Victim Of A Drunk Driver

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. After I checked out, I pushed my groceries in the basket to the entrance where the greeter was and where they keep the baskets. As I proceeded to put on my hat, coat, & scarf, I noticed quite a few people standing outside the door. Obviously, something was wrong. So here’s my conversation with the Wal-Mart greeter:

Me: What happened?
Greeter: A guy was driving a truck and he was coming down the wrong aisle and he hit a few cars.
Me: Wow! Was anyone hurt?
Greeter: I don’t know but it just happened a few minutes ago.

About this time, I had not finished bundling up and then I saw that my car was involved! I practically ran out of Wal-Mart pushing the shopping cart with all of my groceries. I arrived outside and started asking what happened. Apparently, a guy was driving a tow truck with a 40’ trailer attached to it. He was driving the wrong way down the aisle and he hit a few cars! Guess what? HE WAS DRUNK!!!!!

I was parked on an aisle where traffic was one way. Did he not see the BIG yellow arrow painted on the ground?! The arrows are there to tell you which direction the traffic is suppose to go!! My fault. If you’re drunk, all of your other senses are impaired! I’m sure he didn’t even pay attention to the arrows. Better yet, he probably didn’t even see them. Any other time I would park way in the back because the traffic is less AND I don’t mind the exercise. But nooo, it was cold and conveniently a lady was coming out of the 1st parking spot next to the handicap spots. I thought that it was a great spot so I took it.

Anyway, when I got to the scene, here’s what I saw. The entire ordeal lasted a little over an hour. The time of the accident is reported at 3:40 or 3:50pm. By 4:49pm, I was on my way home. I took these pictures with my cell phone about 35 minutes after I arrived and had settled down.

I don't know how fast this guy was going but he managed to push and/or drag this truck into my car. I'm on the left. Look how big his tires. Lucky me, all of the damage done to my car was from his tire. I had a small dent and a few scratches.

Sorry about the sun rays but here's another angle. That was a monster truck. If it were a smaller car, I'm sure the damage to my car would have been more extensive.

Here's another angle. His bumper on the passenger side had way more damage than mine.

The gentleman in the foreground with the gray hair in the dark jacket owns the truck that hit my car. At the time of the accident, he was in the truck getting ready to leave with his wife, daughter & his 7 week old grandson. After he got hit, he jumped out of his truck and ran after the tow truck. He caught up with the truck, took the keys out, and this is where the truck stopped. In the middle of the street AND in the middle of the parking lot. By the way, the guy with the gray hair, his wife, and his daughter are attorneys! Take that Mr. Drunk Driver!!!!!!

Apparently, the accident took place about 10 minutes before I got there. Needless to say, I was furious!! All I could think about was “what if”…

1. What if Liz and I were standing at the trunk loading it with groceries…and this guy had hit us?
2. What if Baby Prickett was in her stroller or the basket and I parked her between the cars (so that she wouldn’t get hit by a car in the street) until I could get her inside the car...and this guy had hit us?

3. What if I were backing out and this guy was flying down the aisle and he hit me…and then I lost Baby Prickett?

4. What if I were walking and was crossing the street and didn’t have time to move out of the way…and this guy had hit me?

When Jeremiah and I said our prayers last night, I thanked God that he kept me and Baby Prickett safe. I promise you, I wasted 10 minutes in Wal-Mart for no reason at all. Normally, I pick up everything that is not food 1st. Then I go get groceries and head for check out. So yesterday, I got a few refrigerated things and headed for check out. Then I thought, “oh, go get the pitcher to mix drinks in”. So off I went to the other side of the store to get the pitcher. Then, I was in the mood for Lofthouse cookies, with the huge layer of icing and sprinkles. So I went all the way back to the other side of the store to get cookies. Then I thought, “oh yeah, go get the balloons for YW tonight.” Again, off I went to the other side of the store to get the balloons. Then I thought, “I might be in the mood in for grapes later…go get some grapes.” Once again, I took off to the other side of the store to get the grapes. I went back and forth so many times it was ridiculous and completely out of character. No kidding, I think the Lord allowed me to not make a grocery list because he knew what would happen if I came out of Wal-Mart 10 minutes earlier.

