And the wheel of life turns on...

It's my birthday. Yup. I'm the big 2-2, officially at 11:03 pm. But as I celebrate the anniversary of my birth, the other side of the spectrum rears its ugly head. My grandpa died today. We all knew it was coming. He's had Parkinson's for a few years and it came to the point where it was almost cruel to just keep him here. His mind was mostly gone and his body was deteriorating, so it was just a matter of time. He was in his 80's. He lived a long, full life and knowing what we know of the next life, it isn't such a tragedy. It's still hard, though. He slipped into a coma last Tuesday and never really regained consciousness. I'm glad I went to see him yesterday. The last words I said to him were "Goodbye, Grandpa." I really didn't think it was going to be the official goodbye, but it was. He didn't know I was there, but I'm glad I got to say goodbye.

My Grandma has been taking care of him mostly by herself since he got really bad. You'd think she'd see him as a burden, but a while ago she put him in a home just for the weekend and she really missed him. I know it's going to be really hard for her. For all of us. My eyes are tearing up just typing this. They had been married for, I think, almost 58 years. Now that's devotion. I want that some day.

We got the call that he was gone at about 5 or so and we headed right then to be with Grandma. I'd never seen a body that hadn't been embalmed or so close after they passed. It was strange to look at him and know that he has taken his last breath. I know that he has been release from the prison that has been his body this last while. I know he's probably looking down and wondering why we're all so sad. But now I can remember him as he used to be. Whole, joyful, and full of life. So, goodbye, Grant Blackhurst Morrell. I'll see you when it's my time. I love you.

<--[Look! It's a ski bum!! And no, that isn't Jesse, who I speak of lower down in this blog. I found this on Google Images under "ski bum". It made me laugh.]

Good evening, ladies and gents. So, remember that other snow story I was going to divulge the next day? Yeah, well, it’s only been a few days, right? Plus, I did say I was using the “tomorrow” loosely, right? Well, anyway, this second encounter with the horrid snow occurred about a week after the first. Apparently, Mother Nature didn’t get the memo that it’s MAY!! Not January. Nonetheless, I made my way up the canyon very, very carefully through the possibly treacherous roads up to Snowbird. I passed Entry 1, 2, 3, and finally ventured down Entry 4, knowing that it was not a good idea. I made it about half the way down before my back tires slipped to the left, almost to the point where I was perpendicular to the road. Scary? Uh, yeah. Somehow, I managed to ease my car so it was heading the right direction and veered to the right of the road, parked, put on the “E” brake, and put on my hazards, which I had never used before, by the way. I called what I thought was the number for the bakery, but all I got that weird sound and some chick saying that the number was out of order. Awesome. Luckily, I had my boss’ number and luckily she was working that day and answered her phone. I informed her of my predicament and she said she was gonna send two of my co-workers, Jesse and Jonas, to come to my aid. Too bad the whole damsel-in-distress thing is so passé. In my case, it was just embarrassing. Twice in a week and a half? At this point, it’s becoming to be more my fault than the car’s. Besides, you’d think that I would be smart enough not to drive on these sorts of days, but no. Anyway, so as I sat in my car by the side of the road, I watched all the people pass by with their 4-wheel drive and snow-equipped cars, giving me looks of pity. I know they’re all thinking, “She tried to get up here in that? She’s crazy!!”. Yeah, well, join the club, dude.

Well, eventually I see someone coming from the direction of the Cliff Lodge, where I work, and it looks like they have checks on (which is what we call our checkered chef pants), but I’m not sure. He (well, I think it’s a he) has a hoodie on and with the hood up and it’s also snowing at this point, so visibility isn’t at it’s best. Also, I thought it would be 2 guys, so, you know. Well, the person eventually got close enough that I could see their face and it happened to be Jesse, my co-worker.

Now, at this point, let me interject a quick note about Jesse. Jesse is a ski bum, in every single sense of the phrase. Not that there’s anything wrong with that because almost everyone who works at Snowbird is a ski bum. Their whole purpose in life is to ski and party. And they only get jobs so they can earn enough money for the skiing and partying. Jesse will take the early shift (which is 5am, by the way), work until 1 or 2 pm, ski for a few hours, party until the early morning, and then repeat. Don’t know how they do it, but somehow they do. A lot of them even move from far away just for the snow during the winter. In Jesse’s case, he came from Palm Beach, Florida. This past winter was his second season at Snowbird, so he pretty much had the routine down and already knew everyone. I came in just at the end of the official season, so we only worked together for about a month. I came to realize what sort of person he is in this short time. On the whole, he’s a pretty good guy. We just don’t have that much in common. He’s all about the ladies, the snow, and the parties. And I’m…not. I couldn’t tell you how many stories he has related that included someone getting drunk. Always lovely.

