Shall We Dance?

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!  What is that screaming in my head?  It is 6 am and the alarm clock is raging, demanding I get up.  Alan reaches over and hits the snooze button.  I hate the snooze button.  "Just turn it off and forget about being a responsible adult today.", I think to myself.   I settle into my pillow again, almost drifting off into sweet sleep.  Beep!  Beep!  Beep!  The fog horn blows again.  I know we need to get up.  Alan hits the snooze button again.  Just five more minutes!  Now my bladder is awake.  How long can I wait?  I have to get up or risk internal combustion.  I stumble back and forth in our dark room.  I just want to get back into my warm, soft bed.  Beep, Beep, Beep.  It goes off again.  I know the alarm clock won't stop until its job is done.  Alan is up now, finally, getting ready for work.  I have already crawled back into bed but can feel the stillness in the air and know what is waiting for us outside.  Alan kisses me goodbye and as the sleep leaves me I remember the weather report from the late news last night.  An arctic cold front has moved into the west and snow is inevitable.
I can hear it now, the scraping of the shovels outside like fingernails on a chalkboard.  The sound is violent and penetrating amid the peaceful quiet of the snowfall.  My conscious won't let me lay there while Alan is outside laboring alone.  As I throw my covers back, I can hear Jacob clanging around in the kitchen getting his breakfast.  He still has to go to school and time is short this morning.  The cold has kept us all in bed longer than usual this morning and now we have to move quickly to get out the door. 
My body feels like lead trying to get into all my layers.  My arms are uncoordinated and heavy as I wrestle to get into my turtle neck shirt and then my sweater.  I didn't lay any jeans out last night with my shirt and know my morning misery will continue with them.  The closet door was closed all night and there aren't any heat vents in there.  I have to go in but it is like jumping into a cold swimming pool.  It should be done quickly to get the shock over with but I don't want to do it.  I summon my courage and dive in, then quickly shrink back from the chill.  "Grab the jeans and get out!", I scream to myself.  I quickly grab them off the hanger and run out.  As I pull the cold jeans on over my warm legs I try not to notice the discomfort of the cold, stiff material rubbing on my legs.  I am definitely awake now and look around for my boots.  My poor preparation from last night is irritating me now and I vow to be better tonight.
"Jacob where are my boots?"  "What mom?", he groans.  He's not awake yet either.  It is a miracle I don't fall down the stairs as I struggle down to the kitchen.  I finally locate my boots in the living room and pull them on.  The final layer goes on, my coat and hat and gloves.  I take a deep breath after my early morning workout, I am ready.  "Hurry up Jacob, we have to shovel before school."  "Okay", he says unenthusiastically.  He knows the work has to be done.  We have learned from sad experience, you can't procrastinate in the winter.  It is unforgiving and the consequences of waiting can be unbearable.  Always keep gas in the car, have food stored up if you get snowed in, and don't wait to shovel.  It will only get deeper and harder to move.  We are a manual labor workforce at our house.  Snow blowers are a luxury not many can afford.  It is certainly on our list of wants but down pretty far.  We have growing children and figure the hard work is good for them so we shovel.
I open the door to the garage and find chilling darkness.  The sun won't be up for several hours so we will work in the dark.  An arctic blast hits my face as I venture beyond the garage and it takes my breath away.  It is hard to get the freezing air to be effective in your lungs so early in the morning.  "Short breaths Carie, start moving and warm up."  My body moves rigidly in the cold, but I will get my blood pumping as soon as I start shoveling.  I am surprised to see the snow is coming down pretty hard.  The wind is blowing slightly and the flakes hit my face like little pins.  It stings for a few moments until my face goes numb.   Alan has his truck on, warming up, while he tries to dig the tires out.  I grab my shovel and am surprised to see Bishop Godfrey shoveling our driveway.  He has already done his and been across the street to help another neighbor.  His generosity warms me and I begin.  The snow hasn't had time to get wet yet so shoveling isn't too bad.  It is like moving giant mounds of styrofoam balls.  There is no talking.  It is too cold.  Just some quick smiles and nods and then to work.  The three of us make short work of the driveway and Alan can finally leave for work.  It will take him a while with this storm so he needs to get going.  A cold kiss goodbye and he is off.  Jacob came out just before Alan left and was helping the boy across the street to shovel his driveway.  He was late for school and couldn't get his tiny little car out. 
My nose is frozen but we have to keep going.  My lungs are cold and there is still more to be done. We have to dig out the road in front of the mailbox and also in front of the garbage cans.  Neither will receive service today if we don't make a way for the vehicles to maneuver close enough to the curb.  There is a foot of snow in the road now and the sun is coming up.  We need to hurry now because the snow is starting to get wet.  We heave and throw the snow out of the road working together quickly.  We are shoveling slush now and we can really feel the weight in our shoulders.  It feels like we are moving boulders and my arms are getting tired.  They would hurt but the cold holds off the pain and allows me to continue.  Just one more row. The shovels scrape along the road as we push to clear the way.   Almost there.  We are done.  Jacob and I lumber back up the driveway to put away the shovels.  Stomping our feet to loosen the packed snow, we hurry into the car to get him to school.  The job is done for now but the snow is still falling.  It will blanket our efforts in a few more hours and mother nature will insist we dance with her again.

