Walking and Free Falling

There's something to be said for a 50+ degree day in January...in the Poconos. And this is what I will say... freakin' great.

As some of you already know, this was not exactly a fun-filled week for me. A business meeting with a dinner after turned into a smashed car and not having a real meal for almost twenty-four hours. Throw in the dog having a tumor removed the next morning and you find me ten at night lining up a rental car and trying to decompress.

Special thanks for my friends and co-workers who called AAA, the body shop and took pictures as I tried not to pass out from stress, hunger and the cold. Things pretty much worked out with the car, the dog is finally adjusting to the cone on her head, and the week ended with taking my mother to the oncologist. Almost four years since her diagnosis, everything is still looking good.

Not as happy about the damage to the car. Before they even start it's over $6000 in damage and will probably be another three weeks with me driving a mini-van. And here I was looking forward to driving an all-wheel drive car during the winter.

So after this I-have-no-idea-what-my-blood-pressure-reading-might be kind of week, it was a nice change to be able to clear my head during a three-mile walk. While the snow is still beautiful, it's no longer the pristine blanket it was two weeks ago. The melting snow has the small streams making small talk and the deer, while still in their winter herds, are no longer walking in file.

Plugged in the iPhone, hit shuffle and turned my face to the sun. A couple of songs in, I realized the lake was really quiet. Most weekenders aren't up during the winter, and the full-timers seemed to be having a lazy day. I started singing along with Tom Petty's "Free Falling," though not quite as exuberantly as Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, but enough to make me glad it was winter and I was alone with nature.

It's been a while since the weather and time has cooperated to give me my 45 minute therapy session, this was the perfect week to be so lucky.

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Mini Van and Cone Head

Well, let's just say the new year is not quite the barrel of monkeys I had hoped it would be. Ok, so I really didn't want it to be a barrel of monkeys, I'm actually not a fan of monkeys...whatever.

In April, I did a few posts about the need for a new car, the search for a new car and finally the purchase (yay) of a new car. It was lovely, even has heated seats, which are just wonderful. Well today that new car sits in a body shop waiting for someone to replace various pieces of her once pristine body.

The story goes like this. Had a business meeting last night and when I came out, my car was not quite in the condition I had seen it three hours earlier. It seems a woman had a flat/blowout, lost control of her car and smacked into mine. I haven't seen the accident report yet, but she must have been turning off the main road onto this side street where there probably wasn't ANY OTHER CAR PARKED, and with all this empty space all around...bam, right into the Subaru. What are the odds on that?

Back bumper, quarter panel, wheel, tire and side mirror...smashed. For the life of me I can't understand how neither the front or back doors weren't hit, but the side view mirror was demolished. And did I happen to mention the dog was scheduled for surgery this morning at nine? Oh yeah, there's that.

It's now nine at night and there's all the phone calls to make. Arrange for the car in the morning...they would pick me up but since they were closed already my insurance company recommended I go there in the morning to be sure I got the car in time to take the dog. Still with me? Closest one is in the next town about a mile and a half away. So the morning started off with a nice walk to get a ride. My choices, a Fiat which I could fit in my purse, a couple of compacts and a mini van. God help me, but I need the room. We have a big dog and a lot of stuff which gets transported back and forth from the weekend house.

I took the mini van.

You get no respect when you drive a mini van. You can actually feel people giving the "ha, you're driving a mini van" look. It does however have a good stereo system. It does not however, do anything for my image.

Got the dog to the vet, surgery went well and as you can see in the picture, she is looking quite spiffy in her headgear.

Better than I look in a mini van. It's gonna be a long couple of weeks.