The Ghoulies are swimmin' like the fishies in June!!! (Page 26)

whine whine whine...

Yes dear! Run, done.

FYI, 5 easy miles to me is not the same as 5 easy miles to a Kona finisher. That is all.

Get well, girlio. A couple unplanned rest days would probably do you more good than harm in the long run. Dr. Tom prescribes chicken soup, a funny movie, and a broken alarm clock.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I do not recall prescribing snark.

Hah! You tell the Princess DemiDoc!

:P

Yowza. I think Melindy just won the Feisty Canuck award for the week

Seriously though, feel better Melissa. You continue to impress with how much you're capable of putting on your plate, but please remember to take care of yourself. We're all pulling for you!

What he said!

Looks like Melindy needs a sugar fix and a nap.

iowagander - 2011-06-14 4:53 PM Sweet! My applicant just passed his interview! Now I won't feel quite as guilty about taking off most/all of the day tomorrow for my daughter's birthday.

Good job! Have a great time with your daughter tomorrow!

Good morning Ghoulies!

Do you know what today is?

Today is the 4 year anniversary of when that damn horse threw me and changed everything. I wrote up the big long story last year,  I am too tired to type it again this morning. For me though, 4 years ago, everything changed.

Morning Ghoulies!

Morning Ann.... Here it is. It was too momentous an occasion to not resurrect the entire story:

I'm going to tell you a story this morning. It may be a little long, but it is sort of how I ended up where I am today.

Three years ago, June 15 was on a Friday. I had been working at the US Army War College for almost 3 years, and while I liked my job, and was pretty good at it, management had recently changed and I was not part of the good old boys club. I was feeling good about life, had some money in the bank, had just bought a motorcycle and a horse, things were good.

June 14 I got called into the big boss's office. I was getting written up for coming into work early. I had 41 laptops to have prepared for incoming foreign students and I was given 2 days to make it happen, not enough time. There was a group of us working on a Saturday to clean up the classrooms since classes were over for the summer and I went in early to work on the laptops before everyone else got there. In the letter I was to sign it said it was unsafe for me to be there at that time of day because I was a female. I should have taken the letter with me, sounds a bit like discrimination doesn't it? It wasn't a problem for me to be there in the middle of the night when I was on call though.

Anyway...
I refused to sign the letter but told them I would sign a letter of resignation by the end of the day. I figured with what I had in the bank, and if I gave 4 weeks notice I could last almost 3 months living off of my savings account. That should be enough time to find a new job. So June 14 I gave my 4 weeks notice.

June 15 I went to work. I didn't want to be there. I was grumpy, had a bit of a headache, and now realized I didn't want to be in that place for 4 more weeks. It was supposed to be a beautiful day, and I had ridden my motorcycle to work, so after 2 hours I decided to call it a day. I left, took the long way home on my bike, passed home and went to Gettysburg to see if my husband wanted to go out to lunch. We did go out, then on the way home I stopped at a local motorcycle shop to get his Father's Day gift. I put over 100 miles on my motorcycle that day.

That evening my brother and my niece came over to go horseback riding. We weren't going to go far. My daughter was only 3 at the time, and I was going to ride my new horse for the first time. I bought him from a guy in Texas. I wanted something kid friendly that my daughter could eventually ride, as her horse is getting up there in years, the guy in Texas told me how great and calm this horse was so I bought him. My parents had been over for dinner and had just left. We get the girls on my daughters horse and they go riding around the front yard while I get ready. I saddle up my horse, get on, and he just stands there. I couldn't get him to move, at all. I asked my brother, who was standing on the ground, to go get me the crop in the barn. (Mistake #1) When my horse saw the crop he flinched, I should have known better right then. My brother handed me the crop and I didn't hit him, I brushed his hind flank and he took off buckin' like you wouldn't believe. He had spun around so we were heading out through our fields. I remember thinking I need to get off of this horse I'm going to get hurt. (Mistake #2) I decided I was going to jump. I pulled my right foot out of the stirrup and leaned, and when I did he let out one hell of a kick and I was in the air.

I don't remember a lot after that point, some of this is from what other people told me. After being thrown the next thing I remember is lying face down in the ground thinking, before I ever look up that my arms were broke. I pick my head up and look at my left arm and think that one's broke. I put my head back down. I picked it up again and looked at my right arm and thought that one's broke too. I put my head back down. My brother came over and I told him I needed an ambulance. The horse started heading back at a run and my brother thought he was going to trample me. If he had my brother said he was going in to get a gun and he'd have made a blanket for me out of him.

My brother called for an ambulance. Then he called my parents to come back and take care of the kids. After I got thrown my husband got them off their horse and sent them in the house. With my horse acting all crazy, it had their horse fired up. I later learned when they got in the house my daughter starting throwing up everywhere, she saw me laying in the ground not looking too good. My parents take care of the kids, and clean up the house. Time passed, no ambulance. My brother called again. My husband starts calling every EMT we know, but can't find anyone home. I told them if we could get my arms splinted I could move enough to get in the car so they could drive me to the hospital. My brother was getting pretty ticked off that we do a lot for the fire company and there was still no ambulance. He called a third time and used words that would be filtered out here. After 3 calls and 45 minutes of me laying on the ground an ambulance arrives.

