Heading home from work last Thursday, traffic was actually cruising along through downtown Sacramento. That is until I rounded the corner on Southbound I-5 about a quarter of a mile from my Hwy 50 exit destination. Brake lights. I went from 65 MPH to 0 pretty quickly. Wary of the car behind me and how quickly we were needing to stop, I tried my best to pump my brakes a few times like my dad taught me before I had to come to a complete stop. When I’d come to a safe, complete stop, I monitored the progress behind. I could tell the quick stop was catching the driver behind me more off guard, but she was able to stop without hitting me from behind.
At that point I was able to start accelerating again. As I did I heard screeching tires and car hitting car. I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw a white car flying through the air above the cars behind me. I was in front of all this so I continued to accelerate, just wanted to be clear of the accident area. I didn’t make it very far before I saw in my driver’s side rear-view mirror the white car swinging into my back, driver’s side tire area. I quickly proceeded to the side of the highway as I was now involved in the accident I had seen unfold behind me.
From what I could gather, the car behind me was able to prevent themselves from hitting me, but not from the car behind them hitting them. The white car never had a chance in stopping, and was the one I heard tires screeching from and car hitting car (hitting the car behind the car behind me) before flying through the air. From other eye witness account the white car went into a spin, and I was the one who stopped it. The white car was totaled as was another car that ended up hitting the back of a semi. I think she’s veered out of the lane next to me to avoid the white car and then overcorrected into the semi to avoid the traffic in the faster lanes. Not really sure, as I didn’t ever see that car until it was crunched two lanes over from me. That lady walked away from the car, but was quite dazed and in shock. She’d be taken away in a neck brace and on a stretcher, complaining on a bump on the head by the ambulance that was thankfully not far behind us in traffic. They were also the ones who alerted the Highway Patrol to the accident.
Thinking back on it, it was amazing that these were the only accidents, given how many cars were stopped and looking out onto the wreckage. The accident did close down all five lanes of southbound I-5 for a few minutes and kept three closed for a good hour. Eventually people started using the left shoulder to drive around the debris and crews were able to get the second lane from the right cleared of debris enough so people could safely drive through the scene of the accident slowly, as they were mainly trying to merge onto the highway from the J street on ramp.
I walked away without even the slightest hint of pain or whip lash. I probably wasn’t going more than 10-15 MPH when I was hit and I think the white car had spun long enough not to really move the car over more than an inch. It could have been worse. I could have been sent into a spin. The guy inside the car that hit me walked away from the accident with a bit lip, although I’m sure he would experience whip lash later that day or the next. I know he was complaining of a headache when the officers released me from the scene.
I happened to be driving the Malibu that day - days I savior as Cameron is the main driver given he’s driving all over the valley for work most days. The Malibu has XM radio and I enjoy listening to Martha Stewart radio programming when I’m driving it. From what I could see, the rim on the tire had some deep gauges, as did the tire, a 4 x 2 inch rectangle of the outer frame of the car was missing behind the tire, and the wheel well had a dent, besides the expected scratches. I was able to drive myself home, albeit white knuckled and nerves shot to hell. This was my first real accident. The only other one I’ve ever been in was three weeks after we bought the Malibu and a woman drifted into my lane and hit the front passenger side area. At that time I was mainly just upset that my brand new car was already dented! This time I was just thankful I hadn’t been involved in the accident any more than I was and that everyone walked away. Pretty amazing given the state of the two cars that were totaled and what I saw. It could have been a lot worse.
I didn’t get home until close to 6:30 that night – I leave work at 4:15 most days and am home by 5 PM, barring any traffic clogs. I was supposed to go running with Lynde that night but by the time I made it home I was spent. All I wanted was my husband and little girl and a glass of wine, although it would have also been nice to have my Tulley there to cuddle with too. I’d end up spending more of my evening calling our insurance company to file a claim.
At home, we did see that the back driver’s side tire was bowed out at the bottom some. In talking with the insurance company they instructed me not to drive the car again for fear the wheel might come off. Cameron rearranged his schedule Friday so he could handle getting the car towed to the body shop and to pick up the rental car. All I had to do Friday was wait for the insurance adjuster to call and record my statement.
