Unsteady Times
If you are one of my facebook friends, you might have discovered I have disappeared again. No worries, everyone. My friend Lisa B. asked me if I was depressed again and this time, no that is not the reason why. I just felt it was a great time to be alone with my thoughts again and sort of disconnect from the norm. I am one of those crazy people who cannot talk to you with the TV on. Or I am like one of those annoying people who turns the radio down when I am looking for an unfamilar street. I will be back "online" soon enough, otherwise, come on up and see me. I think it's good for us humans, every once in a while, to disconnect from all the technology and sit in silence. It can be scary at first, but that's another subject altogether.
I am working almost full time again with our freelance real estate paralegal business and I am also studying to become a Reiki practicioner, on top of being a wife and mother of three. My time is my most precious treasure. Which sort of brings me to this point in my life. I want to use my time to the fullest. I want my passions and career to collide. I've heard that when you are doing what you are meant to do, it should not feel like work. Plus, I want to find MY voice. The voice that does not belong to my husband or children or "job". My voice, or purpose, should be something I enjoy doing for my pure pleasure, but that helps others. That is really hard to find during the daily grind of life!
What I do enjoy doing is discovering myself and finding my place in the universe. I get joy, peace, understanding, excitement, and so much more on this never-ending journey. ( you might also refer to this as a roller-coaster).
I want to find my passion, my purpose, my higher-calling and I have been praying and seeking this for about 7 years now.
I am so excited to share that I think I may have found it, but before I do, it's story time! Time to share how all this came about. You may laugh out loud at my tale. You might cry. You might not feel any sympathy for me at all. It's alllll goooood.
(By the way, I think it's ok to laugh about it now- but was not so funny going through it)
I am working almost full time again with our freelance real estate paralegal business and I am also studying to become a Reiki practicioner, on top of being a wife and mother of three. My time is my most precious treasure. Which sort of brings me to this point in my life. I want to use my time to the fullest. I want my passions and career to collide. I've heard that when you are doing what you are meant to do, it should not feel like work. Plus, I want to find MY voice. The voice that does not belong to my husband or children or "job". My voice, or purpose, should be something I enjoy doing for my pure pleasure, but that helps others. That is really hard to find during the daily grind of life!
What I do enjoy doing is discovering myself and finding my place in the universe. I get joy, peace, understanding, excitement, and so much more on this never-ending journey. ( you might also refer to this as a roller-coaster).
I want to find my passion, my purpose, my higher-calling and I have been praying and seeking this for about 7 years now.
I am so excited to share that I think I may have found it, but before I do, it's story time! Time to share how all this came about. You may laugh out loud at my tale. You might cry. You might not feel any sympathy for me at all. It's alllll goooood.
(By the way, I think it's ok to laugh about it now- but was not so funny going through it)
Biking in Paradise
The girls' beach trip! Oh, what a wonderful week it is! No men, no babies, great friends, and unbelievable food (we have a photo album of us enjoying our food so much, we labled it Food Porn)
Sun, Sangria, exercising, mediatation, reading, whatever I WANT! I cannot describe enough how much I look forward to this trip, but you could ask my husband, He says I don't get this excited over our family vacation, or the few and far between couples weekend getaways. But who am I to argue? ( No, I don't get that excited because a week at the beach with potty training toddlers who you can't take anywhere and a teenager who wants to go everywhere is not what I would consider relaxing.)
So, here I am, on day 2 with my lovely ladies of DeBordieu, soaking up the rays, sipping down the sangria spritzers at the pool. I am in full on joy mode. After about 6 hours of being in the sun, it was time to head back to the house to wash off the sand and oil, and come out of my sun-haze daze.
On this vacation, we leave the cooking to the pro's, so I decide to take a bike ride at sunset. Lisa K. was going to come with, but as soon as we pulled out of the driveway, she decided to go back.
I really had some energy, plus I wanted to get to my favorite place on the island before sunset to be alone with God.
