When People Crash into your Life

It happens to be my first day back from Spring Break so this is not my normal humor laden, roll 'em in the aisles but I hope to get back to that soon. Just some brain junk.

I was in a fender bender Friday evening. I was stopped on the road outside our neighborhood waiting to make a left turn into the subdivision when I saw a car bearing down the hill on me. I could tell that the driver had no idea I was stopped and saw a line of cars right behind her. My father and Munch were in the van with me so my brain kicked into over drive.

Words out of my mouth:

"She's not slowing down."

"She's going to hit me."
"SHE'S GOING TO HIT ME!"

Thoughts in my brain (proof that my brain works faster than my mouth):

"She's not slowing down."
"She's going to hit me."
"I need to gun it."
"Maybe I can get away from her if I gun it NOW!"
"Why won't my foot move?"

"There are cars behind her!"
"I don't want her to get hit too!"

"I have to gun it for both our sakes."
"Munch brace yourself."
"Dad, brace yourself."
"My foot still isn't moving!"
"Move you stupid foot!"
"Finally! I'm moving forward!"

"But not fast enough!"

BOOM!

You know the sound. You can be sitting in traffic and you hear "that" sound and you know that someone just got pegged. Because I was moving forward to get out of her way, the damage was minimal. My sweet father waited for traffic to clear and then got us steered out of the way so that we wouldn't cause any more trouble.

She gathered her information and got out of her car. I got out of the car and then I said the words that broke her heart. "Dad, can you take Munch up to the house?" Her eyes went to tears immediately. And my heart broke. Something told me that there was more to this than just a fender bender.

We exchanged information and I tried to console her but there was pain there. I had a terrible time shaking the whole incident off but not just because of the jitters that always come from an accident. There was something else.

Saturday Beloved called her just to make sure he had complete information before he called the insurance company and had a little conversation with her. She's a single mom of two who just had to take a pay cut to even keep her job. Beloved and I were both affected so when he called he asked the insurance company if this incident would affect her in any way. We would forego the claim if it meant she could keep her premiums and coverage low. They assured us that she would be unaffected so he went ahead and filed.

But she's still in my head. There are real people caught in this economic crisis and for all of my railing about government bailouts and what is fair and what isn't fair the bottom line is that no one can help us but us. Beloved and I aren't free and clear of the crisis but we have each other. We aren't facing it alone. If we can help just by offering not to file an insurance claim then we can help. If I can make a meal for a neighbor in need, I can help. If I can just help with someone's yard work so they don't have to pay a landscaper, I can help.

In times like this I think we would all do well to look at what we can DO. I think we need to look at every day events as opportunities. If just a few people start to look outside of themselves, perhaps this crisis can become our nation's salvation.

Two Cents Tuesday: Givin' It Up!

Tuesday, Tuesday! (da da. da da da dum.) So good to me! A time when I can rant all I want for freeeeeeeee! Ok I'll spare you the rest but you should probably know that one of these days I'm going to vlog Two Cents Tuesday and you'll be stuck with the real songs throbbing in your brain all day long. And that is your warning.

Want to play Two Cents Tuesday with me? Well you can't. Not unless you vow to play Show me the Funny too. Ok, so that was a completely made up rule because TCT isn't even mine - it's Tu Tu's and she says that there are no rules and since it's her game she can do that. Because she's cool like that. And I'm really jealous.

What was I saying? Oh yes! Today's Two Cents - Giving. Now it's funny that this should be the topic this week. This week is the Rhino's birthday. And I have no present lined up. As a matter of fact his birthday is TOMORROW and I have no clue. And I have no chance to go snag one without him in tow.

Did I mention that this Mother of the Year candidate had to schedule his four year check up complete with shots ON his birthday? I honestly didn't have a choice people! He has to have the shots to register for school and registration is tomorrow and Thursday. And before you ask me why I didn't do it early, it's because the peds office wouldn't let me, OK?!?!

So for my son's birthday I'm giving him a trip to the pediatrician, shots and an audience as the girls have to go with me. This is going to ROCK! (You got the sarcasm, right?)

Let's take another spin on giving shall we? Lent and giving it up. I didn't do Lent this year. A) I'm only Catholic on paper and until my husband decides to take a real interest and teach me that's all the further I'll get. And B) the economy has pretty much shot all my little luxuries (all three that I had) already so there wasn't much more to give up. Except blogging and my sister would get the shakes if I quit for a while so that was out for the sake of family. (I can blame it on her, right? That's allowed?)

But my husband did give up some things. Soda - an annual favorite. French fries and fast food in general - no biggie since I've been packing lunch anyway. And sweets - pretty big considering me and my baking fetish. I don't really understand Lent that much. Aren't you supposed to give up something and in it's place spend that time and energy focusing on God and His sacrifice? Something tells me the fries weren't really what the church had in mind, but fries aren't that important to me so it wouldn't be a big sacrifice.

And how about one more take on giving. The phrase "givin' it up for..." I don't understand that phrase. Is it that strenuous to applaud or cheer for someone who has done a good job? Why do I have to "give it up?" Can't I just share a round of applause? How about show my appreciation for? Oh wait. That's not slang-y enough. But that's a whole different blog post. I don't get a lot of slang talk but we can talk about that later.

In the meantime, give it up for my pal TuTu and her Two Cents Tuesday! (aaaaaah, woot woot, cheer, roaring applause, etc.)

Dear Mrs. Claus...

I am appealing to you this year because we all know who the REAL power behind the sleigh is. I have to applaud you. If your elves are operating on even a third of the obnoxious scale my own "elves" are you are the real Saint in your family. And to play host to 8 smelly critters? Because we all know that the mom is the one who feeds and cleans up after them. Just gotta say that YOU are my hero.


I need some advice. I e-mailed my wish list to Daddy-O and it got inadvertently deleted - at least that's the story he's sticking too. Then I went through the sale flyers and made him a pictoral list which I found buried under a pile of pocket lint this morning. And he dared to ask me what I wanted for Christmas this morning! I'm sure you, oh, keeper of the cocoa and gingerbread, know what I'm getting at. May I please leave my list with you?

#1. See those really great boots? May I have those in black please?
#2. Those sweater turtlenecks would be great. Green, red and cream colored please. And if you could grabbed a couple pairs of Levis to go with them that would be great too!
#3. The printer pooped out. I would love one that would print straight from my camera's memory card.
#4. So the dog (a Christmas gift from 8 years ago?) has chewed the crap out of my comforter. Could I possibly get a new set that goes with the new paint? Some nice throw pillows and art for the wall would be great!
#5. A couple of pullover hoodies would be wonderful. I've lost two zipper pulls from my favorite hoodies and, well, they are ancient.
#6 & 7. I am officially the last person on the planet to own some version of an Ipod. And if I'm going to have one it would be helpful if I had a base to plug it into so that our entertaining on the deck would be a little more interesting.

#8. How great would it be if I could gather live footage for you and the Big Guy for your naughty and nice evaluations next year? So the whole DVD Recorder would be awesome (and it would get me some real brownie points with the grandparents)!
And finally #9. Imagine how much more blogging I could get done with a laptop completely decked out with a web camand wifi!!!! I could take multitasking to a whole new level! And you of all people should recognize how important that is.

I really appreciate you taking time to look at this for me. I know you are an incredibly busy lady this time of year - what with boots to trip over and elves to herd from work shop to work shop. If the big guy can only squeeze in one or two of those I have to say that the laptop and printer would be at the top!

Merry Christmas Mrs. C! I appreciate you!