R.I.P. - My Tank - The Ford Explorer Sport That Saved My LIfe!

This is my "Tank"...my "Baby"...May she rest in peace! The good news though - I'm above dirt! And even better news - I'm "adopting" her older sister, the EXACT same vehicle except she is one year older but with less miles, she has a sunroof, a kickin' stereo, 4WD and a tow package. Since she will be the older sister who has it all, I think I'll name her "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia"! Photos to come of her once the adoption process is complete!

Above: Passenger Side Front
Above: Passenger Side Front

Above: Driver's Side Front

(First impact - the concrete median)

Above: Front View of the Tank

Above: My view after last impact

- except the view is upright in this photo.

How NOT to Celebrate Sammy Hagar's Birthday!

I was in a major car accident Tuesday night on my way home from work.

It is a HUGE blessing that I walked out of it alive with only a bruised lung and bruised sternum, plus a few other bruises and soreness. Not a cut on me though, despite the windshield and passenger side windows imploding.

After hitting the slick spot, I turned into the swerve like you are supposed to, keeping my cool. But I started hydroplaning, did two 360's and flipped my car after I hit a slick patch and hit the concrete median head on, went airborn and the car landed flat on the passenger side. Didn't think I had hit my head, but both airbags deployed and smoke filled the car. I kind of wish I had lost conciousness as it was super scary spinning like that, seeing that concrete wall coming at me, thinking I was a goner. After I hit the concrete median, I went straight up in the air, was looking at the sky thinking that was my preview of heaven, then landing flat on the passenger side. Scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life!

When I came to a stop, I realized my chest hurt but other than that, I seemed okay. Again, suprising no one more than me, I remained calm but realized I needed to get out of there - with all the smoke, I was afraid the car might catch fire. I tried to release my seat belt but couldn't find the release (not realizing it was behind me because I was hanging from it). So, I was having a hard time breathing because of all the smoke (which turned out to be carbon fibers from the airbags) so I turned my attention to hoping the power window would open so I could breathe again. I thought for a second that the electrical probably was shot and it wouldn't open, but said a little prayer that it would and it did! I opened the window above me and it worked so I could breathe again, then figured out how to unfasten my belt climbed out, realizing since I was hanging from it that the release was behind me, not to my right as it normally would be. (My large console saved me from falling all the way down tot the ground...I'll never curse it again if they don't total my car!)

Two men helped me but you should have seen the faces of the cars passing by - their jaws just dropped seeing me climbing out of there of mostly my own volition. The second man said he'd stay with me until the ambulance got there. We talked. I looked at my car and in a defeated voice, told the man that now I didn't know what I was going to do - I was on my way to pay my electric bill so they wouldnt' shut it off (money is VERY tight since hubby and I got back together trying to catch up.) and now I didn't have a car either. After the EMTs arrived, the man came up to me and handed me a $100 bill and told me to go pay my electric bill and disappeared despite my insistance that I couldn't accept it. I didn't even get his name or anything. What an angel!

The EMTs checked me out and said I looked okay - that I could go to the ER if I thought I needed to, but when asked if I was their mom or sister, would they think I was okay to go home and just go if I felt something was wrong. They said they felt I had a bruised chest and lung, that other than that, I seemed fine and that I'd be extremely sore for a few days but that I should be okay. They told me if I felt like something was not right, to go to ER.

So, The first two days were the worst soreness. Not quite 72 hrs later, I'm still very sore today...okay, make that VERY sore today, and new bruises keep turning up in places I didn't even realize had taken any impact, but I'm alive!. Scariest thing I've ever been thru in my life. It is a true miracle that I am alive.

Boy, after my "almost divorce" and reconciliation, and now this, I've had one heckuva year, haven't I?

Take it from a Sammy Hagar Fanatic, this was NOT the way to celebrate Sammy's birthday!

Are Hooter's Hot Wings Really THAT Good?

Seriously - I really want to know. Are the hot wings at Hooter's really THAT good?

Or are they just average, with the main attraction being the Hooter's girls who serve those hot wings?

I think I know the answer.

My husband and I have been debating this for years. I've never been there but of course, he has. I have always resisted going there because:

1. I don't really care for hot wings in general, and

2. Even though my "hooters" would stand up to any of the Hooter's girls', any woman who has even a shred of an inferiority complex would be intimidated by those young, perky waitresses. (Okay, maybe "stand up" is not the most accurate term here, but gimme a good push up bra and it becomes applicable! I know TMI.)

