Our Week - The One with a Hit and Run, a 311 Concert, Guitar Lessons, the Back to School Social, and the First Football Game

We had a busy week followed by a fairly tame weekend, but I’m still tired rolling into the new week!  Re-entry to school has been particularly hard this year!

Monday, August 12

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school, grabbed a little treat from Starbucks (was secretly hoping I’d show up to see the fall menu – haha!), and then I headed back to the kids’ school for our first Home and School Advisory Board meeting of the year.  We have the same group of ladies this year + one new lady who is fabulous, and it’s going to be a great year!

Once our meeting was done, I swung by Publix near the school to grab a few items we needed, and I also bought a couple of new protein items to buy.  Once I try them, I’ll be sure to report back!

I got the groceries put away at home, and then I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and working on a blog post that was due to be published the next day.  It was a LONG one so it consumed every spare second until I had to pick up the kids, and even then, I still hadn’t finished. 

When we got home, I spent some time with the kids, and then I headed straight back to my computer to finish my blog post.  I hate when I have to get back on my computer after the kids are home… I usually try not to do that, but it was necessary on Monday.

I also still had to catch up on some emails and pay a bill, help Olivia gather some supplies for her first project of the year at school, and several other random things.  We ended up eating later than usual for a school night, but thankfully, I’d thawed burgers we’d frozen from the last time we’d grilled, and I made those with some mac n cheese and fruit.  The kids were happy campers, because they’d much prefer that kind of food over the healthier options I usually try to cook.  Haha.

After dinner, I finally finished cleaning up from my dad’s surprise party on Saturday, and then I headed out for a walk.  I’d been having a “Monday” in that lots of things hadn’t been going right, and I needed a breather.  My walk was wonderful – they always are! – and I felt a little better when I got home.

It was then time to shower, water the plants, check on the sunflowers, and then get the kids in the bed, and then Brian and I watched another episode of Black Bird.  That show is heavy and a little disturbing, but it is fantastic.  The actors in the show definitely deserve awards for their performances.  Brian said he thinks they did win Emmys. 

Tuesday, August 13

Tuesday literally started out with a bang.  Sigh.  On the way to school, we were involved in a hit and run.  Thankfully, we were completely okay, and my vehicle miraculously sustained very minimal damage, but it sure shook me up.  We were on our regular route – we take the main highway that runs through town for 90% of our journey, and we were just coming up on the exit for the kids’ school when some guy in a pickup truck decided he wanted to get in my lane.  He was in the far right lane and I was in the middle lane.  Thankfully, I saw him starting to come over, so I slammed on the brakes (thankfully the car behind us didn’t hit us) and I laid on the horn.  When you lay on the horn like that, most people realize they are about to hit someone so they jerk back into their lane, but this guy just kept on coming and there was nothing else I could do as I had already slammed on the brakes. 

For a split second, I thought we were going to make it without any issues until we heard a loud bang (it wasn’t even a crunch as I’d always imagined it would sound like) as the back of his truck hit the front passenger side of my Telluride.  It scared the living hell out of me and both of the kids. 

I immediately started trying to make my way to the right lane so we could pull off to the shoulder when I realized that the jerk that had hit us had made his way to the far left fast lane and was hauling ass as fast as he could to get out of there.  By the time I realized what he was doing, I couldn’t read his tag number… all that I could see was that it was an Alabama tag. 

I was astonished that he had hit us that hard and then kept on going.  The hit was so hard and loud that there is no possible way that he didn’t know that he had hit us. 

I wasn’t sure what to do at that point because he was long gone, and the traffic was so congested (and the highway is so dangerous right there) that I didn’t want to pull over to the shoulder alone.  My Telluride seemed to be driving fine, the tire hadn’t blown out or anything, and we were about two minutes from school at that point, so I just kept driving. 

The kids were baffled, and Olivia said that her tummy hurt because the noise scared her so bad, and all I could think about was how violated I felt that that had just happened and there was not a single thing I could do about it.

The kids and I all immediately threw up praise to God for the rest of the drive, though, because things could have been SO much worse than they were.  The speed limit is 70 mph there, so I was doing 70 (maybe slightly less as I always go a little slower through that particular area because it is notorious for wrecks) and the guy who hit us was doing slightly more than I was, so probably around 75 mph.  Since he hit the front right corner of my vehicle that hard at that speed, I cannot believe that we didn’t spin or roll over.  We actually didn’t even swerve or leave the lane or anything.  It was truly a miracle. 

