going out with a bang.

Literally. I'm sorry to any of you who are reading this and have not yet had a chance to say goodbye to our firstborn, CJ, but he now lies on the top of a junkpile waiting for our insurance agency to total him and sell him for parts. And while the police have determined it wasn't my fault, I can't help but feel guilty that Charles no longer has his Jeep. He loves that Jeep so much. And he will hate me for saying this, but the next car we buy will have to be a little more practical. Better gas mileage and more room for rear-facing carseats. But he's insisting on a stick shift, and I'm feeling just guilty enough to grant him that much. He may have changed his mind by the time we get back from Russia and I really hope that's the case.

So, last night, I was driving home from Provo after getting my hair cut and all taken care of for Russia, and I decided to stop at McDonald's on the way. I stopped in Lehi, which was kind of dumb because I don't really know my way around there, but I was starving for a double cheeseburger. and I got one. and a diet coke. But as I was heading across the intersection to get back on the freeway, and a silver car with two teenage girls in it slammed into my right side. I'm really glad I didn't have someone sitting on that side. So then my car tipped over and slid down the road. This is the weird part: even though I was slammed by a car and then slammed onto the road, I never hit my head on anything. I didn't even bump it once. Cool, huh? the other kind of cool part was that there was an EMT already on the site. He was off duty, but he must have been just coming home from work, because he already had his EMT shirt on, and he ran over wearing rubber gloves and telling me not to move. Not that I was hurt. I have a bruise on my elbow. That's it, pretty much. So I was laying there on my window, which miraculously was NOT broken, and checking to make sure I could wiggle my toes and stuff, and I even thought to turn the car off. I didn't bother putting it in park, though. So some guy came over and climbed on top of the car to pry open some doors and windows and get me out. I had to climb out in a white skirt, which I realized now had diet coke all over it. I'm glad I didn't wet myself, and that it was just coke! Nobody else in the other car was hurt, either. I love seatbelts. Everybody needs to wear them.

They put me in an ambulance to take my vitals and info and stuff, and they decided to take them twice because I was so shaky and nervous that my pulse was way wack. But there was nothing else wrong with me. I can't get over that!

There was this woman there named Brenda, and she was so nice to me. As soon as I realized there was a car coming at me, I slammed on the brakes and squeezed my eyes shut, and I didn't open them until all the slamming and banging and tipping were over. And as soon as I opened them, the EMT guy was telling me not to move, and Brenda was there telling me that it was ok, that everyone in the other car was fine, and that she would find me a phone. And she did, but not before she gave me a really long hug that felt really good, even though she was a stranger. I felt like we'd been friends forever. She's about my mom's age and build, too, so it kind of felt like a hug from my mom. Which I needed really badly! After that I figured out that I wasn't wearing shoes or glasses, and I was sure that I had been before the accident. Doy. I must have looked like a drunk driver. they of course had to ask me if I was, and I said no. I wasn't even using my phone, and the radio wasn't even on. I was concentrating as hard as I could on finding my way home.

Looking back, I'm realizing that this is really all a big blessing. Our car was completely covered under insurance, even if it HAD been my fault. Even though it's totaled, we still have another car that was just randomly given to us by a family in Jean's ward. And now we'll have enough money for a down payment on a more family-friendly car, and we'll for sure have enough money to pay rent this summer in Russia. And that accident could have been SO much worse. I was planning on driving Jean's car, because it's safer, gets better gas mileage, and it's an automatic, so I'm more comfortable driving it. But I had a feeling I should take the Jeep instead, which I didn't understand at the time. But because the Jeep is so boxy, it only tipped over instead of rolling all around the street like the Outback would have. I ultimately ended up without injuring myself or anyone else. That's such an incredible blessing. I was really afraid I'd find out it was my fault after all, and that I'd hurt someone, and I'm so grateful that the other girls were fine. and that we didn't have a pile-up. and that we're not buying Jean a new car. And that my insurance agent is so nice to talk to. He told me to tell my husband that my "therapist" at USAA told him he needs to wine and dine me, take me to Tucano's, draw me a hot bath, and rub my shoulders. He said he wanted to have a little fun with Charles, since nobody was injured. I told him I'd pass it on to him, but I'm feeling so guilty about totaling CJ that I'll just take myself to Tucano's, instead.

That was a joke. But I could really go for some grilled pineapple and fried bananas.

Here are some pictures of the car.

This one's my favorite. This metal box was our car's 72 hour kit, and it was kept under the driver's seat. The car doesn't look that bad for a totaled car, but that box is for sure totaled. how did it get that mangled?