December 12

That was the night of my staff Christmas dinner. It snowed. A lot.

Dinner was originally scheduled for 7:00, and Barry was going to be home (it's a staff only, no spouses kind of dinner) to watch Matt. Perfect. No babysitter required.

At the last minute, Barry had to go to a hockey game with some co-worker (team building and all that stuff).

Thank goodness for Heidi - she came through at the last minute and said she'd watch Matt.

I get to work that morning, and dinner is somehow moved to 6:30. Oh my. Heidi was scheduled to arrive at 6:45. I call her in a frantic panic. She has a great idea - since dinner is out at this quaint little country restaurant (that she happens to live near) why don't I bring Matt to her, and he can play with the other kids (Heidi is room and boarding with a wonderful family who just happens to have a daughter in Matt's kindergarten class). Excellent!! All my problems are solved.

I quickly feed Matt a hot dog, and head out the door into the blizzard armed with my directions (I've never been to this place...out in the country...down the back roads...in a blizzard).

Somehow, I managed to peer through the whirling snow that was coming toward the windshield with so much ferocity that Matt actually unzipped his backpack, got blankie out, snuggled up with blankie, and told me, "Momma, this is a scary place......Do you even know where Heidi lives?"

So. The directions said to turn onto the road that The Blooming Fields is on (that's the restaurant) and keep going past the restaurant. They are the 2nd driveway on the right. I find the road with The Blooming Fields. Yay! When we get to the restaurant, I notice that you have to turn down a side road and then into the driveway, I see a sign that says "No exit. Local traffic only." I figure I am going the right way. They will be the 2nd driveway and all will be well.

There was no 2nd driveway.

We ended up in a field with a stop sign in the middle of it. A stop sign?? What happened to local traffic only? I was in the midst of carefully turning around - the snow was getting pretty deep - when two dogs came bounding up to greet me. They were followed closely by - I'm assuming - the owner of the field.

Apparently the enormous Newfoundland was named Duke. He wanted to go for a truck ride in Matt's car seat. On top of Matt in the car seat. Thankfully he was able to assure me that if we went back to the "main" back road we would find three more driveways on the right, and I was confident that the second one would be the God-sent babysitter.

We were right!!!

I was late for dinner, but so was everyone else, and Matt and I had quite the adventure, driving through the snowstorm. When we got home at the end of it all, he sighed, and told me, "It's okay, Mom, we're home now, safe and warm."

Thank goodness we had the four wheel drive.

Barry had to navigate some slippery-ness on the way home from Calgary, but the closer you get to the city, the more civilized they keep the roads.

Well folks, I have much to be thankful for tonight. I'm home, safe and warm, and off to read in bed.

Blessings,