There are two parts to recovering from a car accident... the recovery of the car and the recovery of the person. One of us has recovered... I got my car back! 26 days after I picked up my rental, I got my car back! It's almost good as new. The downside... it smells like paint, to the point of giving me a headache. The good side... it looks fabulous! (And I can open my SUNROOF to help get rid of the paint smell!)
I was shocked at how well it turned out. Rick, our body shop guy, spent an hour cleaning the Dr. Pepper off the seats and console, even though that isn't the body shop's responsibility, so the inside is actually very clean and other than the weird smell, the car feels like a new one. He really went the extra mile (or ten). KUDOS to Rick and the other body shop guys that took my twisted, smashed up, broken car and made it beautiful again!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Little People's Prayers
Since Leyden could talk, this has been her nightly prayer:
"Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
God bless everybody in the whole wide world
but 'cept the mean old Grinch!
Amen."
[Side story: When Leyden first started saying this prayer, she was knee high to a grasshopper and instead of blessing the whole sweet world by name, she blessed her impatient mama by saying, "God bless everybody in the whole wide world." This might be due, in part, to the fact that the child has a large extended family on all three sides. The "mean old Grinch" part came into play when she saw The Grinch That Stole Christmas for the first time. She didn't like how the mean Grinch hurt people, so she un-blessed him. But not the GOOD Grinch, mind you, only the mean one. And there is a difference, trust me! Anyway, back to the post...]
Sometimes, she will stop after "but 'cept the mean old Grinch" and list a few people who are really on her mind. That used to be a rare occurence, and the blessed people were usually sick or hurt, or had lost a loved one.
When Grandaddy died, Leyden started listing her great-grandparents because two were sick (Gran and Papa) and one had lost her husband and wasn't doing well with her dementia (Grand Brown). And she always said them in the same order: Grand Brown, Gran, and Papa. Papa Charlie had his surgery and she added him to the list. "God bless Grand Brown, Gran, Papa, and Papa Charlie." Then in June Papa Charlie died and Papa died, so she was down to Grand Brown and Gran. Then, Mickey got sick and she added him, "God bless Grand Brown, Gran, and Mickey."
Well, the day that Gran died, as I was putting Leyden to bed, she said her prayer. That night, she ended it by saying, "God bless Grand Brown..." and there was a long pause, "...and Mickey." It was like her own personal moment of silence for Gran.
Then the next night, Mickey died. Leyden was at home so she could go to school a few more days, and I was in Gadsden with Dad, so I didn't see her until the day after Mickey died, but when she said her prayers, she said, "...but 'cept the mean old Grinch, and God? [long pause] ...God, please be with Grand Brown." Bless her heart. She's suffered so much loss is such a short time, my heart aches for her. But she knows where they are - they are all in heaven.
She and one of her school friends were riding in the car with me the other day. This particular friend lost her great-grandfather this year, too, and they were discussing how this is their first Halloween without their great-grandfathers. We never saw Gran and Grandaddy at Halloween, so I don't imagine we'll miss them as much at Halloween as we will at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Christmas is going to be different this year, for sure. But I'm glad those two girls have each other to lean on and share their feelings.
The one person we're going to ache for at Halloween is Papa Charlie. He always had a beanbag toss at the church Fall Festival. And he always dressed in overalls and Leyden always played the game with him. We missed Papa Charlie at Cheaha, and we miss him every time we go to church. He was such a fixture in our lives, and in our hearts. Halloween will be hard this year, for sure.
You know, little people's prayers don't go unanswered. God heard every word of Leyden's monotonous prayer, but He also heard the "God blesses". And you know what? He blessed every one of the people that Leyden asked Him to bless. He just did it in His own way, not our way. Amen to that. Amen!
"Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
God bless everybody in the whole wide world
but 'cept the mean old Grinch!
Amen."
[Side story: When Leyden first started saying this prayer, she was knee high to a grasshopper and instead of blessing the whole sweet world by name, she blessed her impatient mama by saying, "God bless everybody in the whole wide world." This might be due, in part, to the fact that the child has a large extended family on all three sides. The "mean old Grinch" part came into play when she saw The Grinch That Stole Christmas for the first time. She didn't like how the mean Grinch hurt people, so she un-blessed him. But not the GOOD Grinch, mind you, only the mean one. And there is a difference, trust me! Anyway, back to the post...]
Sometimes, she will stop after "but 'cept the mean old Grinch" and list a few people who are really on her mind. That used to be a rare occurence, and the blessed people were usually sick or hurt, or had lost a loved one.
