Meet BlueBert

After what seems like WAY too long and WAY too much irritation, I now have a car again.

Meet BlueBert, our new '08 Element:


In all of his 42 mile old glory (and that's after the 20 mile drive home):

It's beyond weird to drive a car that is so similar to what I'm used to, but has so many little changes.

A million thank you's to my parents (specifically mom) who let us use her Accord for an indefinite amount of time. They are wonderful beyond necessary and I don't know what I'd ever do without them.

Tomorrow the new E will haul its inaugural bike haul to the Cherry Creek Time Trial.

WOHOOOOOO!

Healthy Release? Hmmm?

Right now my husband, who I couldn't be happier to have home, is venting his pent up frustration by ramming a cyber-car in an XBox rally game until it is no longer recognizable as a car.

His poor little rally Ford Focus no longer has doors, bumpers, hood, windows, or much of a hatch.

From his sneaky little giggles, I think it is helping, somehow.

We haven't played this game in years... but I think he made a good choice.

We did the hateful task of car shopping yesterday in case the insurance company calls the E totaled in our favor tomorrow. Neither of us want a new car, but it's the best solution to the problem. Getting a new car is always fun though. Right?

I've had a fever for three days. It went away a bit today but seems to now have come back. Can the flu be stress induced? Seems to be ridiculously terrible timing.

Today my parents cheered up the outlook on life by bringing us an awesome new microwave! We've (mainly I've) always hated the microwave that came with the house. They happened to score a $700 microwave for less than a $100 today. It's awesome and the install will be complete very soon. It was a gesture that was by no means necessary, but greatly appreciated. A little bright spot after an absurdly crappy weekend (other than having hubby home safe and sound, and getting to relax and watch a lot of movies with him -- that part was great).

Tomorrow is another day...

Last update (hopefully)

As of 7:00 Chris is in the Springs. Next time you get an update, it should be from him (with pictures supposedly!).

YAY!

I'm off to get pizza and cake for his arrival. I can't wait to see him.

Update 3

Last I talked to Chris he'd made it almost back to I-25 in New Mexico.

He still has quite a drive in front of him, but the weather looks ok so hopefully the only obstacle is extreme boredom.

Today I managed to lock myself out of our house on my way to my uncle's funeral where I nearly passed out standing in the sun with my fever. Nice. If I don't lose my freaking mind by the time he gets home, the day will be a success.

(P.S. Adam, the bikes are in good shape luckily. Don't worry, that was the third or fourth question I asked him as well :))

Update 2

Talked to Chris this morning and he is heading home right now in the BoxTruck.

Jefe is still being kept for observation, but no word of surgery yet, thankfully. Chris had a similar spleen injury as a kid (rollerblading with some excessive speed -- we all should've learned then to keep him in a plastic bubble) -- so at least Chris can commiserate with his situation. They haven't let Jefe start drinking liquids yet, so being terribly uncomfortable and thirsty seems to be his status right now... hey, it's like racing the race anyway :) Someone is coming down from Colorado to keep him company and drive him back when he is released.

For now, Chris is starting the 10+ hour drive back in a giant Uhaul. While it's not his preferred method of transportation (by the way, THANK YOU to everyone that offered to help shuttle him back!!), but he wanted to take the quickest and least inconvenient method home and this seems to be it for now. I hope to see him before 10:00 tonight, but we'll see. He slept in a crappy chair in the hospital and says his only sore spot is near his shoulderblade. The reality of all of the implications of this accident seem to really be sinking in... i.e. good thing we have a cushioned savings account.

Got a few more details of the accident: tires blew off the rims, they landed rubber (uhh, I guess rim) side down thankfully, they were still able to open the doors to get out, back end took most of the damage, bottles and glass everywhere from the cooler, they couldn't locate the driver's side mirror anywhere.

I am so glad they both turned out as ok as they did.

As for me, if I keep the "What ifs..." out of my head, I do ok. I now have a raging fever and have to head off to my uncle's funeral this afternoon. I foresee a weekend filled with good food, an obscene amount of snuggling, and a lot of tears.

