And after the accident....

I am so glad that I took today off work. There is so much to do and so many phone calls to make after you have a car accident...especially one where children are involved. First we had to stop by the wrecker place where the truck was towed to turn in the keys and take pictures of the damage. We then had to drive to the scene to show the insurance lady the section of fence that was damaged so she could contact the owner of the fence. We had to pick up my rental car from Enterprise...and James was so happy when I came home in a 'new red car!'. JJ had to be dropped off at the DPS office because after the accident we were told by the officer that he had a suspended license. WE DID NOT KNOW THIS!! In fact...he was pulled over in January and there was no mention of a suspended liscense or unpaid ticket at all. We were told the ticket was in Travis county but when we called Travis county they did not have it on record. Finally he was able to track down the ticket info that somehow showed up on his Texas DL in 2009.....this is impossible. Let me explain.....we moved to LA in 2007. He went to the DPS office then in 2007 so he could get his LA DL reinstated and he then SURRENDERED his Texas DL. So...how in the world there is a ticket under his TX DL we still cannot explain. Anyway.....We got the ticket paid and now have to wait 2-5 days for processing of the ticket as now being paid so that he can go back to the DPS office to get his liscense back. At some point today we had to call the kids' pediatrician to schedule a follow up visit later in the week which is always recommended after an accident. I had to go to Mamacita's where JJ works to drop off his discharge papers form the hospital to validate him not working today. We had to replace both car seats but we did that at about 11pm last night so that we didn't have to do it today. I know that there is much more that we have done in the past 24 hours but I am too tired to remember it all now.

and if you think these pictures are bad enough when you image that both of my babies were in the car...imagine what i thought when i saw it....it was still rolled over on the roof!

The accident

This afternoon I started my shift at HEB at 4pm. At 4:30 my mother called me while I was on the checkstand (never a good thing to be allowed a phone call on a checkstand!!) to tell me that JJ and the kids had been in a car accident. She said they were ok but I needed to come immediately. My boss drove me to the scene and thankfully my sister Amber had warned me ahead of time that it looked worse than it was. JJ had just picked the kids up from Amber's house and was driving on their mile long dirt road. Just before they got to the highway JJ lost control of the car coming around a turn. They drove up a cedar tree and when the car finally stopped accelerating rolled over onto the roof. JJ was able to get out of the car by himself and get both kids free of their car seats. Randi does not have a scratch on her anywhere. James has only a minor scratch and some bruising on his shoulder and neck from his seatbelt (he rides in a booster seat with the shoulder strap seat belt) and JJ only has a sprained neck. The guys at the scene allowed us to follow behind the ambulance that JJ was in so that we didn't have to freak the kids out more than they already were to be checked out at the hospital. I can only say that I could not be more thankful that James and Randi were both safely strapped in and that both car seats performed the way they were intended to and that JJ had his seatbelt on too. Thank You God for keeping my family safe today and that the only major damage was made to the car. Thank you God!

Wrong Address

If you got our new address from JJ he probably gave you the wrong one. For some reason he got mixed up and thought our physical address & mailing address were different. Which is true for my parents...they use a PO box for their mail. But they gave me their mail key for the other mail box that they don't use. Anyway....if you got the address from him whatever you mailed will be rejected so let me know and I will get you the correct address.

Our Move to the Hill Country

It has been pretty crazy around here since Christmas. Shortly after Christmas JJ & I had made the decision that we would move to Kerrville at the end of the summer when our lease was up. He does not want to be in the restaurant industry anymore (which was the ONLY thing keeping us in the city) and we both want to go back to school. We figured that we had a much better shot of being successfull in school if we had a good support system in place to help with the kids from time to time. Within a few days of having made that decision...God told us we were right in our decision but wrong on the timing. He sent us one of our friends from Shreveport that was needing to move to Houston right away and he had very little money to do it with. So....our friend took over our lease allowing us to move to Kerrville 8 months before we excpected to.

The week before we were to move though I caught the flu and soon all four of us had it. So my 2 weeks of packing time quickly turned into us packing our entire apartment in about 3 days time. Thankfully Cindy (JJ's Mom) was able to come stay with us and help with the kids while they were sick so we could pack. With Cindy there & now Reid too (the friend that took over our lease) and his 130 pound dog there were 4 adults 2 sick kids & a giant dog all crammed into our 900 square foot apartament with boxes everwhere. Needless to say by the end of the week I was very ready for the big yellow truck to show up so we could get the heck out of Houston!!!!!!! We got it loaded and then it took us 8 HOURS to drive the 4 hour trip from Houston to Kerrville. Both trucks had mechanically issues that required us to pull over several times..we had to stop and eat there.. were diapers that needed changing.. and then of course there was the much needed refill on caffeine at 2 am! And I forgot to mention that we got turned around in Austin and then there was also fog & rain!

3 weeks later we are finally feeling like we are getting settled. So where do you go to work when you move back to Kerrville and need good insurance for your kids very quickly? HEB! I have been working back at HEB for about a week now. Bagging for now...yes in the 12 degree weather! Should be in checker training next week and then I will be training in book keeping.

JJ started at the River's Edge Tuscan Grille (on Guadalupe Street behind the Sports Center) a few days ago but they closed for a few days for the weather so he was finally able to go back to work tonight. It is not what he wants to do (he does not want to be in the restaurant industry at all anymore) but we were at 2 weeks + and he still did not have a job so it will do for now. One of the difficulties of getting a job in Kerrville is not the lack of jobs...it is that everybody has gone to online applications & screening so if you don't know somebody there (like me at HEB) then it can be a very difficult & lengthy process to find a job where you want. You can't just show up looking your best anymore and hope your charm will win you a job! Nope! The computer can weed you out very quickly & you don't even have a chance! But until that process is through (hopefully soon) he does at least have a job that will do the job for now.

And in the middle of all these changes this month Randi has had a sinus infection twice. We are now 100% sure that she is allergic to Amoxicillin ( I am no doctor but I think that means penicillin is off limits altogether). She is feeling better now but I am really afraid that living in the Texas Hill Country is going to torture her just as it does her Mommy. Why did God create Cedar Trees?! I wish I knew the answer!!!! But I know that I did not miss Cedar Fever at all and my first dose of it was about 2 days after we got here!

But despite all the craziness and stress that the past few weeks have held...I am finally home! After having moved away almost 9 years ago...I am finally back home!! More updates soon....and hopefully some fresh pictures in a couple of days!!!!

***This computer does not have a 'comma' key! I promise my grammar is better than this!***