"Have you been praying for mortifications lately?"

That's what a friend asked me on the phone Wednesday night, mainly in jest but partly seriously. Yeah...no, actually I haven't. I thought I had enough mortifications for now, thanks.

She was calling to see how we were doing, because my husband was in a car accident on Tuesday afternoon. Not kidding. First and most importantly, he is okay - thank you, guardian angels!! Second and less importantly but still somewhat important, our car is toast. Totaled. Out of commission. I didn't see it until Wednesday afternoon when we went to get our belongings out of it from the lot it had been towed to. The hood was punched in on both sides, the bumper was in the back seat, three out of the four tires must have blown because they were replaced with spares...in short, it's something of a miracle that my husband wasn't seriously injured. He ended up perpendicular to oncoming traffic, thank you Jesus that the driver behind him stopped in time...thank you, Jesus.

I feel like my heart is still pounding. You know those moments when you realize that your life could have changed, all in an instant, and you didn't even see it coming? And then you look around and realize afresh how fragile everything is?

We went in to the ER later Tuesday night just to make sure everything was okay. They ran an x-ray and a CT scan on Mr. M's neck and back, and thankfully everything checked out fine. We got home right before midnight after getting the prescription for major pain killers from the pharmacy.

I took off work yesterday to be with my husband and help him get the paperwork started to get the medical bills covered, get a check to buy a new car, etc. Having never had a car totaled before, it's been a big learning curve to figure out how to call and what to expect.

We do have a lead on a new (to us) car: it's owned by Mr. M's grandpa, the same one I wrote about here. The Italian grandpa. He owns a big boat-like Buick that only has 30,000 miles and is in pristine condition because he basically just sits in the garage. He's been refusing to sell for a while...I can understand, it's his last grip on independence...but he can't drive anymore, really. We may be driving the rental car 6 hours to get the Buick this weekend - if grandpa can find the title! And if we can get the insurance check in time, and if if if if if. All details, I know - thank God my husband is okay - but ugh, details. Bureaucracy. Car shopping. All such a headache.

So yeah, mortifications. Could I get some good news every once in a while? Is that too much to ask? (Seriously though, I'm so grateful Mr. M is okay. I just have to pinch myself how close he was to a much, much worse outcome...)

+EcceFiat+

p.s. why yes, actually, the car accident did happen at an inconvenient time in my cycle...and nothing kills the mood like a near-death experience, neck and head pain, talking with insurance agents, and spending hours in the ER...I swear sometimes it seems the entire universe is opposed to the idea of us conceiving! whew. just had to get that one off my chest.