This week has lasted forever, yet I am always a day behind. I realized today that I missed my Webelos class yesterday. I have been confused about what day it is since Tuesday afternoon. Just when I think I am on top of things, I realize I am wrong again. Miriam thinks it is hilarious. I remember my Mom doing that, and thinking she was funny. Now I realize she has passed the torch on to me. What else do I need to be prepared for?
I received an email from my sister-in-law, Melissa, about a baby sitting schedule for her 2 children while she went with my brother to Tokyo for a week. I opened the file, only to find it had been damaged and couldn't be read. I tried all sorts of options, but still couldn't open it. My thinking was that I would phone her and ask her to send it again, but it was late, and I was tired. It could wait until the next morning. I promptly forgot all about it. Last Friday, I was on Facebook, and realized her status said, "Melissa is walking the streets of Tokyo!" (There was a half second that I considered the walking the streets comment, and laughed.) I thought, "Hmmmm. I better ask around and see if I am supposed to help out at all. One of my little sisters was kind enough to inform me that I was taking the youngest, Atlee, for the weekend. I had a couple of hours to be ready, and to clean out the boxes in our spare room.
She was really fun. I am amazed at how well behaved she was. Miriam LOVED having her with us. Then little Atlee got homesick. She didn't want to be left alone. She was by my side for days. Over the weekend, I had Doug and Miriam to entertain her, and help out when I needed to fix meals, or do laundry, but mostly to clean up the floor after she had eaten. We ended up keeping her until Wednesday night, and I could tell that she really wanted Mom and Dad. I couldn't walk 2 steps without her getting upset that I wasn't holding her. Let's just say that I read more books to her than I could count, and saw several movies I haven't watched in years. Now I am trying to get caught up on all the things I didn't get done. My to-do list is getting longer every day.
On Friday night, we had picked up Atlee from Melissa's friend, Crystal's house. She lives in Provo, and was nice enough to lend us a pack-n-play for Atlee to sleep in, and a car seat. I didn't think about needing one until Miriam and I were on our way to pick her up. What a life saver Crystal was. Here is the reason: On our way home, we stopped at Costco, and then drove down University Ave to see the lights. There was an accident on the side of the road with an officer taking care of the incident. Traffic was suddenly backing up, so we stopped just a bit faster than normal, but not fast enough that it was a problem. We sat there for about 15 seconds, when I heard a car screeeeeeeeeeaching to a stop behind me, and looked in my rear view mirror in time to see the car behind me skid a bit to the right, and slam into the back of my car. I checked Miriam and Atlee, and they were both fine. We pulled over to the side of the road, and all I could think was, "My car is totally smashed." The driver of the car got out, and walked to the back of my car and stared at it for a minute. As she stood there, I thought it must be really bad. I knew how hard she hit, I could feel my head whip forward when she crashed into us. (I know what you are thinking: whiplash. Well, I already have it, and have been dealing with it for 20 years now. I did check us all, and we seem to be OK. Only time will tell.)
When I got out, I was amazed. No noticeable damage, except for a few scratches. The frame is bent into the trunk just a bit, you can only see it from the inside so it's not even noticeable unless you know it's there. The bumper had just popped back out, and you couldn't even see where it had smashed in. (I am suddenly a huge fan of impact resistant panels. What a wonderful invention!) We both stared in amazement at both our cars. Hardly any serious damage, and all either of us could say was, "I can't believe it's not that bad." It was her first accident, and she was scared to death. I actually had to ask her if she was going to be OK, and she said yes. I wasn't sure if I believed her or not. When we reported it to her insurance company on Monday, we found out that she hadn't called her parents to tell them about it. (She is a college student.) Doug said her father was a really nice guy, and we felt bad for him; his wife had an accident the week before. I thought maybe we should warn him. Don't they say bad things happen in three's?
