Our Kind of Crazy

 

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Last day of November

Tuesday

Windy and chilly with a little bit of snow on the ground

 

“I’m not going down without a ~ FIGHT ~ one spoon at a time

 

What a day it's been!

Here's just a little part of it...

One daughter slipped on the ice right next to her car... twisted her ankle and bruised her arm and her back as she fell into the car door. She & her sister were heading out for their appointments with their chiropractor.

After the chiropractor visit, her twin had a panic attack while driving... SO THANKFUL for cars with bluetooth connections to cell phones!!! She was able to call me and I was able to talk her into the nearest parking lot and park the car while we worked through the steps to calm her enough to drive to my place.

Once they arrived at my place I got one some arnica, and a bed full of pillows to rest; and left with the other to help resolve the issue that triggered the panic attack. We got most of that resolved, but would have to wait on the finale. That came only an hour later, so all is well with that, for now.

Things will get better.

One day it will be a funny story for her. One day.

For now, not so much.

But I can share it here with you.

She worked a 1-day temp job for a nearby construction office last week. When finished she was to deposit a large padded envelope with the key to the building in it into their mailbox. The office is in a rural area with a few other similar commercial buildings nearby. Many of the mailboxes aren't that clearly marked and she put it the one that seemed closest. It is a locked mailbox, so once something is put into the slot it can only be taken out by someone with a key to that mailbox. Today the temp agency called her because the construction company called them to ask about the key since it was not in their mailbox as expected.

So she & I retraced her steps and began checking with the other businesses that had buildings nearby. She found someone who had received the envelope in their mail who told her it was then given to the mail-lady since it didn't seem to be anything for them. That person was going to talk to the mail-lady when she stopped by today. 

We then went over to the construction company and she explained it all, adding that either the person at the other company or the mail-lady would be in touch soon with the key. Within the hour the mail-lady came around with her daily delivery of mail for all these little companies. Hearing the story from the first business (where the key was mistakenly in their mailbox), the mail-lady informed her she still had that padded envelope in her truck & was happy to know where it should go & would take it there directly. Before long the temp agency was calling my daughter to let her know the key was back where it belonged and everyone was happy and all were finding the humor in the process. It wasn't the first time someone got confused with the mailboxes there, and it won't be the last. LOL

It's still not so funny for my daughter, but someday, maybe, she will. 😉

For many years now I’ve had a great circle of people that share similar aspects of this type of life!

Life is all about finding people who are your Kind of Crazy!

 

As the day ended we realized the daughter that fell must have fallen hard enough to shake up her brain. She’s showing signs of a mild concussion now. She has had several in the past, so we’re very familiar with it.

What a life we’ve had! This one is not my only child with a history of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). When they are little we believe these sorts of things will be gone once they’ve grown up. For those of you with ‘littles’ now, sorry to burst that bubble! Learn early to roll with the punches and look for the best in everything!

 

See you soon!

I CHOOSE ~ ~ ~

 Friday, July 23, 2021 at 1:53PM

Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY!
May your cup overflow with
PEACE,
LOVE,
JOY,
and
Pure AWESOMENESS!!!

We are less than 4 weeks away...
Or just a little over 3 weeks away...
Does it seem real to you yet?
That SparkPeople will no longer BE?
August 17th is looming closer & closer by the day!

I'm leaning very much toward blogging back at Blogger aka Blogspot dot com again!
Some years back I was blogging there... first one main blog for everything; then spin-offs for just things that were focused on ECO-friendly stuff, or my SparkPeopley stuff, and for a 365 daily challenge thing --- I didn't quite get to finishing that. They all pretty much stopped in the fall of 2011. Why?

At first I could not even remember!
Then...

December 2, 2011
Two things happened that day that remain significant in my life.
The first was me getting my very first cellular phone account! I still have that number! I resisted for so long... but life with 6 adult kids was making having only a landline phone more and more challenging; plus I was more actively growing my business away from home. Having a cell phone had become a necessity! And now, in 2021, I don't even have a landline phone & neither do most of the people I know.

 

My how life changes... in barely 10 years!

The second thing... happened while I was on the phone, making a legal contract with Verizon, so the call was being recorded. The phone I was on had call-waiting, but I kept ignoring the incoming calls. I had one of my daughters with me at the time. She had her own phone then, so I told her to call one of her sisters and find out what was going on. She did.
As I finished the recorded part of my call, I paused it long enough to ask her about what her sister said. Then I calmly asked the person I was talking to if we could finish up the remainder of tasks later - agreed - I hung up that call.
Then I took my daughter's phone and listened to a very dear friend who was with my other daughters tell me that ...

...

...my only surviving son...

...was in an accident...

...he was being life-flighted to a hospital in the city...

...I should just go straight there NOW ...

... and she would work out everything with my girls, my niece & my sister (they lived with us then) and meet us at the hospital as soon as they could!

It was a LONG NIGHT,
a LONG WEEK,
a LONG MONTH,
and a very long year of many, many changes!
And I never went back to those blogs...until now.

So you're not left hanging:
My son, in his little Ford Taurus, was T-Boned by a DUMP-TRUCK (not loaded) estimated to be moving at 45MPH on impact. The little car was shoved over 100 yards into a nearby field.
We lived in a very small town of less than 10,000 people & almost everyone knew everyone.
Over the next few days we heard about the crash from everyone, all stating in one way or another that they didn't see how anyone would have survived it - the car was unrecognizable, just a bunch of crumpled metal. Even the tow-truck owner said that. EMTs extricated the driver with the jaws of life & he was transported to the local hospital where efforts to stabilize him for air-transport began; then they waited for the chopper to come get him.
In the city - at the Level 1 Trauma Center - he was 1 of 2 choppers coming in at the same time - literally one hovering while the other landed & unloaded.
Both were from truck vs car accidents
Both were males
Both had first names that began with the same letter & had just 1 syllable & sounded similar
Both had last names with same initial too!
Both had family members in the same waiting area!
And NO ONE realized this until a staff member came out asking for the family of M--- D. AND EVERYONE STOOD UP!
It was confusing & frustrating at the time, but one of the lighter moments of the next week or so... for both families.

