Fire in The Life of A Friend...

**
Hi Casey,

I've been thinking about you and your family!! I've been meaning to call, but ...

I've never been so scared in all my life. Went to bed on Sunday night around 1:00am, was on google maps thinking there is no way it could come to my neighborhood by morning, but still slightly unsure...packed up a few things (not really much), and then woke up at 4:30 by the grace of God and turned on the news...said North East Rancho Bernardo is now evacuating...I freaked, looked out the window and saw flames coming down the hill at my apt and complex!!!!!!!!

I went into panic mode and started throwing stuff in my car and thought with one way in my complex and one way out with all the people...I said forget packing my car and just get the heck out of my complex.

No body was getting up!! It was crazy! People were honking their horns, knocking on people's doors, etc. it was very scary. I thought for sure that my complex was gone.

I got a hold of my mom as I was leaving and she and I met in PQ at a friends and then they evacuated so we went to Chula Vista to another friends. I was awake all that night (Monday) watching flames come over Mt. Miguel...I was a mess, couldn't eat for 3 days and just stressed.

Finally found out my place and my mom's was OK! I still can't go home, so I'm now getting frustrated because I'm exhausted...

Anyway, it will all be ok and I'm just happy to be safe and have a home to go to...

I'm glad you all are OK... Thanks for checking in!

**

26.2 in 4:13 - Daddy Rocks!

**

*cough*cough*whimper*whimper*

Dave did GREAT! He finished all 26.2 miles in just 4 hours and 13 minutes! *G*R*E*A*T* and yes - I 'm VERY proud of him. With just six months of training, less 6 weeks due to injury, little sleep the previous week due to nerves and a virus that he caught from Rachel earlier in the week. He did it!

*cough*cough*whimper*whimper*

OK. Now what happened while Dave was running?

Well, before the running even began..., I broke my toe the day before the race (a bad break to the baby toe - OUCH!) and the little virus that Dave caught turned into a monster for me and I lost my voice somewhere during the day of hobbling around town:

First, at 4:30 am, I hobbled with two sleepy little girls to drop Dave off at the starting line. Next, home to shower & dress, eat breakfast with the girls, and then rush to Crown Point (mile 19) where - after a mad dash for parking and a run while pushing the stroller with a broken toe - we caught him with just 5 minutes to spare.

Lookin' strong at mile 19. Daddy ROCKS!!

Then a mad dash to the trolley in Fashion Valley to catch a ride to the finish line, which is where I'm pretty sure I lost my voice. And this is how:

I handed my bags to a nice woman who offered to help me, set the girls above the steps inside the trolley door and turned to grab the stroller - when I turned around again the TROLLEY DOOR HAD CLOSED!!

I began banging on the door, yelling only to hear a loud speaker telling everyone to clear the doors. "NO!" I screamed. "YOU'VE GOT MY KIDS!!!" and I ran down to the next door which was still open.

But there was no room for me w/ the stroller and there was no way I would have been able to get to my kids through the mass of people. I was SERIOUSLY PANICKED!! "STOP!! MY KIDS ARE DOWN THERE!!"

I looked back again to see the other door where the girls were had opened again and ran, hauling the folded stroller, faster than you can imagine and hurled it into the doorway just before it closed again. The WONDERFUL woman who had been helping me had pushed the emergency button - FINALLY.

I stepped over the stroller, hauling it up the steps behind me, shaking and teary eyed behind my sunglasses - but smiled at my girls and said, "Wow. Mommy was scared you were going to leave without her." I then turned to the people around me and said, breathlessly, "You read about parents like me in the paper." And that sparked a discussion about how quickly it all happened and how rude the security guard was when he finally came back to check on what the emergency was. They were all very kind and helpful. That's about the time I realized the additional damage I had done to the already broken and now THROBBING toe.

Next, we tried to grab a cab instead of getting on another trolley but the cabbies didn't want a fare that was headed anywhere near the marathon finish line traffic and all strongly suggested that I take the connecting trolley. Which we did.

