THIRD TIME'S A CHARM

I was washing the dishes the other night and had one of those deja vu experiences... my muscles were so strong that I broke a plate in half! (Well, kind of - the part about breaking the plate is true.) Luckily, this time around, I didn't end up in the ER with a sliced finger. Yes, during both of my pregnancies I had my only two ER visits and managed to put my car in the shop. Put a check mark next to car repair issues on pregnancy number three, but let's hope I can avoid the hospital this go round.

BTW - A few things to note when at the ER while pregnant: 1) The wait is FABULOUS! WHAT WAIT? 2) Be prepared for the nurses to ask your husband to leave the room while you explain that you're not in the hospital as a result of domestic violence.

Read on if you're interested in the BEST CAR WASH STORY EVER!! Otherwise, you might want to jump to the next updated blog on your list, because it's long. Honestly, what good is a blog entry without pictures anyway? I'll eventually get around to replacing my camera, but I'm in NO HURRY to try and squeeze my belly into a picture anytime soon.

I'D SERIOUSLY LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU CAN TOP THIS CAR WASH STORY...
A month after I fractured a bone in my foot and a month before Spencer was due, I decided to actually take a lunch break and run errands. Car wash here I come! Left my keys in the car and sat down in the waiting room in front of the wall of windows to view my car's "spa" treatment. I'm watching my car go through the wash and something doesn't seem right. The big black truck behind my car keeps getting closer... and closer... and closer. Finally, my car starts to move. One would assume that a car wash employee hopped in my car to drive it out of the tunnel o' suds. WRONG!

The track malfunctioned and my car starts rolling down a slight slope into a very busy street. I jump from my seat, throw open the door and yell, "STOP MY CAR! NO ONE IS IN MY CAR!" No one flinched. Unfortunately, the worker in the path of my car did not speak English. He did not hear my warning and continued to dry the open door of a newly cleaned sedan. As my car rolled past the sedan, the sedan's door was pushed all the way to the hood of the car and pinned the worker behind the door.

Don't ask me what I was thinking when I started running after my car. As my car rolled into the first lane of lunchtime traffic, a worker appeared from out of nowhere to stop oncoming traffic. I jumped in my car before it reached the middle lane and backed it into a parking space. My car was a sight to see - flat tires, scuffed wheels and serious body damage to an entire side of the car.

I was FURIOUS and walked back to the waiting room to cool down. For some reason, the girl behind the cash register was bawling hysterically. (Maybe it was because she had to give me a free car wash, because I WAS NOT about to pay for THAT car "spa" experience!) While waiting for the manager and watching the ambulance take away the car dryer, one lady approached me and said, "Girlfriend, you musta' run track in high school. I ain't never seen a pregnant lady run so fast!"

Long story short... I returned my four-week rental and picked up my car the day before Spencer was born. Oh, AND my story made it into the online Atlanta Journal Constitution's Crime Beat column... five minutes of partial fame.