Oh, the irony

A week and a half ago, I'd taken a diversion from my usual blog post about the kids and our happenings to digress about Winnipeg drivers.  Sadly, one week later - last Friday night - I went out for a quick errand while Steve stayed home, kids in bed.  Was heading southbound on a one-way street that has three lanes.  I was in the left, mostly parked cars were in the right and a few cars in the centre - all pretty mellow, nothing speedy.  Sadly for me, a new driver in the centre lane decided to turn left - mid-green light, mid-intersection.  I had time to just see her veer in front of me before we crashed.  Drag.  Exactly what had happened to me twice the day I'd blogged - except I'd had more time to respond.  When she said, "Oh no - I'm going to lose my license!"- I wasn't very nice.  "Well, honey.  If you can't follow some basic driving rules, like not turning from the middle lane, you probably shouldn't have one."  I guess in Manitoba, a driver at fault in an accident during their first year of driving will lose it.  Poor girl.  I might have been a bit more sympathetic if I'd known . . . maybe not.

Fortunately no injuries, fortunately, two witnesses walking along who saw it all.  Unfortunately, she hit my passenger tire full on so that the wheel is bent in a good number of inches and the van is declared unsafe to drive.  Meant that we had a 'home' weekend - made for a couple of long days.  Also meant that A stayed home from school on Monday as I had no way to get her there.  S also stayed home from work as I was on the phone most of the day with ICBC, MPI (Manitoba Public Insurance), mechanics, car rental services, etc.) and needing to get the van to a shop - not possible with the kids.  It is ironic that I saw an accident as imminent, that on Saturday I had the van booked for a safety inspection so I could get on MPI this week, that after 22 years with ICBC, I finally have to deal with them once I'm out of province.  But for a first accident to be in, I'm very thankful it wasn't too bad and that I had no children in the car with me - that's very uncommon. 

The nature of traffic accidents, however, is that they're never convenient.  This certainly isn't.  S's really nice bike was stolen a few weeks back (locked up in the backyard but someone broke the locks with tools).  He's been jogging to work and I've been picking him up but with winter approaching, this won't last long.   We've already felt rather stretched with his intense travel schedule, with the unsettledness of our living situation, with colds and such.  Lots of paperwork happening anyway, as we sign our mortgage papers this week, meet with the lawyers and all.  So ICBC will let us know if our car is a write-off later this week (due to the age of the vehicle and amount of axel damage, etc, but would seem really crazy based on the surface damage!).

Until then, I'm trying not to employ Ai's current  conversation tactics.  He likes to engage A and Iz by saying, "Want to play cars, A?  Say 'yes'."  "Like how I did that, Iz? Say 'great'."  I'd like to ask God (or ICBC/MPI) to respond as I dictate or do a few things that would make our lives a little simpler at this moment.  But unlike Ai, I recognize that I can't control many of life's events.  And so I'm trying to just be thankful, acknowledging that cars and bikes are luxuries that most of the world doesn't even have one of.  .  Further, safety is a gift not to be taken for granted.  I trust all shall be well . . . it just makes it a little more tiring!

Since an accident isn't the most positive thing, here are a few of our other firsts from the week.

We woke up to our first snow fall of the season on Monday.  It's still sticking - which for the kids is a huge positive (for me, there's a bit of  . . . oh, oh - here starts a long winter).  Iz also had her first spontaneous prayer.  Out in the park with S, she looked up at the sky and said, "Jesus, please give me more candy."  I guess the rationing of one Hallowe'en treat per day isn't satisfying her needs.

We're also experiencing many firsts with A as she is starting to read beginner books.  Learning to read is such an exciting journey - we're all enjoying the little steps she's making.  As for S, he had a first trip to the East Coast - returned safely home last Wednesday night from a meaningful eight days away at the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission)  in Halifax and meetings in Toronto.  While it was tiring for him, it was a also a privilege to partake in such an important gathering. 

Here's some of our latest pictures:

Enjoying having Daddy back home!

A trip to the Assiniboine Park Conservatory while waiting to pick up S from work.
What a great warm place to explore as admission is by donation/free :).
I just didn't get any clear pics of the kids - they were too busy running along the path!

For some strange reason, Iz was terrified of the long thing hanging down from the banana plant.
Wouldn't go near it without real trepidation!