All Shook Up

Yes, I'm All Shook Up, and not in the fun, Elvis Presley-ish way, but the oh-my-gosh-what-just-happened way. Friday did not go according to plan... no sirree.

The morning was crazily hectic, with 4 of us getting ready for my Grandma's funeral and me getting ready for my scrapbooking trip (did I print off enough pictures?) Just before 10:00, we left for the church (actually, we left to stop at the store to get pantyhose and then to go to the church). We decided to take separate cars, so that I could leave for my weekend right from the funeral luncheon. I drove the van with the kids, and Mark drove the itty bitty Saturn.

We stopped at the store and Mark ran in for the pantyhose. When we left the store, Mark went out of the parking lot one way and I went out another. I pulled into the left-turn lane at a major intersection and started to look around for Mark's car to see where he was. I honestly don't know what I was thinking, but I started to turn left while checking out where Mark's car was and a car coming toward me hit the front of my van. I would guess the car was going about 45 mph.

I didn't see it coming except for the last second before impact, and my airbag went off so quickly. When the van stopped moving, I quickly turned it off and checked the kids (who were both crying). They were physically fine, but scared. I got out of the van and waved to Mark's car (still stuck at the light), which was such a relief to him. He didn't actually see the accident happen, but saw that it was our van, and just about had a heart attack until he knew we were OK.

There were two women and a baby in the other car, and the baby and one of the women seemed to be fine. The other went off in an ambulance, but it seemed like it was just for observation or as a precaution (the ambulance flashers weren't even on).

My sisters came and took the kids to the church for us while Mark and I waited for the police officers and the tow truck. The whole front end of the van was crunched up and radiator fluid was pouring out onto the street. I was in shock - It took me about 20 minutes to notice that the temperature was really cold, and that I wasn't wearing my glasses (they had flown off my face when the airbag went off, I guess). Finally, the tow truck came and hauled our 9-month-old van away (sigh). And the officer gave me a citation for failing to yield the right of way. We drove to the church and made it to the funeral with 5 minutes to spare. Once we arrived, everyone was so relieved that I was OK. Incidentally, the funeral was very beautiful and special.

Today, 3 days later, I have a very swollen and bruised knee that hit the dashboard in the impact. I have a scrape going from my shoulder to my chest from the seatbelt. My hip bones are sore from the strain of the lapbelt during the crash. My right ankle is very swollen and tender (I'm guessing I sprained it on the gas pedal?) My ribcage is sore, and it hurts to breath deeply or laugh. Overall, it feels like I did some very strenuous exercise yesterday and I'm feeling out of shape. Thank God for seatbelts and airbags! The kids are just fine, thankfully. I'm so glad that we're all OK.

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[Mark and my mom insisted that I go on my scrapbooking weekend anyway, even though I felt like I should stay home. My parents lent Mark their van for the weekend (thank you so much!!) and I took the itty bitty Saturn to go and scrapbook. It was a nice weekend away, and I got 31 pages done (my record is 40 pages in a weekend, but 31 is not too shabby).]