When Grandaddy died, Leyden started listing her great-grandparents because two were sick (Gran and Papa) and one had lost her husband and wasn't doing well with her dementia (Grand Brown). And she always said them in the same order: Grand Brown, Gran, and Papa. Papa Charlie had his surgery and she added him to the list. "God bless Grand Brown, Gran, Papa, and Papa Charlie." Then in June Papa Charlie died and Papa died, so she was down to Grand Brown and Gran. Then, Mickey got sick and she added him, "God bless Grand Brown, Gran, and Mickey."
Well, the day that Gran died, as I was putting Leyden to bed, she said her prayer. That night, she ended it by saying, "God bless Grand Brown..." and there was a long pause, "...and Mickey." It was like her own personal moment of silence for Gran.
Then the next night, Mickey died. Leyden was at home so she could go to school a few more days, and I was in Gadsden with Dad, so I didn't see her until the day after Mickey died, but when she said her prayers, she said, "...but 'cept the mean old Grinch, and God? [long pause] ...God, please be with Grand Brown." Bless her heart. She's suffered so much loss is such a short time, my heart aches for her. But she knows where they are - they are all in heaven.
She and one of her school friends were riding in the car with me the other day. This particular friend lost her great-grandfather this year, too, and they were discussing how this is their first Halloween without their great-grandfathers. We never saw Gran and Grandaddy at Halloween, so I don't imagine we'll miss them as much at Halloween as we will at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Christmas is going to be different this year, for sure. But I'm glad those two girls have each other to lean on and share their feelings.
The one person we're going to ache for at Halloween is Papa Charlie. He always had a beanbag toss at the church Fall Festival. And he always dressed in overalls and Leyden always played the game with him. We missed Papa Charlie at Cheaha, and we miss him every time we go to church. He was such a fixture in our lives, and in our hearts. Halloween will be hard this year, for sure.
You know, little people's prayers don't go unanswered. God heard every word of Leyden's monotonous prayer, but He also heard the "God blesses". And you know what? He blessed every one of the people that Leyden asked Him to bless. He just did it in His own way, not our way. Amen to that. Amen!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Hangin' in There
[I've tried forty bazillion times to get this thing to put a space between paragraphs. I don't know enough about how it works to know why it won't do it, so I apologize for the run-together look. KM]
Well, the new job is GREAT! My boss is a really smart and wonderful lady. So far, I have created a database for keeping track of the media in the Program library, and I have read magazines and indexed articles by subject. If you know me, you know that two of my favorite things are working on the computer and reading, so I've really enjoyed the first three weeks of my job!
The injuries from the car wreck? Not as great as the new job. I'm better, but not good. I see another doctor on Monday. I've had some unpleasant side effects from the medication, but they've been resolved with additional medication. I still don't sleep well, and I still have pain and take meds when I get home. But, it is getting better and I AM GRATEFUL THAT I WASN'T INJURED MORE SERIOUSLY OR KILLED. The car can be fixed, and the physical injuries can heal. (I'm saying that for me, not you. I have to reinforce positive thinking so this whole wreck thing doesn't eat me alive.)
My car has been at the shop since the day after the accident. (That's three weeks ago today, if you're counting. And if you're not, I'm telling you anyway because I want you to know my frustration. Have you noticed the weather getting cooler? That's what I call "sunroof weather", and it doesn't last long. The rental doesn't have a sunroof, so I really am missing it right now.) The insurance adjuster didn't go look at it until a week after the accident, so they didn't start working on it until two weeks ago. Today, I got a call from body shop and they said my car is going to the paint shop now and will be ready the middle of next week. Yea! It might still be sunroof weather when I get it back! (See, I can handle postive thinking.)
Seriously, if you look at the past six months of my life, you might think one of two things, depending on whether or not you see the glass as half full or half empty: 1) It sucks to be me; or 2) I'm so glad that God is here to carry me during these trying times. I'd totally be lying if I told you that I've been focusing on God. I've hardly spoken to Him. I've just about gone off the deep end lately, what with crises cropping up in my professional organization that no one else could seem to handle, preparing for fall festival at Leyden's school, the new job, getting up a full hour earlier to be at the new job, grieving for my grandparents, worrying about my Dad, worrying about how my house will get clean and my laundry will get done since I'm out of commission, dealing with this annoying pain that I can't get rid of. The walls are closing in on me, and God has been waiting patiently for me to turn to Him to handle all my stress, but I've been holding on to it tightly, almost yelling at Him, "NO! These are MY problems and I will deal with them!" (And my parents said nobody knows what they went through raising me.)
