Friday, September 29, 2017

Not enlightened yet.

On facebook, a friend posted this t-shirt/picture:



Above the picture, she wrote, "I think this is a terrible idea. They are already afraid, that's what's at the root of the problem."

She is right, and I see it logically, but emotionally, I'm simply not there. I responded in the comments:

"You're so logical. I was about to click 'like' until I read your comment.
I have learned something about myself in the past week:
I always thought I wanted to peacefully march with Martin Luther King Jr. This week made me realize that I sympathize with Malcolm X. Being peaceful is WORK. And lots and lots of patience.
Kudos to you that after 2 weeks you can still see logically that they are scared; after 2 weeks I'm ready to "punch a Nazi."
Nirvana is still out of my grasp."

Peaceful conversation is HARD. Brene Brown has a chapter about it in her new book Braving the Wilderness. It is entitled, "Speak truth to bullshit. Be civil."

I have a long way to go.

♥ Melody

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Our personal miracle



"When I was looking at the line of cars in front of us, and the sea of cars behind them, it created such fear. It is what I see whenever I shut my eyes. I don't think being in front of a firing squad could be any scarier - and it is the most similar thing I can relate it to. I didn't think we'd get out of there alive. I thought I was overreacting until Shaunna said exactly the same thing this morning.

The fact that we walked away from that is nothing short of a miracle. Arlene said that there was EIGHT LANES of traffic - how the hell did we survive???"

That was in an email I just found from the day after a car accident I was in. Here is the details on facebook:

"One of the scariest things happened last night: I was in a car accident (as a passenger.) I've been in an accident before where someone rear-ended me. But this one spun the car around and when we stopped spinning, we were facing a sea of headlights - we were facing the wrong direction on I-215
How we survived is nothing short of a miracle. We all walked away from it with only aches and pains (after a couple of us had CT scans to make sure we were okay.)
When I say, Thank God we are okay, I mean it. Whew!"

On September 11th, A group of ladies and I were coming home from a class that we're taking in SLC. My friend was driving. She tried to move over, but was clipped by a car - that same car somehow came back and hit our car in such a way it sent us into a spin. When we stopped, we were facing the sea of headlights I talked about. The cars were in a perfectly straight line and there were rows of cars behind - it was almost as if God put his arm down and stopped everyone. I couldn't tell that they were stopped at that moment that we quit spinning; I wondered what being hit repeatedly would feel like and wondered if this was it.

But somehow, all the cars were stopped, and our driver got us to the side of the road safely.

That moment of backing the car across all of those lanes of traffic in front of all of those cars was the only moment that I felt truly afraid. During the spin and looking at the sea of headlights I was calm because everything was completely out of our control, but the moment that we had some control again was when I panicked.

I ended up going by ambulance with Staci because I hit my head on the "oh shit!" bar above the door & my head and neck hurt; when I stood up out of the car, I felt like I was going to pass out, and Shaunna said that I really worried her because all of the color drained from my face and I was white as a sheet.

In the ambulance, the EMT put a cervical collar on Staci and one one me; at the hospital, they did a ct w/ & w/o contrast to make sure that everything was okay. It was, and Steve picked up Staci & me. We took Staci home and then came home ourselves.

It was one of the absolutely most horrifying things that has ever happened to me; I see that all of us walking away from that accident was a complete and total miracle.

♥ Melody

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Cedes pink cast


Mercedes with her pretty pink cast and huge grin. How I love this brave little girl!
(The story of the break can be found here.)

♥ Melody

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

The hazards of sleep walking

Last night, I woke up to Steve telling me that he was going to turn on the light and asking if I was okay.

Unfortunately, as he was talking to me, I was still in my dream: In my dream, I was in a trailer or maybe a boat. In my dream, I had been dashing toward the front window to latch it when my foot got caught on something and I fell down on the floor of the boat or trailer - sprawling onto the metal floor.
In real life, I got caught up on something, too, and crashed to the floor somehow - but I have no recollection of how I fell, what I fell on (other than the floor) or exactly how I landed...

I am very sore today - especially the tips of the finger on my left hand (the middle finger actually has a bruise at the tip), my index finger on my right hand, and my right shoulder. I have a bruise on my knee and my toes hurt. Fortunately, I didn't get a concussion when I hit my forehead.

Sleep walking is typically just annoying, but a couple of times now, I have gotten hurt as I act out my dreams.

Poor Steve woke up to me shouting and then a huge crash. And I complain about his snoring...

♥ Melody

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Labor Day Weekend - Monday::Hanging out with Josh, Hayley, and the littles

Since Josh had to work on Friday and Saturday and couldn't go camping, and Hayley wasn't crazy enough to take the kids and go by herself, I told them that we should hang out on Monday. What we did wasn't quite what we'd planned though...

So, in Sunday's Family Picnic post, I told you that Mercedes had fallen and broken her arm:

Josh and Hayley wanted to take the kiddos and go home, and so I said that I'd watch the older kiddos and take them home later, so that they could play together and with cousins. So they took Chyann and Jackson home and left Mercedes, Miah, and Teryn - one of the last things they said was to be careful, because they didn't have health insurance...
Mercedes was on the jungle gym playing and fell... and got a buckle fracture; more about that in Monday's post.

