What a week!

My, oh my! What a week. Sorry for the blogging hiatus. Out of town guests put the kibosh on my updates. It was a fun time but also some rough patches. Here’s the rundown:

Wednesday: I got rear-ended! I was sitting at a light outside work, minding my business when all of a sudden my car lurches forward and my head slams back against the head rest. “What just happened?” I thought to myself. “Did she…? Yes, I think that girl just ran into me.” And then I panicked. I managed to pull my car over into a gas station and luckily she followed me. My first inclination was to call the police but then I thought, “Well, if there’s no damage, do you still call?” We both got out, she claimed her foot slipped. BS! You were messin’ with your phone or your radio or something because I was stopped and you didn’t hit me as if you were slowing down for a red light and line of stopped traffic ahead of me. You hit me like you weren’t paying one bit of attention to your surroundings. Luckily, no damage. So, we exchange information. “Who’s your insurance through?” I ask, realizing she hasn’t written anything down. “The General.” She says. THE GENERAL! And all I could think of was the jingle. “I don’t have my card,” she mutters, “but these are both of my cell phone numbers.” I didn’t bother to ask why she had two cell phones. One for drug deals was my first guess. Later on down the road stopped at another light, I turn over my insurance card and clear as day it says, “What to do if you’re in an accident”. Oh, thank you, State Farm! This would have been helpful if all common sense hadn’t evaded me while writing down my information. Unbelievable! Then, I felt even worse about myself when reading the steps because I didn’t write down her license plate or the make and model. White, 4 doors, was all I could muster. I called my insurance agent and luckily, she said if there wasn’t any damage that she wouldn’t have called the cops either. Thanks, Bev! That made me feel better.

Later that night, after John had retrieved my mom from the airport. I burned my arm on a cookie sheet (injury #1). I tried not to let it get me down though. Our visitor had arrived and I was thisclose to vacation!

Thursday: I only had to work a half day (wheeee!) and so I hustled home to retrieve my mother, again, and headed north. Thus begins the driving portion of the weekend. 4 + hours later, we were in Willougby. We visited with folks up there and I choked down dinner. Maybe you don’t know that I don’t like peppers. Oh, but they’re sweet! People are always trying to tell me. If that’s your idea of sweet, please don’t feed me dessert. Dinner was stuffed peppers. I thought I did admirably eating more than ¾ of my pepper. Then, back to Amherst (more driving)

Friday: John and I went back to the Bee. (still more driving) with an outing to the Botanical Gardens first. This is where I was worried plans would fall apart, and I was right. We were promised a lunch out. When everyone was snacking on fruit and small bowls of soup during a brief storm I knew we were in trouble. I had been told lunch would be at a nearby restaurant but then the news was broken, “I think this IS lunch” my mom said. Oh for Pete’s sake! “I could have told you this would happen,” John says. Not helping. John and I weren’t very hungry having stopped for Liquid Planet (mmmm Elvis Chill) on the way out. So, no lunch for us, not even a mini lunch. After the gardens, there was craft time. We painted flower pots. John really had to man up for this girly day. His pot was beautiful though. It had a Mexican theme! Pictures to follow. Also, we got Chick-fil-a for a LATE lunch because we were starving by then. P.S. What has been completed thus far on the renovation of the Cleveland Museum of Art is fantastic! I can’t wait until 2012 when it’s all done. Then – more driving – back to Amherst.

Saturday: More driving! Back to Cleveland to the market for a Mother’s Day Observed outing I like to call Food, Flowers, FUN! And it was! We had breakfast, bought fruits and veggies and beaucoup plants. I’m replanting my herb garden. They are to henceforth be known as my Herb Babies. They are currently being babysat in Amherst but we’ll pick them up after Florida. I can’t wait! Dinner with my parents and the CAVS game. Then bed!

Sunday: Surprise, back to Willoughby to retrieve my mother yet again! Not much to report this day. We planted dahlias in our painted pots and then we got on the road. We stopped 4 times from Cleveland to Dayton. FOUR! Sometimes John and I don’t stop at all. I did not have this luxury. But, we got Cosi for dinner. That evening after having already tucked myself into bed, I had to go to the bathroom. When I go to bathroom at night I don’t turn on any lights. Not even the light in the bathroom. I feel it would disrupt John and Miss Sadie and also, it wakes me up more than I enjoy. Since I’m very accustomed to the bathroom path, this has never been a problem. On the way back to bed, I walked smack into the corner of my closet. Don’t worry, my head softened the blow and I now have a slight bruise above my left eyebrow. It hurt like the dickens! (injury #2)

Monday: last vacation day and MORE DRIVING! 45 minutes to the outlets where, they had nothing for me to purchase. I was looking for: shirts for work, casual capris and a large pebbled yellow leather bag. The bag wasn’t really going to be purchased but I’m still on the hunt. Sad to say, I came home empty handed. Guess I’ll save my moneys for next week. For dessert I made Pumpkin Angel Food Cake. Somehow, I got my fingers stuck in the hand mixer! I never touch the beaters when it’s plugged in but I must have been moving it when my hand slipped and it turned on. Imagine your finger being beaten! The beaters stop moving but they press your finger into the most unnatural position. “Oh my God!” John yells, as I try to free my appendage. The eject button was stuck. “Oh no!” He screams. “You’re not helping.” I responded. Finally I got the eject button to work and he pulled the beaters out. The skin didn’t break and it’s only a bit stiff today. (injury #3)

Tuesday: Driving to the airport early morning! Wheee! My mom’s flight was delayed and she ended up spending 4 hours at the Dayton Airport. Yikes! I felt really badly but what can you do. Tonight I’m zumba-ing and putting the house back in order.

To sum up – driving, driving, hurt self, driving, do mother’s day things, driving, hurt self again, drive drive drive, skip days of working out, drive, save money, hurt self, drive.

Only 9 days until FLORIDA SUN!