the long road to virginia

On Monday (14th), Rob had to be in Virginia to defend his dissertation proposal. For weeks we'd been trying to decide if we should make a weekend of it as a family or if Rob should just make it as quick as possible and go there on his own. We finally decided he should go it alone, and that was that. I thought he didn't want us all there dragging him down. But then the subject kept coming up. And I finally realized he really did want us along (and I thought it was women who couldn't just say what they wanted!). In the end the fact that the 14th was his BIRTHDAY sealed the deal. "Let's all go!" I said, and he looked so happy and said, "That makes me feel so supported." And we had a happy moment of loving togetherness. And then it hit me that this was Saturday at dinner and we needed to leave first thing Sunday morning. And I had a big panic fit. "I'm supposed to be in the nursery at church in the morning! What about feeding the cats?! What about trash day?! [yes, I actually worried about our garbage; I am weird] What about all the Christmas cards we still have to mail out?! What about the 5 hours it takes me to pack for anything?!" And then the clincher: "What about my editing assignment that was due 2 days ago??" And I went around the house moaning and looking deeply put upon, and Rob didn't feel quite so supported anymore.

But by Sunday morning, we were all miraculously ready to go. So we set out in the early hours, all set for our 7-hour journey. Twenty minutes in, it started to sprinkle just a little. Not five minutes later, we came upon an accident that had just happened. We saw a woman with blood all down her face talking on her cell phone, presumably calling 911. Right after that, we saw another accident that had just happened. And then another one. "That's weird," we thought. And then we saw a car just in front of us skid around in its lane. And then I felt our car lose traction. Uh oh. BLACK ICE! We slowed down to a snails pace, and within minutes the highway in both directions was like a demolition derby, with ambulance lights flashing as far as we could see. We passed at least a dozen accidents.

And then it got really bad. We had to take an exit via an overpass, and yet another accident had just occurred on it. So we all had to wait for a tow truck to come and pull the cars away. By the time the lanes had cleared, the overpass was essentially an ice rink. Cars started crossing it one by one, each one sliding from side to side and in all directions. I was in the driver's seat, and I was getting more nervous with each car that went across. Finally it was our turn, and I have never had a more nerve-wracking driving experience. We slid so close to the cement wall so many times that I was a basket case by the time we finally reached the other side.

We carried on, having driven 40 miles in 2 hours. Fortunately, we were heading south and eventually passed any more danger of black ice. But then it rained torrentially for the next 8 hours. Our 7-hour trip turned into 11 long hours. But thank God we made it unscathed!

The next day Rob had a very successful meeting with his dissertation committee. Woo hoo!! We are so proud of him!!!

That night we celebrated by driving to the beach and having a huge birthday dinner. We haven't seen Rob this happy in months.


We love you, Rob!! Congratulations, and Happy 35th Birthday!!!!!