La Vida Loca De Flores

Yes, it is my previously shiny new Wyoming license plate, purchased just 2 short weeks ago.

The problem?...well, the problem is...it is no longer shiny or new...or attached to my truck! Just last week, my big, black beauty looked like this. I was so proud of my new plates that I snapped a quick picture, expecting to blog about how happy I was to finally have gotten my Wyoming license plates, featuring Devil's Tower in the background and my beloved Wyoming "Horse and Rider" insignia.


Today, my poor license plate sits on the dining room table broken and mangled...and our black beauty is naked from the waist down, with some very unsightly "streaks" of...(well, let's just say that if my truck were my garden, it would be well fertilized) all down the side! This is what happens when there are 2 very black cows hanging out on the highway on a very dark night!



Mike decided to go Billings on Friday afternoon to look at a new set of tires that someone was interested in trading for...we traded ours for his. The new ones are a bit wider with a larger rim, which was what we were looking for and the guy in Billings wanted a little bit smaller tire and rim in order to pull a trailer...so it was deemed to be a "good trade," and they proceeded to put the new tires on our truck, which of course took some time, which in turn had Mike driving home after dark, which I also normally don't worry about, because he is very good about watching for animals and not driving too fast for conditions...most of the time! Unfortunatey, it's pretty hard to see black cows on black highway on a very black night! Some kind drivers coming from the other direction attempted to alert him by flashing their lights, which thankfully did cause him to slow down a little bit, but by the time he saw them, he could do nothing else but attempt to "shoot the gap," which, unfortunately was not big enough and he ended up hitting both cows, one on each side!

I will admit I was NOT a very happy girl when he walked in and handed me the mangled plate and probably did not behave in a very "wifely" supportive manner...I could see that he wasn't hurt, and so my thoughts went directly to the damages to the truck...grill, hood, windshield, lights, bumper, air bags???...and the inevitable...$$$ flashing before my eyes! Thankfully, there is insurance, but unfortunately I opted for a higher deductible in order to get a lower premium...and now that premium will be going up anyway...dang! So now I have some great looking new tires, but no bumper, a scrunched fender, two broken headlights...and I see estimates, insurance claims, and repair bills in my immediate future...I should become a fortune teller!!