Blessings

You wouldn't think that we would still be dealing with the ramifications of the smoke damage we incurred in our previous home from two years ago, but from time to time we are reminded of how much we really lost.  Christmas always brings reminders because our home was decorated for Christmas when the smoke enveloped everything we own.  One of the things that was a loss was our artificial Christmas tree.  We love the real ones but couldn't justify the cost of purchasing a real tree each year when we owned the fake one.  We had it because one Christmas, a long time ago, Alan and I waited too long to purchase our tree.  It was only a few days before Christmas and all of the tree lots were empty.  The only place we could find a tree was at Walmart and it was their last one and it was on clearance.  So, we broke down and bought the fake tree.  Each year we revisited buying a real tree, but in the end the fake one went up because we couldn't justify spending the money.

Without our tree, we purchased a live tree last year.  We thought about replacing the artificial one last year but they don't make them without lights anymore and they have become quite expensive.  With the economy downturn and money being tight, we really didn't think we were going to be able to get a tree this year.  It isn't a horrible thing, but it definitely puts a damper on the festivities.  The kids would have been fine and we would have made due with our tiny tree Jacob made in Preschool.  But, we thought it was important and decided to deal with this problem on our knees.  I am continually amazed and how personally invested our Heavenly Father is in our happiness.  The details of our lives are important to Him and all we need do is ask for the assistance from Him to help us realize our dreams.  Now some would say that we make our plans a reality on our own, but I know that I am led in this life by a higher power and that if I am willing to do my part, He will show me the way.

Like most families, we have prayed for help to have a happy Christmas this year and part of those prayers included how we would get a tree.  We were at the DI yesterday dropping off some donations and decided to go inside and check things out.  After finding Sarah some much needed clothes, we went into the yard area to meet up with Alan and Daniel.  Unfortunately, Jacob is in school still because he is on a different schedule than the other two.  Anyway, while Daniel and Sarah were playing on the air hockey table, Alan and I found a  huge pile of artificial Christmas trees in boxes.  We started poking through them in an uncommitted sort of way until we came across one that was brand new just like our old tree, never used for $10!  The tag said that it was sold, our hopes dashed.  We only had $10 and the other trees were more expensive because they had lights on them already.  We didn't have plans to buy a tree anyway and almost gave up.  Then while looking at another, "more loved" tree, I came across a tag someone had tossed on the pile which had found its way inside the box.  It was the tag from the new tree!  It hadn't been sold, someone had just removed the item available tag and made it look like it had sold.  We were blown away!  What are the chances others had looked at that tree and passed it up too because they thought it was already sold?  There it sat, just waiting for us to do the work and find it.  
Now you may think this a small thing in the grand scheme of life, but to us this year, it was a Christmas Miracle.