For my son - he arrived - was quickly assessed & we got a few minutes with him before the first of many surgeries began.
For the other young man - it was similar for his family. He was able to go home 4 or 5 days later.
My son had 3 surgeries lasting into the early morning hours and was in a coma for the next 5 days. A week in ICU. A week in a regular room. A week & a half in rehab. 4 days home. Another week & a half back in the hospital in a regular room - due to blood clots in his lungs. From January to April he was home and we were driving twice each week into the city for more rehab therapies.
When he was first awake he had very little memory - struggled to recall his own name. But in time that improved - to a point. A year later he still could not recall much beyond age 10 or 11. He was 20 - had graduated high school with honors - loved playing football & was really good at it - excelled in math & all things related to numbers - and loved cooking & experimenting with foods. This accident left him devastated & depressed. From May to August we worked at finding the right program to continue his healing.
The more we sought help for him, the more we realized we did not have the means to pay for it! The brain injury also left him dealing with hard to control emotions, which made life at home even more challenging. Ultimately we decided on a program at the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay (about 3 hours driving, from home) that was willing to take him in as a regular student based on grades prior to the accident and work with him remedially to see if he could "catch up" again. That first year was "touch & go" by anyone's standards! More than once, we ALL wanted to quit - and just bring him back home as he was! But we didn't - we all worked together to help him stay involved.
He spent 5 years there - went from C's & D's in the first semester to all A's in his last semester. He was able to do a season with the GB Packers, working with the team's nutritionist. He advanced through various levels of Student Ambassador ~ Advisor ~ Counselor ~ and so on. He earned 2 degrees (Dietitic Nutrition & Physical Therapy)!!! Went on to post-grad studies in Ohio for 2 years! And he is now working full-time as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist where he also provides guidance on physical fitness.
Oh, and he's married now too! 
There are still years of his childhood he does not remember & returning to the area he grew up can still be traumatic as he can run into old friends who remember him but he has no clue who they are.

One of the lessons here is this: LIFE GOES ON

We can either choose to mourn the changes & losses ~ perhaps indefinitely
Or we can choose to GO ON and see what exciting things could be happening in the future!
Change is hard!
Loss is hard!
Moving on is hard!
We all do HARD THINGS all the time, really! It's just some things are harder for others than for us; and some things are harder for us than for others.
We can choose!
We can choose to do the hard things now & see what we can turn those into in our future!
We can choose to just sit it out; wait until there is no choice left & see what happens.

Doing nothing is easy,
That's why so many people do it.

BUT ~ ~ ~

Marriage is hard, Divorce is hard, Choose your hard.

Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard. Choose your hard.

Being in debt is hard, Being financially disciplined is hard, Choose your hard.

Communication is hard, Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard.

LIFE will NEVER be EASY.

IT will ALWAYS be HARD.

BUT we can choose our hard!

CHOOSE WISELY!!!  

It is what It Is!

Purpose – schmurpose! LOL 20 days down and I've spent most of it rather down … but not quite out... due to some of life's unexpected troubles. :( The damages are reversing, healing, returning to normal, slowly. But, as usual, it's not going to stop me from moving toward my goals!

And I am still moving ahead WITH PURPOSE! I am determined that even starting my business month 33% behind (so to speak) will not keep me from building my business!

Same for SPARKnEarthlyBest – no progress to report, but no backsliding either!

On the green front... we are doing LOTS BETTER at eating REAL FOODS! I found a few new blogs to follow in this effort of avoiding processed foods more:

100daysofrealfood.com and foodformyfamily.com and eatingrules.com

If you have any interest at all in eating less processed foods, more organic foods, or more local foods you may find one or all of these very helpful! :)

And with ANDEE365 – Wow! Have we been 'thru the ringer' and then some! It wasn't fun. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. :( However, we have had some extensive family discussions about the things that have happened and the things that could yet happen. These have resulted in a number of things improving around here. But there are still some “issues” to resolve ~ aren't there always such things in large families? LOL So, we move ahead! We go forward WITH PURPOSE! We take stock of where we are at; where we want to go; and which path(s) we want to take to get there.

I do have to say this: In the last 20 days I've talked to a number of locals and met some really nice people! This makes me look forward even more to what's ahead as I seek out more and more of the people of my little town and help them understand what a wonderful thing I have for them with my company! :) There are lots of hard-working folks around here who are barely getting by and really struggling to find that “something” that will help them get to the next check, help them get to feeling better so they can do more to meet their families' needs, and give them hope for a brighter future. Before long they will all know! I can't wait to share what I have with all of them!!!

I close with this:

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

~ Steve Jobs (Feb. 24, 1955 – Oct. 5, 2011)

Back Again!

Sorry for the long absence... I got sick! :(  Really sick!! :( :(  Almost had to stay in the hospital kind of sick!!! :( :( :(  But I'm better now and getting back to my "normal" routine (if you can call it that) so I plan on posting here much more frequently! :)


I've been digging out some of my old recipes for homemade cleaners and such.  Should get around to posting some here soon.


Life is always changing things so one never really knows what will happen with any plans but I can promise to do all my earthly best to get this blog back on track... A.S.A.P.!!!