Then we had to walk, me, with my broken toe, voiceless, pushing the girls about a mile through the crowds to the finish line. Where we searched, and searched, and searched trying to reach Dave through choppy analog cell service until finally the call went through and he said, "I'm two feet behind you. Turn around."

He was exhausted, his knee was hurting, his feet were throbbing, he was sweaty and wet, but he looked beautiful standing there with the Finisher medal hanging around his neck.


I am sooooooo proud him, the girls were excited to see him and it was all worth it. (except that part about almost losing my girls on the trolley)

*cough*cough*whimper*whimper*

OK - back to Dave. He said it was all going pretty well until just after we saw him at mile 19 and then he hit a serious wall. He said there were a couple times that he started to tear up, wondering where in the world he was going to get the strength to take another step. But he did - he kept on going and he did it. Can you believe it - (OK, of course you can, it's Dave we're talkin' about after all.)

His first marathon in 4:13. How great is that?!?!

*cough*cough*whimper*whimper*

The girls were golden most of the day. Staying close and listening - I couldn't have asked for more. They hit a wall in the last few hours of the day. It seems that getting up at 4:30 am to drive Daddy to the starting line was tough on the little ones near the end of the day.

*cough*cough*whimper*whimper*

As for me? I'm going to drink a little lemon tea for my throat and then go lay down and ice my toe. Dave's taking the girls out for pizza.

Gotta love that man!!

Oh wait - he's not done yet. He's off tonight on the red-eye to Wisconsin for a week's long business trip. He's leaving now - for a week. Wait! That means I'm home for a week, broken toe, no voice, two kids...,

hmmm. Notice the smile and relaxed look??

My own little marathon begins now.

*cough*cough*whimper*whimper*

**

The Day We Side-Stepped a Tragedy

I never felt so small, so helpless or so failingly flawed as a mother as the day that we landed in the emergency room and made it past triage. When my youngest was just 14-months old she made her way into my room & nightstand and worked the top off of a 'childproof' bottle of Tylenol. She was out of our site for less than 2 minutes, but when I found her she was sitting in the midst of a pile of pills. Because she was in a stage of answering "YES!" to everything, there was no way of knowing if she had actually eaten any.

After immediately calling poison control, we learned the terrifying fact that just five Tylenol pills can kill a child with no warning symptoms. By the time the signs are there the liver can be irreparably damaged.

The absolute lowest moment? The social worker coming to have the 'chat' and talking about a possible visit to our home for a 'safety check.' It seemed as though someone was confirming that I was a horrible mom who shouldn't be trusted with children. I knew she was doing her job - a noble one at that - trying to protect children from real abuse. I knew all that - but my guilt for not watching my daughter closely enough, for allowing this to happen seemed to over ride any appreciation that I had for the social worker or the reality that accidents happen. I simply felt horrible – like the worst mother ever!

After four hours of holding my little girl while they took blood and she drank charcoal mixed with chocolate milk and hoping and praying that my little girl wouldn’t suffer long-term damage – we learned that no Tylenol was found in her blood stream. She hadn’t consumed anything. She was fine. I held her and quietly cried as she snuggled and slept on my chest. It took me a long time to feel like a competent mom again.

That was the day that I learned that having children was like carrying your heart and soul outside your body.

Craziness Reigns!!

As I pull up to Marshall Elementary for my weekly volunteer position I find a closed gate.

"That's weird," I say out loud.

I honk at two women that I see walking across campus. They turn to look at me, wave and keep going. Not in any apparent rush - but too far away to clarify anything. So I get out of my car, pull back the gate and drive onto campus. The next gate, into the parking lot is also pulled shut. I get out, again, and pull open the gate. At this point, no one is in sight and I pull into the parking lot.