DeBordieu is a private beach/island for residents and guests that also has protected wildlife. It is located between Pawleys Island and Georgetown SC. My friends parents have a 2nd home there and we are very lucky to be allowed to stay each year.
I biked down to the very last beach walkway, parked the bike, and walked out onto the beach. From there, you only have to pass 4 or 5 more houses and you have entered the wildlife refuge on the beach. (here are some pictures, but I wish I had a panoramic.) I have seen deer tracks and a dead bald eagle here. SO cool.
Sun, Sangria, exercising, mediatation, reading, whatever I WANT! I cannot describe enough how much I look forward to this trip, but you could ask my husband, He says I don't get this excited over our family vacation, or the few and far between couples weekend getaways. But who am I to argue? ( No, I don't get that excited because a week at the beach with potty training toddlers who you can't take anywhere and a teenager who wants to go everywhere is not what I would consider relaxing.)
So, here I am, on day 2 with my lovely ladies of DeBordieu, soaking up the rays, sipping down the sangria spritzers at the pool. I am in full on joy mode. After about 6 hours of being in the sun, it was time to head back to the house to wash off the sand and oil, and come out of my sun-haze daze.
On this vacation, we leave the cooking to the pro's, so I decide to take a bike ride at sunset. Lisa K. was going to come with, but as soon as we pulled out of the driveway, she decided to go back.
I really had some energy, plus I wanted to get to my favorite place on the island before sunset to be alone with God.
DeBordieu is a private beach/island for residents and guests that also has protected wildlife. It is located between Pawleys Island and Georgetown SC. My friends parents have a 2nd home there and we are very lucky to be allowed to stay each year.
I biked down to the very last beach walkway, parked the bike, and walked out onto the beach. From there, you only have to pass 4 or 5 more houses and you have entered the wildlife refuge on the beach. (here are some pictures, but I wish I had a panoramic.) I have seen deer tracks and a dead bald eagle here. SO cool.
I walked until I could not see anymore houses. It was just me, the sunset, and the beach. I was so happy at that moment. I remember feeling such gratitude for my life. I took in the beauty and serenity, did some meditation and just as it was getting dark, decided it was time to eat. As I started walking back to the bike, I gave one last look at the setting sun, gave it a wink, a thank you and went on my way.
Which happened to be right into a surveying stick with a little pink plastic tassle tied to the top! What in the? How did I not see that?!? Why in the world is that here, at this portion of the beach? I looked around and could not imagine how, out of 1000 square yards of deserted beach, I could walk right into a 2 inch stick.
At first, I was thinking I just jammed it, OUCH!, really, really bad jam, but I am okay. But when I tried to walk again, I felt my middle toe on my left foot dangling. I tried to calm myself and walked to the ocean and let the cool water wash over my foot. I had no phone, and even if I did, reception is really bad here, plus my friends would have a hard time finding me.
I dragged my pitiful foot about half a mile back to the bike and then pedaled with one leg the other full mile back to the house.
When I made it back, I went into my room, which is on the bottom floor of the three story house. Luckily, my phone was there so I used it to call upstairs to Carrie. The conversation went something like this:
Carrie: "There you are, we were starting to get worried about you"
Me: "Hey, I am in my bathroom and had an accident. Bring an icepack and tell Mary Angela to bring the surgical tape"
Carrie: "What in the $%*&"?!?!"
Followed by thud-thud-thud-thud down the stairs. Of course, everyone had to come check me out. Mary Angela taped me up, (my girls gave me moral support through that!). It took some time, but when I managed to make it upstairs to the third floor, where the living room and kitchen are, my girls helped me once again, with pain pills, food, stiff drinks and laughter. (not condoning them all at once, I might add).
I managed to get by the weekend because of great friends who took care of me. At this point, I thought it might be more than just a jam, because it hurt so bad. I cried in bed the second night, but even if it was broken, what can doctors do about a broken toe anyway, right? The drive home was going to be scary, for sure.