We have learned that most of the damage to the Malibu was cosmetic, minus the need for a new tire and rim. The damage is under $3000. We had feared that the back suspension may have buckled and given the Malibu’s age and number of miles on it, could have been totaled out depending on how severe the damage we couldn’t see was. The body shop said the car is made well to avoid such problems and that’s why we’re lucky. The bonus - today we got a call that the Malibu is ready to be picked up.
Here is a link to KCRA 3’s web site which shows still aerial photos of the accident from their Traffic Cams. In the last one you can make out the Malibu and see me standing, with my back to the camera in a light colored top watching the lady being loaded onto the stretcher.
Jul 22, 2011
Jul 19, 2011
4th of July
The three days for the 4th of July holiday were not long enough with our Tulley. It was so nice to have her home. London squealed when she saw her and whenever possible, petted and cuddled with her doggy. Unfortunately, with the heat, Tulley wasn’t too interested in cuddling with us on the bed at night. She’d start out on the bed but by morning, she was on the floor.
Her first night home, Tulley was a little stand-offish, like she was confused. She knew it was home, but at the same time seemed to feel out of place. When we gave her dinner, she wouldn’t eat, although she was staring at it and drooling. We gave her the ok several times, but she still wouldn’t, so I ended up hand feeding her some of it.
By morning, that weirdness was over. She was back to her normal self, scarfing down breakfast as soon as she was given the ok. We’d also given her and Melody each a rawhide bone to chew on that first night. I remembered seeing these two bones on the floor of the family room when I went up to bed that night. By morning, both bones were in our bedroom. Sometime in the night Tulley had gone downstairs and grabbed them, probably at the same time, as this is what she did when she brought them back down on Saturday. She did this with her head down, as I was watching and she knew she'd been caught – she’s not supposed to wander the house at night while we are asleep. I wonder how often she actually does?
Since we had Tulley home, we didn’t want to stray too far for the weekend’s festivities, but Sunday found us in Biggs for a few hours since our nephew Christian’s birthday was being celebrated by the family. We would have taken Tulley with us, but decided it was too hot – she’d much prefer the AC at home. London hadn’t been able to take good naps during the day so we didn’t stay long enough to light some small fireworks. But we also didn’t get home in time to go see the Rancho Cordova fireworks that night. Our town has a fireworks display on both the 3rd and 4th.
We headed over to Matt & Lynde’s in the afternoon of the actual 4th, where Tulley palled around with Cody and London played in their small wading pool (originally meant for Cody to keep cool). Lynde’s and my feet found their way into the pool as well, it was so hot. After barbequing some tri-tip, we packed up and headed to the night’s fireworks show.
This would be London’s first real fireworks show and we were curious how she’d react. With our trip to Disneyland planned for November, we’d like to take in the park’s fireworks, but wouldn’t want to risk her not liking it and getting stuck in the crowds. Last year we didn’t go to an professional show, but lit fireworks in front of Cameron’s sister’s house, which I watched from inside, holding a sleeping London.
London did great. Not once did she cry, although she did seem a little unsure at the beginning. She also went back and forth on wanting Cameron, then me to hold her before deciding my arms were the place to be. I did my best to reassure her it was alright, by pointing at the fireworks and sayings in a soothing tone “how pretty”. The finale also got her a little as I could feel her grip on me tighten, but still no cries. My prediction is she will do great during Disneyland fireworks, especially because they play music along with the shows to set the mood.
Only time will tell.
Cameron took Tulley back on the 5th. She’s scheduled to be gone pretty much through the end of July. Cameron is trying to confirm as we speak. The hope is that she's back in time to go to Fort Bragg with us for our Anniversary. We're going to stay at our usual motel and will be bringing London and Melody along as well.
The only bad thing about her whole visit home were the 5 Brown Dog ticks we pulled off of her. Gross! Just a reminder that we need to check her head to toe when we bring her home again and whenever we have her out in the grasses. The trainer said these wet springs have caused an increase in the tick population. He had taken a dog out for an hour’s worth of training and pulled off 29 ticks afterward! At least we know he’s being good about checking Tulley too.
