So not a resolution, but my intention for 2012 is to quiet some of the noise in my life.  My head is always going… always.  unless I’m sleeping then I’m out – I don’t dream (or remember my dreams) at all.   I’m a tired mom!

So to obtain the goal of a quieter mind and life:

• plugging my iPhone in for a recharge earlier in the evening between 7-8 pm – this should help me avoid “1 more play in Words with Friends” or checking to see if anyone updated facebook, when I should be sleeping or getting ready for the next day.
• unsubscribing to emails.   Way less mails popping up on my phone or computer each day is a time-saver and it actually keeps me from visiting websites because there is a sale. Sales often don’t save me money, they just invite me to spend more.
• daily devotions.  I downloaded a devotional book to my Nook, that I can read on my Nook or phone… so either when I first wake up or on the bus on the way to work.  It’s a great way to gain some perspective as I start each day.
• watching TV in the kitchen.  If I have a show that I really want to watch, then I have started doing that in the kitchen instead of the recliner downstairs.  First, I can’t stand my dirty kitchen, so I tend to clean while I’m watching TV. and 2nd, if I do sit down, it’s not comfortable, so I am more likely to get up and go to bed when I’m tired (vs. checking facebook one more time in the recliner.)

So it is January 18th, we’re currently just over halfway through the month, and how am I doing?

The first week was really good. The second week, work got busy, life got busy.  And that Friday was the 13th.  And it was NOT. A. GOOD. DAY!

I got to sleep in a little, because the kids were going to the back-up daycare center, so I was planning on driving in to work with them in the morning.  So I had just bought my daily devotion the day before, so I read it before I got out of bed.   It was about letting God guide us through our days. So after I read, I prayed that God would help me to listen to him. So I got up, got ready, got both kids fed, dressed and loaded in our Traverse (because it had snowed a little and I just feel safer in the bigger vehicle with both kids in bad weather).

Soooo…. I back out of the garage and Maria asked me a question about music.  I said no, we were listening to my radio station and then … crunch.  I backed into a our brick privacy fence (that is attached to our house).  crap.  The whole wall fell over and the truck now has a nice big scratched up dent (2 separate panels).   argh!  that is 2 separate insurance claim (homeowners and vehicle!)

Go back inside, tell Chad (he’s mad!), find the insurance papers, put the kids in my car, because I still have to go to work, because my daycare is downtown today and I’m missing work the next week.

So driving to work, carpool lane, because I have both kids with me.  Probably about 3 times, I checked my speed.  I don’t normally have to do this, because my Corolla does not go that fast without being kind of loud.    But I did, and decide that I’m OK, a little over the limit, but that’s pretty normal for the carpool lane (and me).

Driving into downtown (Charlie is shouting and pointing at the skyline – “dow-tow” where did he get this??!)  And I leave the interstate to a different highway which takes me into downtown.  Go to change lanes, as there is an intersection right ahead and I don’t need to be in the left lane. Realize I can’t change lanes, and BAM – rear-end another car.  The kids are OK.  I’m able to follow the driver to get off the road and onto the median.  We exchange information, the state patrol and tow truck drivers come. We hang out in the cold backseat of the state patrol until Chad (who was now even more frustrated) gets there to take us home.

Anyway, I didn’t total the car (came close though. it’s already fixed.).  Paid the deductible. The Traverse and wall, we’re planning to fix out of pocket, because it’s not much more than the deductible.  It was a bad day!  Really, it was a bad hour!

It was a long day, just thinking about what happened.   Plus I took myself and the kids to Urgent Care after Maria started complaining of a sore back. (We all checked out fine, except for her pink ear, which they treated with antibiotics. not related to the accident)

But the more I thought about it, my prayers were answered. Again, not in the way I’d expect… but I’m pretty sure God was telling me to slow down.  And that He was the voice in my head telling me to check my speed.

This is a long post, I realize.  And in the end, the accidents boil down to money we don’t want to spend, but no one was hurt.  And it gave me another reason to be more conscientious and deliberate about quieting my life.