As I open the door to my car a woman comes running at us, shrieking, "THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN. YOU CAN'T BE IN HERE. YOU CAN'T DRIVE THROUGH THE GATE. THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN, GET INTO A CLASS ROOM - NOW. THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN. GET INTO A CLASS ROOM NOW!! HURRY! THIS IS SERIOUS - YOU CAN'T BE HERE. THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN. GET INTO A CLASS ROOM NOW!! HURRY! THIS IS SERIOUS - YOU CAN'T BE HERE."

My pulse began to race as I imagined a crazed, teenage gunman or two loose on the campus and coming fast in our direction. I rushed to get the girls out of the car. They were now panicking as the woman kept shrieking, "THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN. GET INTO A CLASS ROOM NOW!! HURRY!"

The commotion outside caused three teachers to open their doors (a grave error during a lockdown, apparently) to offer assistance to a mom wrestling to get her kids to safety.

"SHUT THE DOORS!!" This crazy woman shrieked. "THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN. GET BACK INTO THOSE CLASSROOMS!!" She then turned back to me and resumed, "THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN. GET INTO A CLASS ROOM NOW!! HURRY! THIS IS SERIOUS - YOU CAN'T BE HERE. THIS IS A LOCK-DOWN. GET INTO A CLASS ROOM NOW!! HURRY! THIS IS SERIOUS - YOU CAN'T BE HERE."

Finally - after she had succeeded in initiating panic in all of us, I responded with, "LADY! SHUT-UP!! I HAVE TWO KIDS HERE AND I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN SO BAAACK OOOFFF!!"

She then seemed to realize that she was a bit out of control and came to offer a little help - but by then I had my two girls in my arms and was running across the parking lot toward the preschool room as I imagined gun-toting crazies closing in.

Once I got into the room everyone was shaking - including the people already there. She had freaked everyone out with all of her incessant yelling. But the ladies in the room knew something that I didn't. The lock-down was not to protect us all from some crazy loons but from a stray family of coyotes that had been spotted on campus. Animal control was on their way to trap the animals and all would be well soon.


Apparently the only loon on campus was the screeching woman instilling needless panic. Where is the Department of People Control??

In an instant....,

It all happened so fast. In an instant. I was driving and my girls were sleeping in the back seat - I was driving. It was a clear day - stressful because Rachel had developed a UTI and had been hurting most of the day. But finally, on the way back from the Doctor's office, she had fallen asleep. Alex, too, was sleeping. I decided not to wake them - just to let them sleep as a drove around town a bit. I turned off HWY 67 on to Archie Moore Road in Ramona. I looked off to my left and saw an interesting housing development and decided to turn left, into the development to check it out. I looked ahead for traffic and then back to the left - I tried to look beyond the initial gate structure, which was open to see if there was another gate beyond that but couldn't see anything so I began my turn.....

BBBBAAAAMMMM

A silver car - a volkswagon GTI - was there. ON my left front fender! Bouncing off again. In an instant.

My girls, strapped safely into their car seats, began to cry. They were terrified - but without a scratch. THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD!

I got out to check on the other driver. She was also pretty shaken up - but otherwise seemed OK. She was also seemed VERY pleasant. She offered to help me with my girls once she realized that I had kids in my car.

When I think of what could have happened my stomach flips and I feel literally SICK.

"Hello, Mr. Hart? We're calling to let you know that there has been an accident...."

"Hello, Mr. Navarro? We're calling to let you know that Maria has been in an accident....,"

In an instant....,

And the instant has passed and logistics and after affects must be considered and dealt with.

$1000 deductable dollars and a few headaches later and our car will be fixed. $400 more a year in insurance & that's about it as for our family's repricusions. That a new realization about my responsibilities to my kids and my husband as the driver of our children.

But what about Maria? What about her family? She was driving a 1992 Volkswagon GTI. It looked like it was in pretty good shape - will she get enough money to replace the car? I'm assuming that she was working for one of the wealthy area families as nanny or house keeper - will she be able to keep her job? She lives all the way down in Tacate, Mexico!! That's over an hour's drive with out traffic!!

This accident was my fault - so I'm responsible for her loss. I should help make this right somehow....., Somehow.