Reid and I were in a little fender bender today. We are both totally ok. I was driving through an intersection and a kid in his brand new car thought that he could beat me on a green light. Hit the breaks, hard, as soon as I saw him going for it, but it wasn't enough. Creamed right into him. So scary. I saw the whole front of the car explode (and by explode, I mean get smashed to bits). Reid was scared, but not hurt at all. No air bags went off, so that's another good thing. Did you know those things could break your nose? Sheesh... Anyways, turns out I had no clue what to do. I just sat there in shock for a few minutes (or maybe seconds) and then called Christien. He was in class and wasn't answering. So I called Christine. I knew if she didn't know what to do, then at least she could call Brian. She told me to call the cops and that she would come and meet us. Thank goodness for that. I didn't want to keep the car running. Who knows what was going on with it. And it was cold. I was outside for a couple of minutes and my hands were freezing. Got the police to come, and gave them a statement. Got him to deal with the exchange of information. NOBODY stopped. Well, I shouldn't say that. Nobody who saw the accident stuck around. One young girl stopped before I even had a chance to call the police, but she didn't see the accident. She just stopped to make sure everyone was ok. And then after I called the police another couple had pulled over. They saw the accident after it had happened from the other side of the road and turned around to make sure we were all ok. Had to wait for a tow. Thank god we could wait in the car with Christien, Cash and Chelsea. Yes, we threw three car seats in the back and they all fit in the Venza! Good news for Christine (no she's not onto number three, but one day....). I'm so grateful that she came to meet me. Helped to calm me down and keep my mind off the awfulness...On a positive note (I guess), when the cop gave me the information back, he informed me that it totally wasn't my fault and that he was giving this kid the ticket (I say kid because he was 16, driving his brand new 2012 Hyundai). And after I went through everything with the insurance company, they also informed me that it totally wasn't my fault and they even waived the deductible. And we got a rental car for free until the car is fixed (2012 VW Golf, total fluke), and we had to get a new car seat, but they are covering that for us as well. It's not an ideal situation, but it could have been worse. Way worse. I have to be grateful for how it turned out because nobody was hurt.
I almost feel bad for that kid. His dad showed up and he was so mad. He came over to me (the dad) when I was cleaning out the car and could barely get out what he was trying to say. He knew right off that it was his kids fault, and he was so glad that nobody was hurt, but you could tell how disappointed he was. I think seeing me take the stroller out of the back set him off into realizing that "holy crap, there was a kid in that car too". The poor kid was in tears when I went to his car to tell him that the cops were on their way and we'd exchange information when they got there.
And this was all at 9:25 this morning. Not exactly what I had in mind for my Friday. Christien had to leave school early. I didn't get a play date/coffee date in with Christine and Cash, and I'm not going on a fun wine tasting date with my husband tonite. I pray when I wake up tomorrow it'll just be a new day and we can start fresh. Hug everyone and make sure they know you love them. Always.
We had a wonderful Christmas with my folks this year. It was so much different then last year, with Reid being a bit more aware. I don't think that he really knew what was going on and why (except that he did know all about Santa - he was obsessed with the guy), but he did know that there was something different happening. He was a ball of excitement. From the time we put cookies and milk and our stockings out for Santa, to his wicked reaction when he woke up the next morning. It took us so long to open presents. About three hours. I think that it took us over an hour to get the stockings done. Reid didn't do much opening. He would get something and put it in his little cart and run it up and down the hallway. And then we'd open something else, and he'd usually do a double take (especially if it was a truck) and then get all excited about that. It was crazy fun. Lots of movies and toys and clothes. He got spoiled. 
First shot on Christmas morning...
Boxing day, we had our annual open house. And we had a really good turn out this year. It was nice to have everyone over during the holidays. We turned the basement into a playroom, and had Reid's new AC/DC video playing the whole time. The boys were all down there with the kids, while the girls hung out in the kitchen drinking wine, and the Langis' and the Desilets' hung out in the living room, chatting and catching up.
We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve again this year. Just the three of us. At home, making pizzas and watching some TV. We let Reid stay up a bit later and then Christien and I just hung out and had some drinks. We even made it to midnight this year. Party animals!