When I got home, Jeremiah and Liz had just finished their hot chocolate. J said that when they blessed their hot chocolate, they prayed that I would return home safely. That would explain why they were so happy to see me. Anyway, they were wondering what was taking me so long. So, I told them what happened. The only reason he didn’t call and check on me is because I’m always gone longer than I say I will be. I should have called him but I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to get home.

The police arrested this guy and hauled him off to jail.

After Jeremiah and I got back from my dr.'s appt this morning, he took these pictures. I am so grateful that this is all of the damage that was done to my car. Some other people weren't this lucky.

Here's a close up of the paint damage and the small dent.

More scratches.

From a distance, the damage is hard to see. I'm glad that the damage wasn't done on the driver's side. If I had to be reminded of yesterday everytime that I saw those scratches, I would probably get sick to my stomach.

4th Baby Bump

The Good
I had another doctor’s appt on 1/8. My weight and exercise routine was pretty much the topic of conversation. I weighed in at 140lbs. On my 12/11 appt, I weighed in at 129lbs. Needless to say, my doctor was less than pleased and quite concerned that I gained 11lbs in one month, ooops. She got even more concerned when I told her that I haven’t worked out for 3 or 4 weeks. December wasn’t exactly a stellar month for me. But man, I had a blast!!

With all of the charm that I could gather within myself, I tried to explain to my doctor that it was the holidays! Whenever my mother cooked, I ate. I had 3 Prickett men to keep fed all the time. So whenever I cooked, I ate then too. Then, people would bring goodies by the house and I ate again! I think I charmed my way out of trouble…but only a little bit :o( My doctor showed me a little mercy and understood that I overate during the holidays. However, she expressed that I needed to watch my weight and my diet. By the way, I am at the point where I am to gain 1lb every week until Baby Prickett is born, YIKES!

My waist is currently 34¼ ”. Baby Prickett’s heartbeat is still holding at 150 bpm. My blood pressure is in great shape and all is well with mom and baby. Here are my 24 weeks (6 months) baby bump pictures :o)



The Bad
Maternity clothes – I have officially outgrown my regular clothes and started wearing maternity clothes last week. I suppose that was inevitable. Elastic waistbands are completely underrated! Elastic has made my life much more pleasant. Especially when I have to go to the restroom.

Stretch marks – I get a new set every other day! Last night I discovered that I had them on my back! ON MY BACK! I guess that I ran out of skin on the front and sides.

Sports bra – A while back I started wearing my sports bra b/c I outgrew my regular bras. The sports bra worked for a while. Guess what? I have now outgrown that too! So, I went shopping for a bra and found a nursing bra. Guess what else? I am now motivated to start working out again. That bra is huge but at least my breasts are comfortable. Is all of this TMI???

The Ugly
I called Jeremiah at work last Friday, 1/16, to inform him that I got the water bill in the mail. It was $100, WHAT?! So I looked at the usage and we used more water in Jan than we did in Aug! That’s crazy, right? As I continued to vent, Jeremiah shed some light on the subject. Apparently, I am 6 months pregnant now and I wasn’t 6 months pregnant in Aug. Currently, I’m using the restroom way more now than I was in Aug. Every time I flush, I am using 5 gallons of water…according to Jeremiah’s calculations. Talk about flushing money down the toilet :o(

The Unexpected
Somewhere in the middle of that “water” conversation, I felt Baby Prickett move. So I rubbed my belly to try to calm her down. The next thing I knew, I looked down and I saw her kick and punch through my skin. It was SO cool! I told Jeremiah about it and he got excited. I told Liz about it when she got in from school and she got excited too. Since then, Jeremiah has seen the kicks and punches but Liz hasn’t. By the time I call Liz to come take a look, Baby Prickett is done moving :o(

New Year's 2008

On New Year's Eve, Jeremiah and I hosted a family soiree to bring in the new year. It was alot of fun and I think everyone had a nice time. Obviously, we ate...and ate...and ate. I didn't get many pictures because I was tired and frankly, I just wanted to relax!

