...but suddenly a new contender has emerged.

I have been sick for the last few days. I toughed it out at school for two days so I wouldn't have to use the ever precious sick leave. It was difficult for the following reasons.

The faculty bathroom is a long walk away.
The bathroom close by is disgusting.
It is frustrating enough trying to teach systems of equations.
I had to miss Fish Sandwich Friday in the cafeteria due to me not wanting to eat anything.

The good news is I found out the front office has ginormous bottles of Advil, Tylenol and Tums. I guess they go through the Tums bottle once a week. I think it's Tums's fault for making the pills taste too much like candy.

Since I have been sick, I have just laid around for most of the weekend to date. I was going to see if Steve and Sharon needed help with their cabin, but I figured that they wouldn't consider me getting them sick helping.

I was feeling a little better today, so we decided to take a Sunday drive up one of the local canyons. We had a nice drive up Big Cottonwood, turned around and almost witnessed a rollover. I haven't ever really wanted to witness a rollover. As we rounded this one corner, there was a SUV on it's side with this guy barely crawing out the top door. Amazingly, the police were already there, so we didn't feel the need to stop.

We got toward the bottom of the canyon, and Ange wanted Lincoln to be able to stretch his legs a little. So we pulled off at this picnic area. It should be noted that Ange was the driver, and the Bubs was under the impression that Ange was going to pull into the parking space that was clear of snow and ice, and not proceed to the icy slope below. Ange had her eye on the bathroom because she apparently had to 'go'.

So we got stuck in the bottom of this picnic area. Our minivan was backed up against a dumpster and the back tires were on solid ground. This did us no good, because our minivan has front wheel drive, and those tires were on a thick sheet of ice. I'm sitting there thinking I'm a bigger idiot than the lady that shouted 'you're all winners'.

First we tried stuffing spare wood underneath tires. That was a no go. Then I put a huge piece of plastic that used to cover the dumpster under one of the tires. That didn't work either. Seemingly out of options, I tried to call someone. No service. After a long hike, still no service. I went back thinking I was going to have to hike down the canyon, call someone, and then be embarrased by the situation we were in.

Then I started thinking I wish I had some salt to melt the ice. That made me think about how they don't use salt in Idaho, but sand. Then I looked across the river and saw sand. I found a bucket, and this little play shovel Lincoln has. I was able to dig up a few bucketfulls of frozen sand and sprinkle them under the tires. Then I pushed the minivan and told Ange to hit it. To my amazement, the van got unstuck, and we were saved.

The moral of the story: I am a genius while simultaneously being an idiot.

Can'tstandya