Hubby and I have had many lively debates regarding this, always prompted by a commercial on the radio, a billboard, or passing by one of the restaurants. He insists that their chicken wings are great. He has recently added that they have great burgers to his argument. (He knows I love me a good burger.) I maintain their food is probably okay, but that guys just want to oogle the Hooter's girls and that is the main draw to Hooter's. I have prodded, "Okay, if the wings are so great, I'll go get "to go" and bring them home to eat...Will they be just as good then?" Hubby giggles and doesn't really have a defense for that one.

Whatever the case, I have resigned myself to being a "Hooter's Girl" for the day. More just to fuel the fun we have debating this issue than anything else, I got a copykat recipe for Hooter's hot wings and dipping sauce from the internet and am going to attempt to make them tonight for dinner. I won't be wearing a Hooter's tshirt or short shorts. I'll probably be wearing jeans and nice low v-neck tshirt (complete with my best push up bra!) so he'll get some of the effect anyway! Hey, you have to work with what you got...Let's just say that I NEVER wear turtlenecks!

I'll let you know if his argument for the awesome Hooter's wings stands up in Martial Arts Mom's court...

M.A.M Update...

I haven't given you an update since July, so I thought it was about time.

My husband and I have been back together for about 2 months now and things seem to be going well. He is really trying and so am I.

I asked him to give me a week after I broke it off with Forrest, the guy I was seeing for 3 months when we were separated. I broke it off with Forrest on a Sunday and my hubby moved back in that next Friday...not quite a week, but it felt right.

I still miss Forrest, but not so much in the romantic way anymore. I just miss him as a friend - a goofball, and as I've told you before - I mean that in a good way. I'm a goofball too. We just seemed to get each other's weird sense of humors. He called me about a week after the breakup and wanted me to see him "on the side". I told him I was not that person and would never be that person. When I was with him, I was with him only and now that my husband and I are back together, I am only with him. I have not heard from him directly since - 2-1/2 months. It was very hard at first, not talking to Forrest because we had talked almost every day or went out together. I will love Forrest forever - most of all because he gave me confidence in myself again. Remember I told you I started wearing shorts for the first time in about 25 years because of him? He made me feel good enough about myself to not feel like an idiot showing my legs. LOL He told me I was gorgeous all the time, which again, inspired confidence in me I have never had before. But back to my husband and I...

My husband asked all our friends over that Friday night and asked me to be married to him again in front of all of them and our kids. We put our wedding rings back on that night and he stayed his first night back home that night.

When we sat down to figure out what we were going to do to make our marriage work, we said we wanted to incorporate things we did with those we were with during our separation that we felt we had been missing before we split. One of those things was eating at home more. The woman he was seeing was a good cook and so am I but with our busy schedules and kids, we had kind of gotten away from eating at home much. Well, my interest in cooking has become a passion for cooking - especially cooking in cast iron...but that's another post entirely. We've always enjoyed eating out together and watching cooking shows, but it has become a very fun thing we can discuss and be interested in together. The thing I'm going to have to watch though, is my weight. I lost all that weight in "the divorce diet" and we have such great food all the time now, it's tough to not just relax and eat tons of it!

Another thing we said is that we wanted to "date" more. Get out without the kids - as adults having a good time together. I go with him to his pool league night on Wednesday nights now and it's like a date for married people. Our son also spends the night on one night of each weekend with my parents, which is good for all involved - my parents enjoy seeing him, he enjoys interacting with them and my husband and I get time alone as adults. I highly recommend this married couple dating thing. We really enjoy our time together. It helps you remember you are people and not just parents.

My husband and I have both realized that we almost lost our family and all that we've worked for the past 29 years and we are both grateful that we saved it just in the nick of time - 3 weeks short of our divorce becoming final. We are both more affectionate to each other. We text each other like teenagers, with suggestive texts such as "Will you take me for a ride on your big green tractor tonight?"...(You gotta know your country music to know what that means...BTW, have you ever listened to the words to that song? Jason Aldean is NOT talking to his girl about riding a John Deere in this song! If you get my drift...) I've even changed the ringtone on my cell for my husband exclusively to "Big Green Tractor". I know - Too Much Information...LOL!

I have gotten off track on my martial arts. During our separation, it was because of depression and just not being able to get "into" anything. Now, it is the complete opposite...I have so much going on, that I don't want to miss a minute of it for anything - not even my karate night. I've got my loving husband back home and more attentive than ever, my passion for cooking every night, helping my son with his homework - trying to keep him on track in that respect, and of course, the new seasons of Grey's Anatomy and Survivor! I have explained this all to my senseis (minus the Grey's and Survivor part) and they understand completely. I will get back to it - just need a little more time to get into a more stable routine.

But to sum it up, I'm very happy. This getting back together stuff can be alot of fun!