Ice and Illness Does Not Equal Exercise

The past week has been one setback after another. We all came down with colds and the weather has been treacherous. So the exercise challenge from last week? Not going so well.

But I’m not getting down about it. This week my challenge is to try, try again. I have done some sit-ups, push-ups and squats here in the house when time and energy allows. And I know I’ll get back to the gym as soon as driving down my driveway is not life-threatening.

Speaking of which, we had a bit of a scare yesterday. See all that ice? That’s my driveway. We got about an inch of sleet and snow a few days ago. Not a big deal except the following days brought rain, more sleet and temperatures just warm enough to melt a little ice, yet not warm enough to melt it completely. The result is now layers of ice - rock hard ice that you can’t even stomp your foot through.

We backed out of our garage yesterday and starting sliding back toward the embankment. Now we’re not talking a cliff or anything, but we’ve got a Toyota 4Runner and it quite possible would have rolled if it went over. Not to mention all the trees we could have crashed into. I’m sitting in the car with the kids, watching the trees approach and desperately trying to figure out what to do. My son might have been able to jump out, since the car was sliding away from his side. But I’d never have been able to get my daughter out of her car seat and if I jumped out my side, the car would have just slid into me. Obviously the brakes were having no effect and putting the car in drive was equally ineffective.

It was scary. Thankfully, the driveway flattens out a bit and we stopped just short of going over the edge. So now we’re stuck in the house. Our driveway is huge and very long, so breaking up the ice manually seems like an insurmountable task. We can’t get a plow up here - too slippery. My husband has been out a few times with an axe (an axe!) and some rock salt, but like I said, the driveway is big. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to 44 degrees… I really hope it melts.

For now, I’m sitting in front of the fire, nursing a headcold, playing cards with my son, and watching my daughter as she coughs up a lung while trying to nap.

And trying not to go stir-crazy. Hey, at least there’s wine and chocolate in the house.