a tough year

2009 has been without a doubt one of the most difficult and heart breaking years that I have lived through in my 27 years of life. As it draws to a close, I can honestly say I am looking forward to what the new year will bring with subdued optimism.

The year started out innocently enough.
In early February, I was on my lunch break, driving to the pharmacy and stopped at a red light. Some one rear ended me without even applying his brakes. He was going at least 55 miles per hour. I am thankful that I had my seat belt on, because I was OK. I only suffered muscle fatigue and whiplash. My car, the Sled verison 2.0, the best car I have ever owned, was not so lucky. She was totalled, just as I was getting rather near to paying it off. I had to jump through a lot of hoops, but I finally got everything settled with the insurance company, and purchased another car. And another note. Sigh. At the end of February, my beloved cat Rameses was hit by a car. I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. The best cat I've ever had. The best pet, period.

In May, just over three months after I purchased the new car, the transmission went out. It was no longer under warranty, so I had to have a new transmission financed for 1500.00

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the accident, but my occasional back pain began to get worse and worse. It was getting debilitating. I had a spinal fusion in 1997 at the age of 14, and up until recently had had no other problems. I was finally referred to a fantastic orthopedist at the Mississippi Spine clinic. He put me on a few different medications, but I had no relief. Finally, an x ray revealed that the "knot" in my upper spine was actually a protruding crosslink from the spinal fusion, and I was advised that I could have it removed in a minor procedure. In June, I had the procedure and only spent one night in the hospital. I had a fairly easy recovery. It took about two weeks.

On July 3, Dav and I received an early morning call that changed our lives. Dav's grandfather, affectionally known as Pap, had died in his sleep during a brief hospital stay. He had been suffering from internal bleeding and things had been touch and go, but he was released from ICU and was expected to go home soon, but he didn't make it. The next few days were a blur. I found myself going through the grieving process, something I have never really done as an adult. I tried to console Dav and his family, but it was just so hard. He was Dav's tight knit family's patriarch. It was a very tough time in his family. I felt so much regret that I didn't visit him more while he was in the hospital. It was all just so sudden. It was heartbreaking to see the pain that Ging, Dav's grandmother, was going through. They had been married for 66 years.

On September 4, at around 12:30 AM, I was driving Dav's brother Brian home from our house. I was the designated driver. It was Labor Day weekend. At around 7:30 PM, I had taken a percocet for some back pain that I was still experiencing from the surgery. I was pulled over by a highway patrol officer who thought I was intoxicated. I had advised him that I hadn't had anything to drink, but he asked me if I was on any medication and I told him yes, percocet. He proceeded to arrest me for DUI and have my car towed. I spent the night in jail and Dav had to bail me out. I went to court my arraignment a couple weeks later and pled not guilty. I was not intoxicated. It had been over five hours since I had taken the medication.

Now I am awaiting my trial on Monday, November 9. I have an attorney who has spoken with the prosecutor and per my attorney, he has agreed to drop the charges. But I am still nervous about what exactly will happen on Monday. What if something goes wrong? I could lose my license and have my insurance jacked up, and have a criminal record for the rest of my life, and I didn't do anything wrong.

I'm just wondering what else can go wrong before the end of the year. There are almost two months left, after all.