Oh, Deer

Well, I sure had quite the experience last night. Something that I don't want to ever repeat again. It happened at about 7:30 p.m. Paul was supposed to pick up a pizza on his way home from work, but he called me to see if I wanted to meet him at a bar/restaurant by where he works and play some darts, so I swung by home and let Abby out real quick and then headed out there. We played some darts with a friend of his, his ex-boss actually, (the first game of which I very victoriously won!) and feasted on a very tasty bacon cheeseburger basket. After a couple more games of darts (which I lost, but not too bad) we were waiting for the check and I decided to take off and head home because I figured Abby was getting pretty hungry. As I'm driving down the road, I remember thinking about what the speed limit was and glancing down at my speedometer. I was doing about 40 in a 45. A car passed by heading the other direction. I glanced in the rear-view mirror for just a second, and when I looked back, there was Bambi's dad in my passenger-side headlight only a couple of feet in front of my car...a big ol' live deer. I sucked in my breath, gripped the steering wheel, and braked. I didn't try to swerve. I remember thinking in that split second that I had no other choice but to hit it. It was the weirdest thing. It was like time stood still. With both the car and the deer moving, it was more toward the driver's side when it hit. It rolled up on its side on the hood then off to the side and just kept going and so did I. I couldn't believe what had just happened. To me it felt no more than going over a big pot hole. I then pulled over and sat there for a second. I could see that my hood was buckled up a little bit, and I thought for sure my headlight(s) would be smashed to pieces. I called Paul and told him what happened...freaking out of course. At this point I think I was more concerned about the deer than myself! He said he would be right there, but I wanted to get home, so I continued driving. He was in the process of paying, so he called me back when he got to his car and convinced me to pull over and wait for him, so I pulled off on a side street and waited. When he got there, I got out and we looked at the car. The hood is dented, the headlight is loose, and the fender over the driver's side tire is pushed back a little so it's hard to open the door. That's it! I am in awe, and thank God, that there wasn't more damage than that and that I wasn't hurt by it coming through the windshield or something. I just can't believe it. Paul said he didn't see the deer on the side of the road when he went by (and he didn't see it this morning either), so he thinks it just continued running. He said those big bucks are tough! I guess so! Holy cow...or deer!!

I've never, ever hit an animal before. I'm still having a hard time getting over that. I didn't call the police because the deer kept going and I wasn't hurt. I talked to our insurance company today and am now just waiting to hear from the auto body shop. We have a $250 deductible for comprehensive, so that big dumb deer owes me some money!

Here's a picture of the hood (ignore the dirt, please...it is wintertime). It's really hard to see on camera because of the metallic paint, but you can kind of see where he rolled on the hood. You can really tell out in the sunlight. Can you believe there isn't more damage than this?!

Update

This is just a quick update to let those of you who don't know that I did receive a call yesterday from the Sleep Center to come in for another sleep study. They're booked until March 29th! There must be a lot of people who can't sleep in this town, because they do sleep studies seven nights a week! Anyway, I went ahead and scheduled it. They're supposed to be sending me a packet in the mail with all the information, but I've done this before, so I pretty much know the routine. I'm on the list in case there is a cancellation to be moved up earlier. I'll keep you all informed.

On a lighter note, I received the following card from Kim (aka on SCS as "Mama Kim") as an RAK in the mail today in among the bills...all the way from sunny Southern California! It's such a cute layout. In case it's hard to tell in the scan, it's a latch card...the blue bar is through a hole in the burgundy. Great use of Stampin' Up's "In Colors!" It was a nice surprise!

Oh, I also wanted to post this card that I made as a thank you for mom. I couldn't post it before because she hadn't received it yet. She gave me the "Cool Caribbean" ink and paper plus the "Summer By The Sea" stamp set for Christmas, so I thought I would do a card for her combining the two. "Summer By The Sea" is a fun set to watercolor; however, the watercoloring doesn't show up very well in the scan. I don't have any seashells by Stampin Up, so I had to turn to CTMH for those (set called Seashells by the Seashore).

And of course, I can't sign out without first giving a shout out to my big bro Barry who's 50th birthday (hee hee) was today! Eat a piece of that yummy rootbeer cheesecake for me! I was going to post a picture of him in those flashy gold pants for the world to see, but I figured I might not live to see my 50th birthday if I did! So...instead I post the next best thing...

Happy 50th Birthday, Bro! Hope it was a good one!

