A'salaamu alaikum ya'll!!! Wondering about the title of the post? Well my friend Sr. Lisa's daughter coined that phrase when she was about 18 mo. old masha'Allah. Lisa was changing a very nasty diaper and said (emphatically) "Oh... my... gosh." :-) A did her best to emulate her mother's complete surprise and disgust by saying "Oh Y hee". Oh so cute and heart melting. Now all of our friends use that phrase when encountering some of life's surprises. :-) Followed by an alhamdulillah!
Sooo we took a trip to TN to get my belongings. It was hilarious really but only in retrospect. 15 hour trip, 4 kids from 11 to 19 months in age. The way down wasn't too bad... at first. :-) My husband drove, I was a (semi carsick) passenger and we went at night so the kids could sleep through most of it.
We stopped at about 3 am bec A did not rest before leaving and was too tired. We stayed for about 5 hours at a Holiday Inn in VA (not sure which city lol), ate our free breakfast and headed out.
And into a snow storm. A giant snow storm by southern proportions. A whopping, run to Kroger and get bread and milk kinda snow storm. At first just a few flakes but we were traveling into the path of the storm. Soon we were driving about 35 or 40 mph on snow covered roads. Anywhere from 6 to 12 inches. Oh Y hee. I am not used to snow; I am a southern girl born and bred. An inch falls and we batten down the hatches and stay inside until all traces are gone. We admittedly do NOT know how to drive it in. It happens so infrequently why bother to learn? lol
My husband was not fazed. I was scared at a point but just made dua and recited Qur'an (under my breath :-) when I got a little frightened. We saw semi trucks overturned and passenger cars slid off the road. At time visibility was nil. Well almost I mean I couldn't see more than 2 or 3 feet in front of us. Subhanallah.
It was so beautiful but treacherous for sure. Sooo we are making ok progress despite Tue storm when we stopped for gas and food. Almost every place was closed so we went to the next exit and had a nice lunch before heading back out. The kids needed the break and it was good for us all.
As we were heading back on the interstate (to lessened snowfall and clean interstates due to diligent snow plowers and chemicals) we rounded the entrance ramp to find a snow plow had block off the ramp with a wall of packed snow about 3 feet high. I braced myself mentally and sure enough there was a horrible noise. It did not bode well for continued travel.
We had broken the front axle. Oh Y hee. :-) Alhamdulillah no one was hurt, we were grateful but also a little stressed. We were 3 hours from Knoxville, TN with (as mentioned) 4 kids and a tight timeline to move from my old apartment.
OK I realized this post is going waaay long so I am gonna give the shorter version. Oh a list! Yes I will list what happened next:
1. Geico said I did not check roadside assistance for the van. $$$ for towing.
2. Waited 45 minutes for (very busy) tow truck then 15 more for an additional vehicle to move our family. :-)
3. Dropped off at a Super 8 motel (hmm plush. NOT!). More unplanned $$$.
4. No food nearby, we eat from vending machines. Really. Chips. Yum. Alhamdulillah I had packed alot of drinks so we had those.
5. This happened on Sat. afternoon. All car rental places closed and do not reopen until Monday. ?????
6. Trapped in tiny motel room with 4 children. Oh Y hee. No really. Oh Y hee.
7. My bestest friend in the world (a HUGE jazaki allahu khul khair to her!!!) picks up a rental SUV (more $$$$$) and drives 3 hours the next day to pick us up. May Allah bless her. Amin.
8. Arrive in Knoxville a day behind schedule. Trying to finish packing and load moving truck.
9. Exhausted mentally and physically, snappish with older kids. Sorry. Kind of.
10. Running on minuscule amount of sleep.
11. Get truck loaded (thanks to some brothers in Knoxville and my sistahs, big shout out!) and head out by 3 pm on Monday. Daaaang.
12. To head out we had to have our van. Van has broken axle but being repaired 3 hours away in Hodunk, Va. Just kidding, was Wytheville. No rental places to return an out of state rental there. Stuck. Made dua'.
13. My mother, may Allah give her hidaya, amin, drives me, Aaminah and Hafsa to VA. Love you!!!!!! Other 2 kids ride with A in rental truck.
14. Reunite in Wytheville with A and we start our ride north. Woo hoo.
15. By 5 am Tues. no amount of caffeine can keep me going. I finally give in around Clinton, NJ and we get a room. I just cannot keep driving after no sleep for 24 hours.
16. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
17. We stay for a few hours, eat breakfast, shower and hit the road.
18. I drive thru NYC. Really this is a huge feat for me but kind of anti climatic. Traffic was awesome alhamdulillah so I don't feel I really earned any badge of honor. lol
19. Arrived home at about 6pm Tuesday. ALHAMDULILLAH!!!!!!!
I am still tired. Really how pathetic. lol I now have a TON of stuff to unpack and move around and shift and... I am too tired to contemplate it. Plus doing all the normal "just moved" jazz, applying for this and that, lights, etc. Oh how fun is a move!!!!!
So now you are up to date and my fingers are cramping and I hear Aami rustling in her crib signaling end of naptime. Great timing!
Ma salaama....