Her first night home, Tulley was a little stand-offish, like she was confused. She knew it was home, but at the same time seemed to feel out of place. When we gave her dinner, she wouldn’t eat, although she was staring at it and drooling. We gave her the ok several times, but she still wouldn’t, so I ended up hand feeding her some of it.
By morning, that weirdness was over. She was back to her normal self, scarfing down breakfast as soon as she was given the ok. We’d also given her and Melody each a rawhide bone to chew on that first night. I remembered seeing these two bones on the floor of the family room when I went up to bed that night. By morning, both bones were in our bedroom. Sometime in the night Tulley had gone downstairs and grabbed them, probably at the same time, as this is what she did when she brought them back down on Saturday. She did this with her head down, as I was watching and she knew she'd been caught – she’s not supposed to wander the house at night while we are asleep. I wonder how often she actually does?
Since we had Tulley home, we didn’t want to stray too far for the weekend’s festivities, but Sunday found us in Biggs for a few hours since our nephew Christian’s birthday was being celebrated by the family. We would have taken Tulley with us, but decided it was too hot – she’d much prefer the AC at home. London hadn’t been able to take good naps during the day so we didn’t stay long enough to light some small fireworks. But we also didn’t get home in time to go see the Rancho Cordova fireworks that night. Our town has a fireworks display on both the 3rd and 4th.
We headed over to Matt & Lynde’s in the afternoon of the actual 4th, where Tulley palled around with Cody and London played in their small wading pool (originally meant for Cody to keep cool). Lynde’s and my feet found their way into the pool as well, it was so hot. After barbequing some tri-tip, we packed up and headed to the night’s fireworks show.
This would be London’s first real fireworks show and we were curious how she’d react. With our trip to Disneyland planned for November, we’d like to take in the park’s fireworks, but wouldn’t want to risk her not liking it and getting stuck in the crowds. Last year we didn’t go to an professional show, but lit fireworks in front of Cameron’s sister’s house, which I watched from inside, holding a sleeping London.
London did great. Not once did she cry, although she did seem a little unsure at the beginning. She also went back and forth on wanting Cameron, then me to hold her before deciding my arms were the place to be. I did my best to reassure her it was alright, by pointing at the fireworks and sayings in a soothing tone “how pretty”. The finale also got her a little as I could feel her grip on me tighten, but still no cries. My prediction is she will do great during Disneyland fireworks, especially because they play music along with the shows to set the mood.
Only time will tell.
Cameron took Tulley back on the 5th. She’s scheduled to be gone pretty much through the end of July. Cameron is trying to confirm as we speak. The hope is that she's back in time to go to Fort Bragg with us for our Anniversary. We're going to stay at our usual motel and will be bringing London and Melody along as well.
The only bad thing about her whole visit home were the 5 Brown Dog ticks we pulled off of her. Gross! Just a reminder that we need to check her head to toe when we bring her home again and whenever we have her out in the grasses. The trainer said these wet springs have caused an increase in the tick population. He had taken a dog out for an hour’s worth of training and pulled off 29 ticks afterward! At least we know he’s being good about checking Tulley too.
Jul 14, 2011
The Search for A Daycare
Last week we found ourselves in search of a new daycare provider. Wednesday I worked from home as Lauren had a doctor’s appointment that would take a few hours that morning. Well, that appointment yielded some bad news for all of us, especially Lauren and London. Lauren has some back problems that are now requiring more doctor attention and treatments that will numb her back. The doctor is placing lifting and movement restrictions on her because of numbing factor. Days that she actually receives treatment she will have to spend in bed. This means she can’t watch London for us any more.
We are so sad to be losing Lauren as our primary care provider for London. London loves her so much. The two doors down commute has been so nice and easy. All we have to do in the morning is get London up and walk her down in her PJs with a change of clothes in hand. Days Cameron is home working, he often lets London sleep in, waiting until she wakes up naturally. Lauren has even been kind enough to let us extend London’s time with her into the evenings so we can catch a movie or do yard work. And she’ll still be available to watch London for us on the occasional evening.
