Too Much Excitement

Some years birthdays pass by with little fanfare, are modestly celebrated, or, in some cases, they are rather punctuated. This year, Sonja's birthday was a stand out event for several reasons. The Grands were visiting, and I believe it's the first time they've been present for her actual birthday. The teen group from church went on a beach trip to Florida, leaving on Sonja's birthday proper and enjoying the beach for a full week--SO many firsts there for her (more beach trip details in another post). Since the teens were headed out on her birthday proper, we celebrated just before. The idea was to have a leisure day out--just the girls, having lunch and shopping before returning home for dinner with the rest of the family followed by cake and gifts. However, circumstances gave us a rather late start to our day out so we didn't get to the shops Sonja wanted, and to top it off, we got in a car accident.

Thankfully it wasn't severe, but I was sitting at a red light when I was rear ended. The car is still driveable, but needs a fair amount of repair--thankfully the driver assumed full responsibility. We were sore for about a week. I believe I hurt the most as I was looking over my shoulder at the passing traffic when we were hit, and though my muscles immediately went in to cramping and pain, it was manageable. I was concerned for Sonja as I knew she was headed to beach camp the next morning, but she rebounded really well. She was just really upset and disappointed that her day out was a bust. However, she was able to enjoy cake and gifts at home, and upon her return from camp, I took her out for lunch and some shopping to redeem the day. It was good. And there is much to be thankful for. I'm thankful we were in the van as it's a bigger vehicle and our sustained damege--both to car and body--would have been more had we been driving the CRV (a Ford F150 hit us). I'm thankful that the body heals itself, if not terribly damaged, and even as we age. :-) I'm thankful for good police officers and honorable citizens who were involved in the accident and reporting. I'm thankful that the car will be repaired and that we have options for accomodations during the weeks that it will be in the shop. I'm thankful that though Sonja's outing did not go as planned, her beach trip plans were not affected. AndI'm thankful for Sonja and the memories we make together--even when they don't get made just as we planned. Happy Birthday Sonja! Welcome to 14!