I always remember hearing old timers talk about the month of March. That is, if it comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb and vice versa, based off the weather conditions.
My 2024 came in like a lion. It started off with the snow we had, freezing the water in my home for eight days straight before thawing out and leaving two leaks. I thanked God that I was the daughter of two U.S. Army veterans and knew how to improvise.
I worked from home most of that time, considering I hadn’t had a shower or washed my hair in several days. I bought six gallons of water and then refilled them. I knew that as long as I had water to brush my teeth, take sink baths, water my nine cats and three dogs, and make coffee with, I could survive.
By day six, I was due for a Zoom meeting with some of my co-workers. I decided to point the camera at the ceiling in my living room instead of myself, sparing them of seeing how rough I looked. I tried washing my hair in the sink with about half the water I needed and it wasn’t pretty but it felt better.
Why didn’t I go to someone else’s house and borrow their shower, water, etc.? Because on top of the water issue, the vehicle window on my driver’s side fell off the roller and into the door. This happened about 6:30 p.m. as I was about to go through a drive-thru window in Sallisaw. There was nothing I could do except to go on through the drive-thru, hit I-40, and then drive home 12 miles with the window down at a chilling 25 degrees. I sat as close as I could to the dash, hoping it would tone down the wind but by the time I arrived home, my hands and face were numb.
Then the freezing rain started. I knew the window had to be covered up so I went inside and looked at what I could grab. I tried using the magnetic sign from when I was the grand marshal in the Christmas parade in 2020 but it wasn’t big enough to cover the window. Then I saw the table cloth in my kitchen that I’d only used once; it was perfect. I taped it down on the inside and outside and then stood back to survey my work. You couldn’t miss me driving down the road with a lemon table cloth covering my window.
I decided to make an additional layer of trash bags to the window from the inside to help with the heat. However, once I tried driving like that, the trash bags were rattling so hard it sounded like an assault rifle going off inside the Expedition. I made it from Vian to Sallisaw driving 45 mph, and our press guys, David and Josh, were able to use a piece of plexiglass and some tape to make due until the motor came in for the window.
It was a much warmer ride going home that day. I was thankful for the make shift window, but you never know how much you use something until it’s gone. Kind of like toilet paper.
The press guys were scheduled to fix it on Friday but came through and made it happen on Wednesday. They decided to add some spark to my life by parking it in a random place, and then watching me find it. So much for love from your automobile maintenance team.
And how was your week?
