In The Midst of It All

I took a walk this morning. The first thing I thought when I woke up was that I needed, desperately, to get outside, touch my feet to the earth and reconnect myself to it, to the circle and to the Creator. I stopped and sat for a minute, just outside the cabin, and prayed. There isn't enough gratitude in my body to fully express the way I feel today. 

Rob slept through the night just fine, with minimal pain. He went to bed with arms and legs fully in tact and functioning. He has no back injuries. Aside from the visible damage on his face, his head is fine. He is damaged, but he will be okay. Most importantly, he is still himself, but now with a heightened sense of awareness to his own vulnerability. 

But he is still here. He is alive, by the grace of a God that I will never fully understand, but praise and thank daily for the blessings - both big and small - that somehow find me, despite my (our) undeserving state. 

I called off work today. Our first task as a group was recovery of all the bikes; we visited two separate places to get Rob's, then Dillon's. 

there she goes... 

TO THE OFFICER WHO TOLD ME YESTERDAY, AT AROUND 2AM ON THE PHONE THAT ROB AND HIS BIKE WERE ESSENTIALLY TOTALED, YOU OUGHT TO BE CAREFULLY RECONSIDERING YOUR OATH TO HONESTY. You do NOT tell someone's family member a course of events that did not happen, your certainty in the matter stamped only by the status of your badge. We were told that Rob's bike was a complete lost cause, and that upon impact, he had flipped off the bike and into the unknown at that point. 

Does this look like the aftermath of a bike abandoned by flight?! 

bikes going to illinois

 No, it doesn't. 

No.... it... doesn't. Urgghhhh

The guys managed to get her up and onto the trailer, with the help of the backyardigans's flatbed. Sidenote: Here in TN, it's very lucrative to own and operate a tow business out of your house. These guys are pros at it, and if I should ever find myself living in this region, you can go ahead and know now what business I'll be pursuing.

We headed back to the cabin to do the final pack-up of our things and get all 3 bikes situated on the truck and trailer, before saying our farewell-for-now's. Dillon, Matt, Courtney & Cadence took off back to Illinois, while Rob and I made our way back here to Knoxville. We stopped at Panera for lunch, and started formulating a plan on what to do for the next couple of days. As it turns out, we'll be stuck here, since on such short notice, we aren't able to get in to any Cincinnati facilities for the surgery he'll need on Wednesday. Womp womp.

Rob found a hotel on Expedia, and long story short, we're here now, checked in and planted here for the next two nights.

The consultation appointment is tomorrow. I'll put this prayer out in the blog world for tonight: for confidence, easy nerves and painless completion of the whole ordeal.

See you in the morning!

xo | cmd

Not The Plan...

It was late last night before my head hit the pillow. It's always a strange sensation adjusting to an empty house; even the dogs weren't entirely sure if making noise and ruckus was the way to go for the evening. They were snoozing long before I climbed into bed for the night, but it wasn't about to stay that way.

I was somewhere in a dream, when the soundtrack of my phone ringing started cutting in. I don't know much about the dream states, but I know I've been there before, doing some random dream activity, and the sound of an alarm clock or a ringtone becomes surround sound, and there I am, in a concert blend of dream and reality.

And then I woke up, to Rob's call that he'd wrecked his bike. It was 1am. I'd been asleep for probably just shy of 2 hours at that point, but I was awake in no time. In the 40 minutes that followed, I gathered what information I could from Rob and Matt on the accident, and was bags packed in my car on the way to Tennessee.

Five hours. Five hours driving, texting and calling Matt with updates. 

Rob is at Leconte Medical Center in Sevierville. Dillon was not involved in the accident and is okay.

Rob will be transferred to the trauma unit at UT Medical Center in Knoxville. 

Rob has been transferred.  Matt texts back. Jesse texts back.

Matt is meeting Courtney halfway between Kentucky & Illinois to get his trailer for the bikes. 

Rob's mom calls. His dad calls. Becky calls. Matt calls. My mom calls. Jesse calls.

