One WILD Day

Today has been one of the craziest days. It all started when I headed home from work this afternoon. I left at my normal time (5:00pm) and started on my normal route home. I wasn't very far down the road (Jessamine Station Rd.) when I started noticing several cars stopping in the road, doing a 3 point turn and heading the other direction. Just as I was wondering "what in the heck is going on" I saw it. It was a car, turned on its side, laying in the middle of the road. There were no cops, no ambulances, no people around - nothing. There was one car in front of me, stopped, so I turned off my car and ran up to the lady in the car to see if she knew what was going on. She said that she had just driven up, and didn't know what was going on. I knew that whoever was inside the car probably needed help, so I ran up to the car to see how I could help. I couldn't believe that no one else was getting out of their cars to help! The car must have been there for like 3-5 minutes already, and I could not believe that no one had stopped to check on the driver yet.

As I got closer to the car, I could see someone trying to open the door (which was tough - opening the door against gravity) and then I saw a girl trying to get a baby out of the car. I could tell that the was in total shock, so I told her to hand me the baby and then told her that I would help her get out of the car. She handed me the beautiful little baby girl, who only looked to be like 6 or 8 months old. Amazingly, there was not a scratch on her. By then, two other ladies had run up to help so I handed one of them the baby and then helped the girl out of the car. One of ladies said they had called 911, so that was good. It wasn't the easiest for the girl to get out of the car, as she was trying to keep the door open against gravity and climb out at the same time. The bottom of the car was super hot, so I tried to help her get down without having to step on any of the undercarriage. She made it out safely, and we all walked to a spot away from the car and got her to sit down. Shortly after, police and firefighters started to arrive and took over. The girl was only 20, and she seemed to be intact. She was definitely in shock, and kept asking if her baby was ok. The baby (I found out her name is Amelia) didn't have any scratches and was not even crying. I hope that they both went to the hospital to be fully checked out though, because they could have internal injuries. The mom did have a bloody mouth, but she said it was from when the airbag deployed.

I'm not 100% sure what happened, but I think that she was driving down the road (a 2 lane road), lost control and went into the other lane, hit the embankment which propelled the car back into the right lane, but turned the car up on its side. It didn't look like the car rolled any, just slid on its side. This is where they were really lucky - I think the whole situation could have been much worse - especially if another car had been involved. Thank the Lord for watching over those two this afternoon, and for protecting them in the accident.

When I got home my adrenaline was pumping through the roof. I had planned to mow the yard this evening, so I thought that would be a good way to get some of my nervous energy out. (Note: Chad's allergies flare up so badly when he mows that it has always been easier for me to do it. Plus, I actually really love to mow! It is such a satisfying chore. Plus, I prefer for the yard to be mowed twice a week, on Saturdays and Wednesdays, so it is probably best that I don't put my OCD expectations on someone else... : )

So once I got done mowing our yard, I took a long look at the house behind us (we live on a corner). The house has been for sale for months, and the lawn has been growing for...months. It has really gotten out of hand, and I don't know if anyone is ever going to come mow it. I normally walk Emma pretty early in the morning, and I am always afraid that a snake, cat, raccoon, opossum, or some other critter is going to come slithering out of the tall grass and get us. Plus, I read an article in Reader's Digest last year about some guy mowing the lawns of foreclosed homes in his neighborhood to keep the neighborhood looking nice. The Reader's Digest article solidified my resolve, and I pointed the lawn mower in that direction. The grass was so high that it was slow going at first, but eventually I began to make a dent in the section of the lawn that is between the street and the sidewalk.

When I was almost done with this section, I looked up from the yard to see a lady pushing her car from (a very busy) Main St. onto our street. Crazy thing #2. I stopped the mower and ran to her car to see if she needed any help pushing the car to safety. Once I got to her, the car started up and she pulled onto the street. She got out and said that she had run out of gas. We just filled up our little gas can for the lawn mower last night, so I went and got the can and we filled up her car. Her car started right up and she went on her way, so that was good.

Then I went back to the neighbor's yard to finish mowing the area near the house, and quickly found out that the lawn mower had run out of gas. And I had just given all of the gas away - the irony! But that was ok, the lady needed it more than we did. As I was putting the gas can and lawn mower back in the garage, I noticed that Emma wanted to go inside. Normally when Emma is playing in the backyard I leave the door cracked so that she can go in and out at her leisure. Chad had left earlier in the evening for a meeting at church, and I noticed that he had closed the door all the way. I went to open the door for Emma, and you guessed it, the door was locked. No!!!! We don't have a hidden key or anything, so I was totally locked out.

Luckily, the church is only like .5 miles away, so I decided the best course of action would be to run to the church, get the key and then run back. My only worry was that I would have to leave Emma in the backyard. The thought of her getting stolen out of our yard made me practically sprint to the church and back. I was wearing my New Balance 442's which was probably a lot like running in Keds. When I got to the church, Chad felt horrible. This is like the 3rd or 4th time this has happened! Luckily he is always within running distance. Once I had the key and was headed home I thought about the crazy events of the past two hours. All of this happened between 5 and 7! I also decided that I was going to go to Arby's and get a jamocha shake. And that just about pretty much sums up my wild day.

On a different note, I am in taper mode for the Country Music Marathon, and I am feeling good. Next week I will post more of my race prep plans, and some thoughts on my training and my expectations for the race. The race is in 10 days...I can't wait!