I had told Mercedes when I was taking her home on Sunday night that after she went to bed and woke up, I would bet that her arm would feel much better. (Josh told me that he'd asked her on Sunday if her arm was feeling better and she kept telling him that Grandma Mema said it would feel better tomorrow, but not today. LOL :) ) I was hoping to plant a little seed in her head that it would get better in hopes that all she needed to do was believe it...

She didn't feel better. In fact, she'd woken up at 1 a.m. crying because of the pain. SO... Hayley called the doc and Chyann, Hayley, and I took Mercedes to the doctor.

At the doctor's office.


The doctor looked at it and said that if a child is still complaining the next day, an xray should be taken. Luckily, they had an xray machine in their office, and Mercedes was taken down the hall for a picture.

Then, the doctor came in and said that it was broken. He said that she had a buckle fracture - the bone smashed a bit when she fell and tried to catch herself with her arm.

The broken/buckled part is circled.

So, he shaped a splint to her little hand and sent us on our way; she'll get a waterproof cast end of this week or first of next.

She was a trooper and never even cried. She liked her sucker that they gave her for being so brave. 

She had a red sucker, same as me. :) Chyann got a sucker for being so good, too. 

Meanwhile, back at the house, Josh and Jackson sat outside together on the chair.


And ate donuts.


And didn't touch Grandma Mema's pinwheel, but just looked from behind another yard decoration.


After we got back from the doctor's office, we were all starving! Steve and Michael stayed home, because neither of them were feeling great, and Josh, Hayley, Mercedes, Chyann, Jackson, and Grandma Mema (me!) piled in the car and went to Carl Jr.'s so that the kids could play on the indoor playground, and we could all eat some lunch; Matt came along in his own car since there wasn't a spot for him.

After a late lunch, we headed for the park. We were going to go up Provo Canyon and get out of the heat, but after seeing all of the traffic on the roads, we settled for a park in Provo instead. We went to the park off of the Old State Street that connects Provo to Springville. We played on the playground for a while, then ate a popsicle when the Ice Cream Man came around, then we took a walk around the pond. 

Around the pond, there is a boardwalk that loops around and through the wetland area. The air was so humid there, and we saw lots of little fish and many dragonflies. When we walked through the trees, it was so shady and cool. The air was pungent, as wetlands are, and I felt right at home; all of those smells and sights reminded me of growing up in Salem next to the pond. There was a nest of ducks that were resting on the bank of the pond as we entered and exited. We walked too near them, and they waded into the water and swam away.

After walking through it twice, once from each direction, we got in the car and headed home. After a quick stop for take-out from Taco Bell, we came home and ate outside at the picnic table.

I hurried and took a picture before they left, since I'd forgotten and
left my camera home throughout all of our adventures during the day.
 

After I took the picture above, Jackson ran over to me and I took his closeup. :)

Then, as it was getting dark, Josh and Hayley got the wee ones into their car and went home. 

That was a very good day, and a perfect end to a wonderful weekend. 

♥ Melody 

Labor Day Weekend - Sunday::Family Picnic

After family pictures, Steve, our kids, grandkids, and I met my sisters and their spouses, kids, & grandkids at the park for a picnic. Charla, the youngest sister, was in town, so it was nice to have an excuse to get together and visit. ♥






































Sisters: Debbie, Charla, and me.


We all had a great time, except Mercedes, who fell and broke her arm... Josh and Hayley wanted to take the kiddos and go home, and so I said that I'd watch the older kiddos and take them home later, so that they could play together and with cousins. So they took Chyann and Jackson home and left Mercedes, Miah, and Teryn - one of the last things they said was to be careful, because they didn't have health insurance...
Mercedes was on the jungle gym playing and fell... and got a buckle fracture; more about that in Monday's post.

Everyone else was able to visit and hang out and eat. There is always such yummy food at the family gatherings, and this one was no exception! 

In attendance: Debbie, Kent, Jenny, Jarrod, McKayla, Ryker, Ashlee, Jamin, Bayden, Treyvan, Kambree, Kaysen, Charla, Bill, Nikiyla, Chyauna, Mirakai, Steve, Melody, Josh, Hayley, Miah, Teryn, Mercedes, Jackson, Chyann, Bentley, Aiden, Millie, Karen, Grover, Amber, Rio, Brynley, Jessica, Haylee, Matthew, Michael. 

At the end of the evening (before the fall), Charla asked for us to have a picture together. ♥ Perfect.

♥ Melody





Labor Day Weekend - Sunday::Family Pictures

Steve, Melody, Josh, Hayley, Miah, Teryn, Mercedes, Chyann, Jackson, Bentley, Aiden, Millie, Grover, Karen, Amber, Rio, Brynley, Jessica, Haylee, Matthew, & Michael.
We were only missing Ashton (and missing him very much!!)
My family ♥







 ♥ Melody