Anyway, back to the story. As Jesse approached my car, I rolled down my window and greeted him with a “Hey” and an embarrassed look. He asked if I just wanted him to drive my car for me and I was all for that. So I think he was waiting for me to get out of the car or something, but I just decided to scooch over to the passenger’s seat and only when I opened the drivers’ side door for him did he realize I had moved. So, he gets in and I tell him he can adjust the seat if he wants and I’m pretty sure I blabbered a little cause I was nervous. Crazy. So, he puts it in drive and the second he takes his foot off the brake, we start to seriously slide. He says “How did you get up here like this?” My response, “ I have no idea.” Just then he realized the emergency brake was still on, which is why the sliding was so bad. He then explained to me that braking in any form while heading down that hill will cause my car to slide. Awesome. Well, then it’s good I didn’t try to get down the hill alone cause I totally would have died, or at the least, hit another car. Ah, the glories of snow. So Jesse makes it down the hill and heads to the right toward the Cliff Lodge. He drops me off and tells me he’s gonna park my car on the 4^th floor of the structure, which is underground parking, but it’s above ground. You know what I mean? Yeah, so I’ve never parked in there. Once I got off work, I headed there, but it took me a while find the friggin’ stairs. A sign said the stairs were out of order for maintenance, but I took them anyway. I think it was just because there was a leak somewhere and ice had frozen on the stairs, banisters, everywhere.

Well, it was a pretty eventful day on the whole. One that I really wouldn’t care to repeat, actually. Hope you enjoyed my account of it. I’ll try not to wait so long between blogs, but no promises. Ciao.

That's IT, snow! I've had ENOUGH!!! I'm sorry...we're done.

(This picture is not of my car but this is just to give you a visual of what I will speak of further down.-->
Keep readin'!)

Well, since I haven't blogged since my surgery 2 months ago, I'll fill you in a bit. Ahem, so the surgery went fine. The most annoying part was having my wrist wrapped for 2 weeks and not being able to remove it or shower without a plastic bag involved. However, I became quite good at doing things with my left hand. Yay, me. Anyhoo, so after that, I started to search for jobs again and after a long and unproductive online search, I finally found one that peaked my interest. Baker 1 at Snowbird Resort. Super! I applied, blah, blah, blah, had an interview, yada yada yada, second interview, doo da doo, and I got the job. FINALLY!!! Yes!! I swear, the worst part of being unemployed is the job search. It's very stressful.

Well, I finally started work on April 2, and all was going well. Long commute (45 minutes one way), but I didn't mind. And then, the dreaded event occurred....it snowed. In the mountains. Right where I work. And, let's just say, my car is less than "snow-worthy". It's a Ford Taurus. Very low. Very long. But otherwise, just fine. However, heaven forbid I try to drive to work last Thursday. The road itself wasn't bad, but the parking situation was...less than ideal. Let me give you a picture of Snowbird. It's nearly at the top of the canyon, with only Alta beyond it. The first sign of Snowbird is a sign stating "Entry 1". Anyone unfamiliar with it would be like "What? There's more than one entry? WHICH DO I TAKE?!?". Ahem, well, there are 4 "entries", depending on where you are headed. I take Entry 4 to work and there's a pretty decent hill going down toward the Cliff Lodge, where I work. That particular Thursday, I got down okay, but my usually parking area was blocked. Well, for anyone else, no big deal. But for me, once I find my groove, I NEVER leave it. Better to know where you've been, I say, than the unknown. So, I'm forced to bypass my usual parking, turn around, and venture for some other parking. I headed back up the Entry 4 main road and ended up parking along there. Not so terrible. BUT, there was already at least 8 inches where I was parking. Brilliant. I get 3/4 into the parking space before I seem to find myself...stuck. No going forward, no going backward. Stuck. *sigh* Fine. I just put it in park and went to work. Defeated.

While I was working...it continued snowing. Shocker. At some point during the day, I called my dad to inform him of my predicament. Well, once I got to my car at the end of the day I was --what, ladies and gentlemen?--still stuck. Now, why would I think that MORE snow would allow my car to maneuver more easily? Dunno. Not only did it snow, but the plows and made a few passes cementing me in even WORSE! The snow was higher than my license plate. Needless to say, I wasn't driving out of this without help. Well, my dad decided the best course of action was to come up and dig me out. Mmkay. So, as I waited, I listened to music, chilled, called my mom to tell her what happened, and then texted Kathryn just to vent and to give her a laugh. As I was in the middle of doing this, the sun came out. Only to mock me, I assume. I believe it was saying "Oh, were you waiting for ME to come out? Whoops. I guess you're stuck cause I'm late." I swear I heard it chuckle at me. But, lo and behold, my dad came and I was maneuvered out of it's pile o' snow. When I finally get home, I'm seeing grass. It didn't even friggin RAIN!! It's hard to imagine being stuck in the snow when you're seeing green grass. Stupid frozen precipitation.

Well, I have another anecdote to share about the cursed snow, but it's gonna have to wait until tomorrow (using the term loosely). ;)