine Rx pills, it didn't go away. By 2am, I was obviously desperate, and took one of Poncho's pain pills. That barely numbed it, but at that point I was grateful for any sort of break. Still having a few throbs today, and still kind of sensitive to light. But at least I can read today. And watch TV and look at the computer screen. Last night that was completely out of the question. Which was really hard to cope with. Especially not being able to read. Poncho read to me for a little while, but even just the sound of his voice made my head hurt more... It was awful.

So we'll see what's going on with that when the doctor calls us back.

Anywho. I'm making Poncho some dinner, since I have the day off and he's working today. I can hear his voice through the wall. It makes him feel less far away. How I do love that boy. Ever so much.