Once I realized the guy was going to continue coming into our lane, I had braced myself with my hands on the wheel really tightly, so I don’t know if that’s what held us in place or what.  I just know that if I hadn’t braked exactly as I had, it would have been so much worse.  So very much worse. 

When we arrived at the school, the principal just happened to be outside getting kids out of the cars, so I rolled down my window and told her what happened, and I asked her to look at the damage so I could know if I needed to pull over in the parking lot and call somebody.  She said that all she could see was some damage to the bottom of the bumper and that was it.  No damage to the body or the tire or anything. 

Since the vehicle was still driving okay, I drove home (decided to skip my errands), so I could survey the damage myself.  I called Brian on the way home to let him know what happened and pretty much lost it.  All of my adrenaline had run out, and I was done having to protect the kids since they were safe at school, so I cried pretty much all the way home. 

I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but friends, being in a car accident is one of my worst fears, and driving on that highway is one of the biggest triggers for my anxiety.  I think about it every single time we get on that road, and I pray every single time I get in the car because there are so many accidents there these days. 

When I got home, I inspected the front of the vehicle, and sure enough, all of the damage that was done was a small gash/crack in the bottom of the bumper and that was it.  Seriously a miracle.  

When I got inside, I sent a picture of the damage to B, and then I started texting my girlfriends to see if anyone had ever been in a hit and run, and what to do in that situation.  Do you file a police report even though you have zero information on the person who hit you and you have no witnesses because nobody pulled over?  Is it worth all of the time and money it would take to fix the gash in the bumper?  Would reporting it make our insurance premium go up?  Would reporting it decrease the value of the vehicle?  Legally, are you required to report it?  Which number do you call to contact the police?  The nonemergency line or 911?  So.many.questions.

A couple of my friends agreed that I should file a police report no matter what and that I should try the nonemergency line first.  So, I did that, but the girl who answered told me that I needed to relocate from my house and call 911 and that they would send an officer to me.  I felt terrible about tying up an emergency line for something that seemed so silly, so I got Brian to consult with his friend who was a police officer here in town for a while and I asked our school resource officer for advice since he was in law enforcement.

Brian’s friend and our school resource officer both ultimately told us that it’s completely pointless to file a report with the police unless we’re going to have the damage fixed.  And the damage was so minor that we just decided that we’re probably not going to worry about it.  And even if we ever do decide to have it fixed, we’d probably end up paying out of pocket for it anyway as the cost would likely be cheaper than our deductible.  Sigh.  Apparently, we do have 30 days to file a police report if we change our minds, though.

I spent the rest of the day working at home and trying to get caught up on some things, but I had wasted so much time reaching out to others about the wreck and stressing out over that, that I had very limited time before I had to pick up the kids from school.

After school, the kids started talking about the hit and run immediately when they got in the car, and they both said that they’d told their friends about it.  One funny thing that came from all of it is that both kids said that when they told their friends it was a hit and run, several of their friends thought that meant that the person had hit us and then literally gotten out of their truck and run away on foot.  LOL.  We all had a big laugh over that one.

Before heading home, we swung by Hobby Lobby to gather some supplies for an upcoming school project for Olivia, and then when we got home, the kids got snacks and started on homework.

Olivia had her first dance class Tuesday afternoon, and this year Tuesdays are going to be short for her as she only has one class.  I got her to dance, and then I headed back home to work on my Bible study, tidy the kitchen, and prep for Wednesday before heading back out again for parent night for Olivia at school. 

While I was there, I snapped a picture of her About Me that was hanging on the wall in class… I love how excited my little girlfriend is to start taking guitar lessons!!

I’d felt super nauseated all afternoon and evening (I think from the stress of the morning’s events… my body has a way of freaking out after even a mild trauma) so I ended up feeling awful from car line pick up until bedtime.  I tried to get in a stair stepper workout when I got home, but it made me feel worse, so it was half-hearted and cut short. 

After the kids got showered, we watched America’s Got Talent for a bit, and then we got them in the bed before finishing the series Black Bird.  It was fantastic.  Disturbing, but fantastic.

Wednesday, August 14

Wednesday morning was busy.  We were up and out the door for school, and then I headed straight to my annual eye exam.  All went well there – and it was quicker, too, since my eye doctor changed locations – and I was on my way after a little over an hour.  I had a few minutes to kill before my appointment with my therapist, so I ran to Target to return something, and I also grabbed a couple of items that we needed while I was there.  I had hoped that they would have the fall stuff out so I could browse a bit, but they were still cleaning up the back-to-school stuff.

