Tag: julychallenge

Owie

The eleventh day (on this, the 22nd day of July) prompts: What’s the worst injury you’ve received?

It may have been the time I sliced open my hand in the 5th grade. I was slicing an apple with a very long knife (first mistake). It got stuck, so I picked it up to get the knife through (second, major mistake). The knife went through, all right, then went right into my hand. Ouch.

Then there was the time I got stung by a jellyfish and ended up in the ER with shots of demerol and benadryl. Woooo!

Once while I was in high school, I was walking out of my bathroom and trying to pull my hair out of my collar. I caught my elbow on the doorframe, didn’t realize it, and kept walking. Unfortunately, my elbow stayed with the door, pulled me back, and jacked up my shoulder. My orthopedist (who I had on speed dial by the time I was 21) said I was lucky I was so flexible or I’d have torn everything in my shoulder.

I went skiing once. I fell getting out of the bus and messed up the ligaments in my left knee … which had healed about six months earlier from a surgery to get rid of another injury’s effects. Orthopedist’s comment: “What made you, of all people, think you could go skiing?”

Or how about the time I was in three car accidents within six months and wrecked the same shoulder I’d hurt in high school.

Then I went and had three kids and I’m not even going to talk about that adventure.

Moral of the story: okay, so I don’t really have a moral to the story, but it surely can’t be a good sign when you’ve got an orthopedist on speed dial.

Inspiration

Day 10: Someone who inspires you

There are lots of people who inspire me, so I’m going to do a bulleted list. That way I won’t get overly mawkish (vocabulary word!), maudlin (seriously, vocabulary word from the 8th grade), or rambly.

  • My husband – he has dreams and plans, and he puts his family before everything else. I may not always see it, but I know it’s true and that reminds me to re-think my perceptions of a situation.
  • My parents – they’ve both done things that may have seemed impossible at one point or another in their lives. They both love their families and do whatever they can for them. I love the examples they’ve set for me (and each of my siblings).
  • Stay at home moms – ladies, it’s hard to do. As much as I wish I could do it, I don’t know how good I would actually be at staying home.
  • Moms who work outside the home – ladies, it’s hard out there. Having sisters in the trenches keeps me working and (mostly) from going insane.
  • Corrie Ten Boom, Tina Fey, Ellen Ochoa – women who’ve done awesome things and share wisdom, vision, and humor. (Varying degrees thereof.)

A “food philosophy?” Are you kidding me?

Okay, this question (Day 9 – what’s your food philosophy?) is just stupid. A philosophy about food? Really?

Okay, okay … I’ll expand on what I personally mean by stupid and why this irritates me. First of all, it bugs me that we as a culture are so obsessed with food that we have to have philosophies about it. It’s food. It’s important, but not that important. How about my philosophy on civil rights in the current age? My philosophy on gender bias in toys and education and the way we as parents talk to or about our children? My philosophy on Christian missions and the changes I’ve seen and hope to continue to see?

Here’s my food philosophy:

  • Eat healthfully and mindfully.
  • Avoid pre-packaged and processed foods when possible, but don’t become a slave (held captive) to food and food planning.
  • Enjoy what you eat, eat what you enjoy.
  • Eat with people you love, and enjoy the time with them.

I’ll rein back in now that I’ve had my soapbox moment. There are people who have food philosophies that are meaningful, thought-out carefully, based on their personal ethics, etc. I respect that. I just think we’ve generally started putting too much emphasis on food in ways that really don’t matter.

Also: paleo brownies? Are you kidding me? There were not brownies in the Paleolithic era. Argh.

Life in 5 Years

Day 8: How do you envision your life in five years?

It better be in the same house, first off. I’m over the packing and moving and unpacking business, so unless there’s some really incredible offer to get us out of it, we’re not going anywhere. Hopefully it would be an incredible offer and not a horrible circumstance.

Seth will be 10 years old, which makes my heart stutter a little bit. I can see us going around to whatever activity or activities he’s settled into that make him feel good – art, music, gymnastics, martial arts … I’m not sure that I really see him as a sports player. It’s not that I don’t think he can, it’s more that I don’t think he’d really be interested in team sports. He’s a lot like me in the independent thing (aka “lone wolf”), so maybe I’m projecting. We’ll watch and see! I see him getting more into school-related things like science and math.

Nora will be 8. I’m sure her inner diva will be in full force. I’m hoping that she’s in dance or gymnastics and loving it, and I hope she’s enjoying school too. It will be very interesting to see what she gravitates to or enjoys … I could see her getting into art classes and dance in a big way. I’ve wondered if she’ll end up in gymnastics and cheerleading. I know, I know, but let’s be real. We’re in Texas, she’ll be tiny, and she has no fear about stunts.

And Jude. My tiny baby boy will be starting kindergarten, and I don’t know how I’ll handle that! We haven’t decided yet if he’s our last baby, but if he is then I expect to be a full-on mess. That means the chapter of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers will officially close in five years, and I’ll be sad! I know every age and stage has its fun, but I love the baby and little kid stage so much. (Except for the temper tantrums. And potty training.)

As for Will and me … We’ll have been married almost 12 years. Hopefully we met our tenth anniversary goal of running a half marathon in Hawaii or some other exotic location! I hope his business has reached the point that he can have a few employees. One of his goals is to be able to offer apprenticeship or employment to people who need help getting back on their feet, and I really hope we get his business to that stage. I’ll likely still be at my current work place, probably doing something very similar to what I’m doing now. I’m hoping that by that time I’ve added quilting to my crafty catalogue… And that we’re able to travel more freely on our kids’ summer vacations! Actually, that’s probably what we should do in five years: one last hurrah before Jude starts school! Disney World, anyone?