Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Feeling very uptown

Last Monday J-man and I were on our way to speech therapy.
We had stopped at a light as one is supposed to do. As the light turned green, I heard a siren. I don't know what it was - it was LOUD. I'm beginning to think it was the intersection there that echoed.

Since it was so loud, I thought it was an ambulance or a first responding Fire truck. So I waited, since I could, to see where the emergency vehicle came from and then went - I didn't want to get t-boned by an ambulance.

That would make for bad publicity. "Idiot mom pulls out in front of Ambulance" would make a terrible headline.

When I realized it was a motorcycle officer (!?!) pulling a motorist over for (presumably) speeding. So I was about to head on my way when *SLAM* I was hit from behind.

My rear hatch was bent in and my bumper neatly folded up. It looks funny, really. No one was hurt - and her car was crumpled, too. It went far beyond a fender bender. I'm not sure what speed she was going and it was obvious she didn't hear the siren.

No one was hurt in either car. I felt so bad for her - she (the other driver) started crying. I heard her tell the officer that first responded (the motorcycle cop!) that she was on her way to a job interview.

He came to ask me what happened and make sure everyone was okay and wearing their seatbelts and I told him that "I'd heard a siren - which turned out to be you - so I waited to see and ..." well, I'd just told you the rest of that. I told him the same thing.

I'm praising God because she was insured!!
It's going to take over $3,000 to fix the van. That's money we don't have.
The uptown part comes in with the rental they gave us. Because a family of 6 must have someway to get around. We just must.

They gave us a brand new 2008 Nissan Armada!! I'm feeling very BIG in this thing. It is loaded but not that loaded. It has power windows and locks. Cruise control. CD Changer. Dual control A/C. The kids were disappointed at the "Not loaded" part - it doesn't have a DVD player installed. We were all hoping to have fun with that one.

It's got room enough for us all - but not for luggage (except on the luggage rack).

G-man took a tumble out of it because it's taller than we're all used to. He cried at me "The van is too tall! The Van is too tall!!" It's definitely a step up to get into the thing that's for sure.

I'm quite content with my brown mini-van, but I told the Professor it would seriously be easy to find myself coveting this marvel of modern technology. :-) Maybe someone will give us one. I get nervous when driving sometimes. It will hit me that "It's not mine and I could possibly have to pay for any damage!" So I pray over the thing - that it would be wrapped in supernatural bubble wrap. And I've only had it for a day. :-) We'll get to keep it until our van is fixed. In the meantime, we're feeling up town and very TALL in our rental SUV.

19 comments:

Halfmoon Girl said...

Oh, I was not expecting the part about the accident. Scary, but glad that no one was hurt.

Cool wheels Laundry Mama. I would love something like that, but don't want the price tag or the gas bills. Still... I would suit a sport utility more than a mini van...

Christa said...

Glad you all are enjoying it! And I'll rejoice with you when your van returns with all it's boo-boos fixed. :)

Monkey Giggles said...

enjoy the big ride !!!

Praise God for Protection

jugglingpaynes said...

Hello again, Comfy!
To answer your question, I always keep it light in the car. Things that they don't normally get to do in the house like books on CD or fun fact books/magazines. I highly recommend KidsDiscover magazine or anything in the Cricket magazine line.
Also, trivia games work great in the car. Check out Professor Noggin's card games. They have trivia sets on a variety of subjects and are a learn as you play game.
Too bad the rental doesn't have a DVD player. A friend of mine who carts her kids into Manhattan a few times per week thrives on educational DVD's. They do have portable players that are going down in price. Caveat, though, I've heard that the battery for the portables doesn't always last for the whole movie.
Peace and Laughter,
Cristina

Katie said...

I'm glad to hear no one was hurt. Enjoy your sweet rental ride!

Paula Vince said...

I actually gasped as I read what happened. So thankful nobody was hurt! Guess that's one speech therapy session you didn't make it to. And the other girl's job interview too! Oh boy, this is one case of sirens causing as much hassle as good.
Blessings,
Paula
PS Thanks for the email. It'll be cool

The Gang's Momma! said...

So glad you are all okay. I had to chuckle about the little one falling out of the SUV. Once at a community fair, my little girl fell out of a fire truck all the way down to the pavement. Boy, were those firemen upset! She was fine, just some little scrapes. But she steers clear of firetrucks now :)

Melanie said...

I'm so glad everyone was okay. Enjoy your ride!

Vicki said...

Hi! Wow, what a wild situation! So glad no one was hurt! Did the officer feel guilty?

I read your comment over at jugglingpaynes about third grade not being fun and thought I'd share one of the things I did last year to change it up a bit. For punctuation practice, my son played Punctuation Paintball @ http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=Paintball

I have quite a few other Fun Educational links on my blog that my son likes. His favorite is On the Rocks.

Ttyl,
Vicki (also HSB/MOMflippedisWOW)

Sharon Brumfield said...

Glad she was insured!
I used to feel my new truck was too tall until I got used to it.
Now I love to be above the rest of the cars. It is great at night when I don't have to be eye to eye with others lights.
I thank God for covering your rental in a supernatural bubble wrap. :)

KarenW said...

I'm so sorry about your accident but praising God no one was hurt. Have fun in the fancy uptown car!

Melanie said...

I have an award for you over at my blog. Come on over and get it.

Debbie said...

Oh my.......enjoy it!!!!! I use to have a Nissan Pathfinder, it's considerately smaller, but I loved it! The new ones are much larger....I have been poking around the Toyota 4runner lots................*sigh*

Mrs. Darling said...

OOps sorry about the accident but I have to agree that in spite of being gas hogs SUVS are very nice vehicles. We bought our Expediton back in '96 and we love it. I feel so safe in it. Another thing I like about the height is that on rainy days you sit above most of the road spray! Have you noticed that? It makes driving an all new experience.

Have fun. Maybe you'll end up trading your van in for an SUV before its all over! :)

Kelli said...

Woah, great reward. ;)

call*me*kate said...

Praise the Lord no one was hurt. Glad you at least got a "joy ride" out of it - enjoy the van while you can. Hope your brown van is fixed soon. Take care!

Kate

Unknown said...

Glad you weren't hurt Kind of fun having a shiney vehicle to drive for a while! I would just be thankful for a van. LOL we are a family of five (two in carseats) driving a small Mazda 626.

Halfmoon Girl said...

Just checking in as you have been quiet over here for a little bit. NOt that you don't have a lot of worthwhile things to keep you busy, but just wanted to make sure you were ok, and not suffering from horrible whiplash or something! Perhaps you are too busy being Hot Laundry Mama in your slick ride...

Dapoppins said...

Glad your all right. Poor girl...wonder if she lost the chance at the job.

Isn't Armada spanish for "Kill the Queen?"

And Thank God for insurance!