After our experience with an accredited daycare center a few months ago and the huge price tag attached to it, we decided we needed to focus on in-home daycares. The bigger problem was we have no recommendations to go on. All the kids we know that require daycare are either not located near us, or our neighbors, who some how all have grandparents available for childcare or have schedules that allow one parent to be home at all times. One neighbor we talked with actually asked us to let them know how our search goes and what we find, as they are looking to place their two-year-old daughter in daycare a couple days a week to get her more socialized.
Luckily, I remembered an in –home daycare’s web site I had found and was impressed with when I was pregnant. The owner/provider’s home is about 10 minutes away from us. I’d never further investigated it though since after being laid off I had no clue when I would need such services again and then we’d made such great arrangements with Lauren that we had never needed to. Thursday I sent an email inquiry just to see if this lady had the availability. The owner, Miss Victoria, called me back later that day. By the time we’d hung up, I’d scheduled a visit for Cameron, London and myself for Friday evening.
Everything checked out pretty good. We felt comfortable with Miss Victoria and her set up. She has a high capacity license, so London would be with 9-11 other children, but she also has an assistant, so the caretaker to child ratio is more like 1:4 or 1:5. She takes the children to a park two blocks away every day and lays the day out like pre-school. She even feeds them breakfast through afternoon snack and has taken nutritional courses to ensure the kids are served healthy offerings. On top of that, she brings in a professional photographer 1-2 times a year for pictures that we can then opt to purchase, and she tries to bring in special visitors like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus throughout the year. During our visit, she also asked a lot of good questions about London to access whether she’s be a good fit for the kids she already watches.
On Google, Miss Victoria has several raving reviews from parents who have had their kids with her, some for over two years. By Friday night, I’d emailed her for references, who I spoke to Tuesday evening. More raving reviews from two mothers who had been using Miss Victoria’s services for 1 and 3 years.
I feel I’ve done my due diligence and my gut says this will be a good place for London and could be for the long-term, even until she starts Kindergarten. So we’ve started the process of enrolling London with Miss Victoria. She’ll start August 15th, possibly sooner. I’m a little worried about the adjustment for London, as she will no longer receiver one on one attention, but at the same time I know this will be a good experience for her. It will do her good to be around other kids and begin to get the social interaction on top of the jump start in education. But at the same time I know she and Lauren are going to miss each other. And I know it’s hard for Lauren to give up her daily companion, even when London can be a bit tiresome.
We are so sad to be losing Lauren as our primary care provider for London. London loves her so much. The two doors down commute has been so nice and easy. All we have to do in the morning is get London up and walk her down in her PJs with a change of clothes in hand. Days Cameron is home working, he often lets London sleep in, waiting until she wakes up naturally. Lauren has even been kind enough to let us extend London’s time with her into the evenings so we can catch a movie or do yard work. And she’ll still be available to watch London for us on the occasional evening.
After our experience with an accredited daycare center a few months ago and the huge price tag attached to it, we decided we needed to focus on in-home daycares. The bigger problem was we have no recommendations to go on. All the kids we know that require daycare are either not located near us, or our neighbors, who some how all have grandparents available for childcare or have schedules that allow one parent to be home at all times. One neighbor we talked with actually asked us to let them know how our search goes and what we find, as they are looking to place their two-year-old daughter in daycare a couple days a week to get her more socialized.
Luckily, I remembered an in –home daycare’s web site I had found and was impressed with when I was pregnant. The owner/provider’s home is about 10 minutes away from us. I’d never further investigated it though since after being laid off I had no clue when I would need such services again and then we’d made such great arrangements with Lauren that we had never needed to. Thursday I sent an email inquiry just to see if this lady had the availability. The owner, Miss Victoria, called me back later that day. By the time we’d hung up, I’d scheduled a visit for Cameron, London and myself for Friday evening.
Everything checked out pretty good. We felt comfortable with Miss Victoria and her set up. She has a high capacity license, so London would be with 9-11 other children, but she also has an assistant, so the caretaker to child ratio is more like 1:4 or 1:5. She takes the children to a park two blocks away every day and lays the day out like pre-school. She even feeds them breakfast through afternoon snack and has taken nutritional courses to ensure the kids are served healthy offerings. On top of that, she brings in a professional photographer 1-2 times a year for pictures that we can then opt to purchase, and she tries to bring in special visitors like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus throughout the year. During our visit, she also asked a lot of good questions about London to access whether she’s be a good fit for the kids she already watches.
