I HATE FRIDAYS!!!

Here's how today's went.

7:38 a.m. :: Left our home in the van with Mackenzie (to go to school), Zachary and Madelynne (to go to my parent's house for the morning while I went to work.) Typical Friday, except now that it's gotten cool (but if you ask anyone else in the house, it's downright cold.)

7:50 a.m. :: Stop by a gas station, put $7 worth of gas in the van. I usually don't do that when I start to run tight on time, but since the van was telling me it only had 6 miles worth of fuel left, I figured it'd be better to get enough gas in the van to get through the morning rounds. Back on William St., heading smartly to school.

7:52 a.m. :: Getting ready to turn off of William and on to Pacific -- about 3/4 mile away from the school. Then, I get a panicked call from Ellen on my cell phone - she's been in an accident. She's ok, but it sounds like the car's hurt bad.

7:53 a.m. :: Call my parents, arrange to drop off Zach and Madelynne a little faster than usual.

7:54 a.m. :: Mackenzie's at school. Heading over to my parents.

8:02 a.m. :: Other two at my parents. Head to the accident scene.

8:07 a.m. :: Get to the accident scene -- the on-ramp/off-ramp intersection of I-55 at William St. The car's hurt bad. (pictures to follow). Ellen's ok. She tells me her side of the story, and it sounds like the other person blazed through a red light going 45 mph (the speed limit), and did a number on our car's front end. 9 year old car, 114k miles. Not looking good.

8:30 a.m. :: The two drivers talk to the officer. Apparently there's a discrepancy in the stories. The apparent difference in views as to how our car got sent via wrecker (appropriately named in this instance) and her car got slightly bent doesn't sit will with she-who-must-be-obeyed. We leave in the van.

9:45 a.m. :: I go to take a look at the car. Not pretty. Call my dad, he joins me at the dealership with a camera. We take several pictures. I clean out the car, fully expecting not to see it again. After talking with several trusted friends, I decide to take Ellen to the doctor to get checked out. Now that the adrenaline is ebbing and nerves are settling down, stressed and strained muscles will start to ache.

10:08 a.m. :: Call the doctor's office to make the appointment. Come to find out that despite the fact that Ellen's been a patient of their's for the past 7 years, and myself for the past 14, they handle accident check-outs as new-patient visits. Meaning that I need to shell out $200 up front and in advance before the visit. I'm not too happy, but what am I going to do now. I make the appointment for 1 p.m.

11:30 a.m. :: Grabbed lunch, the first meal of my day. A glass of juice, and five rolled tacos. And the rest of Ellen's sweet potato pie. The jice and tacos were ok, but the pie takes the cake. Ellen needs to make this more often...

12 noon :: Go to pick up kids, grab lunch, get money for drs. visit.

12:45 p.m. :: Start to head over to the doctor's office. Heading east on William, over the interstate, heading past Popeye's, and coming up on Panera at the corner of William @ Mt. Auburn.

A bit of explanation here. Eastbound William St. at Mt. Auburn breaks into 5 lanes. Going from left to right, there's two lanes that turn left (northbound), two lanes that head straight, and one lane that is a "right turn only" lane that breaks into a yield ramp onto southbound Mt. Auburn. Right now, again going left to right, the first turn lane only has 1 car in it, the second turn lane is completely full (about 5-7 cars), and the rest of the turn lanes are empty, since they all have green lights. I'm wanting to turn left, so I bear to the left to become the second car in that first turn lane. I'm driving about 40-45 mph (speed limit again is about 45.)

Out of the entry/exit of Panera comes a SUV, cutting across all the lanes, and it looks like they're going into the full turn lane. Then they turn a bit further...

I swerve, barely missing the SUV. Barely means that we swapped paint.

12:54 p.m. :: Cops are called to the scene of our SECOND accident of the day. Fortunately, this lady said that it was her fault. No debate here. Best part about this was that after hearing about Ellen's ordeals in the morning, the ladies gather for a little "Oprah" session. In a turn lane, in the middle of the busiest road of the town. It does Ellen well, though, and lets her unload. You never know exactly where God's gifts'll turn up.


1:15 p.m. :: While waiting for the CGPD to show up, I call the doctor's office, letting them know that we'll be late. They tell me that the Dr.'s dance card is filled up for the day, and want to reschedule for next Tuesday. I ask about the other doctor, knowing that while it may not make Ellen happy, it's better than waiting for 4 days to get checked out. I get put on hold, then I'm told that they stopped doing those types of appointments a full year ago!

Y'know, typically, this would really make me angry and frustrated. Today, all I can do is laugh. I'll deal with my dissatisfaction later.

1:20 p.m. :: CGPD show up - it's the same two officers that responded to our first accident! I passed a church sign earlier in the day that said "Coincidence is when God wishes to remain anonymous." I kinda wished how this fell in His playbook...

1:30 p.m. :: We head over to the ER at St. Francis. I call our insurance agent with the update. We both agree that we all ought to be thankful for what this day DIDN'T bring.

4:15 p.m. :: We FINALLY leave the ER. Spending over 2 1/2 hours at the ER with a 3 year old and a 1 year old is NOT FUN.

5:00 p.m. :: After a few errands, picking up Ellen's paycheck, we head down to the airport to take part in a delicious, all-you-can-eat catfish dinner with my parents and grandma.

6:45 p.m. :: We get home, thankfully in one piece. You can't put enough emphasis on those last four words for a day like this. Waiting for us are a few friends, who we further debrief. I fire up the computer to debrief myself...

At least it's not 100 degrees and miserable inside the house.