Calls. Texts. Driving, driving, driving. I'm relatively good at keeping calm through things like this, and for some reason, I had a strange peace about it all even as I navigated through the mountains in the dark. I was over halfway through the trip when the sun met me to rise, and I pulled into the hospital in the golden light of early morning, into a front row parking spot of the garage just outside the main entrance.

My heart broke when I walked into his room. I've never seen him like this, even though I know he's been in situations of mishap before. I've never experienced it, not until today, and I can boldly say I am not a fan.

:( 

Now, as with every other hospital I've ever been in, when you want or need something, you've gotta speak up. It's not being rude, it's just a fact of life. You're one of many in that place, and they'll get to you quicker if you just ask. That's the part I hate, as I'm horribly nonconfrontational about these things. However after arriving in his room at 9am, the clock turned over to 1:30 pm and I decided it was time to pipe up. My requests were met with polite smiles and promises of attention which were fulfilled within the hour of my asking. I had faith in the UT Med Center staff :)

The trauma surgery team came down to do an assessment. Then the maxillofacial team came down. A doctor explained to us the extent of the damage as shown by x-ray, and their intended steps to correct and mend. He began to suture the gash in Rob's nose, while I opted to wait in the lobby.

I came back to find a semi-mended Rob. His face still held the damage, but at least now it was contained, both aesthetically and on the scale of pain. We began our discharge, and after eating some food, made the walk together out of the hospital.

look at those snazzy socks.. haha

I stopped to fill the prescriptions, then continued onward for the 45ish minute drive to the cabin the guys had rented in Gatlinburg. The prayers I said today were that of gratitude, for safety and for healing. I know the next few days aren't going to be fun, whatever they hold. We're not even sure yet.

Walking into the cabin, we met Dillon, who looked as exhausted as I felt. Within the next half hour, Matt, Courtney and Cadence arrived with the truck and trailer. We made dinner and sat down, each at the end of his and her daily energy supplies.

It certainly wasn't how I'd intended to rendezvous with these friends, but we're here together regardless, and it's a nice spot in a cloud, if that makes sense.

Tomorrow, we'll leave this cabin and decide if the next few days will be spent here in Gatlinburg, or if we'll be heading home. We'll see. We'll see.

For now, gooooood night, world.
And Lord, THANK YOU for all that You are and give to us. We are so, so undeserving of Your mercy.

Amen..

xo | cmd

Finally Friday

This was my vote for today: 

..... I sure needed it, today. Elisa was out for the day, and Paul spent the majority of the day doing field work, so my weird sinus allergy issue and I were on our own for most of the day. Fortunately, Nate from CYOFL took the jump for our Color Run team and went to pick up the race day packets, saving me a trip down to Newport [thank you, Nate!!!]

Rob took off this morning as well, after the early morning had passed, and I finally got an update that he'd made it to the rendezvous point with Matt and Dillon. 

the harley boys... 

I myself was looking very much forward to an evening of doing absolutely nothing, a goal I executed like a daggone professional if I may say so myself.. haha. Many thanks to Netflix and the worn-in sections of my couch.

The boys are settled in safely, and I'm completely content with the temporary solitude that I'll have for the next few days.

Heeeeere's to the weekend!

xo | cmd

Souvenier Day

I thought about posting all sorts of pictures of all the things we bought today, but figured that I’d share this one with everyone instead. I didn’t buy it, because I’ve seen it before at a few of the bookstores closer to us at home, and plus they didn’t have the right size. Bummer.

This is a tough pill to swallow, and it stings even more to admit it out loud that this is the fallen world in which we live. Not to mention, this really is the answer to so many doubts about the future of human generations.

I thought about this a lot today. I hope there’s someone else out there thinking about it, too.

Oh, and we also did the Ripley’s haunted house [lame, sorry] and some more mini-golf to round out our card of Ripley’s attractions. We were determined to get our money’s worth of these things. Haha.