Below are pictures of Jason (born after Jeremiah) and his daughter Navie! They live in Utah and we see Jason on average 2 times a year. Navie just turned 1 in December and both of them flew here right before New Year's to spend New Year's in TX. They stayed with us for a few days and then they returned to Utah. I'm not sure where I was but Jeremiah took these pictures and I wanted to share with you!

Poor baby :o(

I'm not sure what this picture is about but it sure is funny! I have no idea why Jason has this look on his face.

Just chillin'.

Liz spending some quality time with Navie.

My mother, Navie, Maria (my sister) and Pam (Jeremiah's mom). Navie took to my mother FAST!

Christmas Day 2008

On Christmas day, Jeremiah and I headed south to spend time with his maternal Grandma! After lunch, we took a family photo.

JD, Uncle Kenny, Kari, Jeremiah, Uncle Larry, yours truly, and Gradma.

Then, we headed back to Josh and Diana's house to spend time with them. They got Dance Dance Revolution for Christmas and played it forever!

JD getting his groove on.

Di getting her groove on.

Jeremiah getting his groove on.



Here I am getting my snooze on!

After we left Diana's, we headed to my mom's house for MORE food and MORE naps :o)

Gone Shootin' At Grandma's

A few days before Christmas, JD and Jeremiah went to visit their grandmother for a couple of hours. Since they were going, they decided to take advantage of the opportunity and go shootin'. Grandma lives on the Brazos River and this is where Di and the boys grew up. The boys know these woods like they know their name! On a side note, I remember that it took it me FOREVER before I trusted Jeremiah to take me into these woods!! I was invited to come on this trip but I was too tired or too sick and didn't feel like making the drive.

Anyway, here is a short video of 2/3 of the Prickett Men shootin' at grandma's house. Jeremiah filmed the video and JD shot this round. Be sure to pay attention to the 4th shot. Man, and I thought Jeremiah had a great aim!

They used some of Uncle Kenny's liquor bottles as targets. Remember that 4th shot? JD shot straight through the bottle! I feel so protected as a Prickett :o)

Paper targets are not good enough for these fellas. They need real/actual targets! When we moved into our house, we replaced this mailbox with a new one. Jeremiah wanted to keep it and eventually use it as a target. I saw it as trash and he saw it as treasure.

Here are the exit wounds to the mailbox. That yellow thing is an old VW fender or bumper. I guess they decided to shoot that too! Go figure. One of the boys use to have a VW waaaaay back in the day and they would go off-roading in it, more or less. I guess they found it while they were roaming around.

As usual, someone had to get hurt. Jeremiah told me that he tried to pick up the mailbox and cut himself on one of the bullet exit holes. The actual cut was worse than what this picture depicts. Jeremiah's finger finally healed and he was extremely grateful that I was able to wash the blood out of his jeans.

After this trip, Jeremiah and JD made a couple more trips to "see grandma"...which translates into going shooting. Ahhh, my life as Mrs. Prickett...gunshots, wounds, and blood.

Liz's Reaction To Baby Girl Prickett

Here is Liz's reaction when Jeremiah and I told her that Baby Prickett is a girl. I like recording videos in the landscape orientation. Jeremiah ALWAYS record videos in the portrait orientation and it drives me NUTS!!! Having said that, Jeremiah recorded this video. Regardless of the orientation, we will always have Liz's reaction on video :o)

A Gaylord Christmas

On 12/22 the Pricketts and the Clayton's headed to Grapevine to partake of the Gaylord Texan Christmas decorations! Because I've only seen the decorations during the day, I was so STOKED to be going at night! OH MY!!! Have I mentioned how much I love Christmas?! Anyway, Jeremiah and I had spent enough time with my family so it was time to spend some quality time with his family. As a result, we headed to the Gaylord Texan Hotel.

