First Day of Summer Break and Car Update (with Pictures)

Friday was my kids' last day of school. J has to go back tomorrow and Wednesday for testing, but that's another blog entry. I was looking forward to the opportunity to sleep in a bit more than usual for a week day. My kids haven't quite learned the art of sleeping in yet (a trait they definitely get from the hubby's side of the family), and usually have a tendency to make quite a bit of noise when I want to sleep in, making it impossible to do so. This morning, though, I know they got up fairly early, but they were so good! They played together quietly in my son's room until after I got up some time between 7:30 and 8:00. These days, that's sleeping in for me, although many years ago I thought nothing of sleeping until noon on a lazy weekend.

So I got up and came downstairs, put a pot of coffee on and fixed the kids breakfast. The hubby came down and had his coffee and breakfast and then got ready to leave for work. Since I knew he was going to be riding his bike in to work, I asked him to leave me the key to the pickup truck just in case I needed to go anywhere. He informed me that I would, indeed, need to go somewhere, because Friday we had picked up the tags and registration for his new bike (yet another post), and had forgotten to get them out of the car Friday night. So he wanted me to go over to the tow yard and get the tags out of the car and reminded me that I'd said I wanted to take pictures. Crap. He also wanted me to call the insurance adjuster, but I told him that I had already filed the insurance claim, so at this point I needed to wait and let the adjuster call me, which USAA told me would be within two business days. OK, he said, and took off for the office.

I spent a good bit of the morning working with the boy on math trying to help him prepare for his testing this week. Some time after eleven the phone rang, and it was my insurance adjuster calling me. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from her so soon. However, I wasn't happy about having to explain, yet again, the details of the accident. Ugh! Apparently the lady who took down the information for the claim didn't include the details. But she explained to me how we needed to proceed. I need to go over to the towing service and release my car to the shop that's going to do the work on my car. It just so happens that the body shop that the gentleman who towed my car told me works on "high-end" cars like mine (his words), is also one of the two in the area recommended by USAA. This means that any work they do on my car is guaranteed for as long as I have it. That's great news! Anyway, after I release my car, the tow service will get it to the body shop, and then they'll work directly with USAA to get it repaired and paid for. She went over my coverages with me, and we're in good shape as far as that's concerned, thank goodness. I have the lowest deductible offered by USAA. That's something I did over five years ago after the hubby had an accident in my van while we were living in Heidelberg. I hope nothing like this happens, but prefer to pay less out of pocket if it does. But I digress.

I had a nice talk with the adjuster too. She was so sweet. She, of course, asked if we were ok, and told me she had talked to the other lady too. And she was going to be calling her back. When I talked to her about how bad I felt, she said she understood, but not to beat myself up too much, because that's why I have insurance. She also told me to be sure to call her if I had any problems or questions. It sure is nice to have someone like that put me at ease a bit.

After I talked to her, I called the hubby to tell him what she had said. I told him I was going to get showered and dressed and go over to the tow yard to get the things we needed from the car and to release it to the body shop. Then I mentioned that I wished he could come with me because I wasn't keen on going over there by myself. He told me to come get him and he could probably take off and go with me. I was relieved! Call me crazy, but I just didn't want to see my car in daylight for the first time by myself. So the kids and I got ready and left. I don't think I've ever been so nervous to be behind the wheel of a vehicle in my life. Not even when I totalled my car when I was in college (but that may be because I didn't really remember the accident). But I got through it and the kids and I went to get the hubby.

When we got to the shop, the gentleman who owns it had just left for Rocky Mount and wouldn't be back until later tonight. Bummer! So we'd have to wait until tomorrow to get the car over to the body shop. But we were able to get the stuff we needed out of the car, and I took some pictures, which are at the end of this post. The kids were dying to see it, and both of them said "it doesn't look that bad." I think they were worried about that. What can I say...we all love that car. I have to say, though...it didn't look as bad once I got to see it in the daylight as it did Friday night. I really was kind of scared to see it. So, truly, the only thing I'm concerned about at this point is the airbags. And I wouldn't be worried about that if someone hadn't said something to me Friday night about insurance companies usually totalling cars if the airbags deployed. I probably have nothing to worry about, but that's been on my mind ever since Friday night.

We went to get some lunch before taking hubby back to work, and then the kids and I came home. J and I continued working on math, and A went to continue working on cleaning her room. It was an absolute disaster last night, which was quite a surprise. Usually they both play in his room and his gets the messiest. Then she wants to complain when I tell her she has to help him clean it up. Kids!

So besides the normal evening routine around here, that's pretty much our day in a nutshell. I'm still tickled at having my kitchen pretty much the way it needs to be. I'm not a great housekeeper, but now that I have it clean and organized, I'm trying to be diligent about cleaning up right after dinner so I don't have anything to worry about for the rest of the evening or the next day. At least not in the kitchen. Lots of other rooms to get done.

Here are the pictures I took of the car.

It was the right front corner that bore the brunt of the impact.

This side is mostly ok

So, see, I really probably don't have much to worry about as far as getting it repaired. As long as they repack the airbags properly we should be ok. I'm still really bummed, though, and can't believe I did it.