So, yesterday it snowed.  I begrudgingly watched it outside my window, cursing nature for not sticking with my selfish schedule. I had my performance review Monday; how could I drive in the snow?

I didn’t think about it much before falling asleep, because I knew it would stress me out too much. I sent my team leader an email before going to bed, saying I’d keep an eye on the weather but didn’t want to miss my performance review in the AM.  He’s from Texas. I figured he’d understand my ambivalence about driving in snow.

I woke up this morning and thought, ok Jenny.  Today is the day. RIP OFF THAT BANDAID, LET’S GOOOO.  Otherwise, I’d be under house arrest any time there’s frozen precipitation outside, and that’s no way to live.

We’d received about three inches yesterday.  As I brushed the snow off my car and accidentally on myself, I told myself,  by this time next week, I’ll be back in Austin. It’ll be 75 degrees and it will feel amazing.  This is fine. THIS IS FINE.

As I backed out of the driveway, my car made a sickening crunch over the snow. I swallowed my anxiety, thought, WHAT IS MY LIFE NOW? and drove away.  Fortunately, everything had already been plowed and salted.  The back road I live off of was a little slushy, but the highway was completely clear.  I swallowed my nerves and looked around, relaxing a bit to enjoy the view.  The bare trees looked striking in the snow.

I drove under the speed limit, both on the highways, downtown, and in the parking garage. SUCK IT, PEOPLE BEHIND ME.  THIS IS ALREADY THE MOST SNOW I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.  As I parked in the garage, I took a deep breath. I did it!

I enjoyed my walk to the office.  I couldn’t help taking some photos of the park along my path.

To my coworkers’ bemusement, I left early before the second round of snow hit.  It was flurrying as I made my way home, which made me nervous.  I want to make it clear that, due to the well-plowed and salted roads, this was the extent of my actually driving through “snow.” But it was fine.  When I arrived in the driveway, I breathed a sigh of relief. I did it! Had it not been for my performance review, I might have been too scared to venture outside. But it was just fine.

::insert paragraph about moving past your fears and broadening your horizons when doing so here::

If you’re wondering, Apollo isn’t 100% sold on the snow yet.