In hindsight, Aaron and I probably should have gone to his work Christmas Party on Friday night. It's the reason we shipped Violet off to a sleepover at Grandma's. We disappointed a great many of Aaron's colleagues by not showing up. I'm sure some bets were won and lost, since I have managed to avoid ALL employee functions since Aaron took this job nearly 5 years ago. I have retained my enigma status, but at a price.
My husband jokes/laments about his semi-charmed life. He is the guy who wins $1000 in the lottery one day, only to wreck his car the next. So, it is no surprise to me that his Aunt would be sent to Hospice and given a month and a half to live. You see, in a month and a half my husband has vacation time. Violet's birthday is in July. It's family tradition to *vacation at this time. This summer, Aaron's time off is doubly important because my sister, her children, her husband and our mother are coming to celebrate Violet's birthday. I lack the mental and emotional stamina necessary to withstand my mother and my brother-in-law. My sister and her two kids are fine, but the other two bring on waves nausea and fits of rage respectively. I need my husband to be here. Aaron is less than enthusiastic about seeing my mother again, given what she put him through last time. Months ago, I told him nothing short of a funeral could get him out of helping me manage Deb and dammit he just might get one!
*We don't actually leave our house when we are on vacation, but we do fantasize about going to Disney World.
Well, a picture says a thousand words. This picture also says $1000. The mini-van hit Aaron's car and then Aaron's car hit mine. The driver of the mini-van was uninsured and drunk and an illegal alien. It was a perp’ trifecta! The second criminal in all this is our insurance company. We have to pay the deductible on both of our cars, because technically we are filing two claims. The insurance adjuster actually said that this is something that never happens, hence the unfairness of the deductible/claim situation. It’s okay though, the check for totaling out the Kia will cover the cost of the deductible on the Malibu. Semi-charmed is the Heathen Family.
Violet was in the bath when the crash happened and surveyed the scene with a slightly confused look on her face. She said, “Oh, no”, several times and then waved “bye bye” to the cars before I put her to bed. I think we handled it pretty well. In fact, I’m rather impressed with how well we controlled our emotions in front of Violet. In the end, Aaron and I benefited more from that than Violet. We were so focused on not-freaking out that we forgot to freak out! I'm sure that will come later. Weeks from now I'll wake up in a cold sweat and look out the window to see if it's really true.
