Careful What You Wish For...

So yesterday I blogged that "I Didn't Want to Go Home". The irony of that statement wouldn't be realized for a couple hours, but it was not lost on me when it happened.

Let me tell you a story...

I wrapped up work yesterday and headed home. It was a beautiful evening filled with ice covered trees and beautiful skies. I made it back to the house and the snow was packed well enough that I could actually drive up to my garage, something I haven't been able to do for days. For some reason, as soon as I pulled into the drive and turned off the ignition it hit me. I turned to my wife and said quite simply, "We're in real trouble".

Surprised, she asked what I meant. I asked her if she had her house key with her. The answer was "no". Just moments earlier I remember that I recently gave our friend Kenny my key to the house. We've come and go through the garage. That works great... IF THERE IS POWER.

Yes, we were locked out of the house that was currently without power and heat. Not only didn't I want to go home... I COULDN'T. That said, I could see the key I needed hanging there through just a couple inches of glass. Oh well...

That key by the way... The only one that can access the house... It was in Huntington, WV which is over two and a half hours away. We called Kenny and he was kind enough to offer to start driving our way as we headed toward him and meet up somewhere on the highway. We decided to feed the horses before heading out and that's when the second shoe of the evening dropped.

Katie and I were walking side by side when she uttered those faithful words, "Well it can't get any worse". Literally at that exact same moment, I hit an ice pack and, as Katie put it, fell harder than she's ever see anyone fall in her life. Thankfully I hit square on my elbow and back with my head only barely bouncing off the ice. After laying there for a moment or two I picked myself up and we did the barn chores.

Our wonderful plans for a massive night out (hey, there's no heat at home so why not) devolved into a quick grab and go McDonalds dinner and a road trip.

Well, we met up with Kenny and he gave us what he thought was our key. None of us were actually sure as we had nothing to compare it to. Thankfully it did gain us access when we made it home around midnight.

Wait, I told you about the first two shoes to drop. How about the third? It involves gasoline. Sound fun?

As I mentioned yesterday, we ran the generator out of fuel in the night. On the way in to the house, we stopped off for gas. As the winds howled, I began filling the tanks with my smiling wife standing just on the other side. As I poured the gas, my elbow (which I hit in the fall) started to ache. I adjusted my arm, accidentally pulled the nozzle out of the can it was filling, hosed down my wonderful wife with gas that was ricocheting off the can and noticed she was no longer smiling.

Returning to a home with no electric, no hot water and being covered in gas, you can guess how much fun the next hour was. Yes, we finally made it to bed and got a little over four hours sleep before getting up and returning to the office.

Tonight, I DO want to go home. I welcome it in fact. (Basically, I don't want to jinx myself again.)

Okay, before I go, how about some additional winter photos...