Well no more time to wallow around in my pity party...there's a hockey game coming on, dammit. And then the Super Bowl. So really, is life all that bad afterall?

Last night was very unnerving...as part of my "I'm not picking you up late at night anymore" stance with Linds, I've made the following rules (unless there is an emergency). She is to either:

A) phone me at a reasonable hour and I'll pick her up (unless it's a special occassion or a pre-arranged late night thing)
B) find another way home (and this is not to include walking alone, bussing alone late at night, hitchhiking, etc.). A responsible RIDE home with a parent.
C) stay overnight wherever she is, provided that it's not a crack house, brothel, etc. A friend's, where there are parents at home only. And this is the as a last resort only.

So she got a ride home last night with her boyfriend and his father at 11:20 (reasonable, considering there was no school today).

I was on the computer when she frantically rang the front door bell. Two things were weird about this - first of all, she ALWAYS calls me to tell me she's on her way. Secondly, she has keys and usually comes in the back.

I opened the door and she said "hurry, let me in" in a panic. She was white as a ghost.

And what she proceeded to tell me scared the living bejesus out of me and has me nervous about this place we call home.

During the short jaunt home (approximately a 6 minute car ride), a van went zooming past them at a red light and they then rounded the corner and were behind it. It slowed down at that point and pulled into a side road and another van came flying up, did a U turn and the two vans then began exchanging gunfire!! By this time, they were behind Jessie's dad's car and the two kids thought (and asked Dad if) the tires were blowing out...they didn't know what was happening and just heard some very loud bangs. The Dad told them that there was gunfire (he saw the guns and the flash of fire from them) and Linds and Jess ducked in the back seat for cover until they got around the corner to our place (30 seconds away from the incident). Jessie's Dad called police and, probably because he didn't want to give an address, had to go down to the station and fill out a report. Police swarmed the street and there was a helicopter in the area for some time afterward.

Holy batshit, this is getting too close to home. Scary stuff.

My problems suddenly seem trivial. I think I'll just go enjoy my kids now and let the small things take care of themselves...life IS too short. And this made me realize that we're lucky to be here and that being in the wrong place at the wrong time can have devastating consequences. Whew, that was a little too close.