Me with a Goatee

Last week I found out what I'd look like with a goatee when the airbag hit my chin and neck and left a nice little burn mark.
There I was taking some paint supplies over to my sister before heading down to Flowell for a visit with my parents for a few days. I honestly don't know how it happened - I looked away from the road for a second and when I looked back traffic had come to a complete stop. I slammed into the back of a flatbed trailer causing the airbags to deploy. The paint supplies in the front seat exploded everywhere - the plastic tray liners shattered, sending plastic "shrapnel" everywhere. I guess when the airbags come out, they emit a smoky odor along with what looked like smoke. I didn't know that- I thought the car might be starting on fire, so I hurried to get the kids out of their carseats. They were both screaming, and Jack had bitten his tongue, so he was bleeding from his mouth. The guy I hit called the police and ambulance - just to make sure Jack was okay and that it was just his tongue. The EMTs came out and took a look at him - he was fine. They said the reason I got the scrapes on my arms and face from the airbag was probably because I was sitting too close to the wheel. How else am I supposed to reach the pedals? I honestly didn't even know I had them until Makele asked me if I was okay. I was so concerned with making sure they were okay.

My car had to be towed because the airbags were out. The guy I hit was so nice and even helped me carry all my luggage and stuff to Taryn's car when she came to pick me up (it happened right around the corner from her apartment). It was a company vehicle, so his boss came out to make sure everything was okay. He was really nice too - and even told me how impressed he was with my car. Remarkably, it wasn't in too bad of shape for hitting that hard. Of course you wouldn't know it with the price it costs to fix it! Get this - each airbag costs $1500 to replace. Good thing for insurance I guess, not that this is going to help our rates any.

I just feel really blessed that nobody was hurt - I know we were being watched out for that day. Usually if I'm just driving over to Taryn's (which is about a mile away) I don't put on my seat belt. I pulled out of the driveway and the kids started whining about the DVD player not working, so I pulled over to fix it. After that without thinking, I put my seat belt on. I actually thought after I did it, "why did I do that? I'm just going to Taryn's." So glad I did - I could have been seriously hurt.

I got a rental car and still went to visit my parents for a few days while Makele was out of school for spring break. It was a nice little visit - the kids always love seeing Grandma and Grandpa!

Here's a couple of topiaries I've been working on - I love the way they turned out!