After Target, I met with my therapist, and then I swung by the library to pick up AR books for the kids that we’d put on hold.  My friend, Jeannine, was there, so I chatted with her for a bit, and then I headed home to squeeze in as much work as I could before it was time to pick up the kids.

In the car line, I did my Bible study since I knew I wouldn’t have time to do it at home, and I also chatted with my car line buddy while we waited for the line to start moving.  It made the time pass quickly!

When we got home from school, I was completely frazzled.  My mother-in-law was coming over at 4 to keep the kids all night so Brian and I could go to Atlanta to see 311, but I wanted to make sure the kids were good to go before she got there so she wouldn’t have to worry about all of the after school stuff – homework, studying, checking emails, filling water bottles, getting snacks packed, charging laptops, getting O ready for dance.  Yes, the kids know how to do all of these things, and they do them on their own, but I do always follow up behind both of them as they sometimes forget a task or two (even though their list is hanging on the fridge – face palm – haha). 

So, I spent the next 30 minutes putting away dishes, cleaning up the kitchen, making notes for the next day (“wear church attire” since they had their first school Mass), and making sure they were good to go.  I also still had to do my gratitude journal, prayer journal, and devotional for the day, and I needed to change over to my clear bag (for the concert venue) and get myself ready.  I ended up having to skip my Bible study for the day because I just didn’t have adequate time to do it and I didn’t want to have to rush through it.

By the time we got in the car, I was wiped out, so I used the drive to Atlanta to “rest” mostly, although I did have to work on organizing a couple of to do lists first.  I felt pretty anxious the whole drive, too, unfortunately, because I was still a bit wary about being in a car on the highway after our hit and run on Tuesday.  And if you’ve never been to Atlanta, Atlanta traffic is THE ACTUAL WORST.  Seriously.

But first, a date night picture!  And I had to post the picture that Jacob took of his foot.  We always get him to take the pictures for us on date nights now, and every single time, when he’s done, he always takes a picture of his foot, or the bush, or a tree, or the grass, or something else random.  Lol.

The concert was at The Coca-Cola Roxy, which is in The Battery, this super nice mixed-use development with tons of dining and shopping, and it’s also home to the Atlanta Braves stadium.  Brian and I had never been to the Roxy before, so we were excited. 

Since we were in The Battery, we had dinner at Superica which is always a favorite… their food is amazing from start to finish and they have incredible margaritas.  It’s one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta!

The concert started at 7 PM, but B and I didn’t arrive until nearly 8 because 311 had two opening bands – Neon Trees and AWOLNATION – which neither of us cared much about.  When we got there, they had strict security (which I love and respect), but I was absolutely baffled when they told me that I wasn’t allowed to bring my pill pack inside. 

I have a tiny pill pack that holds a few Ibuprofen, a few Tylenol, a couple of my pills for my vertigo, an Imodium, and a single piece of gum.  It’s so tiny that it fits in the palm of my hand, and I literally bring it everywhere.  It has been to every single concert, football stadium, baseball stadium, and big event center with me for years – I literally never go anywhere without it – and I also carry it right on the plane every time I fly with zero issues. 

But they told me that any medication coming into their theatre had to be in the original bottle.  Ugh.  If they don’t require that on a flight, then I just don’t understand why they would require that at a tiny little concert venue. 

Well, I knew I couldn’t be without Ibuprofen as I’d been having major headaches, tension, and dizziness all day, and I knew I couldn’t be without my vertigo medicine just in case, so what did we do?  We walked around the corner, out of their sight, Brian put the pill pack in his pocket, and we headed straight back to the venue.  Haha.

We got right in, and when we arrived, the concert was already pumping, the weed was already wafting in the air, and there were people using vapes.  So, they’ll let people in with illegal drugs (marijuana is still illegal in Georgia) and vape pens, but not Ibuprofen and Tylenol.  OKAY.  Makes total sense.  Haha.

Anywayyyy, the venue was awesome, and it was already packed.  Brian and I had seats (can’t risk being on the floor anymore with my vertigo), and our seats were awesome… just to the left of the stage.  The venue is also very small, so it’s way more intimate than any other setting we’d ever seen 311 in, which was also cool. 

We watched most of AWOLNATION’s set, and then we headed for a quick bathroom break and some beers before 311 came on at 9.  The best part of my whole night?  Getting texts from Jacob asking how it was going and being able to send him pictures and video snippets from the concert.  While I HATE that he has a phone, it definitely has its benefits.  It’s still so wild to see his name pop up on my phone.  Haha.