I can't believe the good people that we are lucky enough to be associated with. Thank you to everyone who left such nice comments and offered to go out of their way to help us. I appreciate it so much, and Chris will be so touched when he gets back to see all of the comments and emails. The biking community is an incredible group of people.

update

I just talked to Chris and he was finally eating some food and then was hoping to get some sleep somewhere. Jefe is still doing ok, they just keep checking him and making sure it's not getting worse. Best case scenario looks like they'll need to keep an eye on him for a few days and then he'll have to be really cautious for a while. If that's the case, family or friends will be picking Jefe up and taking him back, and Chris will piddle home in the BoxTruck some time in the next day or two. Chris still insists he feels fine, so that's good.

Must sleep now. Tylenol PM is kicking in...

...

Everything is ok.

Everything is ok.

Repeat that five times and then keep reading.

Chris called me at lunch today and told me that, at some point early this morning, as he and Jefe were driving down to Arizona for the AZT300, Jefe fell asleep at the wheel and rolled the Element.

I don't know a lot of details, but they are ok. Jefe is in the hospital getting his spleen checked out (and hopefully not removed, but is a possibility at this point), but Chris is totally fine supposedly.

Obviously the E is *probably* (I guess *hopefully* at this point) totaled. Most likely return back to Colorado will be in a Uhaul truck so as to get the bikes and gear back home.

I want nothing more than to be instantly transported there.

Anyone have a teleporter laying around??

I am freaking out being so far away and not being able to help or even give him a hug. But I can't be thankful enough that he is ok (that they are both ok). And that he is currently stationary, sleeping at the hospital (while waiting for Jefe), and I don't need to worry about him tonight. I hope to see him incredibly soon as I don't think I can handle being alone with my thoughts for too long.

I love my Chris with every ounce of my being. I'm sorry he'll miss his much anticipated race. I'm sorry for all of the annoyances that will follow in the next few weeks. But THANK GOD he's ok.

Stiff drink anyone?

Pan included?

Today we bought what looked like an unbelievably delicious new dessert:

We always enjoy Ms. Betty Crocker; we never say no to anything with Heath bar in it; and it looks like so type of brownie-ish dessert... something else we quite enjoy. Sooooo, we got it. But look closely at the box -- the PAN is INCLUDED. My first thought upon seeing that when I got home was -- wow, how did they fold up a 9x9 pan into a brownie mix sized box? I got all excited to see it and then opened the box. I saw a tiiiiiiiiiiiny little pan and tiiiiiiiiiiiiny ingredients. I'm sure it'll taste delicious, but for costing as much as a cake and totaling the size of a slice of cake, I feel a bit ripped off. Sad.

I'll let you know if it's worth it.

On a different note, Chris and the RATM boys rode in the Haystack Team Time Trial yesterday in Boulder. It looked like a blast and I wanted to do it, but unfortunately couldn't get the girls rallied in time. Instead I played photographer, and wheel sherpa for some random guy who got a flat on his warm-up. I was happy to be able to help him out, afterall, you never know when you'll need a similar favor. Here are some pics from the day. The first two are the only ones that turned out decent of our team, the rest are random teams that I played the "adjust the shutter speed" game with. Some turned out really cool I think.






Here's to another week and another vacation picture.

P.S: Another reason I love my hubby... today we jointly and giddily decided to plan our entire dinner around wine and biscuits. YUM.

Who knew I had the ability to (sorta) meet a goal?

Especially one made out of anger.

Some explanation:

Last year at this time I was dealing with a super crappy situation at my school where, after getting nothing but praise from the higher ups, was faced (along with many others) with a non-renewed contract and a district that decided I was no longer a good candidate to teach in the ghetto.

I was upset.

To say the least.

I remember that in my ticked off rambling I, more than a few times, made the claim that I'd find a better job, be extremely happy, and win teacher of the year as a little F-U to the district.

Yesterday I went into work and found out I was nominated (wasn't alone in being nominated from my school and didn't win, but that's ok because I still got a certificate and that's all that really matters) for Mile High Teacher of the Year.

That's a good enough FU for me :D

I'm satisfied.

Thank you Captain Obvious sign...

A report on the rest of our delightfully wonderful SPRING BREAK 2008! trip will come eventually but for now here's a photo from our 12 hour drive from Fruita to Denver on Monday due to I-70 being shut down for hours and us being stranded in Eagle for 8 hours.

Shhhweeeet.

I love vacation but it's good to be home.