Whatever I Feel LikeGosh!

I’ve got a minute to write a bit more about what happened this morning. Man, what a day.

This morning Rob and I were on our way (in separate cars) to the car dealership to get my car serviced. We wanted to make sure it was in top shape for our trip to Virginia Beach. Oh, the irony. So I was stopped at a red light minding my business when all of the sudden - BOOM!! I was hit from behind by a car going a pretty high rate of speed, judging from the force of the impact. I yelled out, “WHAT THE FUCK?” and then my car was hit again. Both times caused me to hit a Dodge 2500 4×4 truck that was also stopped at the light in front of me. I’m not exactly sure how the second hit happened - possibly the car behind me hit and bounced back and then hit again. It’s funny to me that my first reaction was definitely anger. I was shocked and pissed. I kept saying, “Are you kidding me? What the hell?” and generally sat there in stunned disbelief for about 30 seconds.

It dawned on me that my CD player was still playing the Bob Newhart audio book I was listening to (shut up - he’s funny!), so I turned that off and began to check out my surroundings as I pulled my cell phone out to call Rob (he took another way) and 911. The driver from the car in front of me was the first out of his vehicle. He walked to the car behind me and then stopped at my car. I rolled down my window and he asked if I was okay. By this time the top of my neck and base of my skull was in pain and throbbing. I told him I was okay, but that my neck was really hurting. He told me the other driver said her brakes failed. I think my head hit the head rest and bounced a couple times, but I don’t have a clear recollection of that happening. Everything happened so fast and it was completely unexpected. I wasn’t looking in my rear view mirror, so I had no idea I was about to get hit.

Shortly after the first driver approached my car, the driver from behind came up to my car and asked if I was okay. She apologized and reiterated what the first driver said about her brakes failing. During this time, I was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher and she told me they would send an ambulance since I was in pain. I wasn’t sure I needed all that, but she said they should do it as a precautionary measure. We also noticed that the car behind me was smoking, so the driver of the truck moved up so I could do the same in case the car in the rear caught on fire. When I started my car, my engine made all sorts of protesting grinding noises. It was then that I realized the damage to my car was pretty extensive.

Rob and the cops showed up at the same time. By this time I was openly crying - both from pain and from the emotions of it all. I was pretty shaken up. I also noticed that my left shoulder was in a great deal of pain, too. The cops were very fast to take over the scene. One cop cradled the back of my head, not allowing me to move it. Rob took my purse and sunglasses for me over to his car. The next thing I knew, EMT workers were surrounding me, encasing my head in a neck brace and then moving me out of my car on a stretcher. It was all highly dramatic. I didn’t think I needed the intense level of treatment, but knew that my protestations at that point would not have mattered. They carried me onto the stretcher and wheeled me into the ambulance, almost going into traffic to do so. Someone asked the guy pushing me if he should stop traffic so we wouldn’t get hit. He answered that he had his vest on, so he was safe. Uh, hello? Not funny.

The ride to the hospital in the ambulance was surreal and dizzying. I don’t do well lying flat on my back normally - it can cause my head to spin pretty fast - and today was no exception. The EMT guy was able to prop me up slightly and that helped. Once at the hospital, I was taken to a private room and placed on a bed. They told me I needed to get undressed and into a hospital gown. I was like, “Are you kidding me?”, but was actually just relieved to not be taped and strapped down to the gurney any longer. Rob arrived just as I was getting changed, and I was so relieved to see him.

A host of hospital employees came in to take my information and vitals and the doctor ordered x-rays after doing a physical exam. The x-rays showed that my issue was muscular and I was free to go with orders to keep ice on both areas and with a prescription for 800 mg Motrin.

There’s other stuff, too, but this has taken me about 15 minutes to type up and I need to get going to pick up a rental car. I’ll try to come back later to write out the rest of the details - mostly so I’ll have a written record of everything.

Right now we don’t know the status of my car. I’m hoping they declare it totalled because there is so much they will need to repair. I’d also like to get a car that gets better gas mileage, so it would be sweet if this unfortunate incident afforded me that opportunity. We just need to wait and see for right now.

