What grace has given to me...

Below is an explanation of a stressful, awful event in my life that has yielded some unusual results.
On Friday, I borrowed Noelle's car for part of the afternoon to go take care of a job application. I was driving back home on bridge street and there was a bus in front of the service drive for Union High School. There was a minivan stopped at the bottom of the hill wanting to turn into this service drive. (At this point I should mention that it was raining and it had been raining all day.) Then, I, being the idiot that I am, hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and rammed the car into the back of the guy's minivan.
Noelle's car is totaled, destroyed. And I'm really lucky that car had airbags because according to the police, I'd be dead if not for the airbag. My nose and upper lip are pretty badly cut up and bruised. (My face hurts a lot and I keep ice on it most of the time.) I also have cuts and bruises on my arms and chest. (All of those are from the airbag.) My knees are pretty bruised up too but that's probably from being slammed into something in the car at impact.
A nice guy driving by stopped and called the police and helped take care of me. I called Noelle who, thank God, was not mad at me. She took care of calling the insurance company and everything. Then Beth Parr drove her over to where we were to help out. Noelle dealt with getting the car towed while Beth took me back to her house. I stayed there for most of the rest of the day. Beth even made me a nice homemade dinner; it was beautiful.
Noelle's dad and my mom drove out to GR and stayed for about two or three hours to help take care of Noelle and me. The car is over and done with. I have a ticket to deal with although since my parents agree that it is an accident, they're willing to help me pay for it if I need the help. I'll find out on Monday how bad everything is in that area.
So yeah, I'm in pain but I survived; thank God. Pretty much everything that happened after the accident was an act of God. The policeman was amazingly nice to me. The guy who called the police was awesome and so helpful. Beth Parr normally has piano lessons all afternoon Friday and she was supposed to drive her daughter Becca to Lansing yesterday but she didn't have any piano lessons yesterday and someone else was able to drive Becca to Lansing earlier in the day. My mom and Mr. Gornik were able to drive out to GR and take care of us.
And no one is mad at me, which was my biggest fear. Not going to lie, I was terrified to call Noelle. God has really blessed me in this situation, although now more than ever I really need a job.
So yeah, if you see me anytime in the next couple days, my face will probably still be a bit of a mess; right now I kind of look like Charlie Chaplin. And I survived with only cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Praise God for airbags.
Please pray that everything just keeps working out from here.

Something's Up

So today I was at Meijer's with Noelle. She needed to grab something from one part of the store and I needed something from another part of the store. So we went our separate ways and were off searching. Suddenly, the store goes pitch black for about a whole second or two. And then a woman screamed. Then the emergency generator kicked in gear and then...behold...THERE WAS LIGHT!
But it was still very dim. And a voice came over the PA saying "Will all employees please report to customer service?"
The store remained dimly lit for the rest of our shopping expedition. Then we drove home and until about half a mile or maybe a bit more from our house, there was no power. But now we're home where we have power.
And Lauren and Audrey have joined us for the evening.

Funny, she doesn't look Druish.

At many points in my life I have been mistaken for things I am not.
When I was seventeen years old, I was babysitting a very sweet, very blond infant. She does have dark brown eyes, but when this particular incident took place, she happened to be asleep in her stroller. It was a scorching hot afternoon in the middle of August and Thea and I were out for a walk. She was sleeping in her stroller (as previously stated) and I was strolling along the streets (aka Cross Street) of Depot Town. Suddenly, this random woman came up to me and started giving me what-for because I was a single mother and I was a teenage mother. It was a horrible. After a few minutes of this, I looked at her and said, "Well, at least I didn't have an abortion."
She didn't have much of a response to this and just walked away.

Over the past several years, people have asked me if I was Assyrian, Spanish, Dutch, and various other nationalities. Let's review, kiddos. I'm half-Italian, a quarter-Slovak, and a quarter-mutt. I might be part Dutch, but I am NOT Assyrian or Spanish.
The other day someone asked me if my last name was "Hernandez." Yeah...I'm not Hispanic.
And then last Thursday my Sociology professor asked me if I was Jewish.
Nope...not religiously, not culturally, not all. I am a Catholic Christian, but I am not a Jew of any form.

Also, way too many people are getting engaged right now. So if you're planning on getting engaged in the near future, please wait at least a week. I've had two engagements of good friends in the past four days. So yes, please don't get engaged any time soon.

Donal, I'm not really worried about you.