More packing tonight. I actually threw out something that was very difficult for me to throw away. I’ve already written about how hard it is for me to throw some stuff away.

This item was something I made for my mom and dad way back when I was in elementary school. Maybe grade 2 or grade 3. I can still remember making it while sitting at my desk in the classroom.

It was a Christmas craft and we were making wreaths to hang on our door. We actually used ours for a long time, but for the past 10 years (at least) it has been in storage.

The tidbit you are missing is that it was made of a rounded out coat hanger, and strip of green plastic garbage bag tied to it. Tie on some ribbon and glittery pine cones, and you have the Christmas wreath that I made 20 some odd years ago.

Yes it was ugly. Yes I wanted to keep it. Yes I got rid of it. I hope some day my kids will make something that special to them.

We had a glorious day today and I really mean that. It started off with Beet sleeping in until 7. That may not seem like sleeping in to a lot of people, but not being woken before 7 is great to me.

I got up with Beet and we had a pretty lazy morning. She had breakfast and I had coffee, then we played for a bit. I actually got to read my book while she played. It was great. Sprout slept in until 9. Well, sort of. I went up to his room at 9 and he was wide awake and very chipper but he was ok with being in his crib.

The whole lounged for a bit, watched some tv, I drank more coffee, Sox cleaned the kitched, then Sox made waffles and sausages for breakfast. Mmmmm.

After breakfast Sprout watched more tv, I read some more, Beet had a nap. What a relaxing morning. Once Beet was up from her nap we all loaded into the car and headed to Beaver lake to take Yoshi for a walk and to play at the playground.

I took Beet and Yoshi for the walk, Sox and Sprout stayed at the playground. After we were done there we got back in the car and headed to Starbucks for a snack and some drink to warm up with. On the way home from that Beet fell asleep again, so after letting Sprout and Sox out of the car I sat there are read my book some more.

Dinner came and went, baths were done, the kids were put into bed, then Sox and I got some packing done.

The whole day was relaxing, enjoyable, and in the end it actually felt like I accomplished some good.

One thing I hate about winter is getting up while it is dark.

I’ve been experiencing winter mornings early this year. Beet has been getting up extra early recently this week, and I’ve been having to turn on the lights downstairs. Yikes. I am not ready for winter just yet. Getting up while it is dark is just hard for me, even with coffee. 🙁

Friday Sox got the call from PreTech Collision that our car was ready. PreTech came recommended from the Honda dealership, so we took our car there to get the body work done.

I realized after the fact that I never took any pictures of the damage done to our car, but the fixed up car is looking good. It seems to be in better shape than when we got the car, which is just fine in my book.

The best part? They completely cleaned the interior which included a carpet shampoo. Sure the car stinks of cleaner, but at least we know it is clean.

I met Sox down there after riding in from Oak Bay on my bike. The Enterprise car rental people drove Sox, Sprout, and Beet down there and I was there to help do the transfer of car seats to our car. One funny thing was that Sprout didn’t want to get out of his seat. He wanted to just sit there eating his crackers. After giving him ample warning that his seat was coming out, I did it. But I left him strapped in it as I removed it from the rental. He thought that was funny, and I thought it was a fair compromise.

Yesterday after the parade was a very scary time. Sox and J left with the girls to go feed them in the car. T and I had the boys and watched the parade a little longer. We started the walk back to the car, and when it was visible, I saw J and Sox standing at the side of the road. J was walking towards T and I with a strange look on her face. Sox was getting Beet into her carseat.

When J was close enough, she said they had been in an accident. They were rear ended while nursing the girls.

My stomach instantly dropped. J said they were OK, but I picked up the pace and caught up to Sox. She was shaken, and I was pretty scared. I gave her a big hug to reassure her, and to make me feel better too. I was pretty worried about her, and for Beet too. The drivers involved were all exchanging information, so I helped with that.

After a couple moments, we could hear an ambulance siren. Sure enough the ambulance was for us, but noone knew who called it in. The crew got out and ensured everyone was fine. Once they determined there were no injuries, they went on their way. As they were leaving a police car showed up, and a firetruck, both with lights and sirens going. The firemen wanted to make sure the scene was safe, and that no cars were on fire nor leaking anything flammable. The police took statements from everyone, and helped figure everything out. I am glad that they arrived because that reassured me and seemed to calm everyone down. Also, with their police report on file, we no longer need to keep track of anyones information. Through it all though, the boys were very patient, and the girls uttered not a peep.

Sox and J were not buckled at the time they were hit. Sox was feeling a little sore yesterday so she headed to a clinic to get herself and Beet examined. I am extremely happy that they are fine. The car is a little banged up, and now we need to start dealing with ICBC to get it fixed. There is a bunch of damage to the drivers side rear quarter panel, the rear bumper, the rear door, potentially the rear tire, and the front bumper too (our car was pushed into the one in front of us). We have plans to head to Vancouver this weekend so hopefully we won’t be without a vehicle (although a close friend of ours offered her van for us to use).

Quite the saga. Imagine sitting in a parked vehicle at the side of the road and being rear ended. Scary. I am just glad that nobody in any of the four cars was hurt.