Disastrous Christmas Caroling . . . then fun!

I had been anticipating this moment for several weeks now; my beautiful family wearing coats and hats with matching scarves, and smiling rosy-faced as we sang in perfect harmony amid the gently falling snow on the doorsteps of my client's homes while presenting them with magnificent handmade tokens of the season.

(high pitched screeching sound of ripping brakes)

It was not to be so . . .
I had spent long moments fantasizing about how wonderful it would be. I carefully hand crafted the treats into jars with handmade tags accented with coordinating ribbon.

I knew we were out of time to rehearse and even pin down the numbers to sing. We had the potential. Serious potential. What we lacked was organization and coordination. I was willing to try anyway.

The weather wasn't cooperating. After freeze-raining all day yesterday and frightfully low temperatures all day today, the roads. walkways and porches were sheets of ice.

I hoped that James would drive home from work and happily and merrily pick us all up and we could travel together to bring joy to the hearts of the people up north.

I was told on the phone that due to the weather, we had a very small window of opportunity before the roads were too treacherous to travail and if I still wanted to do it, I would have to immediately drive up myself and pick him up at work.

I felt my first pang of doom.

I roused the children. The little boys were perfectly willing as long as McDonald's was part of the bargain. I could handle that. So, after convincing them to switch out the pink snow boots for black, they hopped into the van.

I roused the teenagers (roused might be too optimistic). They dragged their feet. They were doing way more important things like Facebook and chatting with girls on the phone.

"Pang" It was the second sound of doom. I put on a BIG SMILE and bit off the words I really wanted to say to them. They didn't have the same courtesy.

I started getting that feeling in my stomach. You know, the one that tells you that your dreams are dashing to the ground. And yet I pressed on.

I started driving and asked them what songs they would like to sing. "WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SONGS TO SING!" They yelled.

I pressed on the brakes to stop at the stop sign and heard the antilocks engage. It seemed we were in slow motion as we gently slid beyond the stop sign. My mind whirred as I came to the realization that we would not be driving up the steep hill into my client's neighborhood.

I conceded.

I would not give my teenagers the satisfaction of knowing that the weather was the ultimate deciding factor. I would let them stew.

Once back home and safe and sound, we decided to make graham cracker houses. None of us were in the mood.

As we worked, we began to laugh and joke.

After a little while, Emily said, "I love this family!"

In unison, Hannah and I both said, "I love this family too--jinx, personal jinx, knock on wood!" To which we all burst out laughing.