Adventures with Cars

So, last week, on Monday evening I was driving to yet another rehearsal, this one an orchestra that asked me to fill in for an ailing horn player. I had only gone a few miles and was making a left turn from one street to another, when a car going the opposite direction crashed into mine.

I know my car moved. My foot came off the pedals. I pulled to the side of the road and looked across at the passenger side of my car. All the air bags on that side had gone off. The window was broken. The police came shortly and I loved my car (still drivable!) into a nearby parking lot. I called my husband, who arrived shortly. We stood around for awhile. People asked me repeatedly if I was okay (I couldn't tell), if I needed an ambulance (no, thank you). The very nice policewoman told me that while the accident wasn't my fault, in Illinois when a collision happens and one party was turning left, that party is said to be at fault and gets the ticket. So I have to go to court next month.

I wasn't injured, only shaken up, and literally shaking for awhile.

The car was towed away. The insurance people came several days later and declared it totaled. We will get some insurance money. 

My car was a 2013 red Honda Accord. I had wanted a red Honda and my lovely husband tracked one down for me. This time I said I wanted a Honda Accord again, any color but black (too hard to see it at night). My awesome husband took to the internet to find Honda Accords, preferably "pre-owned" as they call it now. He found several and we went to see one of them. We drove it and also a brand-new Honda Accord.

Buying a car takes forever. We were at the dealer for hours, but we came home with a slightly used gray Accord. Cars have changed a lot since 2013! It's almost like HAL or C3PO is in charge of the car. (Actually my loaner car, a Genesis, was even more bossy, reminding me verbally to check the back seat, etc.) It will take me some time to figure everything out, but it drives the same as my three previous Honda Accords. I really like Honda Accords.

So I missed my rehearsal, obviously. But we had the concert on Sunday this week and it not only went well but was quite exciting! 

Decluttering

 We've lived in our house for 44 years and in that time we have accumulated a lot more stuff. So have our two children, who left an awful lot of their stuff here when they left home. Clothing, toys, video games, books (lots of books) - it's all here, sitting undisturbed for the the most part. And my husband and I have lots more books, records (the kind you play on a turntable), and paper - lots of paper.

So I am on a mission to declutter. It's a part time mission, but I'm keeping at it. Most recently I've been culling cookbooks. I like to cook and try new recipes and over the years I have acquired quite a few cookbooks. I've been paging through them and noting on sticky notes the recipes that I have made (and that we actually liked). It's interesting to see how our (my husband and my) tastes have changed over the years. I also rediscovered recipes that we liked but somehow fell off the radar. 

I realized after I started writing this post that I wrote about my cookbooks in an earlier post. Oh well.

I also have a closet full of stuff from my teaching career. I thought when I retired that I might use some of it for teaching at summer school or after school programs. I retired three years ago and haven't touched it. Maybe that's something I'm not going to do.

Then there's the craft supplies - sigh. I stopped doing most sewing type projects when I couldn't see well enough to do cross stitch, etc. But now I've had cataract surgery and can see really well. Will I take it up again? 

My mother did a fantastic job of decluttering her life. Everything was in order when she passed away. The  only things to take care of were her belongings in her apartment. In addition, my brother, sister, me, and all our assorted children all get along, so there was no fighting about who gets what. 

I'm planning to emulate my mother. the decluttering continues!