Releasing the Past for the Future

Just over four weeks ago, I made a big announcement for my BFF and me. Becoming a mother was something that I had dreamed of but never thought could happen before my move back to Virginia. I had brought back to my home state many physical and mental souvenirs from the dozen years living in Rhode Island, fiber playing in New England, and working in both RI and Massachusetts. Though I still own about half of the house and have a virtual ton of things to bring from RI, my biggest essentials to have during that move’s time were my bunnies, car, whatever clothing I could manage, key furniture pieces, and the crazy stash of fibery love.

Yet no matter how good life is treating you, “things” happen that can wreck havoc on your plans. In our case on May 3rd, the Friday we were to drive up to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, I was involved in a fender-bender en route to take the kiddos to Virginia Rabbit Rescue’s sitting/boarding service. The stop-and-go traffic seemed more than usual. When the car ahead of me suddenly stopped and swerved to the left, I slammed on my brakes while swerving to the right. The end result: the damages my poor 2002 Civic suffered were deemed “Too costly to repair” by the insurance company.

Because of the accident, it was obvious we could not attend MD S&W. I was sent to a local hospital for observation which meant four hours of monitoring in Labor and Delivery. All I could think about was how we were going to miss seeing everyone for the second year in a row, and I was in complete dismay. Yes, an accident occurred, but it could have been prevented. We had been budgeting our finances for this trip and we were disappointed. The stay at the hospital was on a positive note because it gave us a taste on what to expect when I actually deliver our daughter. Though I was starving, I discovered that eating was not allowed and only a Popsicle or ice chips were my options. (Note to self: Eat everything I can before going to the hospital!) The second lesson I learned during the observational stay was how the monitoring worked, how my contractions felt, and what the contractions looked like on the monitor. Finally as my third lesson, I was on bed rest until my next OB appointment. Those five days are what I felt was “wall-climbing madness” and that was after a full 24-hour day! I cannot fathom how anyone could take more than a week of bed rest, let alone months of it.

Like the saying “Every cloud has a silver lining” goes, there was one to the accident. For the past two years I have been working on transferring my car’s registration from Rhode Island to Virginia, but the bureaucratic red tape of paperwork and fees had been astounding. My little Civic had been paid off for several years, and I was looking forward to seeing our daughter driving it when she turned of age to do so. When we received the bad news about the car’s condition, I realized that I could still keep my feelings and memories, but needed to release my emotional ties in order to go forward.

Some folks might consider the accident a setback, but we saw it as an opportunity. Besides having to purchase another vehicle, a result of the accident was to update our car insurance policy for better options, and examining our financial obligations and setting them for our family’s future. We researched various vehicles and narrowed our findings to the smaller SUV style, with a possibility on a 4-door sedan or hatchback as alternations. From there we selected the ones in the area with the safety features BFF required. It was with that list and our budget we armed ourselves for what we figured to be quite an intense hunt during the weeks after Mother’s Day.

Before the hunt even began, we did have a special trip to make during Mother’s Day weekend. With bated breath after the accident, we attended my 32nd week appointment hoping that the required bed rest allowed us to travel from May 10th to 12th. Our daughter’s ultrasound looking great was music to our ears, and we were cleared to visit our friends in Meadows of Dan for a certain birthday party. As BFF made the 5-hour drive on Friday to where we were staying, I knitted until the carpal tunnel stopped me. Mary and John’s guest cabin is almost done in its renovations and was wonderfully hospitable. Hopefully the next time we come down to visit with our daughter, we can help them finish those final cosmetic items they want. As a “Thank you” to them, I have been working on a secret project which I hope will be appreciated. <3 [caption width="640" align="aligncenter"] Part of Mary and John’s ‘Thank you’ Project[/caption]

With the birthday party in Meadows of Dan and Mother’s Day Breakfast with the Padres at Smithfield Station behind us, the next celebration to attend was the baby shower my MIL was hosting on May 18th. The morning of the shower, we tested out some vehicles at two dealerships. Since we were pressed for time, I drove one of the cars we were considering to our house, and BFF drove it back to the dealership. As I left the car, the salesperson Jessica gave me a hug and wished us well. What I figured was that BFF would be haggling with her on the pricing and whatever he wanted to do to see if it could fit our budget. Little did I know what BFF had in store.

When I received the texted message from BFF’s phone that his car had broken down at the dealership, my stress level began to rise. I soon called him with the famous last words, “It’s not like we can afford it right now at that price anyway. Why did you want to test drive it again?” Instead of answering me, he quickly told me that the service mechanic needed to speak with him and had to hang up the phone. When I arrived alone at the baby shower, I was asked where my husband was. The agitation in my voice was not hidden at all when I explained that he wanted to test drive a certain vehicle at 11:30 AM, and that his car broke down at the dealership. Appearing roughly thirty minutes late to our baby shower, everyone exclaimed when he walked into the room. I turned around, and could not hide my disappointment in him. What happened next can only be described as “How Kimberly Got Punked!” Note: both BFF and I do NOT like surprises.

Yes, my wonderfully amazing husband decided that the Mazda CX-7 we test drove would be perfect for our little family. From what I understood, BFF worked out an incredible deal with the folks at Hyman Brothers and they must have created a record on the fastest sale closure EVER. With all that behind us, the baby shower continued its merry way, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Now to see what the next five weeks will bring… Until then, a quick shot of the nursery will have to do! =:8