311 brought the same energy they’ve been bringing for 34 years, and it was a good concert.  I’ve never been a huge fan, but I liked them in middle school, and I ended up liking them more after I met Brian.  They’re one of his favorite bands, so I listened to them a lot while we were dating, and I also attended many 311 concerts with him back when they toured more often.  They played for about an hour and a half, so we were out of there by 10:45-ish, which was earlier than expected.  And per usual, Nick Hexum came completely out of his shirt by the end of the concert.  Lol.  He started out in long sleeves, moved to short sleeves, moved to a tank, and then eventually... nothing.  Classic Nick.  Hahahaha.

We ended up getting in bed around 1 AM and passing out.  It was rough going to bed that late knowing that we had to get up early to get the kids to school the next day.  Whew.

 

Thursday, August 15

Thursday morning, Brian offered to take the kids to school since he had to go to work anyway, and he let me sleep in about an hour longer than usual.  I hadn’t been able to take my vertigo meds until way later than usual, and if I don’t get a solid nine hours of time between taking them and waking up the next morning, then I cannot function as they make me extremely sleepy and groggy.  I usually take them at about 9 PM every night right when B and I sit down to watch TV and by 10 or 10:30 I’m half asleep.  But that gives me nine hours for them to wear off before I have to be up at 6. 

Since I wasn’t able to take the medicine until around 11, I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive at 7:15, so I was thankful Brian just took the kids.  I got up to help them get out the door, and then after they left, I had breakfast, drank my tea, did some work, and then I got showered and ready for the day because I had Mass at 9:30 with Olivia for school.

It was a Holy Day in the Catholic church, so my Momma, Mama Cass, and Aunt Joy all joined me at Olivia’s school Mass, and we all got to sit together… always a treat to sit with my girl at her school Mass! 

After Mass let out, I headed home to work for the rest of the day, and then it was time to pick up the kids from school.  They both had their first music lessons after a three-week break, and they were so excited to be back.  Jacob continued with his same teacher with his piano lessons, working on Clair de Lune, and Olivia had her very first guitar lesson!!!! 

We’ve known her guitar teacher, Mr. Steve, for two years now, ever since we started going to their music school, and we all love him.  He comes out to chat with us often when he has a lesson that’s canceled, so we know him really well.  Olivia was THE MOST excited ever to start her lessons, and I was just as excited because she asked me to sit in with her.  She never once let me sit in with her during voice lessons because she didn’t want me in there with her while she was singing, but guitar is different, I suppose.

When we first got in there, Olivia showed Mr. Steve how she already knew how to play a G, C, D, and A… my dad taught her and she has been practicing.  She also handed over her very long list of all of the songs she wants to learn – ALL Taylor Swift, surprising no one, LOL – and Mr. Steve looked it over and found the perfect one that he knew she could learn fairly easily – Fearless. 

He then hand wrote a tablature for Mary Had a Little Lamb to get her familiar with reading tab, and once she had that down (on the first try), he strummed his guitar and hand wrote out the tab for Fearless.  She ended up playing the whole first part of it before the end of the 30 minutes was up.  She grasped all of the concepts so incredibly fast that it was crazy, and Mr. Steve was blown away. 

He told her that he teaches 55 kids every week, has been teaching for longer than Olivia’s been alive (I think somewhere around 25 years) and out of the hundreds (probably thousands) of students he’s taught, he’s never once given them sheet music with lyrics on the first day because nobody has ever made as much progress as she did on her very first day. 

He was so proud of her!  When we were getting ready to leave, Olivia was playing Fearless (very slowly still, of course), and Steve leaned over and told me, “Yep, I’m gonna have her jamming in no time!” 

 

I guess this means that Brian and I created, not one, but TWO very musical children.  I’m so glad that she decided to do this, and I pray she continues to enjoy it, because it will just be the coolest thing to have a little guitar player in addition to our piano player!

When we got home, it was time for homework, putting dishes away, tidying the house, quizzing Olivia for her word work test, and getting ready for dinner.  As soon as Brian walked in the door, we made breakfast for dinner, and then afterward, we spent some time gathering all of the supplies for Olivia’s project that she’s working on at school.

As we were cooking dinner, Brian got an email saying that our Usher concert for Friday night had been postponed because Usher injured his neck during rehearsals, so we weren’t able to go on Friday.  I was half sad, half relieved, because the thought of going to Atlanta again after we’d just been was exhausting.  I’m hoping we’ll be able to make the new date, though, because it’s in December AKA crazy month.

After that, I got in a strength workout while the kids showered, and then we watched some more of AGT before sending the kids to bed.  B and I watched some pre-season pro football, and then headed to bed early because we were both exhausted from being up so late on Wednesday night.

