What a week!

This week has been a whirlwind.  Whirlwind usually means busy, and that’s totally true, but a whirlwind also implies a tornado. And tornado’s are bad.  My whirlwind this week was bad & busy! I’m going to skip over the medium stuff, share my need-a-hug moment and then finish up with the good. There is always good.  Even in a bad week, there’s always good. I am determined to focus on the good.

Monday evening I was driving to our mechanic for Dave’s car.  He was driving from work, me from home (hmmmm, which is also work LOL!) and my way took me through construction.  Lanes here in Germany are already narrow, but in construction they are dangerously narrow.  Luckily I was going slow, and very focused on the road in front of me.  The guy in front of me, not the guy driving in front of me, but the guy in front of me driving AT me, was not so focused.

He was so not focused he was in my lane! Coming head-on to me & Tess & Dane!  It was only a split second, not even a full second, and yet my mind raced. I had more thoughts in that split second than I have most days… and I have a very busy & active mind and imagination.

Other Guy veered at the very last possible moment, but only enough to avoid the head-on.  He still collided with my beautiful bus, my Veronica. His initial impact was right behind me. Right where Dane was sitting.  My heart stopped.  The crash was so loud. I knew Dane was squished. A bloody, lifeless mess. In that moment time stood still and my life was over.  In slow motion the crash continued. Other Guy’s car sliding along mine in a horrific screeching. My heart pounding loud enough to almost drown out all that metal being scraped and banged.  Then everything stopped. The noise. The world. Everything.

Thank God for Tess!  She touched me. She reassured me.  We were all okay. I was okay. Tess was okay. Dane was fine.  Dane was so fine he never noticed the crash. He only felt  me braking and swerving. He completely missed the accident. The crash. The noise.  My body let go. All that adrenaline flooded into the tips of my toes, my fingers, my faces. I trembled. Shook. Cried.

I got both kids out, over the construction barriers and to safety. I got my orange safety vest on. I put up my flares, shaking and crying, my head spinning like the exorcist to oncoming traffic, my kids, traffic, my kids, and again.  Then I climbed the construction barrier and stood with a child under each arm until Tess prodded me to call 112 (911 in Europe).  I could barely hold my phone with shaking hands.  Dialing three little numbers was near impossible, but I managed.  What I could not manage was speaking legibly. Not in German. Not in English. Not in Dutch.

Thankfully someone finally stopped.  Someone saw me lose control of my body, my being.  I thrust my phone at her, letting go before she had it, but she wasn’t shaken, she wasn’t emotional, she caught it, completed the call. Reported our accident. That angel was an off-duty police officer.  On-duty even in her free time. Stopping to help me, when really, we were all fine. The what-if’s had gotten the better of me, not the accident, and still she stopped and helped me. Helped me call 112. Helped me calm down.  She was a stranger, but an instant friend to hold my hand and reassure me.

She was not a witness, she pulled up after the accident, after we were safe.  And she left as the on-duty police drove up to take our accident report.  Here in Germany, it is an immediate thing.  I pulled Veronica off the road, onto an empty parking lot, behind the Other Guy. The police took statements, and pictures. The Other Guy took full responsibility and apologized profusely.  Thankfully he too was okay.  Sadly his beautiful two-month-old car was more crumpled than mine.  Despite my scare, my heart sank for him.  I saw how proud he was off his car.  His first brandnew car.  I know insurance will fix his car, but it is still not the same.

Our Veronica will be fixed as well. I’ve already had the estimate.  Body repairs are expensive here. Paint is even more expensive. Veronica is old, but a tank. A steel-bodied wonder.  Her repairs will cost more than her market value.  Thankfully insurance, Other Guys insurance, will cover up to 30% over her worth.  I cannot tell you my relief that my baby will be fixed.  She has taken me on my adventures, and she will take me on many more.

My poor Veronica

The other guy looks worse… and it was only two months old

In the meantime, Pokemon Go has been released.  Tess & Dane were beyond excited to play, and it meant a video game, but a video game played outside (on smartphones, or ipads) with lots & lots of walking.  I’ve become a little too chair-bound, and I do love gaming. I am a dork. A nerd. A gamer. I was in. We spent a couple of hours Saturday night and all of Sunday catching Pokemon around the Black Forest.

We walked so much I hatched 5 eggs (on top of catching wild Pokemon, you can also hatch them from eggs by walking 2 km, 5 km or 10 km).  Including one 10 km egg!  I walked over 10 km’s in one weekend. Actually, I’ve walked over 20 km’s this week, hatching over 10 eggs!  This is up from 0 km the previous week.

My other kids, over in the states, are playing too. Christian was the first to reach Level 5 and he picked the blue team, or team Mystic. We are all blue!  There has been furious messaging, bragging, one-upping, laughing, groaning and facetiming going on.  My boys cannot believe their old mother is WINNING at Pokemon! This has got to be the best game ever.

See, I told you, in a terrible week, there is good. There is always something positive. I am determined to see the bright side of everything.

Catching one of my first Pidgey’s at the Peter and Paul church in beautiful Weil der Stadt

Showing off my newly-evolved Evee to Soren in Texas. He’s very, very jealous.

Just bragging. I’m a higher level than my kids, in a game, for the First. Time. Ever.

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