Crash

The driver side of the car (top photo) now serves as the "before" picture and the passenger side (bottom photo) is the post-Saturday version.

To say that we didn't quite have the fantastic weekend that I had planned for us would be like saying fried worms and cheesecake don't quite taste the same. Just when you think you know what's coming and you're ready to settle in & "sit dead-red fastball", life always finds a way to throw you a wicked knee-buckling curveball instead.

Between the house-related travel and the food-poisoning last week, I thought we were out of the woods for sure; and was just telling V that I was looking forward to a little normality again. The day started off grand. Lots of laughs in the house. V cut my hair for the first time (and I still have both my ears) and that was a lot of fun... But then, we left the house, and WHAM. Just like that, the passenger side of my trusty and beloved Honda Civic was obliterated by a 22-year-old Texan and his untimely "improper lane change". And of course, just that split second of poor judgement on his part will now cost us additional minutes / hours / days that we didn't have in the first place; as over the next few days (weeks?) we have to deal with insurance company 1, insurance company 2, a car rental company, and an auto body shop; all in the name of trying to piece our lives (and our car) back together again.

Couple that with two home closings, V's 30th birthday tomorrow, our usual 9-to-5's (in which I seem to fall further behind in everyday), a pregnancy, and an endless to-do list (oh, and just forget about the things that you actually would like to do), and the word "overwhelming" has just become the slogan of February, 2007.

Anyhow... V's been taking care of the insurance claims and the countless phone calls that tend to follow such an event, while I continue to juggle the requirements of our investment venture (update: More contract papers for PA arrived today, and mom postponed her meeting with our potential GC, while in SC the re-inspection went smoothly as planned). As one of our many chores today, we picked up a (good lawd) mini-van as our rental car from enterprise, which is a story in and of itself I suppose... but I digress.

As for the accident itself, here's the bottom line in 3 words or less: improper lane change. I guess the kid never saw us coming, and it happened so fast that we never had a chance. Needless to say, we never made it to Babies R Us (will we ever get this registry done?!)... the accident happened at about 10:02am, and between the 25 minute wait for the police (TWENTY FIVE MINUTES... man, I just wanted to get out and steal something), and the visit to the hospital to check V's vitals (precautionary measures), we didn't close the book on the whole ordeal until after 4pm if I'm not mistaken. And beyond that, we were pretty toasted from just the stress of the whole thing. I can't remember what time we crashed last night (um... poor choice of words?), but it was early.

Sunday was pretty much chalked up as another recovery day, plus a good amount of grading to prepare for the week. The blessing of it all, though, was that there were no injuries. Despite bumping her head, and having some initial neck and back aches, the next day didn't bring soreness to either of us. Much to be thankful for in that respect.

On a totally different note... My biggest disappointment (at the moment) is not being able to do it up for V's 30th tomorrow like I anticipated. I had big plans, man. Big plans. No joke. But I lacked on the execution, and it cost me... not to mention left me standing empty handed with not much of a worthwhile backup plan to lay out for her. But we had a good discussion about it tonight, and despite my sulking, we concluded that the end result is probably for the best. Anything more would have just overwhelmed both of us right about now. And so, in due time, we'll celebrate on a larger scale if we still deem it necessary / desired. For now, I think we'll just give it one more shot at focusing on enjoying each other and our time together despite the obstacle course that our lives have recently turned into.

And in the scheme of things, there is still not a whole lot to complain about. God is good. We've just got to push through for a little bit longer, and we'll be straight. But for now, sleep is of the essence. So I'm out. G'nite!