7-11

You can just pretend that I posted this yesterday.  I worked....ALL day. 

I will forever remember 7-11.

1- it is Slurpee day!!!
this particular Slurpee day Gretchen, my manager, and I went to three 7-11s.  3.  Count 'em.  And all of them were out of the free cups.  Lifeguards don't really carry cash and we were on break, so we were just there for the free stuff.  At the first store the manager was like 'oh you guys really deserve them, I'm sorry'  well then let us have the dang kid's cup.  Sheesh.  But at the last store the guy at the counter:  'can we give them complementary cups?'  they did.  They are these little foam cups that hold about 4oz.  Better than nothing.  I think 7-11 Slurpee cups should be foam.  Then they wouldn't melt as fast.  Just sayin.   But after work I was walking home (cuz that's what I do) and my neighbor was walking into her house and she persuaded me to take this Slurpee that she bought because she didn't want it anymore.  I have really nice neighbors.

2- it is my friend's birthday.  I am thinking of sending a card.  I really want to.  such a hard decision

This isn't my picture, but this is actually what it kinda looked like.

3- Today is the anniversary of my first car accident. 
STORY TIME!!!!
You are already aware from this that I rode my bike to work my first year.  (i did my second too, but it was the other direction, a pool downtown)  Well, instead of riding in the bike lane, I would ride on the sidewalk.  Why? because to ride in the bike lane I would have to cross the street, just so that I would cross the street again when I got to work.  Unnecessary.  Well, here I am, on my bike, on the sidewalk.  I come to a crosswalk and there is a car there.  Well the car didn't go.  The road probably wasn't clear, I don't really know or care.  I slowed down a bit, but when I saw that the car wasn't going, I had the right of way, so I continued into the street.  Assuming, of course, that the lady in the car had seen me.  You know, *look both ways*.  Well, she didn't.  She was going to turn right, I was on her right side, she looked left into oncoming traffic.  So she sees and opening right as I get into the crosswalk and she goes when I'm right in front of her.  Oh the mess.  The back wheel of my bike got all bent under her car.  My sunglasses flew off.  This was one of the only 7 days that I did not wear a helmet (figures).   The poor lady, Sam, jumps out of her car all freaked out.  Some guy in a huge red truck stops and rolls down his window to see if I was alright. 
I was. 
So I stand up and pick up my bike.  Sam was talking really fast, a bit jittery.  'Ohmygosh are you alright, are you hurt, bleeding,' etc etc.  "Yeah I'm fine"  I look at her car- not a scratch.  Seriously.  "You're car is fine, no blood no foul."  But I look at my bike and realize that it is pretty much bent into a crescent and I can't really ride on it anymore. 
So she gives me a ride to work.  She puts my bike into her trunk.  You ready for this?  She drove an electric blue 2007 Ford Focus SES, which has a hatchback making it easier for her to store my bike.  I can be observant.  I got hit on a side street just before Alta (if you would like to refer back to my maps) so it wasn't far at all, but if I'd had to walk I would have been late especially since I would've had to carry my bike since the wheels wouldn't rotate.  She gives me her number and I write it down on my bookmark and says that she'll pay for the repairs on my bike.  She tried to give me $20 but I refused. 
So I walk in and stash my bike in the guard shack and plop down on the comfy leather chair.  Sit there for a moment and then move by bike to the unused classroom across the hall so it wasn't in the way.  My supervisor comes in a few minuets later and asks "How was your ride to work?"  I had already told the other guard why my bike wasn't on the rack outside, so I assumed she knew.  "Ah, nothing $20 wont fix."  Boy was she confused.  She'd never asked how my ride was before, and the one day she did was the day I was hit.  HA!!!! I worked all that day, from 10am to 4:30.  All day, each guard informed the others of my adventure.  Everyone was rather gentle with me, offering to teach my swim lessons for me....I realized later that they were waiting for me to go into shock.  I was perfectly calm when I called my dad to tell him that I needed him to pick me up and that we needed to fix my bike. 
He came at the end with the truck and bent my wheel back so it looked like a circle again.
That was my first experience with free Slurpee day, we stopped at 7-11 on the way to BIKE WORLD.
The guy at bike world must have been about 19, he took the wheel off my bike, put it on this rotator thing and spun it then tightened the spokes so that it spun in a perfect line.

He did if for free.  I never called Sam to tell her I was fine and it didn't cost me anything.  I lost the bookmark.  I feel bad, maybe she would like to know that I'm alive and well and I harbor no hard feelings, and am glad for the funny story....but that would be weird now.  Not like I know her last name, I could track her down if I remembered the licence plate, which I don't.  Ah well. 

The worst part of this- I lost my sunglasses.  I paid $20 for these sunglasses and they were my favorites.  :(  When Dad drove me home, we stopped to see if they were still there, but they were not.  And my assumption to Sam that I was unharmed- not true.  I have a tiny scar on my right elbow.  Well, there you go. I scar like it's an occupation- not a big deal. 



Today, the 12th, is my sister's birthday.  It is also my cousin Eric's. 
When she was born, Eric thought that she should be named 'Erica'.  It was, after all, HIS birthday. 

This seriously is the best picture I have.  Eric is the one with the peace sign. 
Taken before his brother went on his mission, New Years (ish) 2010

However, he did not know that it is also my cousin Shon's brithday.  (It's dainish, pronounce it 'Shawn).  Maybe she should be named 'Shauna'. 

Shon and his wife.  Yeah, I have cousins with kids older than I.

OR the best of both worlds= Erica Shauna. 

Nope.  Her name is Eliza.

Temple trip at for a family reunion.  Notice she is almost as
 tall as I am.  She was wearing heels then.  Now she is
this tall without heels. 

phew. Looooooooong blog.