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This has been one crazy, messed up week! Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. But, if there ever was a week where I could have used some of Dorie’s sinfully creamy and delicious Burnt Sugar Ice Cream, this was it!

If you read my Lemon Linguine ^[2] post, then you already know that we just got a brand new puppy. Bella is a sweet little Golden Retriever puppy and she is absolutely beautiful, as her name suggests. I’m totally smitten with her, but I’d forgotten just how much work caring for a new puppy involves. It’s like having a new baby and a toddler all rolled up into one. They have very little control over their bodily functions and they get into everything. Except with babies, you can slap a diaper on them, pop them in a playpen, and they’re good to go. Bella is a very good little girl, but I’ve worn a path to my front door taking her in and out to potty a gazillion times every day. Plus, have you ever noticed that with puppies (and babies), there is no direct correlation between what goes in and what comes out. There is definitely a lot more of what comes out! Not very appetizing fare for a food blog, I know. Just keeping it real. The rest of the time, I run around the house after her, pulling an assortment of inappropriate “chew toys” out of her mouth and trying to keep her from nibbling on a) the furniture; b) my Oriental rugs; and c) my shoes! Suffice it to say that this “up and down” and “in and out” situation is definitely not an ideal work environment!

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Inconvenient as it may be, the Bella situation wasn’t really even the crazy, messed up part of my week. That revolting development occurred last Tuesday evening. I was out in my front yard trying to coax Bella to “get on with it”, when Mini SGCC came flying out of the house with my purse, yelling something about being late for a choir practice that I didn’t even know she had. The three of us jumped into the car and took off. Luckily, I had Bella’s pet carrier in the back seat. Unluckily, my cell phone wasn’t in my purse. You will understand the significance of this later.

Mini SGCC’s school is less than two miles from our house. It’s less than a five minute drive with no traffic. Bella and I were on our way home after dropping off the kid, and I was stopped in the right lane, waiting to make a right turn. I was diligently waiting for the oncoming traffic to pass before I did. It was broad daylight. All of a sudden, my car was jolted out into the middle of a busy six lane road and my head slammed into the steering wheel. I literally didn’t know what hit me! I scrambled to get the car back over into the right lane before I was roadkill. As I tried to collect myself, there was a tapping on my car window. It was the guy that hit me.

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The first thing I did was check to make sure the puppy was okay. She was a little scared, but otherwise fine (thank God!). My shock quickly turned into anger and I launched. I started screaming at the guy, using words I didn’t even realize I knew! You know what he said? He said that didn’t see me. DIDN’T SEE ME!?!? HE WAS DRIVING A HUGE A$$ COMMERCIAL VAN AND HE DIDN’T F*#%ING SEE ME? He could have seen halfway to Texas from the driver’s seat of that van! Plus, I was driving a big, German sedan. I wasn’t exactly hard to spot!

I reached into my purse for my cell phone to call the police, and…..it wasn’t there. Remember, I said this would become significant. Well, Mr. “I Didn’t See You Because I Was On My Way to the Fish Market to Buy Some Clams for Dinner and Wasn’t Paying Attention” didn’t have a cell phone either. So, there we were – standing in the middle of US 41 – with not a cell phone between us. He walked one way to find a pay phone, and I trudged the other other way, with the puppy in my arms, to find a shop where I could call for help.

Here’s where it gets a little dicey. I’m usually pretty calm in a crisis. However, this time I was really shaken up. And, Mr. SGCC was out of town and wouldn’t be home for three more days. I was disoriented and my head was beginning to throb. I couldn’t even think of someone to call. The clerk in the store was very sweet, though. Or, maybe he’s a sucker for cute little puppies. Anyway, when he saw how my fingers were shaking as I tried to dial the phone, he did it for me. I called my brother (the chiropractor) and he came to help.

Thank God the deputy that came to investigate the accident was also very nice. I was such a mess that I spilled the contents of my glove compartment all over the car and couldn’t even find my registration and insurance card. He was able to get all of the information he needed from his computer. Did I mention that my head was throbbing?

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While the deputy was writing up the accident report, I finally mustered up the courage to take a look at the damage to my car. Trust me, you don’t wanna know. It was pretty bad. The whole rear was bashed in and the bumper was in pieces. The trunk wouldn’t close either. I was beginning to feel as though I’d been hit in the head with a sledgehammer.

In the end, the other driver was cited for careless driving and I was in the clear, but carless. Ugh! While I am very thankful that neither Bella nor I were seriously hurt, I’m very upset about my car. It wasn’t a new car. In fact, it was over ten years old. I probably needed a new car anyway, but here’s the thing. That car belonged to my dad – and he loved it. I have many memories of the two of us tooling around together in it – going out to lunch, Christmas shopping or whatever. Every time I got behind the wheel, I felt a little bit closer to him. I drove my daughter to her first day of kindergarten and her first day of high school in that car. I dropped her off at her first school dance in it. The value of that is something that you just can’t measure on any “blue book” chart or insurance company valuation table. So, now it’s gone, and so is a little piece of me. Yes, it’s been a crazy, messed up week over here at Chez SGCC. Did I mention that my head hurts? My heart does too.

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So, now as I wait for the lump on my head to go down, my black eye to heal and the various bumps and bruises to fade, I don’t feel too much like baking. The fact that this week’s TWD ^[7] assignment didn’t require it is a blessing. I could handle ice cream. Especially a fabulous ice cream like this one!

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My thanks go out to Becky at Project Domestication ^[9] for choosing this week’s recipe. If you’d like to try it for yourself, the recipe can be found HERE ^[10]. As always, check out the TWD blogroll ^[11] to see lots more versions of Burnt Sugar Ice Cream.