So in reaction to the car accident, I haven't really posted about my Christmas. It was actually a really nice Christmas. Yes, I missed Mom and Dad (who were in Florida...not dead), but it was fun to be with LaRae and her family. Katelyn loved the Princess Pez dispensers I bought her. She opened them and said, "I saw these in the store and wanted them!" Joshua had a good time in his bath that night with the new bath toy and bath time bubble machine I got him. OK Katelyn had just as much fun as he did with them in her bath later! :-) LaRae made this amazing pot roast, so the eatin' was awesome! I do wish Mom and Dad had been with us. If they had, perhaps they would have been here when I had my wreck... eh, it's still better for me to figure this out mostly alone I think.
My presents were mostly for my home this year, and I'm happy with that. The better my apartment looks, the less likely I am to want to move until I buy a house! In a great moment of forethought, Mom and Dad gave me my "big" present at Thanksgiving this year: a new bed from IKEA. I love it! It pulls my room together so well! I have to admit -- my bedroom is now mostly brought to you by IKEA. Not that I planned it that way...but it looks really pretty and homey. I got items that are a bit less modern than some stuff they typically sell. I also got a new entertainment center with money from my Nana. I put it together all on my lonesome thank you very much! That and the "audio pier" (translation bookshelf for me) that went with it. I think one of the coolest presents I got was from LaRae's family. It's a picture frame with 3 - 5x7 openings. There are two black and white pictures in it: one of Katelyn and I and one of me holding Joshua at the hospital. In the middle of the pictures is my favorite verse about aunts: "Only an Aunt... Can give hugs like a mother, can keep secrets like a sister, and share love like a friend" -- isn't that heartwarming? :-)
After Christmas shopping was fun with LaRae and the kids, and we found some great deals on wrapping paper and gift bags for next year. I babysat Joshua with Allen (Joshua's dad's brother) a couple of days after Christmas, and I actually changed a dirty diaper. I've only changed one or two wet ones of Joshua's for reasons I've mentioned before. Now I have all new reasons not to change a diaper. First it was a HUGE dirty diaper. Second as I was cleaning him, he stuck his foot in the diaper...so bad I had to clean between his toes! Third, when I went to clean his foot and get more wipes, it got on his shirt. Finally when his father went to change him for bed, he realized I had put the diaper on backwards! I am told this is no easy feat... and I recall thinking that the velcro/sticky flaps weren't where they were supposed to be. In my defense, when Kately was in diapers (the pull ups I think) - characters were only on the front of the diaper! I saw no harm, no foul... well the diaper was pretty foul actually...
And now a message from our sponsors... no really it's just time for a car update. This morning I woke up to my phone ringing. Huffines (a car dealership with a repair shop) was calling me to work out getting my car to them for repairs. Thankfully, despite my brain fog from just waking up, I was able to think to ask when the repair request came and found out it was the day the adjuster came to my home. I told them the car was totaled, and I understood from the adjuster that I would be called by the total loss department, not a repair shop. I told him not to cancel the request until Nationwide or I called back to cancel. (By the way, seriously, you got the request on Thursday, and a week later you're finally calling?!) I called my adjuster who told me I was right that we had decided to total the car, and the repair request had not been cancelled. He said to wait for my new adjuster to call soon, and he gave me her name. I'm not worried. The rental car is sort of insurance that they'll get to me... someone will eventually figure out that it would save them money to finally settle with me and to stop paying for my really nice rental car! :-) Meanwhile, I figured out a couple of things. 1. Bummer, I put $20 of gas in my car right before the accident. If someone knows how and is willing to help me siphon my gas tank, that would totally rock! 2. No bummer, my inspection sticker currently says 9/07. I didn't have the money (or didn't want to use the money) to pay for an inspection, so yes there was the risk of a big ticket, but wow wasn't that a good gamble? I seriously almost went to have the car inspected before Christmas! :-)
I promised stories of locking my keys in my car, but that will have to wait for another post... I'm off to watch episodes of Friends and enjoy my last day of vacation!