"Cammy"

Hello, everyone!

My husband spent the better part of today waxing our "baby", our Toyota Camry.  We affectionately call her "Cammy." (I have to have a name for everything...even the computer!) He started around 10am, then had to quit because of the blazing sun and NO shade.  He wears the Duragesic patch and when he sweats, he gets too much of the medication because his body "sucks" it right out of the patch.  If he gets too much at one time, he sounds drunk!  We had experience with that one time not too long ago.  He was so stubborn, though, and wanted to finish the whole thing today.  I said that was fine, just wait until later in the day when the shade hits the sidewalk and the car.  So he waited until 2pm and waxed his little heart out.  He came in about an hour later, sweat pouring off him, but he reached his goal.  "Cammy" had her very FIRST wax job.  And I took a photo of my hubby's handiwork.  He is so proud of it.  He says to me, "are you going to put it in your blog?"  I said, "of course!  I put EVERYTHING in my blog!!"   So, introducing for the very first time on this blog, our most prized possession (other than Jack, of course) is "Cammy".......

Isn't she a beauty?  And Frankie did a FANTASTIC job of waxing her down.  You would never dream she is a 2000 model, now would you?  We bought the car December of '09 and the previous owner did an excellent job of taking care of her.  Our Honda van was repossessed as part of our bankruptcy last year, so we went without a car for a year.  We saved up hard and bought this car for $6,000.  The Kelly Blue Book had it listed for $7,000! And then, on December 15th, we were just driving home after making a window tinting appointment for the car (an absolute MUST in AZ!), minding our own business, when some drunken jerk rammed into us!  We were in middle lane of a three lane road and he came zooming up and like the domino effect, he crashed into three cars.....ours was the worst.  Luckily, he did stop and pull into a shopping center parking lot.  Of course his tire was blown out, like ours was.  We all pulled into the shopping center and got out.  We all were OK.  Just very, very shaky.  And when I saw the car's left quarter panel, I burst into hysterical tears.  The panel was completely whacked and the tire (fortunately NOT the rim!) was damaged. The trunk lid was partially up. The driver's side mirror was completely ripped off and hanging by one wire to the car.  The cops came, arrested the crazy driver for drunk driving and a slew of other charges.  All I could think of was our baby, that we saved soooooo long for, was damaged beyond repair!  I was so afraid the car was totaled.

We have Progressive insurance and they were so nice to us.  Since the driver did have insurance, they worked hard at getting them to pay up.  Luckily the driver's insurance was nice as well, and complied with everything....including paying for our rental car while our car was being repaired.  The car was in the shop for three long, miserable weeks.  We didn't like our rental car, but was blessed to have it, if that makes sense.  The seats were too deep, thus very hard for me to haul my big butt out of it!  The three weeks passed and finally we had our car back.  The total damage was over $5,000, almost close to the totaling state.  I mean, our damages were almost the price we paid for the car!  Toyota keeps its value longer, I had learned, so that helped in deciding whether to total it or not.  I'm so glad they could repair it, though.  Now it looks beautiful again.  We have our car.....because life sucks without a car!!!  When my hubby and I would have doctor appointments, our insurance paid for taxi cabs.  I think Frankie and I have ridden in every cab in Phoenix by now!  And having the walker was a pain in the butt, too.  Of course, the walker fits perfectly in "Cammy."  What a coincidence!!!  LOL!

OK, I quit droning on about our "baby."  It's just when you have filed for bankruptcy, you don't have many assets left.  Right now, my husband and I have Jack, our car and a dining room table with four chairs that was given to us as a gift from the next door neighbor's son.  The son's parents both died recently and he was cleaning out their house, getting it ready to sell.  But you know what?  I am thankful to God to be alive after that accident.  I am thankful for everything that we have.  I am just thankful!!  And Frankie's parents have been sooooo kind and patient and putting up with us these last two years since Mom died.

I've been feeling ever more miserable than before.  I have a new symptom to add to my overflowing list of symptoms.  Yesterday, for some reason, I've contracted a twitch.  My hands, arms and throat will involuntarily twitch.  With my hands, it's very frustrating, especially with holding things.  I hold a can of soda and my arm will twitch, and the soda will fizz all over me.  With my throat, which is the WORST, distorts my speech and makes it very hard for me to talk.  My stuttering is back and with a vengeance!  I have no clue what is causing this.  I'm thinking a lot about my surgery, worrying that everything won't get done in time, or something will happen to me while I'm in surgery.  I keep reassuring myself I'm in good hands.  I trust the doctor AND the hospital I will go to.  It's just scary to be thinking about losing 85% of your stomach.  It will be a whole new life for me....and it's also exciting, too, thinking of the clothes I can wear when I lose weight, how good I'll feel, my poor back and legs won't be taxed down with my being morbidly overweight, and I can work again.  I think those support groups will help in regards to I can see what happens next and how other people coped with the surgery and aftermath.  I go to a meeting this month, and I have a bariatric education course I go to in December.  This class will teach various surgeries, post-op care and follow-up.  It will also teach good nutrition and exercise.  I'm really looking forward to it.  The program runs for three years and they really keep an eye on you with weigh-ins and taking new pictures for your medical chart.  It sounds top notch.  So I don't know why I worry!

OK, I'm a positively beat.  My twitch is bad in my hands right now and it is very hard to type.  Does anyone else have this problem?  If you know of someone or how to fix it, please let me know in the comments, OK? 

God bless you all!
Until next post,