These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Here are just a few snapshots of some of my favorite things about Christmas 2010~

My sister flew into town a few weeks ago and Dad took us all to see the Dallas Symphony's holiday show.

 

 

 

 

We had a fun little holiday party where everyone brought their favorite holiday dishes.  My friend, Rose, made these cute little mice from radishes.  I kept them in my fridge until they finally got wilty. 

My family and I went to eat the most delicious meal at Eclair Bistro.  YUM.

We drove around for hours looking at Christmas lights...

My friend's cat reluctantly tried on his Christmas outfit for me...

Ahhhh!  My favorite gift this year is these UGG shoes.  They look and feel like slippers, but they are SHOES and I'm wearing them everywhere!  

And I went to my first TUBA CHRISTMAS.  I've wanted to go for years, but was always out of town.  But not this year!  It was such fun!

My New CD is Available Online!

How hilarious that it's taken me this long!  I've got all sorts of fear-based excuses I could dole out, but I won't.  I'll just say, it's available NOW.  And if you order it now, and I've actually set the paypal button up right, you could actually get it before Christmas!  And as you know, CDs are just the right size to make the perfect stocking stuffer! 

You can get it by going to my "Music" page.  (See the bar at the top of this page?  Okay, just click on that word when you're ready to go get it!)  If you want me to sign the CD, just tell me what to write and I'll be sure to do that before I lovingly stick it in the bubble pack mailer.  You can email me with that info!

I don't yet have the sound clips up, but if you hop over to the CDbaby website, you can find them there.  But you'll save a little money ordering it directly from me, and of course, I can sign it, or seal it with a kiss!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

December 16th.  I get a little weepy this time of year, and sometimes it takes me a while to figure out why.  I'll feel the meloncholy creeping in and wonder, "What's up with this?"- and then I realize, not only is it the most wonderful time of the year, but today is Mom's birthday.  And that explains my emotion.

She's been somewhere other than on this earth for over 5 years now.  This is the first Christmas we're not going out of town since she died.  Once she died, Christmas time changed pretty dramatically, and we didn't know what to do with ourselves.  So we would go out of town.  As if going out of town helped us forget that she wasn't around anymore.  It didn't, by the way. 

The thing is, at least for me, I like being at home for Christmas.  Just like Mom did.  Mom was a homebody, and that is a quality I must have picked up from her.  She isn't here anymore, but I definitely feel closer to her when I'm at home.

I try to treat myself kindly on December 16th in honor of Mom.  Sometimes I go to a movie.  Sometimes I just lay around the house all day and let myself be sad if I want to be. 

This year, December 16th just happened to be the day that the purchase of my new car was finalized.  It feels like the perfect coincidence-

Happy Birthday, to my Mom- who would've been 75 years old today, and who would've been the passenger in my sweet ride tonight...

I Am Not An Avenger

Since my car has been totaled, I've been driving around in a rented silver sedan.  And I cannot stand it.

First of all, almost any car feels like a boat compared to my little Beetle.  Although I've rented a "mid-size" car, it feels gigantic.  I feel more unsafe driving than I ever have before.  I think I might be having a little post traumatic stress from the wreck and I find myself looking in the rear view mirror an awful lot.

And then there's the confusion of finding my rent car in the parking lot.  I'm currently very well aware of just how many silver sedans are parked in parking lots these days.  It use to be so easy to spot my car:  a convertible, Beetle, mellow yellow in color.  Rarely was there more than one of them in the parking lot at a time, so finding my car was easy, breezy, beautiful.  But now, I have to actually think about where I've parked and try to remember.  I'm just one of many drivers of a silver sedan.

The funny thing is, I didn't even know what kind of car this was until I started writing this blog and took a look at the name on the back bumper.  

Dodge Avenger

When I realized it was called an "Avenger" I thought that seemed an odd name for a car.  To avenge, by dictionary definition means, "inflict harm in return for an injury or wrong done to oneself or another".

I believe in peace, love and forgiveness.  I'm not out to avenge anything.

Doesn't something like this look a bit less vengeful?

Riding Off Into the Sunset

I got the call today.  And was given an answer I was pretty much expecting.

My cute little beetle that I loved so much was deemed a "total loss".
It was really no shock.  While I waited this week to get the final word, I had mixed emotions.  People told me that even if they repaired the damages, my car might never really be the same again.  So, in a way, I thought it would be best if it were totaled.  But then I just hated to lose it and have to try to find another car that even comes close to suiting me as well as my beetle did.

