2008 Musings on Tortie Tuesday-Wordy Wednesday

Happy New Year to our dear friends. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your concern about our dropping out of the blogosphere for a couple of weeks.
I had hoped to post more photos from our Christmas travels, but that seems so long ago now. If you look closely at my neck in this photo of me on our deck, you can see something pink. Yes, I am sporting a collar. Mom gave us both collars and heart name tags for traveling, and we have kept them on! Mom had given up on collars for us years ago because we ALWAYS managed to take them off. I decided that this one was rather pretty, though it does make my neck itch.

Mom has been thinking very hard about her life, and on New Year's Day she decided to climb our local Bull Run Mountain and sit atop the rocks and be inspired by the view and fresh air.

She went alone and sat on the rocks until the cold wind finally got to her.

She even managed to use the camera timer and took a self-portrait. Anyway, she thought about things that have happened to her recently, but she also thought about all the wonderful things for which she can be thankful. This beautiful natural world nurtures her spirit. She has a good job and is financially secure. She has family and friends that love her. She is in good health and can hardly believe that she will be 50 in March. She decided that she will focus on these great things in 2008, take some risks, and try to live life more fully. One consequence of that may be that we will probably blog less as she tries to connect with people she can meet locally. (Drat! We have fewer than 10 posts to get to #300!)

Unfortunately, life sometimes throws us a curve ball! Despite her more positive thoughts, Mom had a serious car accident on Friday, January 4 that tested her resolve. BUT NO INJURIES! The airbag did what it was supposed to do.

Do you remember when she bought her Prius back in August? Here's a picture of her car now. She was driving home from work, had the right of way on a road, and a guy who had stopped at a stop sign, pulled out directly in front of her to make a left turn. Mom's thoughts when she knew she was going to crash were, "OMG, my NEW CAR is going to get SMASHED!"

Of course, she should have been thinking, "OMG, I could be seriously injured or killed!" The people in the other car were uninjured also, and the driver was only 19. He said that he never saw Mom's car. He was cited by the police. The accident caused a major traffic jam and firetrucks, an ambulance, and police all responded. Mom dismissed the offer to be taken to the hospital, but a police officer took her to a local police station where her best friend picked her up. She felt very alone when the accident occurred, but she was glad that her friend was at home.

Mom hasn't heard for sure yet, but her beloved new car is probably totalled. It was four months old and had 4300 miles on it.

Meanwhile, Mom is driving a fairly nice 2007 Nissan Altima rental car. It's only fairly nice because the interior smells--not quite as bad as the smelly car from Seinfeld, but smelly nonetheless. She thinks someone must have smoked in the car, then someone sprayed a nasty "air freshener" to try to mask the odor.

So, that's what's been going on. Remember that we love you all and that even if we don't post or comment, Mom will pop in on your blogs to see what's new. Thank you, Latte and DaisyMae for the undeserved awards. You are wonderful friends. And we hope that Latte and his Meowmy are feeling better.

Love,

~Bathsheba