It'd Be Easier to Just Stay Home

For the sake of my mom, as well as any one else who is  as visual a learner as I am, here are the "after" shots of the Durango while it sat sadly in the body shop impound yard.  I stopped by to check on it and to grab some stuff I left in the little cargo area in the trunk.  See how sad it looks?

Today, Genius Golfer and I were out enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, while the kids are enjoying their Cousins' Camp out at Mamacita's place this weekend.  Sadly, most of the county's residents were also out and about, and unfortunately GG had a tiny run in of his own.

This is enough for both of us for quite a while.  I think we'll just stay home from now on.  It is safer and less expensive that way.

That's a Lousy Start

Yesterday at 1 PM I dropped off The Girl and a friend at swim practice.  I drove off, leaving them at the pool for two hours of workout, and The Boy and were discussing where to pick up some lunch.  I stopped at the bottom of the hill at the stop sign.  Cross traffic was busy and whizzing by.  I waited.  I looked, back and forth.Waited some more, looked again.  1:05 PM.

I saw my shot to cross the street and pulled into the intersection.  WHAM!!!

I caught a silver streak pass in front of us, I heard the sprinkle of glass across my windshield and hood. Somehow I came to a stop in front of the first house just through the intersection.  I made sure The Boy was OK, and from the moment he assured me he was fine, I don't recall a lot until we got home.

I do know I spoke with a nice man who had seen the accident and called the police.  I talked to a young friend who followed us through the intersection (though he did it safely) after dropping off his sister at practice as well, and I know I spoke with the woman whom I hit.  Her '97 Nissan completely smashed in on the driver's side.  I also know I talked to the tow truck driver, who gave me his card, but I recall very few details.  I do know I was shaking like I had the shivers.

The kind woman I hit had her daughter come pick her up at the accident scene and ended up giving The Boy and I a ride home as well.  She was so kind, and so forgiving.  Come to find out, I do PTA work with her school--she is an assistant principal.  All the more embarrassing, and humiliating.  I cried out of frustration and anger at myself most of the way home...still shaking too.  After that, at home, I spoke on the phone with the insurance claims office.  And the repair process was begun.

What a lousy way to start the holiday weekend!  But, as I posted on Facebook this morning:

Wrecked Car? Very expensive
Failure to Yield ticket? Embarrassing at best
Sore back? Token payment for a momentary lapse
Safe son? Priceless

Here's to hoping the weekend, and the next few weeks, get better.  Can't get much worse.

Nothing!

After all the panic and media whipped freaks at Home Depot and the grocery store last night, we got some wind, but not even a skiff of snow.  What a let down!

Now it IS cold out there, but if it going to be this cold, it might as well snow.  It missed our little town, and most of those near us, from the sounds of it.

But my SIL Brenda reported that they had received 15 inches Sunday night, and got another 8 inches last night.  So they really are hunkering down, but we are going to bundle up and get The Boy a haircut, meet a friend for some photos and have a regular, though colder, day off of school.

Here's hoping the brunt of the storm filled the resorts with snow, that your travel is easy going as you head "over the river and through the woods" tomorrow, and you have more than one moment to pause and think about all that you have to be thankful for this week.

Hunkering Down

Maybe you have heard:  We have a BIG snow storm headed right for us.  All day long we have been hearing this warning.  Well, we are just outside the storm's path currently.  And people are freaking out!!

Really, people.  We've been warned for years to "be prepared".  What about all you former boy scouts?!  Isn't that the motto you followed?!  Come on! 

Even a couple of days with out power--should that happen--won't kill you.  It might make you really really uncomfortable, but with a little ingenuity and canned soup over your camp stove or outdoor grill you can stay alive.

I ran out earlier tonight to go pick up a pizza--because it sounded fun--and the grocery store parking lot os packed....apparently everyone was trying to get their Thanksgiving stuff all purchased before the storm got here.  But I am sure some panicky folks were also hanging out at Macey's.  One of the news channels was there stirring up that sense of panic, so it MUST be a deadly storm?!  Right!!

It isn't like this is a Hurricane Katrina situation.  It is a snow storm.  We live in the mountains, so this happens every winter.  This storm, however, just has some fantastic media attention, and it is making people crazy!

I'll let you know if we "survive"...so stay tuned for the next few days, just in case it goes bad.  Good crud, crazy people.

Whatever Happened to Unbiased Journalism?!

This is a link to an article that has been simmering in my head this past week.

http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/article/context-and-controversy-KUTV-handbook

Maybe because we live in the backyard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' headquarters, and the Church has a strong history and steady following here, we hear about Church related "news" on our regular news reports on TV.  That, in and of itself, is a little weird to me.  But it is what it is.

But I am getting awfully tired of hearing only about the supposed anti-gay agenda of the Church's leadership.  Or the slanted view that Church teachings are causing gay people to want to commit suicide. 

I am not saying that there are some young people, in particular, who identify themselves as gay who find the teachings of the Church uncomfortable.  But if they are reading the Bible at all, this anti-gay-behavior teaching is, or at least should be, across Christianity.  The Bible spells it out pretty plainly.  As it does for other issues like, oh, I don't know, adultery, or fornication--that is pre-marital sex, or even spousal and child abuse.  These are not issues solely reserved for Mormon leaders to preach about to their people.  All Christianity should be vocally opposed to them.

So why do we only hear the negative?  What about those folks who identify their same-sex attraction but choose not to act on it?  IS that frustrating?  I am sure it is.  But, I'd imagine, it is the same kind of frustration for them as it is for my darling single girl friends who choose to be celibate because they haven't found a decent man to marry and share that part of their life with yet.  Still, those virtuous and valiant women are going about their work, with school, careers, extended families and friends making a positive difference.  Sure they get frustrated.  But I haven't ever heard of one such woman who chose suicide over life, however frusted they are.

Why do news agencies rev up so much on this biased side of this issue, among others?  Do they sell more papers, air time, commercial endorsements?  People are already talking, so they needn't stir much up to make that happen.

I just thought--especially in light of this particular article--that there was not much real news in that particular event for anyone other than local church leadership.  It is a new handbook of instructions.  This was prepared to help us perform more efficiently in our callings, within our stewarships, and to become better disciples of Jesus Christ.  Yet, the media warp it to another anti-gay standoff, unrecognizable from what I saw sitting in the meeting myself.

It is just another point of frustration for me.  And I find myself less and less willing to put up with this kind of journalistic mismanagement.  Too bad they can't stick to telling the real news and not making the reporting of it a polarizing shot.

Video Sunday

Just a reminder....Thanksgiving is coming....and at least you don't have to have this guy at your house.  Be grateful!!