More later.

ETA: The lady who said her brakes failed? Yeah, not so much. The auto body shop where both of our cars were towed to said they tested her car and there was nothing wrong with the brakes at all. Oh well - it doesn’t matter to me so much because she’s at fault either way. Her insurance is already lined up to pay for my car repair and rental. (The car is not totalled.)

I got rear ended this morning. My car is in really bad shape. I was taken out of the car on a stretcher in a neck brace because my neck got whipped around good when I got hit. X-rays say that I’m okay - I’ll just be sore for a little while. What a freakin’ mess!!! More info later, have to continue making calls now.

Dear Spammy Commenters,

Please stop commenting on my blog just to get a link back to your site. If you’re not here because you’re genuinely interested in me and my life, that’s fine, but don’t leave meaningless comments to commemorate your visit. Just move along. I will not publish your spammy comment, and even if I did - this blog is no longer a “Do-Follow” blog, so you wouldn’t get any link juice from your inane comment anyway. And for those of you who think you’re clever and thereby exempt from this, I have news for you: you’re not nearly as clever as you think. Your comments suck, too.

I now have about 100 comments in moderation from the likes of all of you and it’s getting really old. Please do me and the rest of the blogosphere a favor and knock it the hell off.

Much love,

Amy

Well, the unthinkable (and some might say - inevitable) happened today: my company announced it is closing its doors January 4th, and I was laid off. Since I’m the Internet Marketing Manager, there really isn’t a big need for my position as they close up shop. Rob and my sister (yes, we all worked there!) will remain there until the end, helping them liquidate all of their supplies.

I’m remarkably okay with the events of the day. Sure, there is an underlying feeling of fear, but I’m concentrating on not focusing on that. I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire and I’m confident that I will land on my feet. Perhaps something even better will come along! I’ve got an impressive skill set and resume thanks to the last 8 years at this company, and any new company will be lucky to have me.

Some of the positives right now are that I’ll be able to be home with the kids on their holiday break, I’ll get to finally go visit my friend and her triplets that were born in September that I haven’t had a chance to see yet, I’ll be able to get to daytime meetings, I’ll be able to get some much-needed exercise and meditation time in, I’ll be able to decorate and wrap for Christmas without stressing over the lack of time to get it all done. I’m going to enjoy these last few weeks of December in the hopes that I’ll look back on this experience with fondness.

All that doesn’t mean I’m not filled with an overwhelming sadness, though. I am so sad. So sad. I loved my job. I loved my boss. I loved what I did. I loved my office. I loved the people I worked with every day. I loved the short commute. I loved the flexibility I was afforded. I loved all of it. Sure, there were rough days and there was a pervading sickness in the company’s high-level management, but I was able to get past all that because of my love for the day-to-day things. I will miss that job. Hopefully when I’ve moved on to my next career choice, though, I will realize that I should have left long ago and I won’t hardly miss it at all.

I’m remaining positive - for today, at least. There might very well be an entry here tomorrow where I’m freaking out. I’m told my emotions are going to be all over the map for the foreseeable future. I guess that’s your fair warning!

I went to the dentist today for my regular 6 month checkup. I was anxious to get in because of the teeth sensitivity problem I’ve been having. Unfortunately, neither the dental hygienist nor the dentist saw much of anything that could be the cause. One thing the hygienist noticed was my teeth being flat. She asked if I was a tooth grinder or clencher.

Now, I didn’t say anything to her because I was kind of embarrassed, but I’ll tell the Internet. Makes sense, no?

I have this thing that I do when I pet and love on any animals, and sometimes even my kids. I clench my mouth shut and grind my teeth together the whole time I’m petting these little loved ones of mine. I thought that everyone did this, like it was just a thing all humans did… but when I mentioned it to Aric, he looked at me like I was kind of crazy. What say you? Do you grind your teeth down when you’re petting animals? I can’t figure out why I do it, but I apparently pet Grace all.the.freaking time because I am constantly catching myself grinding these days - and it hurts! I’ve got to find a way to stop. Help!