We also visited the Nantahala Outdoor Center and picked up some cool things there. I’m proud of myself for not splurging on some Chaco’s, Vibram’s, or tent gear. I can wait… I can wait… I can wait….

Today was our last full day in the Smokies. We head back to Cincinnati tomorrow for the rest of the weekend and then it’s back to the dreamland….

J  See you then!

xo | cmd

Hey, Little Horsie!

Back in the day, back in the ‘Vern, when I was but a tot….

Okay, well that may be a slight exaggeration of the country bumpkin that I was growing up, but it’s still a fact that I spent a lot of time barefoot, and a lot of time on the Fowler farm with my buddy Lisa and their slew of farm creatures. Some of my best memories involve day-long horseback rides out onto the plains and pastures on the Fowler properties and finding all kinds of things to poke, prod, and explore. Thinking back, it’s a wonder we never got attacked by an angry animal or contracted some bacterial disease from jabbing around the inevitable find of some poor carcass.

Still, I didn’t realize at the time that I was learning to ride, to saddle, bit, shoe, and break a horse, day by day. I’ve loved horses since I was a kid, and so when we decided today to go trail riding, I was all for it.

Fact: Trail riding is pretty boring for someone who’s ever ridden a horse freely, for fun.
Fact: Observing the behavior of people who’ve never stepped within 30 feet of a living horse, let alone sat on a moving one, is hilarious.

Fact: The stable hand at the dude ranch we visited today hails from central Kentucky, which is still considered our neck of the woods in relation to Cincinnati. Since this is his daily job, he had plenty of stories to share of the antics people can create just trying to ride a horse moving at 2mph down a straight line.

We had fun, no less. There was a couple that showed up with their 2-yr-old son, who sat nervously still between his daddy’s legs and the saddle horn of a gentle Appaloosa for the first ten minutes before he realized he was safe. By the end of the trip, he was waving at the other horses and telling his Mommy on the horse behind his that their horses were best friends. We are having the greatest time on this trip, but deep down we both can’t wait to share an experience like this with Sydni.

The rain came like the blink of an eye, right at the 5 minute mark after we had all finished the trail and returned to the stables. The raindrops were those meaty ones that almost sting when they hit because of their weight. We took the opportunity to head back to our cabin and relax with the storm serenading us. We made dinner in our kitchen, ate together at the table, and cozied up in PJ’s to take full advantage of doing absolutely nothing.

This is proving to be one of the greatest weeks, ever J

Tomorrow is souvenir day. I’ll have to suck it up and pay full MSRP on some stuff, I know.

xo | cmd

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

It was just back in July when I trekked through the Rocky Mountain, Great Sand Dunes, and the Grand Canyon National Parks with Kalyn and Sam en route to Arizona. It was the perfect road trip, embellished with National Geographic scenery and the ideal company. 

It’s September now, and off we were this morning on our adventure deeper into the heart of the Smoky Mountains. It took us a while to hunt down the national park sign, but since that’s a mandatory part of any NP visit, we finally managed to find it and continued on our way.

We saw three adult black bears, and a pair of cuddly looking cubs skittering across the roadway over the course of our winding tour through Cade’s Cove. It was vast, calm, and beautiful, and being there with my husband – just the two of us – was a breath of rejuvenation nearly as invigorating as mountain air.

With our souls re-fueled with the intricate fashions of God’s creative genius, we made our way back towards Pigeon Forge. With no agenda, we happened upon the Wonderworks upside-down mansion. It’s a true tourist attraction, but that didn’t stop us; we are after all, tourists this week. So yeah. This place proved to be another major supporter of military discounts; long story short, we paid less than half of one regular admission for both of us combined. I’m glad, too, because aside from the high ropes course, it kinda-sorta-really paled in comparison to places like Cosi.

Note: Don’t do the simulated roller-coaster thing more than once. We were nearly sick for the rest of the evening. Thankfully, there wasn’t a whole lot of evening left after we finished the entire place, so that was okay.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, and as of now, we are plan-less. We’ll let you know tomorrow how today goes J … Make sense?

xo | cmd