Friday, August 16

Friday, I had nowhere to be after dropping the kids at school, so I spent the whole day working (and honestly doing some social media scrolling because I was just tired and didn’t have the motivation to work super hard).  Right after I got settled in at my desk, I got this sweet text from my friend, Jeannine, in our girls group chat and it made my day.  I love this group of ladies so much… they truly fill my cup and I’m so grateful for their 28+ year friendships.

Also, our previous conversation about Mercury in Retrograde AKA the microwave.  Lol.

One of my blog readers (who is also a fellow Swiftie) DMed me on Instagram to let me know that Capital One had announced a Taylor Swift Eras tour tickets giveaway for Cap One cardholders on Friday (thank you, Kristin!), so as soon as they posted the Reel, I immediately started decoding.  They just had a video of an OG phone that was ringing and they had dial tone sounds with the following numbers – 367864448.  Well, since I was raised in the 90s when pagers were all the rage, I realized almost immediately that the word needed to be decoded old-school pager style.  So I wrote out the numbers and the corresponding letters, and had the code word within minutes – FORTNIGHT.  Brian was able to enter us into the contest since he has a Cap One card, and I’m hoping miraculously we’ll win.  Spoiler alert, I’m sure we won’t.  Hahahaha.

At 3, I picked the kids up, and then we swung by the music school on the way home to grab Olivia’s capo that she had left there accidentally at her first guitar lesson the night before. 

When we got home, she was finally able to show Brian and Jacob the first few chords of Fearless that she’d learned.  Jacob, after watching Olivia play it once, said, “Hand me that thing… I can play that.”  And sure enough, he picked up a guitar for the first time, and played the chords just from watching Olivia play them.  My mind was BLOWN.  He truly has some sort of photographic memory.  He has to. 

After that, I got a Bible study done, and then we went out for an early dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant near our church and school.  The back-to-school social and first football game were Friday night, so the kids were pumped.  My little girlfriend asked me if I’d snap a picture of her before we left.  She is the cutest. 

I was excited to be able to attend the social, but I was not excited that it was a blazing 96 degrees and sunny.  It was so HOT, y’all. 

When we arrived, I had to snap a few pictures around campus, because I was cracking up at the new signage.

We’ve had a huge problem with fans attending from visiting teams parking on the grass in front of the church and in the grass around the rest of campus on gamedays.  The parking situation does get a bit crazy, especially when we play somebody in town, but there is plenty of parking around campus… people just don’t want to walk very far and so they try to park on the grass instead. 

Well, our pastor decided to put these signs up on the grass all around campus and I think they couldn’t be any cuter!! 

Since the back-to-school social started an hour before the game, the kids all got a free icey from one of the local food trucks thanks to our Home and School Association, and they were very excited about that. 

After our kids got their iceys, they took off with their friends for the rest of the night, and Brian and I chatted with friends and watched the football game.  We left at halftime because everyone was exhausted, and then after the kids got showered, Brian and I started a new show called Dark Matter on Apple TV.  The first episode was decent, but I’m not overly excited about it just yet.  It did hold my attention, though.

 

Saturday, August 17

Saturday was a typical Saturday in our household – sleeping in, homemade waffles for breakfast, plant watering (our poor sunflowers have survived winds, rain, and squirrels this year but now the drought is getting them), some lazy time catching up on blog reading, laundry, tidying, a mixed cardio workout, a light lunch, some blog work, and some lazy time for the kids in the afternoon.

We headed to 5:30 Mass followed by dinner at our favorite local pub, and then it was home for some more America’s Got Talent followed by Dark Matter after the kids went to bed.  On the way home from dinner, Olivia asked me to take a picture of the sunset because it was gorgeous.  As always, pictures never do justice.

Sunday, August 18

Sunday morning was the usual – cinnamon rolls, an online sermon, yoga, planning the week ahead, and my quiet time/Bible study.  After that, we all got ready for the day, and then we ran a couple of errands before heading to my MIL and step-FIL’s for lunch.  We had to drop some chairs off at my aunt and uncle’s house, and then we swung by Bath and Body Works to load up on $2.95 fall soaps.  The kids went inside with me, and I didn’t think I was going to be able to get them out of there… they love smelling all of the different scents.  Haha.  And they were playing a Halloween play list, so that made them want to stay even more!  Olivia is already all up in her fall feels just like her Momma!

We spent the whole afternoon at my MIL and step-FIL’s eating and chatting, and then we headed home for a couple of hours to prep for the week ahead.

My mom cooked Sunday dinner so we spent the evening at my parents’ house, and that was our Sunday!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!