My week. My world.

This week has been a bit... crazy.

On Saturday, my father and stepmom cooked a family dinner. My dad bought lobster. Real live lobsters. This is not normal. I think the special occasion was a combination of my stepmom returning from taking care of her mother, my stepsister beginning her first post-college job, my brother being in town and me finally moving out. I'm not sure which item was the tipping point that upgraded family dinner from a trip to Sweet Tomatoes to making lobster, but I'm thinking he's pretty excited about the last one. When I asked him where he learned how to cook lobster he admitted he didn't. But, he DID eat some good lobster in Boston earlier this year. What a guy. No recipe. No instructional. Just gut instinct. I was impressed.

Sunday's move was a success for the most part. I had a minor panic attack Saturday night/early Sunday morning when my dad asked me about the truck rental. I forgot what the prices were and told him rental was only $20 for the first hour and $40 for each additional hour. He kept telling me I really messed up and was making a big mistake. My dad makes me very nervous sometimes. I didn't mention to him it was first-come-first-serve, no reservations. There are some things people who worry a lot don't need to know. I prayed. I woke up at 6am. I got a got a truck for $19.95 for 75 minutes and $10 for each additional hour (not $40). My faithful, sleep-deprived friends showed up at pre-bright but very early at 7:30am to help. There was a Starbucks right next to the Home Depot. All my furniture fit in the truck and was moved in one trip. This move cost less than $100. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

My brother left Sunday night and returned back to the other side of the world. I am assuming I will not be seeing him for another year unless he gets invited to another wedding. Things are definitely not the same now but I am so happy I got to see him for the short time he was here. Is it normal to be this ecstatic that your family member talked to you? I'm still giddy. I tried so hard to stay awake and alert after the morning move and then church and then a giant sleep-inducing wet burrito and then church prep for next week and then more moving... but then my body decided I was a terrible master and revolted by going into hibernation mode so I was unable to drive my brother to the airport. He said it was okay and to get some rest. I stayed up doing homework for my class.

Monday was the day I gave up trying to add a class late. It the day I skipped class and then found out later it was still possible to add classes past the deadline. Monday was also the day my friends surprised me for lunch and the day I decided to go to the post office in the morning and the day I left my phone charging at work and the day I almost witnessed intentional manslaughter. Lunch was good. The drive back from the post office was not. In the 2 miles from the post office to work my naive heart was shattered. The one day I leave my phone at work to charge is the day it would have been most helpful. Luckily, other people have phones. I was driving back to work and saw fire out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw a van rammed into a light pole with its front engine area on fire. A man running as quick as the wind with all his might away from the scene. Another man from a car ahead of me running toward the scene hollering something. I thought he was going to run after the van driver who was quickly escaping. This was all terribly confusing because I don't normally see fire and the van was facing the wrong direction and was on top something and I've never seen someone run so fast. Then I noticed what the brave man was running towards. Caught under the fiery front of the van lay a cube of shiny metal. That cube was a motorcycle lying on its side. Still in sitting position on the motorcycle was a police officer. Caught under the blazing van. Still wearing his spotless, shiny white helmet.

I stared in rubbernecker shock. Do you ever dream about what you would do in a situation when someone's life is at stake? Do you dream of putting yourself in harms way and being the hero that saves the day? Do you run away? Or do you freeze in a sudden panic? Apparently, I am a freezer. I froze but my car rolled on. And almost hit the car in front of my who had abruptly stopped. My first reaction was purely a product of Hollywood. I admit it was terribly selfish. This scene looked like a product of Hollywood. So don't all its Hollywood norms apply? Once a car crashes and catches on fire, it will inevitably create a mushroom cloud explosion and all those still alive in its vicinity will shield their charred faces from the sun and say something vengeful. At this point I was directly across the street from the accident and my first thought was to get further away in case the blazing car explodes and shoots pieces of scrap metal in every direction. (I now know only cars with gunpowder and explosives inside will perform such feats.) My second thought was rather selfish too. Call the police. People like me don't know how to deal with these situations. This is not my world. Oh how I wish I secretly moonlight as an EMT or even knew CPR or first aid. But I don't. So let the authorities do their job. I've been saying that quite a bit lately, "this is not my world". When something feels too foreign and unfamiliar I give myself this affirmation as if its an excuse to excuse myself from the situation. Unfortunately, it isn't. The world isn't filled with just rainbows and butterflies and yummy things to eat, it's a fallen world where evil dwells as well. Our world is not perfect and our defining moments include how we choose to deal with those imperfections.

No one ever told exactly what to do in a situation like this. They don't prepare you for this in school. Acing a calculus test seems less significant in the grand scheme of living life. As I drifted away in daze I saw the blur of oncoming police car lights responding to their call. I turned around, prayed for the officer under the van and the man who had fled the scene, and returned to the scene of the crime. As of yesterday, I learned the driver was apprehended in LA and the police officer received surgery on his leg and foot at a local hospital and will soon be (unless he has been) released. You can read more about this incident here.

Monday was also my first night at the new place. The new place is beginning to feel less like my friend's home and more like my own. I have slept a total of 4 nights there and each day I wake up a little later. I want to stay in bed longer. I am growing more comfortable with my surroundings.

The rest of the week was filled with work and small group and moving and smitten kitchen's mushroom lasagna and Glee and a rainbow and the last book club meeting and exploring the church office and thai food and an awesome tiramasu cake and hugs and healing. Happy Friday!