Thursday, December 17, 2009

Different December

This has, by far, been one of the most difficult December months that I think of. Meaning, of the 28 Decembers I have lived through, this one tops them all in terms of craziness. *Those of you scratching your heads right now trying to figure out how I have been in 28 Decembers - keep in mind that you technically count the fact that I was born at the beginning of December and basically that is the first December. Either way, we are barely past the half way point and I can hardly help but wonder what else is yet to come.

To get thing started, the alternator went out on the car so for my birthday I taught Laura how to tow a car. Her and Emryk drove my truck and pulled me in the car. We got it home without too much trouble, but that was a rather wild evening I could have done without.

On top of that, NOAA reported this morning that this December started out the 3rd coldest on record - the only two that were colder were 1919 and 1972. With the limited amount of wood cutting we were able to do we won't be able to keep up with this cold streak (averaging 13°F) for much longer.

Just when we think the car is fixed, Laura took a trip to Hastings to see a friend in the hospital who suddenly had her appendix burst and on her way back the car broke down on the Interstate. Well, turns out the timing belt broke and there is a good chance there was some engine damage as well. UGH!

It's not that I overly worried about the cost of fixing the car or even worried about the fact we might just have to buy an entirely different vehicle - more the fact that we now are down to one vehicle and that sure makes our working situation all the more difficult. Laura drives 20 miles east of our house and I drive 33 miles southwest. Not exactly a carpool commute.

Thankfully we have had the help of my family to let us use a vehicle occasionally and we can try to limp along here for a short while until we find out more about our car and likely get ourselves a better vehicle for our longer road trips.

Speaking of road trips, we are heading to Cheyenne this weekend for Christmas. Our plan to do some elk hunting is still on and we had planned to take the truck to begin with, so we don't have to change our plans much. We are not overly excited to drive the truck with the three of us crammed into it (like we did in October when we went to Utah to help my sister move back to Nebraska) but I think we will get along fine for the short 5 hour drive. The weather looks to be in our favor, so I can't complain about that!

Hopefully the last half of December is less eventful than the first half, but I am not going to hold by breath. The way things are going, I think it's s safe bet that the fun is just beginning. Until again

-=Nolan=-