Oregon wildlife...definitely NOT at its finest

(For the record, I didn't take that picture, as beautiful as it is. But it was taken not far from where we live. Pretty huh?)

The early morning hours in Oregon are without a doubt, absolutely stunning to behold. There is something about the way the sun comes up over the hills, stretching fingers of light down to us mere mortals here on the ground. If you stand outside and wait for it, you feel as if one minute you are staring out into nothingness, barely able to distinguish the rocky textures of the hills from the inky blackness of the sky and then all of a sudden, after what feels like the briefest hesitation, it's morning.

I should know. For almost a month now, I've been one of a dozen bleary-eyed parents who shuffle their kids to the big yellow bus to catch their six-fifteen ride to school every morning.

No, you read right. Six fifteen. As in the number after five, but before seven. Is that hideous or what? But such is the price we pay for wanting to send our kid to the local charter school I suppose. However as usual, I digress...

When Skippy forwarded me his flight itinerary for his next business trip for The Goog, I was surprised to see that he was flying out at 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. I mean, if you know my husband.....(God love him) you know he's less than chipper in the early dawn hours. In fact, he can be a downright ogre. A scary one. But hey, as long as I got to stay snug and cozy in bed until the kids chased me out demanding cereal and orange juice before they staaaaa-rved somewhere around nine a.m., I figured it made no difference whatsoever what time Skippy hit the road for PDX. And after all, everyone should get to experience a gorgeous Oregon sunrise every so often.

That is to say, everyone except the deer who shared the freeway with my husband this morning.


*sigh*

As you can see, our beloved Grand Prix took a hell of a beating in the early morning hours today. One second, my travelin' man was giving me a kiss goodbye that was barely registered through the haze of sleep, and seconds later (or so it seemed) he's standing in the doorway of our bedroom, back lit by the glaring hall light, waking me with a shaking voice and impossibly, telling me that he hit two deer on his way to the airport. And the car...let's just say it looked better when I got my first glimpse of it, before those all too eager rays of morning sunlight showed me the true extent of the damage.

A part of me is deeply angry. Skippy and I have been working very hard to build our life out here with our family. We've struggled a bit here and there, and we have been slowly but surely chipping away at a few old medical debts and Skippy's somewhat intimidating student loans. We've been happy with our progress. After all, it's all just a part of the great financial circle of life (cue African music) where we take a deep breath and remind ourselves that without the loans, Skippy would have no degree and with no degree, he might not have his job at Google and without his job at Google...well who knows where we'd be. But we know that WITH the job at Google, we have started to build an amazing life here raising our totally awesome kids and as far as fate is concerned, that's good enough in my book.

So yeah. We've sacrificed a lot to achieve these baby steps and in the process, we even managed to add a minivan into the fray. Some months we've come out ahead and some months we've gotten caught treading water but month after month, we've made it. Our very last *big* student loan payment is looming on the horizon, the one we have to make before we can get a much much lower plan in place and get some wiggle room back into our lives...

And then Bambi decided to hang out on Interstate 84 this morning, with three of her BFF deerfriends, hidden around a bend in the freeway that had no hope of giving my husband a glance at the danger ahead. And then our car got totalled.

You bet I'm angry. And frustrated. If we're being totally honest, I'm just plain pissed off.

BUT.

My husband is unhurt. He is a little stiff and sore but otherwise, he is unharmed. Two of the deer...they weren't so lucky and for that I'm sorry, but more than anything I am so incredibly and blessedly THANKFUL that my husband was not hurt this morning.

Life has a funny way of giving you some perspective in the form of a swift kick in the tush. As they say, "Man plans...God laughs." And in my heart of hearts, I know that this is just another bump in the road. It's not the first and it sure as hell won't be the last. And when Skippy gets back from this trip we'll get the car looked at and we'll talk to the insurance company again and we will see where we go from here. Maybe we'll buy something new. Or used. Maybe we'll sit tight for a few months. Or we'll buy a moped. Or a damn skateboard.

Right now, I don't completely know what we'll do. But we'll figure it out together.

Just like we always do.


Thanks for all of the good thoughts. And Skippy, I love you.