Universe, can we be friends now?

Last weekend I drove to visit Brad in Lubbock. Alone. It was hard to leave the girls since I see so little of them as it is. But I missed Brad. A lot. And 12 hours of driving in only two days with two little girls in the car just felt overwhelming. (Finding bathrooms every two hours and holding one daughter while helping the other onto the toilet, for example, is more than I was emotionally ready to deal with on that particular weekend.) So, I packed the car and took off.

I stopped once. It was for gas. And I left my car running while filling up since the alternator is troubled and sometimes the car won't start. I didn't want to have to ask a stranger for a jump. It was much easier to risk a static fire and blowing up the gas station instead.

Brad and I had a wonderful time. I really like him. He makes me laugh. 

And then the next day I packed up and headed home. In the middle of the day. Because I get sleepy and apparently drunk driving is a problem for highways in the middle of nowhere. Thought I would avoid problems.

Until I hit a deer. 

To be fair, I think it should really be blamed on him. The deer. I mean, he saw me. He saw me long enough to hesitate, actually bound away momentarily, and then decide, "Yeah, I'm going for it!" 

I saw him long enough to slow down from 70 mph to 40.

And then I passed slowly enough to watch him flip 6 feet in the air and land on the side of the road. When I turned around to find him, he was gone. 

I felt sick. I'm pretty sure I fatally injured that deer. 

Surprisingly, I thought nothing of my car. Until I thought to myself, "How am I not finding it? Shouldn't there be blood or antlers or tire marks or something?" So, I got out of the car, looked around the area, turned... 

and my hood was just completely crumpled.

I made it home fine. But remember the fritzy alternator? And although my hood is crumpled enough to see underneath, I can't actually open it. You know, to jump it.

Guess whose mom is driving her to work and picking her up everyday?

Add that to apartment rental problems (and wicked expensive apartments!), drama at work, an unusually grumpy and obstinate Grace, an unsleeping Claire, and an absent (temporarily) husband. And that would be why I'm a little nuts. and tired.

 

But writing this made me laugh. And that makes me feel betterish. How about you? Anything you can make funny and laugh about?

Autumn. My favorite.

When my mom suggested it, I just couldn't pass up the promise of a gorgeous day at the Dallas Arboretum. Swine Flu can give you cabin fever. My fever has been gone for two days, so I'm not contagious. But I'm not feeling perfect yet either (as witnessed by the dear bush who discreetly received the lunch my shrunken stomach rejected).

After a week with my girls, I'm looking forward to being their full-time Mom again. Have I mentioned that exciting news? We girls are finally going to be living with Daddy again while he works on his Masters. And I get to stay HOME!!!! I feel like weeping in relief whenever I think of it.

Below are some of the fun pics we took at the pumpkin-clad tree park. (Thank you, Grandma Janna for the darling t-shirts!)

We basked in the sun, and Grace rolled down the hillside.

Pretend this was meant to be slightly out of focus.

Just look at that face.

Oink

Turns out that it's not always just a cough and sore throat.

Turns out when you're the first person at your very large company's in-house clinic to be tested positive for swine flu they call corporate in Virginia and initiate a campus-wide emergency protocol.

Turns out that wearing a face mask out to your car makes you feel like a bio-terrorist.

In case you had ever wondered.

Sometimes you need the park

Made in China

This is the warning sign on a miniature merry-go-round that Grace and Claire ride at our local Peter Piper's Pizza:

In case you needed further evidence that spell checker is not enough.

Road Trip

We Nevilles have taken a ridiculous number of road trips this year. Mostly between Texas and New Mexico. We see a lot of interesting and beautiful and nasty [see giant dead wild pig] things. We drive through little one-horse towns, and I think to myself, "Who decided to come to the middle of nowhere and build a town? And why did all these other people follow them?"

Take a look at the ancient gas station pictured above, for example. You should know that the door to this building is locked and the interior is full of junk. There are maybe five other dilapidated buildings in the area (and it's difficult to determine whether they're in use). Every time I pass I think: Who is paying the electricity bill on that vending machine? I wonder if I could get a soda out of it.

Keeps me up at night, people.