Snowing Pains

Snow has been on the ground for almost two weeks now, and today was the first day that I experienced a little bit of normalcy and routine. The school has had snow days all week, and my work schedule has been all over the place. After several days of working from home, I decided to try to get into the office this past Wednesday. I started my engine and started to clear the snow off of my car. Ten minutes later, I realized I had locked my keys in my car...Long story short, I had to make several phone calls and wait an hour before a very nice locksmith was able to help me. I tried to leave, but I couldn't make it over a hump of snow behind me. Frustrated, I went back inside and surrendered to another day of working from home.

Thursday, Valentines Day, rolled around. A fresh coat of snow was on my car from the night before, but I was determined to make it into the office for a staff meeting. I was extra careful about my autostart and even rolled down the driver's side window as an extra precaution. (Never locking keys in ever again!) After all the snow was cleared off and the ice was removed from around my tires, I was ready to back out of there and be on my way. But the hump of snow behind me was stubborn and refused to allow me passage. After several tries, I was about ready to give up. I said one last prayer, "Jesus, I trust you. Please get me out of here." An answered prayer showed up in the form of one of my neighbors asking if I wanted some help. Yes. Of course I did! She tried to push me out of my spot. She tried rocking it out of the spot. She laid down kitty litter. As she was almost out, a couple came out and asked if I needed help. YES! They dug me out and FINALLY I was free! After many, many, many thank yous, I went on to a beautiful daily Mass as happy as could be. I have to admit, though, that once I got into the office, work was harder to get back into than I would have liked. During our staff meeting, freezing rain started to fall, and I darted out of there as quickly as I could so as not to get stuck on icy roads.

And finally...today was a somewhat normal day! I got to work with no problem and actually got things done at work in my office! I ordered Uber Eats from one of my favorite local restaurants, Frost Me Sweet. I had lunch over some great conversation with coworkers, which hadn't happened in ages. It was nice to just catch up and casually solve all of the world's problems.

But my favorite part of the day happened later. I was sitting in my office when I got a phone call from our secretary. She wanted me to call one of our other colleagues about something she needed help with. She tossed a quick "I'll let her explain to you" before hanging up the phone. I called said colleague, and the conversation went a little like this:

Colleague: Melissa? This is gonna sound funny, but I'm hoping you can help me with something.

Me: Sure. How can I help?

Colleague: Do you think you can fit through my pet door?

Me: ......

Colleague: My husband and I are locked out, and the neighborhood kids aren't around so we can't ask them.

Me: I guess I can try. Let me drive over.

I laughed as I walked out of my office thinking of her request. Guys, I got into my car and drove over to her house where she and her husband were waiting. I looked at the pet door and laughed some more. It couldn't have been bigger than an 8.5x11 piece of paper.

I'm small. But I'm not that small.

Laughs were exchanged, and jokes were made that if I were to try to get in, the next call would have been to the firefighters asking them to get me unstuck from a pet door...which would have been completely embarrassing and completely hilarious because we know the fire chief. And as I left, my colleague said something like, "I think my friend has a spare key."

I laughed the whole way back to the office and my first stop was to our secretary's desk. She was on the phone, and I could see her stifling a chuckle as soon as I walked by. By the end of the work day, five of us knew about my afternoon shenanigans. After these cold, gloomy days, it felt good to laugh like that again. It's something that I hope to remember the next time I'm in a slump. Like the snow, bad moods and grumpiness melt away in the sunlight. There's always a bright side. Humor helps us see it.