Better to Laugh

There are some things you want to forget, and this holiday week there have been plenty of events that I hope fade quickly from my middle-aged brain. 

12/23  On the way to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas and bring back Terry’s mom to spend the week with us, we were rear-ended on I-94 on the north side of Chicago.  Traffic had slowed to 15-20 miles per hour, but the car behind us hit our Pathfinder going about 50 miles per hour, catapulting us forward and knocking the spare tire out from under our vehicle.  Terry saw it coming in the rearview mirror, but by the time he could say, “He is going to hit us,” BOOM, we were hit.  Terry was sitting up, but I was leaning forward, so I hit the head rest hard enough that the front of my face hurt. 

The police officer had us pull off of the highway at the next exit and go to a shopping center parking lot to fill out a report.  As we went through the parking lot, a car started backing out.  Terry honked his horn, but the guy kept backing.  We had to stop hard so that he wouldn’t hit us.  “Do we have a sign on us that says ‘Hit Me’?” I asked in exasperation.

Needless to say, we turned around and headed back home to assess the damages.  I thought I would feel a lot worse the next day, but I only had some muscle tightness in the neck, shoulders, and back.

My sister-in-law’s grandmother passed away this day, also.

12/24-25  Celebrating Christmas with friends and family was the highlight of the week.  We made some new friends Christmas Eve and celebrated Gavin’s first Christmas on Christmas Day.

12/26-28  Sunday started out fine, went for a great run and ate dinner at Miranda and Kyle’s.  We brought Gavin back home with us, along with my niece and nephew, because they didn’t want to go to their great-grandma’s funeral.  It was supposed to be a couple of days of great fun with the kids.  At about 3 a.m. on the 27th, I started getting sick out of both ends.  About an hour later, Terry started in; what can I say, we do everything together.  Gavin woke up about 5 a.m.  We had him on the bed as we took turns running to the bathroom.   We had to wave the white flag and have Gavin’s dad come get him, and my niece and nephew left a few hours after that.  What a bummer!  Terry and I were so sick the rest of the day; even after the explosions stopped, we were achy and wiped out.  I lost 5 pounds in 24 hours.  I don’t feel so great yet today, but much better than yesterday.

I keep telling myself that New Year’s eve is going to be a blast.  As long as it isn’t the same blast we had after Christmas.