I remember so fondly the day I got my car.  It was the week of Thanksgiving in 2004.  My sister was in town from Seattle, and we were all over at Mom and Dad's house.  Fermin asked me to grab him a drink out of the outside fridge.  I told him to get it himself.  ;)  But then Mom said, "Kerri!!  Go and get him his beer!"  And I knew for sure, something was going on.  Fermin never bosses me around, Mom wouldn't have liked it if he did, and he normally would've been drinking wine with her, not beer.  But I looked at Mom and said, "Oh...okay." And I knew right then, there must be something great waiting for me in the garage.

The whole family followed right behind me as I opened the door to the garage.  And I just kept saying, "Oh. My. God."  I said it an embarrassing number of times.

My husband completely surprised me and picked this car out just for me.  I loved everything about it.

The night I had my wreck just about a week ago, that car really took all of the brunt, and I barely suffered any injuries at all!  And that made me love my beetle even more.

So today, when the insurance man told me my beetle was "a total loss" I thought that was the worst and most inaccurate phrasing ever. 

I know that a car is just a car.  That things are just things.  And that what's most important is that I'm okay.  Believe me, I have been counting my lucky stars all week long.  But this is the time of year for me that emotions run high and deep.  I miss my mom.  I want my mom here when I've gone through something scary.  I want my mom here when it's the holidays.  I want my mom here when I get my next car.  I know that Mom would be so grateful to that little Beetle that I am okay after that crazy mishap on the highway.

I drove out to see my car one last time today.  I took some pictures, took a little farewell video, and said my goodbyes.  Tomorrow, the insurance company will pick it up and take it to...I don't know?  Beetle heaven?  I sure hope so.

The Uninsured

On my way to a gig Friday night, me and my little Beetle got pretty beat up on the highway.  A car plowed into the back of me and as the airbag was exploding in my face, I hit a big truck in front of me.  My little beetle is most likely totaled, as she took a pretty hard beating from both the back and the front.  I don't yet have the photos of my car, but I do have a photo of the car that caused the whole problem in the first place. 

The driver of this stupid car doesn't have insurance!

It all happened on a congested highway during rush hour traffic.  I've never been in a wreck like this before- nothing beyond a little fender bender many years ago- so this was really scary. 

I really didn't know what was happening, it all happened to fast.  I just felt like I was getting hit from all sides, not just the front and the back. And because the airbag almost immediately popped me in the face as soon as my car was hit, I couldn't see anything.  A few minutes after the wreck, a woman came up to me and my car and asked if I was okay.  I thanked her for stopping and she said, "I'm the one in the truck that you hit."  I didn't even know I had hit a truck until she said that.

I think I was just sort of in shock during the aftermath of it happening and it gets confusing when I try to piece it together.  Later that night, when I went to the wrecker's storage lot to get some stuff out of my car and saw my car, and the car that hit me, I felt so mad. 

I had asked the guy that hit me, "What happened?" and he said, "I don't know.  I was trying to switch lanes and I guess I hit you.  I was on my way to the gym."  It just makes me so mad that he was so wreckless,  and for really no reason.  And to top it all off, he doesn't have insurance.

I used his phone to call my husband and my brother for help.  Later that night, we got a text from him (the uninsured driver) that said, "Whatever you do, DO NOT POST PICTURES OF MY WRECK ON FACEBOOK!"  The all caps seemed so threatening, and I'm not really sure what that was all about, but I wanted to be sure to put a picture of HIS WRECK up on my blog, since he's not "allowing" me to put it on facebook.

The police officers told me that the man had been ticketed and that his car would be impounded until he got some car insurance.  By the looks of his car, I'm not sure he's going to want it back.  And I'm pretty sure that even if he does get insurance, which by the way- is the law!- it's going to be too little, too late to help me out.

But, having said all of this, I need to also say I am thankful.  I walked away from this with bumps and bruises and whiplash, and I think that's all.  (Although I am going to have everything checked over because my neck is in quite a bit of pain!)  My guitar is fine. All the other drivers are also alive and seemingly okay.  And I did get to hitch a sweet ride to meet up with my rescue squad after the wreck...

Thank you officer, for the nice ride in your car! :)