throw us a bone here

We got home from the airport Monday afternoon to find our driveway so full of snow that we were afraid to drive into it. Since we're lucky enough to live on a street that actually gets plowed, there was a huge hill of snow at the entrance of our driveway. We parked on the street infront of our house to unload the luggage and the finally-sleeping-Simon, and so Peter could shovel before pulling in with the van. Since the snow was light and not packed down by driving or walking, it only took him about 30 mins.

Well about 10 minutes before he finished he came in with... wait for it... A PARKING TICKET. For $42! Let me be clear that I'm almost 8 1/2 months pregnant, with two small kids, a van full of suitcases, a driveway THAT WE COULDN'T GET INTO and no where else to park. Had the IDIOT who wrote the ticket simply looked around the corner of the house, he (I'm going to assume it was A MAN) would've seen Peter hard at work clearing all the snow. So either he was simply an idiot (as previously stated) or he, having seen Peter but choosing to write the ticket anyways, was an angry, ignorant, malicious person on a total power trip.

Speaking of parking tickets, back in September I had a really awful day that involved Liam waking up and screaming (SCREAMING) from the get-go about his ear, Peter having to come home from school, my taking Liam to one of only TWO WALK-IN CLINICS for all of Gatineau only to find out that they only do walk-ins after 12 o'clock, going back to said clinic (with moaning child in tow) half an hour early, standing in line for over an hour with said child only to be told that they, A) wouldn't accept the confirmation form that we'd applied for/been accepted for Quebec health care; B) we'd have to pay cash, but no they don't accept debit OR credit card only cash (which I didn't have). After bawling my eyes out in the parking lot while Liam wailed, "Why are we leeeeaving? My ear still huuuurts! You said I'd get to see a doooooctooooor!!", we headed over to the emergency at the hospital. There I was assured that they never turned away kids (and that the evil, heartless clinic shouldn't have either!), however after waiting for almost FOUR HOURS, seeing every other person being called in before us, and finding out that we were still eleventh on the list (second from the bottom... STILL?!?), we left. And what should we find on our window when we got to the car?? Yup, A PARKING TICKET!

In both of these situations, we were clearly parked where we shouldn't have been. Admittedly. However, when you're having a super crappy day -the kind of day where you've spent the majority of it IN TEARS- a parking ticket is like getting kicked in the teeth by horse. Seriously.

The parking ticket yesterday felt like that. I was already super tired from an early morning flight, physically worn out from spending the day traveling, and emotional spent from a week of saying goodbye to my dad. I'd been crying most the afternoon already and that parking ticket just totally broke me. If I'd been wondering up til then if God considered my life a joke, that ticket confirmed it.

(Yes, I'm being dramatic and self-pitying again. Give me a break. I'm due in all of 22 days -we're down to days now- so have a right to be hormonal and overly emotional.)

Oh and what's it been doing since Monday night? That's right. Snowing. MORE snow (I'm planning on making a seperate category for "snow", since it appears that there will be many, many more post where I lament and curse the white stuff).

After supper last night, we bundled the boys up in all their winter gear and headed out as a family to clear the drive. The boys had a significantly greater amount of fun than Peter or I did. Although I certainly wasn't a huge help, even with my contribution it still took almost two hours. The mounds of snow on our front lawn are already taller than Liam - and it's only mid-December!

And even with all our work last night, another 5-6" fell after we shovelled. Enough snow that I'm not willing to brave the drive to school. So Liam will be staying home today, or at least this morning til the snow plow comes by.

Peter wants me to take some pictures, but I'm not sure how willing I am to venture out even for that. Frankly, I'm not sure if I want to venture out TIL SPRING and am beginning to think seriously about a home birth...