It's pretty - but will mess with your life and your mind!

I hate the snow! My nerves are in tatters following a very traumatic day of simply trying to go about my business among the 6+ inches of snow plaguing my world. Why are we always so unprepared to deal with the snow? Even though I knew there was six inches of snow on my driveway, and that the path my fiance had cleared for my car to pull out into was now very much none existent; I still left no extra time when I needed to get Ali to her school Christmas performance. A wealth of curses I didn't even know I could say and a multitude of aggressive screams ensued, as I lept from the car and started frantically digging my car a clearing to follow. Having advanced no more than half a metre I had to make a hard right in reverse to get my car from its car parking space. First challenge over I slowly reversed down the drive repeating D's parting words of that morning 'reverse out of the driveway onto the main road, do not try and turn to come out forwards, you will get stuck'. I'm reversing, I'm reversing, slowly reversing, almost at the main road.......car skids, does 180, bonnet heading for neighbours wall - shit shit shit, braking not working, lump of snow halts and saves my car, about 4cm from wall - literally. Breath, breath, breath, stop swearing, stop swearing, Ali listening. After a moment to allow my pulse rate to triple, the reversing began again and it was 50-50 whether I would actually go backwards or continue forwards into the wall. By some miracle or guardian angel we made it out onto the main road and to school. Sliding, almost, into a space in the school ice-rink...er I mean car park...I made an executive decision to then abandon my car and go on foot into town for a hot chocolate while waiting for the school performance to begin. There is only so much 'car on ice skates' I can take.

Christmas play. Very cute. Ali was a donkey - as was the rest of her class???? So approximately 26 donkeys took Mary to Bethlehem, where they inhabited a stable and baby Jesus was born - to have one of the 3 kings throw Mur at him. Ha ha, I love the unpredictability of kids. Ali looked exhausted after yet another night of terrors haunting us all, but she joined in and did her part just fabulously. Yes, my daughter was an excellent donkey. (Sporting the various shades of grey clothing cobbled together from Primark so as not to break the bank - why would little girls have grey clothes? I could have easily done white angel, or tea towel clad Shepard. Nope it was grey donkey, of which they informed me two days prior to the performance - what?).

Other challenges which currently have me stumped include cropping the photos to go into the calenders I am compiling as family Christmas presents (last year all my photos were 'landscape' anyway so fit the calenders perfectly, this year they all seem to be 'portrait' and are laughing incessantly at me chanting "figure this one out, and quickly, because its nearly Christmas, and you have probably already missed to final post date to family in NZ"). Also having made no start to either the work required for my mentorship course or the presentation on 'being a midwife' I am doing for some high school kids for a friend (yes you heard that right - they are going to shoot me down), I am now panicking as the clock ticks away to the deadline for both. And of course there is the small matter of Christmas shopping of which I have completed about 1% (ie. Ali's presents). Christmas of course is followed promptly by D's 50th - any ideas will be greatly received. And who the hell told me that being cold burns calories - because I am bloody freezing and putting on more sodding weight. Ground swallow me up.