JD (J's baby brother), me, Jeremiah, Pam (J's mom) & Kari (J's baby sister).

Taking it all in.

Taking a rest...might as well get a picture out of it!

Jeremiah at the front door of the gingerbread house.

In front of the gingerbread house.

Having a little fun :o)

Jeremiah was so patient while the pregnant lady was trying to get comfortable.

FINALLY!

Kari & JD.

You can't have a proper Texas Christmas without a longhorn in the background!

Misc Nativity Pics

Jeremiah and I volunteered to be a host and hostess at the nativity this year...once again. Traffic was really slow for a few minutes so we found a way to entertain ourselves to help time go by a little faster. So, we took the following pictures with Jeremiah's cell phone.

How sweet :o)

Mr. Man :o)

5 months pregnant!

After our shift was over, the Keeton's met us at the stake center to take mommy's nativity photo. They were gracious enough to let Liz spend the night with them so we wouldn't have to get up extra early to drop Liz off Saturday morning while we volunteered. Anyway, this is after the infamous nativity photo.

My dad and diva! See, there is sunshine after the rain!! This was after the infamous nativity photo. To be honest, I think my mom found the nativity photo just as funny as we did.

Here's the entire family! Unfortunately, this picture looks faded b/c we took it right in front of the doors in the foyer. There wasn't much room so we had to take this picture where we could.

Momma Keeton’s Annual Family Nativity Photo

Like everyone else, the month of December was extremely busy (but fun) for the Pricketts! Over the next couple of days, I’ll try to post as many pictures from the Christmas holiday as I can.

Let’s move on shall we? Every year my dear mother insists on having an annual family nativity photo. Every year someone manages to do and/or say something to upset mommy, aka…Momma Keeton. Not on purpose, it just happens!! The picture from 2006 is my FAVORITE! Here’s why starting from the left…

1. Jeremiah was making all these funny faces and funny poses. It really was funny and by default I laughed at him and couldn’t stop laughing! Momma Keeton was not amused.

2. My brother “T” took the nativity WAY too serious. I guess he thought he was Denzel Washington, Danny Glover or someone from Hollywood. Dude, there aren’t any casting directors around, RELAX!!

3. Berry, the “angel”, wouldn’t pose properly. She kept grinning big and would not pose “properly”. She thought she was the diva of the show! Momma Keeton still wasn’t amused.

4.My peaceful, loving but moody sister Maria, tried to calm my mother down from the chaos but mommy wasn’t interested. So Maria left mommy to fend for herself to gain control. Momma Keeton…not amused.

5.That brings me to my dad. I can’t remember what he did..or didn’t do. Obviously, Momma Keeton was not amused.

6. To top things off, Liz was out of town this weekend and mommy was not too pleased about that. But the show had to go on.

7. Needless to say, and after ALL of this, Momma Keeton wanted to knock all of us OUT!!! Hence, the expression on her face.

8. Before any of us knew it, Ross had taken the picture and Momma Keeton’s annual family nativity photo shoot was over! The result is below :o)

Let me be clear. We didn’t mean ANY disrespect to the nativity. It’s just that when it’s time to take the nativity picture, I’ve learned…expect the unexpected!

This year I had a plan. I informed my 2 Prickett’s to act civil or else. So, while we were waiting in line to take Momma Keeton’s annual family nativity photo, I told my 2 Prickett’s to get their giggles and wiggles out of their systems. Even I got in on the action. Here’s what happened.

For the moment of truth. Everyone is in position and Ross gives us the cue. “1…2…3!” Yes!!! Everyone behaved and there wasn’t any drama on the set…until we saw this.

Mommy was so busy making sure that everyone wasn’t goofing off, especially Jeremiah, that she COMPLETELY didn’t hear Ross counting down!! Not only that, I have no idea what Berry was looking at or looking for. Needless to say, Momma Keeton was not pleased (again) with the 2008 annual family nativity photo. Sorry mommy :o( Maybe next year, LOL!!!