On Google, Miss Victoria has several raving reviews from parents who have had their kids with her, some for over two years. By Friday night, I’d emailed her for references, who I spoke to Tuesday evening. More raving reviews from two mothers who had been using Miss Victoria’s services for 1 and 3 years.
I feel I’ve done my due diligence and my gut says this will be a good place for London and could be for the long-term, even until she starts Kindergarten. So we’ve started the process of enrolling London with Miss Victoria. She’ll start August 15th, possibly sooner. I’m a little worried about the adjustment for London, as she will no longer receiver one on one attention, but at the same time I know this will be a good experience for her. It will do her good to be around other kids and begin to get the social interaction on top of the jump start in education. But at the same time I know she and Lauren are going to miss each other. And I know it’s hard for Lauren to give up her daily companion, even when London can be a bit tiresome.
Jul 12, 2011
Splish Splashing Away
Summer has finally arrived (minus the one day a couple of weeks ago that it rained)! Temperatures have been on and off soaring, hitting triple digits a few times. We have our AC on during the days when Cameron is home, and window shades and curtains are closed, ceiling fans humming when we’re home. At night the windows are open and we have a box fan running in our room at night if the Delta breeze makes an appearance.
Lucky for London she loves the water – hot or cold. For her birthday, her grandparents got her a water table to splash around with and her Grammy got her an inflatable infant pool.
The last weekend of June, while Cameron was off skydiving, I decided we should try out at least one of these new toys. So after her nap on that Saturday, I put on London’s new yellow bathing suit (a birthday gift from her Great-Auntie Maryanne) and loaded her down with sunscreen before heading outside for 20 minutes of water fun.
I’m obsessive when it comes to protecting my baby from sunburn. She unfortunately got my pale complexion. I put SPF 40 lotion all over her arms, legs, back and chest before the swimsuit even goes on, and then I spray her head with SPF 50 since the stinker won’t keep a hat on. Doesn’t make for very stylish pics, but at least I know I have done all I can to keep her protected. If we had shade in the backyard I’d make sure she stayed under it. And I limit how long she does spend outside at that – if it’s over an hour, more sunscreen goes on or we go inside. And since she likes water so much, London doesn’t mind a bath after sun fun to get the sunscreen off.
We’d originally set up the water table after London’s birthday, so I decided it was time to take it outside and out of my living room! With her little swimshoes on (a fantastic gift from the Carlsons) we headed out to splish splash away.
I set the table up in the grass. London was a bit hesitant walking in the shoes at first, and then even more hesitant about walking in the grass. Strange – at her birthday part she had no qualms running in the grass barefoot. I’d find out later that Lauren lets her walk around on her porch but not on the grass. London was just doing as she was taught. After I picked her up and placed her next to the table, London went to town splashing in the water and playing with the different toys and dismantling the iceberg slide for the toy penguin. At one point she tried to climb onto the table. I quickly grabbed her and lifted her in. Have I mentioned she’s trying to climb…everything!
We definitely need to try the inflatable pool soon. We just need to dig out our tarp so it can sit on the bark safely without risk of being popped. We don’t want to put it on the grass as this may kill the grass (we learned how quickly this can happen after putting some flagstones on the grass for a day before moving them into their final path position. Luckily, the grass came back quickly). And we don’t want to put it on the cement for fear London will slip and hurt herself. We might need to consider adding a hard plastic wading pool as well, considering Tulley will probably want to join in all this water fun when she's back home for good.
Jul 11, 2011
Out of State License Plates
For the last month or two, Cameron and I have both noticed an increase in the number of out of state license plates when we’re out driving. This isn’t completely out of the ordinary for the summer months, but what is weird is where we are seeing the plates and from where. While we do see plenty on the highway, we’ve also seen quite a few on roadways around home. We’ve even seen a few motorcycles from out of state. And while we are seeing the typical Oregon, Washington, Nevada and even British Columbia, we’ve also seen plates from Maryland, Quebec, and Florida. So we’ve decided to keep a running list on the blog to see if we can’t hit every state. Check it out to the right. I wonder which state will be next?
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