I did another card last night. This one is a sad one. Paul's great-aunt Evelyn passed away on January 7th. The funeral was last Monday. We didn't go, as it was in Southern Illinois. She was Paul's maternal grandma's brother's wife. Her husband passed away earlier last year after a long battle with Alzheimer's. I didn't know him too well because they didn't live here and he was already starting to slip into the Alzheimer's when Paul and I got together. They both made the trip up here for our wedding, though. We were both really fond of Evelyn, and the news of her death came as somewhat of a shock. She was a really neat lady. She was always so kind to me and made me feel like a part of the family. One thing I'll always remember about Evelyn is her huge love of family history. She did a lot of genealogy research regarding her husband's family. The last real conversation I had with her was after Paul's grandma's funeral back in 2005 when she showed me all of the pictures they had gathered for the funeral and explained to me in detail who every single person was. Even though we didn't see her very often, we'll definitely miss her.

Anyway, I made this card for her daughter just to let her know we're thinking about her. Both Evelyn and John lived with Cinda, who cared for them both while working a full-time job. I have a lot of respect for her.

I made this card using a stamp set currently borrowed from mom. It's all Stampin' Up supplies. The stamp sets are Blossoms Abound, Sincere Salutations, and the Canvas background. The colors are Mellow Moss, Lavender Lace, Lovely Lilac, and Whisper White. I wanted to go simple with this one...nothing fancy. It took me a few tries to line things up right because it's a Two-Step Stampin' set, but I kind of like the way it turned out.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Hi all. Let me start out apologizing for being totally absent over the holidays. You know how it is. I really have no excuse, though, because I took a lot of time off over the holidays and, in essence, had plenty of time to blog. I'm bowing my head now in shame. I even had today off (thank you Dr. King!) and look...it takes me until 10:30 at night to sit down here and reconnect with you all.

My excuse plain and simple is that I'm tired. Dog tired (whatever that means...is that even an expression??). Here's the story...I had an appointment with my primary care physician on Friday afternoon just to establish at her new clinic and get a refill on standard meds. Well...I talked to her a lot about my tiredness, and she really, really, really wants me to go back to the sleep specialist. My sleep is getting worse...I know it...Paul knows it...and now she knows it, and I'm afraid it's time I do something about it. It's starting to affect my life because I'm just too darn tired to do anything. As some of you know, two years ago or so I went to a sleep specialist. They recommended an overnight sleep study, which I wasn't too happy about doing, but I did it anyway. At that time, I was so tired at work that I could hardly keep my eyes open. During the sleep study, they discovered that I have nocturnal hypoxia. They said it wasn't apnea because I don't totally stop breathing, but my oxygen saturation falls way low. That plus I snore. I hate to admit it, but I'm saying it now...I snore. I snore and my breathing drops so much that on the night of the sleep study I woke myself up an average of 417 times per hour. Hmmm...I wonder why I'm so tired? Maybe it's because I never sleep!! I always thought it was weird because I dream...a lot. I can wake up from a dream and go back to sleep and remember it. The sleep technician even told me the morning after my study that I dream a lot...my mind is always active. I thought that you only dream in the deepest stage of sleep. By doing some research lately I find that this is not necessarily true. Taking this into consideration, you can begin to understand one reason I'm so tired. By the time I wake up, my brain doesn't even know it has already been to bed! Complicated, huh? Anyway, so she's sending me back for a sleep study. They recommended last time that I go on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). At that point, I never returned. See...I have this thing about things being over my face. I guess it's kind of a claustrophobia. I can't pull the blanket up over my head...I can't wear a scarf over my face...etc. I can't even where turtlenecks because they touch my neck. I just feel like I can't breathe. So imagine how I would feel wearing a mask over my face to sleep. It has come to the point now, though, where I have to do something. I can't go on this way.

Anyway, my doctor didn't know if I'll have to do the sleep study all over again since it has been a couple of years, or if they will go right into fitting me for the CPAP. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm not highly fond of the sleep doctor...he's a strange little man...but my doctor assures me that he is highly qualified and the best in town. She know's what I mean...she herself described him as "one of those skinny little men who just doesn't get it." Ha, ha. I really have to only see him for the initial consultation anyway...the sleep techs do all the rest. I'm just soooo not looking forward to this.

So...that's that. What an excuse, huh? Do you all forgive me? The good news is that while I had these three days off and since it snowed half of yesterday and all day today, I did manage to find time between naps to make a few cards. Here a few of them...as you can tell I was on a green kick. Stampin' Up has a color that I love called Certainly Celery. For some reasons, it one of my favorites right now. Sorry for the crooked scans!

Mom and I picked up this little dude
at the local stamp store on Friday.

Look at that face!I just love this guy! He's my newest set from Stampin' Up!

That's all for now. I promise I'll be on here more often and even share with you my adventures at the sleep lab.