We got a message from our car insurance agent that said that the other driver was found to be at fault, so they will attempt to retrieve the cost of repairs (plus our deductible) from the other guy’s insurance company. I hope it works out… that money could be put to better use.
I went to pick up Nathan at work this afternoon because it was raining pretty hard. Due to a traffic jam to access the freeway, I decided to take Central all the way downtown. It was crazy how much rain there was. Cental Avenue was like a river. You could only drive in the center most lanes or else you were at risk of getting flooded. I saw at least 2 stalled vehicles that attempted to make it through the deepest parts. It looked like even some of the buses stopped running momentarily due to the heavy rain. There was one person driving a large SUV that went barreling down Central (in the deep water) and sprayed water on everyone. When they passed me, the spray was so thick that I couldn’t see through the windsheild for a few seconds, even with my wipers going full blast. All I could do was keep the wheel straight and slow down so the SUV passed me quicker. That was not fun.
On the plus side, all the rain we’ve been having has made my zinnias and dahlias absolutely gorgeous in the backyard! Yippee! I think I’ll cut some tomorrow morning to keep in the house this week. I love having fresh flowers.
We went to Clovis for a couple days to visit some relatives. Ate an abundance of food, played some miniature golf, drank lots of soda, hung out and had a jolly good time. I wish it lasted longer. On the drive back, we got caught in a traffic jam on I-40 that was due to the freeway being closed from a fatal accident. Instead of waiting, we turned around, backtracked a little, then managed to take a round-about sort of detour. It probably saved us a few hours of sitting in traffic, and it was scenic too. I was glad for the detour because Sean was starting to get really tired of sitting in the car, and started getting very whiny. We managed to make it home before he had a meltdown.
We took a one day camping trip to Jemez for our birthday. It was a rainy day when we were there yesterday, but only about 45 minutes of it was an actual thunderstorm. We had plenty of time to drive around the area and look around before setting up camp. We took a side road from Jemez Springs (F.R. 485) that went to the west and passed by the Gilman tunnels. We continued on this road and eventually found a nice secluded campsite off the dirt road. I had originally thought that we might set up camp at one of the “developed” camp sites, but this turned out to be WAY better. No one else was around, so it was very cool. Speaking of cool, we forgot our jackets and didn’t have sleeping bags (only blankets), so it was very cold during the night and in the morning, especially after the rain. Nathan said he could see his breath. I didn’t realize that we would be up so high in elevation (only today did I notice there were aspens around us), otherwise, I would have taken better precautions against the cold. This was the first time we’ve gone camping together, and Sean’s first time ever. It went well and we had a lot of fun. We stopped a couple times to wade in the little creek (Jemez River?) nearby. The water was cold, but bearable. Sean fell in both times. A fun time was had by all, although Nathan and I didn’t get much sleep… we’re too spoiled by our memory foam matress pad, I guess. 🙂 Must remember to bring air mattress next time. Check out my Flickr page for pictures.
Nathan AND my birthday is on the 24th. I had planned on getting him a cd from Amazon.com, so I added it to my shopping cart a while back, but hadn’t purchased it yet. I got an IM form him yesterday saying that he added some things to the shopping cart for me and that if I agreed with the selections, I could complete the transaction. So he got to see what I was getting him, and I got to see what he was getting me. 🙂 Now, some of you may think that this method isn’t very romantic or surprising, but we always like what we get. Matter of fact, we keep a wish list available to each other to view online so we always know what to buy. It’s a great system.
Nathan already beat me to it about posting this stuff, but here it be again… Sean had not only his first nosebleed yesterday, but his first 3. Ay-yay-yay, the stain removal!!! He had the first one while he and I were walking around Target. All of a sudden, I looked down and there was blood all over his hands and arm. Then it started dripping onto the floor before I realized it was coming from his nose. I scrambled to find some tissues in me bag while he continued to drip blood. 4 Target employees were right next to us restocking shelves and just watching. Thanks alot! I found the tissues, cleaned up sean’s face, cleaned up their floor, and carried him away to the bathroom. Only after all that did one of the employees say, “he okay?”.
After eating our weight in Taco Bell, we decided to go for a walk in the foothills area at the end of Copper Blvd. Funky yellow gnats all over, unless you walk pretty fast. We didn’t get very far before Sean had another nose bleed. Of course, no tissues to be had. We took off his shirt and used it instead. It already had blood stains from earlier, so why not? We probably looked suspicious holding a small child with no shirt on, rushing back to the car, with his bloodstained shirt up to his face. We passed some trail runners and one of them thought it might be the altitude. Not likely.
About the bugs… very annoying! The buzzing, the landing on my arms, the swatting… not the most enjoyable walk I’ve had up there. I wondered if the gnats actually bite, too. I didn’t notice any while we were there, but later, I had a couple on my arm and leg.
Anyways, we changed Sean’s shirt at the car in the foothills, and took him to a nearby park to play, since the gnats were annoying. Then when we arrived home, he had his 3rd nosebleed, and stained his other shirt. Anyone know of a good blood stain remover?
The repairs for the car will take another week. The estimate on the damage is over 1K, but thankfully, we only have to pay our deductible which is considerably less than a thousand. And we may get that money back if the other driver is found at fault. Also good is that my mom gave us her truck to use while she’s out of town, so we’ll only be without a car for 1 day before we can pick it up from the shop. It would have cost us a bunch if we had to rent a car because we don’t have the rental coverage. Isn’t it funny that no matter what comes along, our needs are met, and things work out okay? Praise God!
I took Sean to the Aquarium and Botanic Gardens yesterday morning. He’s still afraid of the butterflies. We went to the butterfly pavillion and he kept saying “mommy, hold you” which means “mommy, hold ME”. We saw the animals at the Heritage farm. There were 3 new pigs that I don’t remember seeing last time. They were very cute, and snorted a lot. Sean also keeps calling the cow a horse. The cow just kept looking at him as he said “hi horsey”.
We finally finished watching the Wiz. That movie is hard to sit through all at once! It made me tired. I usually love musicals, but that was a hard one to watch. I only remembered seeing some of it when i was little. Probably because I kept falling asleep!
We woke to the sound of thunder this morning. Then it started to rain, so I took Nathan to work. After dropping him off, Sean and I were involved in a minor accident. A truck merged into my lane and hit the driver side front door. No injuries, only cosmetic damage to the vehicles. The other driver was very kind. First thing he asked was if we were okay. Aside from a mild heart attack on my part, we were fine. Sean didn’t even notice. We waited a long while for the police and someone to bring information for the other driver (it was a company car, so he had to contact his “risk management” guy). Sean ate grahm crackers and drank water while we waited. The claim is made. It will cost us $250 for the deductibles for repairs. We’ll get reimbursed the amount if the other guy is found at fault.