I can’t believe the last blog post I had was from JULY 9TH…as in ZERO posts in August. Of course it makes sense given that we have been away from home more times than not this summer. Anyhow, there have been some exciting things happening in the Eichenberger home recently!
1. Because this subject makes me incredibly irate in a very short period of time, I will be brief (for my own sanity). Last month a 60 year old lunatic woman rammed the side of our Odyssey as we were on our way to Cole’s first cello group lesson of the new school year. To make a *very* long story short, she lied to the face of the incredibly nice police officer who arrived at the scene, saying she was in fact in front of me at the time when, in actuality, I was well in front of her as I had passed the crazy her just after the intersection prior (she was going 10mph in her Cadillac with her makeup mirror down doing who knows what). She screamed and yelled and did just about everything short of flashing the officer and so he gave in and chose to write me as the one at fault despite the fact that, in his words, he “was not there and can’t know what happened.” Thank you, heresay. Thank you.
Our insurance company, which has done an outstanding job, has gone above and beyond to help us fight this falsification of an accident report and we have had numerous conversations with their general counsel. Sadly after our insurance hired a private investigator to seek out and find the officer who wrote the report, they have found that he is no longer a police officer…(?) Of course back on the ranch, Mrs. Ridiculous, feeling guilty self-conscious about lying, had already decided she wanted to pursue the case legally (a case where, according to the accident report, she was completely innocent and I was at fault…?) She approaches her insurance company about this and they decline to give her representation (probably because her driving record looks like someone took a…yeah, I’ll stop there). It is at this point that she finds herself an ambulance chaser who agrees to threaten our insurance company with a bad faith suit. Naturally that is met with laughter given the circumstances of this woman’s behavior.
Essentially there is nothing we can do, because, as is the case in life, the bad guy wins quite often…and most many times doing the right thing (telling the truth) doesn’t pay. It is taking everything in me to NOT sue her in small claims court. I could go on, but she isn’t worth the dirt on my feet, so I’ll stop.
P.S. If YOU are Mrs. Ridiculous and reading this right now, I’m sure you have been up all night wondering if my oldest child, the four year old in the back seat of the vehicle that you slammed into, is alright. To answer that burning question, yes. Cole is just fine. In fact, he got to see a lesson in honesty firsthand. He asks about you daily and whether you plan to hit us again – I let him know if you do plan to ram us again, this time I’ll be ready.
2. Now for the POSITIVE update: Jake just received notice that he has received very first invite to interview for a fellowship this past Friday! This is for a pediatric hospitalist two year fellowship at Stanford, in Palo, Alto, California. It has been Jake’s dream to be a pediatric hospitalist for the past few years and he is totally psyched that Stanford wants to talk to him as they are leading the country with their medical informatics program, which will greatly affect him as a hospitalist. I’m going to tag along and check out the area while he interviews…a big thanks to my parents for watching the kids 😀
3. The Etsy shop is doing GREAT! I received about 9 orders, for Halloween and weddings, in a span of about 7 days and just completed the last gown for that batch. Sure, my carpal tunnel syndrome has been better, but I love creating these tutu dresses and can’t wait to see what my customers will ask me to come up with next!
4. Jake’s away rotation in Nashville is FINALLY *almost* here! We are excited to temporarily relocate there and get to take a hiatus from our “real” lives and enjoy Nashville again after being gone for SIX YEARS! Craziness. I’ll share with you my MASSIVE list of things we plan to do while we are there…hopefully Kyle and Tiff and Sof are up for all of this!
Shipley’s – cinnamon cake donuts
Sub Stop – a nostalgic favorite from my days at Word Distribution
Otter’s – Cole will be in love with this one…
McDougal’s – …and this one (just wish Jill could be here to share this with us!)
Melting Pot – don’t hate – we don’t have one in Augusta…this is where Jake and I used to go on dates while at Belmont
Cheesecake Factory – again, see above
Cheeseburger Charlie’s – turkey burger
La Paz – queso
SATCO – LOVE
Taqueria del Sol – had no idea that they had expanded from Atlanta up to Nashville – eager to check out their new Nashville location!
Monell’s – another fun one…memories from Word
Pancake Pantry – one day I will find a way to NOT wait outside in 100 degree heat…I’m sure it will be lovely with three children in tow
Donut Den – I’m wondering if they still have that HUGE (or as Cole says “k-yoo-juh”) glazed donut available in place of a birthday cake…?
Opryland Mall – really just for the kids…was never a big fan
Green Hills Mall – one of my favorite places…ever
Lululemon – our closest one is Columbia…it will be nice to be closer than an hour to one of these
Pei Wei – see comment for Melting Pot/Cheesecake Factory
Las Paletas – now that we have kids we have a real excuse for getting popsicles here 24/7
MAFIAoZA’s – will they even LET me in here with my kids…?
Monkey Treehouse – fun times with Honor and Cara 😀
Bellacino’s – a cheap pizza/sub place we used to go to…not sure if it still exists
Off Broadway Shoes – no explanation necessary
Zoo – have never been to Nashville’s zoo, but the kids will love living near a zoo again!
Adventure Science Center – I’m thinking Cole will like this one
Bar Method – plan to get a full month’s membership here and take advantage of all of the barre classes all the time!