Tuesday, August 16, 2011

You've GOT To Be Kidding Me!

Since I've gotten pregnant, I've become a rather annoying passenger-driver. The worst part about it is that I know how annoying I am, but I just can't help myself.

Christopher is great at operating a vehicle, but once there was a baby involved, I was constantly telling him when to stop and start and always reaching for the "oh crap" handle - ready to brace myself for the worst, but at least I have legitimate reason to act this way.

I have gotten in wrecks in every car I have ever owned. With my Honda Accord, I was on my way to work at the UK Johnson Center climbing wall. I was stopped at the Tates Creek Road light waiting to turn left onto Alumni. The roads were a little wet and a college girl started stopping too late... bam. My first wreck.

The wreck in my Firebird was my fault - even though I wasn't driving. I was over at Christopher's house, back when we were dating, and there was an ice storm. For some reason, I was determined to go home that night, so I gave him an ultimatum. I said that if I stayed, I'd need clean underwear for the morning, so we'd have to go out and buy some. Christopher, grudgingly, agreed to drive me to Meijer. At the Pasadena Drive-Clays Mill intersection, the Firebird lost traction, and we slid right into a light pole. Needless to say, I didn't go home that night.

Wreck number 3: We were on our way to a small group camp out in Frederick, Christopher's Lancer. We were turning off of Beaumont Center Pkwy onto Harrodsburg Road when some guy in a black Mazda decided he wanted to be in our lane. Christopher was driving and didn't even have time to react before... wham! It was too late. This guy was crazy, emphasis on the crazy. Apparently, he was a postman and he was on some sort of deadline. He kept saying "I have to go, I have to go or I'll lose my job!" The damage to our car was pretty extensive, so we told him we wanted to call the police. I was on the phone with 9-1-1 and the lady told me that if he left the scene, he'd be charged with a hit-and-run. Knowing this, he wrote down his info and off he went. We waited in the 5/3 Bank parking lot for the officer to arrive before heading out to eastern KY for the camp out.

Two weeks later, Yoshi, the little Toyota Yaris, got rear-ended when I was stopped at the New Circle off ramp light onto Harrodsburg Road. The guy who hit me was so, so nice and we ended up chatting for an hour or so while we waited for the cops to arrive. We laughed about his shady insurance card: it said the first rule of an accident was never to admit fault. He wondered how it could have possibly been my fault since I was at a complete stop when it happened.

I wasn't in the car for number 5, but last October Frederick (again... just 3 months after being fixed from his first wreck) got smushed like a sandwich. Some lady from Michigan was trying to turn into the McDonald's in Versailles and couldn't figure out where the entrance was, so instead of stopping at the red light, she rammed into Christopher while he was sitting there. There was damage to the front and back, and Christopher left with very bad whiplash, which he's still being treated for. I guess with our wreck history, it's good that we've only had one injury, so we're counting it as a blessing in disguise.

Yoshi obtained a little more damage on Christopher's way to work one frigid January morning. He slid off of I-75 and hit a guard rail. That makes 6. Instead of claiming the damage on our insurance, we just upgraded to our Scion which we were planning on doing once we found out we were pregnant anyway. Yoshi just wasn't a good "family" car.

Today makes wreck number 7 and the fifth one in just over a year, although it was my first wreck in Bella (the Scion). Evey and I were on our way to visit with her Aunt, Uncle and cousin when it happened. Even though there's no damage to our car, and I'm okay, this was the worst wreck ever because Evey was in the car with me. Again, I was stopped at the Walden stoplight on Main Street heading into town and... whack! I got out of the car, glanced at the bumper as I ran around to check on my daughter. Evey - who was having a fit just moments before, was perfectly calm and content. I started sobbing with relief! Apparently, the driver's foot slipped off the brakes and that's all she wrote. I know the woman felt terrible... I apologized to her for being so emotional by explaining that I'd just had my baby and I was still hormonal and I just couldn't help it, but I was okay. She was so understanding of my breakdown as she was pregnant and just as hormonal. I gave her a big hug as I got back into my car and continued on to the Kilty household.

Calling the police didn't cross my mind. I was so relieved to see that Evey was okay and that her carseat had done its job. I was really, really stupid (blame it on "mom-brain") and didn't even get the lady's information. When I'd gone one more block and turned into the parking lot at Renee & Joel's, I tried to call Christopher.

Since he works in a kitchen, he doesn't always hear the phone ringing, so of course there was no answer. I tried calling my mom, but no luck. She was on home visits. I was standing over Evey's car seat, absolutely hysterical, when I tried calling Christopher again. Thank God, he heard the ring and answered the phone only to hear me crying "Evey and I got rear-ended!!" He was ready to close up shop and be at my side, but I was able to tell him we were okay and that he didn't need to come. I just needed someone to talk me down. Evey could sense how upset I was, so she started crying and I knew I needed to get it under control.

By the time I went into the house, my hysterics had gone down to a steady flow of tears and well-maintained breathing and after a few minutes, I was back to my normal self. I had my daughter in my arms, she was calm and acting normal and I had nothing to worry about. We laughed when they reminded me of the luck our family has with vehicles - especially in the last year!

All I can say is: You've GOT to be kidding me...

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