A bit of a Jonah day...

...You know the kind---when things just seem to go wrong right from the break of dawn---or even before it, as it was in my case...

Here is my sad tale:

I was driving my van along in the dark (going the speed limit) and was about a mile West of Napoleon when a deer suddenly ran across the road a little ways ahead of me. I slammed on the breaks, knowing that, where there's one deer, there's often two, but the second deer was too quick and ended up running right immediately in front of me! I smacked into it very hard (right in the front on the passenger side) and literally saw the deer sail up into the air 10+ feet, doing somersaults as it went. (My dad and brother looked for it later and couldn't see it, so they think it is still alive?) I stopped right away and pulled over, getting out to see what damage had been done. When I saw the huge mess and smelled something hot, I knew I'd better turn the motor off and call for help.

I called my dad (it was about 7:10AM at this time) and asked his advice and if he could look up Helen's phone # so I could call her and let her know what happened and to see if she or her husband could pick me up, as they needed to get going for appointments in Bismarck and I was supposed to be there at 7:15... To make a long story short, I called #911 to report what had happened, the Sheriff came out and took down the information (I think that's the first time I've ever been inside a police vehicle, but he asked me in because it was SO cold out); Helen's husband came and picked me up and they left as soon as we got to their place; then Dad and Andrew brought me Andrew's car to drive home and towed my van home.

The verdict on my van? My dad said he'd advise me to try and sell it for parts or scrap and buy something else, as it's going to cost a lot to repair and it already has 203,000+ miles on it...

The part to be glad about? That I was not hurt at all, outside of having a very high pulse rate there for a few minutes! Also, as the guys pointed out, I can be glad the air-bags did not get set off, as that could have hurt and it also would make the vehicle very much unsellable. One more thing to be thankful for is that this happened while Helen and her husband were not gone on vacation yet so that one of them could come pick me up. It still was sad though. We've had some great family times in that van (I think we've had it 8 years)!

I have been battling a cold for a couple days and today I started loosing my voice along with it. Jacob says I sound like he did while his voice was changing. :) It's frustrating to want to say something, but also to not want to say it, as your voice sounds so silly.

Outside of those sad details, my day went fairly smoothly with the 10 small (4 and under) children I cared for all day. Shortly after I got home, Mom took off with the car Andrew let me use, as Andrew had someone very interested in buying it and needed it delivered to Bismarck. He and Dad had gone to Minot (I'll let him tell you what for later), so then Mom rode home with them, after Andrew's car was sold!

Andrew commented that, within 3 days time, we've gone down 4 drivable vehicles (3 were sold and 1 was demolished). It's a good thing that Andrew brought home a----oh, I said I wasn't going to tell you!

Prayers would be appreciated, as I try to get well in a super big hurry and as I now need to decide on what vehicle to buy? Life can take so many unexpected turns sometimes!