It's (a Week After) My Birthday and I'll Cry if I Want To

I generally think of myself as a non-complainer, but you'll NEVER BELIEVE the week I've had! (and it's only Wednesday morning).

Last week I was under the weather a little and took both Monday and Tuesday off. I spent Wednesday (birthday!) painting the one room in the apartment we'd neglected a lovely periwinkle/lavender that Caleb found on the "mistake paints" shelf at the hardware store for really inexpensive. That evening, we went to our second Thanksgiving of the season with Caleb's classmates from over the summer who have all turned into wonderful friends (following the Ameri-Friends Thanksgiving the weekend prior with my little AmeriCorps member circle of friends). Thursday was third Thanksgiving with Caleb and his sister Kirrie at our house where we made our first turkey by ourselves, had mashed roots, cranberry sauce, stuffing, squash, berries and cream (frozen blueberries from Logan's visit this summer when we went picking in the bog nearby with hand-whipped cream!) and quince pie (much like apple pie, but it tastes just a little bit more like a peach). Friday I spent the day rearranging and cleaning the entire apartment, moving more into the room I'd just painted, rather than keeping it as primary storage space. That evening, a pile of people came over to the apartment to celebrate my 24th year commencing. The theme of the evening was "Party Dresses and Fancy Pants" and we even had a few show up in pinstripes with a fedora, a corduroy suit with tweed vest, and a variety of dresses, dress-ups, and dress-downs. Lovely people, great cheese, Woody's famous home brew, music, dancing, talking, laughing, and a wonderful time had by all. I went to bed late and happy. The weekend contained Caleb's father's arrival in Olympia for a week of visiting, a lot of knitting as I try to prepare a table for the Thurston County Employee Craft Fair this coming Friday, and the creation of the power point to accompany Caleb's big presentation of a quarter of independent study in a variety of extremely interesting areas... ask more about it later, I'd love to talk!

This is where my life goes from really high to quite low.

On Monday I was asked to join Jim, Kirrie, and Caleb for a movie downtown. Because Caleb's car couldn't fit me with the others, I biked downtown. I planned to stop at home, leave the bike and walk down, but feared missing the show. I locked it up on a well-lit and often-frequented street near the theater. The first show was late due to technical difficulties and it ended up being a double-feature night. Worried, I checked on the bike between shows and it was still safe and sound. I started to prepare to go home, but was reminded that I can't live my life worrying and was coaxed back in to enjoy the second film. I figured if the bike had been safe so far, it would be fine for another hour and a half. I was wrong. When I returned after the second show, my mangled cable and lock were all that remained. Someone had tried cutting the cable in different places and finally succeeded, stealing my precious "little black rain cloud", my "trusty steed", my dear companion. I can't describe my hurt/rage/sadness/anger/pain as I went through shock into the rest of the stages of grief. It's so emotional to lose a bicycle. I don't think people understand. It is a symbol of your freedom... your transportation... a companion that brings you safely to work and home every day zooming past parking lots of gas-guzzling monsters. You fly over pavement and down hills and you get out of the saddle, working together to climb the rises in front of you. It's freedom. It's life-giving. It's exercise. It's transportation. It's a friend. You coast past homes and smell their gardens, their garbage, what they cooked for dinner tonight... you're connected. You're open to the elements... you're connected.

Point being: I was beside-myself-upset. I've never felt more need to actually scream my feelings out than I did on that sidewalk next to the mangled remains of my bike-protector.

I called the Olympia police and filed a report. I gave them the serial number. I called home. I filed the bike on the National Registry of Stolen Bicycles.

I've done everything I can.

So, on Tuesday, I get up after a terrible night of grieving for my lost steed and go to work.

After work, Caleb came to pick me up and I was to drive his car to Seattle to go to a dance class he'd paid for as my birthday present.

On the highway, I ended up in the middle of a 5-car pile up (actually two separate, but related accidents) when the woman in front of me slowed suddenly (I did the same) and then came to a complete and sudden stop on the highway (I did the same, stopping about a foot behind her... turned my wheel hard left thinking that I might move the car to avoid anyone trying to swerve right to avoid hitting me... and then was rear-ended by a fellow from Canada... and our three-car accident caused another man to stop short who got rear-ended by the fifth car).

Ick.

Nearly two hours later the whole mess had finally been sorted out, we'd all written up our statements, the officer had written his report, and all contact information had been shared. Sadly, Caleb's car was still not OK and I'd completely missed my evening of birthday-inspired dancing (not that I felt in any shape to drive up to Seattle to dance after the event).

We've been dealing with the insurance companies and trying to get all the forms filled and filed.

Anyway..... all that said and done... I guess I'm just having a rough week. Please don't worry about me. I don't really need to complain or continue hashing it over. I just wanted to inform you. I'm sure it will only get better as "The Holidays: Part II" comes around and I get to see loved ones for a short time, the mess gets slowly sorted out, and I start to find ways to cope with the fact that I'm starting to become jaded and wary rather than trusting and carefree. Writing all this is one way of me processing it. I'm sure it all probably sounds worse than it actually is - because I'm still in it and don't have the important angle that hindsight can give one on a situation. The important thing is that the emotion is just associated with the "stuff" that got broken/taken. Nobody was hurt in any of this and I'm still going to be ok. I have love and support and good people around me. Perhaps my steed will return to me yet. Perhaps the insurance will sort itself out and all will work out in the end.

Until then, keep yourself safe.

Love, love, love to you all!