DECEMBER:Loyal and generous. [Sexy]. Patriotic. Active in [games] and interactions. Impatient and hasty. [Ambitious]. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. [Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention]. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. [Changing personality]. Not egoistic. [Take high pride in oneself]. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

I couldn't use the strike feature so I put all the ones that don't apply in brackets. Sure, I'm patriotic, but not like the Bush family. I love my country but not because it's America, I love it because of all it allows me to have and to be, and because of where I live--guess I love the countryside as much as anything else. And am I really logical? I really question that one. My influence in organizations is something I always marvel at, but people do what I suggest and follow my lead, consistently.

I had such a good, positive thing going on this morning. Got organized, ready for work, left early, making good time, zipping right along and WHAM! hit the gravel along the shoulder, lost control of the car, spun 180 degrees, rolled the car down an embankment and ended up in a ditch on someone's lawn. Squealing tires, rolling in slow motion, blown out windows, debris all over the place, seatbelt bruise, headache & goose egg, bruised collarbone, ambulance ride to emergency room--the whole bit. I don't know if the car is totalled, but this is truly not what I need to have happen in my life right now. I can't tell you how many people have told me how lucky I am so far today. Yes, I'm lucky I wasn't hurt, or killed ( you should see the car). But no, I'm not lucky this happened to me. I need my car and I can't afford to buy a new one. Now I have to get a rental car (the insurance company gives me $25 a day for a rental: know what that gets you? shit! that's what), go to where my car's been towed and collect the amazing amount of shit that was in it and was tumbled all over the place when it rolled. 48 cans of Diet Coke, Ken's LL Bean boots that I promised to mail to be repaired, my soy milk, my Hawkeye Conservationists papers to work on today, my ATM card that I just found this morning in the car, my CD's, which were strewn all over the lawn when they flew out the rear window after it was smashed. There's really something fundamentally depressing about looking at your car after you've been in an accident in it. Especially when the damage is this severe.

But my weekend was nice, let's focus on that! Yesterday was a perfect early fall day. 40 in the morning when I got up, but warm sun made a big difference. At noon I went down to camp to sun on the dock with the brown girls. They loved it, I loved it. The lake was glassy but there were a few inconsiderate boats wanting to come oh-so-close to the dock to check it out. I left in late afternoon to get ready for a night out with Ken and the girls decided to go up the bluffs with some very fat strangers (Sorry about my dogs--"Oh no, thank you for them, it was great to have them along." Well, they do that once in a while, just follow people up the trail. "We loved having them with us." OK. duh). Anyway, Ken and I went to Steinhoff's and had a really nice meal and great visit, using up the $50 gift certificate he got. He was tickled to go out and not have to pay for it and the restaurant was quiet enough that we could actually converse.

Saturday I spent with fellow lakers--Executive Board meeting in the morning, annual meeting in the afternoon. It poured in the morning but was sort of sunny in the afternoon. The tax assessor was our guest speaker and he really is a nice man who defends his job and decisions very well. The group was nice to him but did want some very specific answers. It went well but was, unfortunately a small group. Ken said he was glad he wasn't there because he would have picked a fight with him.

And now I'm at work, having spent 2 1/2 hours in the emergency room this morning and half ana hour on the phone with the insurance company, then more time catching up with email and trying to get myself to a point where I can actually concentrate on my job. And now I have to take time to get the rental car, then get out to the repair place to get to my car. But I have no one to blame but myself. The state trooper was an absolute dream and came to the hospital (to give me my ticket for Speed Not Reasonable and Prudent--since I put a digger in someone's lawn; if you damage someone's property you automatically get a ticket in this state), telling me that if this happens again, take my foot off the gas and DO NOT apply the brake. And of course telling me that I'm very lucky. But DO NOT apply the brake. Foot off gas, no brake. Yes officer. Good advice.