Christmas Roundup

This year, I managed to get some time off of work and head home for Christmas. Yay! I haven't been home for three years, so it was nice to finally get to see the family over the holidays. This year was our big family Christmas at the Strasbourg Bible Camp. There was over forty of us there - uncles, aunts, grandparents, brothers, cousins, etc, all from my mom's side of the family. It is weird to see some of my cousins getting so old. I still see them as being just little babies.
It was a good time, hanging out with everyone. There were plenty of games and lots of food. Mmm...food. I got to see all of my nephews, which was cool. They are growing up so fast. My two oldest nephews are in school already, and they're getting so big.
The trouble didn't start until late Saturday night. I had been feeling fine, but finally had to go to bed. I was tired and had to drive back to Calgary the next day. I went to sleep fairly easily, but awoke rather soon, feeling a but queasy. I got up and went to the washroom, but didn't really feel any better. I dozed for a bit, and then had to use the washroom again. By this time the stomach is doing full flip flops and summersaults. I had grabbed the room's garbage can and put it by my bed, just in case. The rather large piece of pie I had eaten just before bed was sitting on top of everything like a lump.
Finally, I leapt to my feet and ran to the bathroom, making it just in time. I am not a fan of upchucking, but I am always glad when I feel better afterwards, even if only a little. I cleaned and brushed my teeth real good, throwing out my toothbrush afterwards because eww. I didn't really get any sleep after that, just dozing and feeling somewhat miserable.
I finally got up in the morning and slowly packed my things. There were a few people feeling ill that morning, making for a rather icky feeling group. We cleaned up the camphouse and packed everyone's cars. I was feeling a little better, especially once I got something to drink. The thought of eating made me feel ill. I thought I would be fine to get to Calgary, so I set out, boldly driving onwards.
When I saw the sign that said 'Swift Current 45', I got mad at the sign because it refused to tell me that I was already at Swift Current. I'm not even kidding - I was actually mad at the sign. That was when I knew that I probably shouldn't be on the road any longer.
I managed to make it to SC and I pulled into the first hotel I saw...actually, there are two lies in that sentence. I passed by the first hotel because I wasn't feeling sick enough to stay there. I still had some pride. And I didn't pull right into the hotel parking lot, not right away.
You see, as I was nearing the entrance, I gently applied the brakes, knowing that it might be icy and wanting to slow down enough to make a safe turn. The person behind me, however, did not slow down at all. That meant that he was catching up to me very quickly, so I hit the gas again to speed up a bit and avoid an accident. I panicked a little and decided to try a hard turn into the entrance. In the summer I would have been fine. Might have squealed the tires a bit, but I would have made it. But this was winter, and the second I left the patch of road that was cleared and dry from people driving on it, my car just slid forward. All I could do was hold on and hope I didn't hit the snowbank too hard. I didn't, but it went far enough to get me stuck.
Once I had determined that I could not get out, I got out and walked into the hotel (it was a rather lengthy driveway before the parking lot - probably about a city block) and checked into a room. I went up to the room and called the tow truck (CAA) from there. It took an hour for the truck to arrive and then I was pulled out, no damage to the car, and brought the rest of my stuff into the room. I then crawled into bed, around three thirty in the afternoon, and did not crawl out until 9 the next morning, except to use the washroom many many many times.
I felt better the next morning and managed to make it home to Calgary. I only missed one day of work and am feeling all better now. The moral of the story is - in the winter, don't follow too close, and pay attention to the cars in front of you.

Grasp the Nettle