They asked where I hurt, I told them everywhere. There was never any doubt though that both arms were broken. They splinted my arms, rolled me over onto the backboard and put a neck collar on me an we were off to the hospital. I don't remember a whole lot about being in the hospital at all. I had no concept of time while I was there. In the ER the best nurse ever was checking me out, again, no doubt my arms were broken, she was trying to decide where to put an IV. She figured they would cast my arms, but she didn't know how high. An IV in the wrist was definitely out, she went for the elbow. If it had to be moved it would be moved, but she wanted to get it started for now. Someone came to take me for x-rays and she told them no one was touching me until I had some morphine, like I said best nurse ever. I don't remember the x-rays at all. I do remember her apologizing for cutting off my shirt, I really liked that shirt, too.

Things get fuzzier and fuzzier for me from here, may have been the morphine. When I had first gotten to the ER they told me the orthoped wouldn't be in until Saturday morning to see me. He was there before I left the ER for a hospital bed that night. The radius in both arms was obliterated... dust. I later saw the x-rays, there were no less than 12 pieces at each break, and those were just the countable pieces, we actually saw the dust that was once my bones. The surgeon talked to my husband, I don't remember the conversation. I do remember him saying without surgery I'd have casts on both arms, up to my armpits for 4-6 months. My husband consented to the surgery.

I don't remember a Saturday morning at all. I don't know when they took me to surgery. I don't remember anyone ever taking my pants off. After being wheeled to a room and helped into bed the next thing I remember is waking up with my arms ace wrapped from my hand to my elbow and metal sticking out of my arms. I had 2 pins sticking out of each hand, 2 pins sticking out of the middle of my forearm, and a metal bar attached to all of them. I closed my eyes again.

Nurses in the hospital were great, too. One of them was in a cast, she had fallen off of a horse, she took good care of me. I was supposed to be discharged Saturday afternoon. She called my doc and told him I needed to stay another day, so he said ok. Again, time was all wacky here. I remember them bringing in the big hospital mug full of water and setting it on a table beside me. I couldn't get it. I remember the phone ringing in my room. I couldn't answer it. I remember one time, I think it was night because it was dark trying to push the button for more morphine and I couldn't push the button. I even tried to hold the handle and push the button with my head and I couldn't get it. A nurse came in and saw what I was doing. She said she wasn't supposed to push the button for me, but she did. I couldn't do anything for myself. I could only bend my fingers to about 90 degrees,  my thumbs were no lobster claws and I was in a lot of pain.

I was like this for the next 6 weeks. I couldn't dress myself. I couldn't bathe myself. I couldn't get a drink out of the refrigerator. I could barely feed myself.

In the ER I told them my hand was numb. I was told it was because of the swelling. No one ever looked at anything but my arms. To cut to the chase here, a year later I had surgery to relieve a pinched nerve in my elbow. I also learned then after a CAT scan, an MRI, and a nuclear scan of some type, that I had broken my neck in 3 places. I also did other damage to my elbow, and a shoulder. I have also had back problems since then. Last year I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my spine. You aren't supposed to have arthritis in your spine when you're 36. So 3 years and $15,000 worth of medical bills later, here I am.

After the accident I was afraid to do anything. Up until that point I would go mache 2 with my hair on fire... no fear. Now I was afraid. I got lazy, I gained weight.

A year and a half ago I started my journey to lose weight. At the time I was still upset because the Ann I was I am never going to be again. It has taken awhile but the Ann I am now is pretty damn good, too.

So as the journey continues, I think it is only fitting that on the 3 year anniversary of getting thrown from a horse, and changing my life in so many ways, that marathon training starts today.

Sorry to bore you with my long story (and this is the short version)

Onward and Upward my friends

Good morning, Robin!

There was no sleep out last night. 2 of the kiddos have what my daughter had over the weekend, so they will try it again when everyone is feeling better.

Morning on top with Anne!

Nice.

Maybe the night will be a tad warmer, too.

Did you have to bring your earmuffs today?

No earmuffs today. They only did the testing yesterday.

I'm not so sure that I'm not coming down with what the kids had though. I'm really not feeling well right now.

NO! It is supposed to be Tom that is "sick" today and not for real.

I do not want to sit at my desk all day and do nothing!

I don't know if I told you guys or not, but I had a phone interview yesterday. I spoke with 3 people at the place where I could be working.  I think it went pretty well. They asked me several questions, and most of the time I didn't even have to finish the answer, I would say one particular thing they were looking for and they would tell me that was all they needed to hear and then they moved on to the next question.

I'll let you know what happens. Even if I take it I am still hoping that the company who is bidding on a job at a different base in July gets that contract so I can go there. The job I interviewed for yesterday would be almost an hour away. It would be straight down the highway, but to drive 2 hours a day is a lot. Even if I am offered the job, I need to find out what the hours are, and if they're flexible before I can take it. My evenings are pretty busy, I can't work somewhere until 5:00 and drive an hour home. That would get in the way of soccer, basketball, jiu jitsu, my sanity. Can't do it!

Ann, give it very careful consideration before taking a job with that kind of commute. Even if they say they are flexible, see if you can talk to others and find out what the actual practice is in the office. 2 hours a day of commuting with young kids does not sound like a good idea. Advice given from the 2 1/2 hour + per day commuter. 

Morning Kim.