After many many years of wanting and wishing, I’ve finally purchased my first motorcycle.  The bike was taken care of very well, so there’s really nothing that I need to do to the bike other than replace the chain at some point this summer - on some weekend when it’s gunna rain for like two days straight.  There are a few modifications that I’d like to do eventually, but they’re more of a “want” than a “need” so I’ll probably put most of them off for a while (I really hate parting with my money).

Today was a beautiful day, about 62 degrees with not a cloud in the sky, so I decided it would be fun pull it out of the garage and shine it up a bit.  I started remembering back to the days when I would go and visit my Grandma Pete at her shop where she sold snowmobiles, and how every other day she would be out there with her can of Lemon Pledge shining up the sleds.  So that got me thinking, maybe I can do the same with my bike…  A few google searches later, and I was out in the driveway with slippery hands, smelling like lemons, and watching the bike come to life in the sun.

Note:  if you’re going to try Pledge yourself, make sure you read up on which parts should be avoided (especially the seat (danger, danger) and the exhaust)

Here’s a listing of what’s new, so you don’t have to try to search through the whole list for what you haven’t seen yet:  sledding with all the kids at the park (where Momma broke her leg), Abigails Christmas concert at school, Christmas with all the kids prior to Momma leaving for Texas, and Mommas trip to Texas with the Stafford family. 

There’s also a few more photos in our Misc folder (which usually is just “us” when we’re getting ready to go out on a date - which doesn’t seem to happen to often lately).

She’s still in quite a bit of pain at this point, and every little bump or stumble basically still brings her to tears.  My thoughts and prayers are with you Momma.  I know the healing of the bones will take some time - but having you not be in so much pain is my immediate plea.

The firt 5 minutes or so were spent climbing up the hill and sliding down half way, falling off the sled, chasing it down the rest of the hill, and walking back up.  The second 5 minutes were spent watching the kids continue to do the same thing, over and over - with an added bonus of Abigail nearly smoking some other kid right in the “private parts” as she plowed over him (his parents really should teach him to pay more attention).  The third set of 5 minutes were spent watching the kids continue to sled down the hill, and continue to improve their skills on the never before ridden snowboard.

Next it was Mommas turn to try the snowboard.  Poppa held it tight at the back for her while she slid her shoes into the binders, and then I let her go and stood up to take a photo of her going down the hill.  About 4 seconds into her run I took the photo to the right… and about 5 seconds into the run she was down on the ground in a great deal of pain.  “I broke my leg!! I broke my leg!!!” she screamed, as she rolled around on the ground grabbing at the snow hoping it would make her feel better or something.  I was first to arrive at the scene (as I was only about 8 feet away), and asked her to “Just calm down so that I can take care of you”… later I learned this wasn’t the best thing to say at the time.  A few minutes pass, and I eventually got her to calm down a little, and I do mean only a little.  We moved her lifeless body onto one of the sleds and proceeded to, very gently, inch her towards the bottom of the 50 foot hill.  It seemed like to took about 2 hours or so for us to reach the bottom, but in real life it was only like 5 minutes.  A couple of kind gentlemen came over and helped transport Momma from the sled, to the passenger seat of the truck.  Then all five kids jumped into the back seat, many of them on top of each other and we were off.

Twenty minutes later we were at the ER.  Momma in her wheelchair, and me at the counter getting quite angry at the check-in lady.  My girl was hurting, in pain, and was about to puke all over their floor - and nobody seemed to be in any rush at all to help us out.  Fast forward yet again, because nobody really wants to hear stories about hospitals, and we’re ready to leave.  Momma had some kind of pain drug injected into her arm, we had a CD with a copy of her xrays in my pocket, and a temporary cast / splint on Mommas leg.  Diagnosis - fracture just above her lateral malleosis (outside edge of body, just above that little bone that sticks out on your ankle).

We’ve had her propped up on the couch for about a day and half now, and aside from the pain from her broken bone, her biggest complaint now is that her butt is starting to hurt from sitting for so long.  Tomorrow we have to make an appointment with the “bone doctor” guy, to get the hard casting put on her leg.  It will likely end up going from just below her knee, to where he toes start.  We checked out the xrays that were on the CD, and it sure does look broken to us.  In fact, quite broken.  It’s no wonder she’s hurting so much.

I have another post I started writing earlier, to update everyone on how everyone is doing.  I’ll try to get that one finished up in the next day or so, and will also try to get the photos from Texas posted as well.  Will also post some updates (and maybe some more photos) of Momma leg. 

We are heading down to Houston for the Holidays.  I planned on leaving the night of the 23rd when I get the kids back from Dad’s house and just hookin ‘em on down straight through.  I don’t like stopping it on delays the getting there part.  So I was emailing my Dad and telling him about my plans and made the joke that I hoped there was enough coffee out there to keep me between the lines, and you know what… He went out and bought a ticket to fly up and drive with me down… sent me an email the next morning to just say, “I’ll hold your coffee”.  Oh my gosh how sweet!!

Now that is a Christmas gift. 

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, life just keeps us to busy sometimes.

I love you all and hope you are all having a wonderful time with all of your family and friends.

But then there are days like today, when they just go off the deep end, and it makes you look at yourself and ask “What did I do right?”.  I often reflect back on my childhood and the values that were put into me by my parents, and today the one that applies is that… “If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all”.  The only thing is, with kids, there isn’t always a right way.  There is only doing your best, and it’s the days when you realize it might not have been enough that can make you humble.  I do know deep down though that I have done them well, or at least to the best of my ability.  Maybe it’s just those “teen-age” years that seem to make everything cloudy for them.

Tonight’s one of those nights when I sit here at the computer and think to myself that I want to write something, but I don’t know what I want to write.  I feel like there are about a thousand things going through my head, and I really have no agenda.  But who really does?  I used to go through life thinking that there were so many things that we really have no control over, and that we just kinda ride along and take what life gives us.  To the point that I no longer realized what I hoped for.  A wise woman once told me:

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.

What does all that mean to me, and how does it apply to the person I am today?  I said earlier that I feel like a long time ago, I lost what I had hoped for.  But I don’t think that’s really that’s the case, now that I think a bit more about it.  I think I just had too much faith.  Too much faith in other people.  Too much faith that other people would do the right thing.  Too much faith that other people would guide my life to a place where I wanted it to go.  Too much faith in life.  And by doing so, by just riding along, that is where I lost my hope.

I no longer live a life without hopes.  And unfortunately I feel that I have lost my faith in some people.  But in the same regard, I feel that I have gained faith in others.  It’s kinda strange, and I feel like I’m contradicting myself when I say that, but it’s how I feel.  Peace means everything to me now, peace in every single moment of my day.  From the time I wake up in the morning until I go to sleep.  And to me, that peace comes from a balance.  It comes from a balance between faith, hope, and yourself.

You can have all the faith in the world, but if you have no hope, and no drive within yourself to take yourself to the place where you want to be, chances are faith alone will not get you there.

You can have all the hopes in the world, but if you don’t (or cannot) have faith in the people your surrounded by, or the strength within yourself to make it happen, hope alone will not get you there.

And you can have all the drive within yourself to take you to a place where you want to be, but without hope, do you really know where that place is… or will you just rely on faith?