He's there, waiting. All I have to do is give all this stuff to Him, and He will take care of it. And the best part? He knows the best way to handle it all. Every tiny detail is important to Him, and He will tend to every single one. Why am I holding on to it? Like most people, I think I can handle things better myself. I need to let it go. After all, Jesus said He would give us rest when we are weary and burdened with life's troubles... "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matthew 11:28. Sounds like a plan to me!
Monday, October 08, 2007
When KountryMama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy
"How are you doing?" people ask. "I have good days and bad days," I answer. And that's the truth. Some days are much better than others, and I've gotten to where I number them on a scale of one to ten to give Brad an idea of how bad the night will be. (A whispered number that foreshadows the warning of a sleepless night filled with me harrumphing and sighing and whimpering like a wounded cat.) On the worst days, there are tears of frustration because the pain is constant and the headache just won't go away.
And the house? Oh, let me just vent for one minute about the house. As you know, my grandmother died on September 10th, and I left the next morning to drive 2 1/2 hours away to be with my family for a week. Upon return, I was exhausted and, of course, didn't clean my house. That could definitely wait. Well, the next weekend (when I should have been cleaning my house) I went to a college football game with Dad, his friend Charlie, and Leyden. And the housecleaning could wait until the next weekend. Those dust bunnies don't bite. So, the Thursday before the next weekend, I was in a car accident. I was ordered to rest for several days. I didn't work my last day at my "old" job, and guess what? My house didn't get cleaned.
So, here I am, 12 days post-accident. Brad and Leyden have made a valiant effort at keeping the laundry from taking over the house, and bless their hearts, they even unloaded the dishwasher twice and loaded it twice. But the dust bunnies? They're alive and well. And they're multiplying. They're like Gremlins, but instead of multiplying when they get wet, they multiply when my life is haywire. So, don't come visit me anytime soon expecting a nice, clean house. In fact, if I disappear or any of my family members don't show up for school or work, check the house. The dust bunnies might have us tied up.
And in the meantime, I will focus on getting well. Because, after all, if I can't do laundry, I must do SOMETHING, and since getting well is all I'm allowed to do besides sit and lie in bed and walk, I think I'll just get well.
And the house? Oh, let me just vent for one minute about the house. As you know, my grandmother died on September 10th, and I left the next morning to drive 2 1/2 hours away to be with my family for a week. Upon return, I was exhausted and, of course, didn't clean my house. That could definitely wait. Well, the next weekend (when I should have been cleaning my house) I went to a college football game with Dad, his friend Charlie, and Leyden. And the housecleaning could wait until the next weekend. Those dust bunnies don't bite. So, the Thursday before the next weekend, I was in a car accident. I was ordered to rest for several days. I didn't work my last day at my "old" job, and guess what? My house didn't get cleaned.
So, here I am, 12 days post-accident. Brad and Leyden have made a valiant effort at keeping the laundry from taking over the house, and bless their hearts, they even unloaded the dishwasher twice and loaded it twice. But the dust bunnies? They're alive and well. And they're multiplying. They're like Gremlins, but instead of multiplying when they get wet, they multiply when my life is haywire. So, don't come visit me anytime soon expecting a nice, clean house. In fact, if I disappear or any of my family members don't show up for school or work, check the house. The dust bunnies might have us tied up.
And in the meantime, I will focus on getting well. Because, after all, if I can't do laundry, I must do SOMETHING, and since getting well is all I'm allowed to do besides sit and lie in bed and walk, I think I'll just get well.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Accidentally Out Of Pocket
Leyden and I were in an accident on Thursday. I am in some pretty serious pain lately from my injuries, and I started a new job on Monday and can't really take off work yet since I don't have any leave to take. So, I've been coming straight home from work and taking meds and getting in bed. I apologize for the silence, but I promise to return and fill you in on all things Kountry as soon as I am well.
One Small Request
Leyden was alone in the living room watching TV. Brad went in there and said, "What are you doing, young child?"
"Nothing."
"Is there anything I can get for you, young child?"
"Yes, please give me a blanket; I'm freezing." (He hands her a blanket.)
"Anything else I can do for you, young child?"
"Yes. Could you call me Princess?"
And they say preteens are difficult. Ha!
"Nothing."
"Is there anything I can get for you, young child?"
"Yes, please give me a blanket; I'm freezing." (He hands her a blanket.)
"Anything else I can do for you, young child?"
"Yes. Could you call me Princess?"
And they say preteens are difficult. Ha!
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