Background about the car: Fritz totaled his car about 3 weeks prior to my trip, so he has been borrowing my brother in laws Malibu. It needs alot of work, but it has A/C and drives from point A to point B, right? It had a squeaky belt, forgive me for not knowing what that belt does, but I do know now, after the fact, that this squeaky little belt powered the motor AND the A/C. When I left DeBordieu, I had almost a half a tank of gas, plenty to get to Columbia, or at least Sumter...or so I thought....
Driving along, trying not to think about my poor foot (which is propped up on piles of dirty laundry) I am just outside of Georgetown county, on Hwy 521, actually in Williamsburg County.
Here is map to show you where I was.
Which happened to be right into a surveying stick with a little pink plastic tassle tied to the top! What in the? How did I not see that?!? Why in the world is that here, at this portion of the beach? I looked around and could not imagine how, out of 1000 square yards of deserted beach, I could walk right into a 2 inch stick.
At first, I was thinking I just jammed it, OUCH!, really, really bad jam, but I am okay. But when I tried to walk again, I felt my middle toe on my left foot dangling. I tried to calm myself and walked to the ocean and let the cool water wash over my foot. I had no phone, and even if I did, reception is really bad here, plus my friends would have a hard time finding me.
I dragged my pitiful foot about half a mile back to the bike and then pedaled with one leg the other full mile back to the house.
When I made it back, I went into my room, which is on the bottom floor of the three story house. Luckily, my phone was there so I used it to call upstairs to Carrie. The conversation went something like this:
Carrie: "There you are, we were starting to get worried about you"
Me: "Hey, I am in my bathroom and had an accident. Bring an icepack and tell Mary Angela to bring the surgical tape"
Carrie: "What in the $%*&"?!?!"
Followed by thud-thud-thud-thud down the stairs. Of course, everyone had to come check me out. Mary Angela taped me up, (my girls gave me moral support through that!). It took some time, but when I managed to make it upstairs to the third floor, where the living room and kitchen are, my girls helped me once again, with pain pills, food, stiff drinks and laughter. (not condoning them all at once, I might add).
I managed to get by the weekend because of great friends who took care of me. At this point, I thought it might be more than just a jam, because it hurt so bad. I cried in bed the second night, but even if it was broken, what can doctors do about a broken toe anyway, right? The drive home was going to be scary, for sure.
Background about the car: Fritz totaled his car about 3 weeks prior to my trip, so he has been borrowing my brother in laws Malibu. It needs alot of work, but it has A/C and drives from point A to point B, right? It had a squeaky belt, forgive me for not knowing what that belt does, but I do know now, after the fact, that this squeaky little belt powered the motor AND the A/C. When I left DeBordieu, I had almost a half a tank of gas, plenty to get to Columbia, or at least Sumter...or so I thought....
Driving along, trying not to think about my poor foot (which is propped up on piles of dirty laundry) I am just outside of Georgetown county, on Hwy 521, actually in Williamsburg County.
Here is map to show you where I was.
The map is a little small, but you can probably make out Trio, near the center. I was on that thick red line right above that. Basically I was in the middle of nowhere and the car just slowed to a stop. The car does not have low fuel warning, I know now.
I was able to call Fritz and let him know what was going on, and I told him I was going to flag someone down.
I hobbled out of the car and started waving my arms. After about 5 minutes a man in a pick up truck slowed down and started backing up and he had flashing lights on the top of the truck. I asked him if he was a volunteer fireman but he never answered me, he just gave me a magnet with phone #s for Williamsburg County and then got back in his car and drove away. He never asked me what kind of help I needed.
There were 2 #'s on the magnet; one for the Highway Patrol (which was disconnected!) and the other for the Police Dept. (which was an answering machine saying that the business hours were Mon-Fri 9-5).
NICE!
So, I called 911 and the conversation went something like this:
911: "911, what is your emergency?"
Me: "Well, it's not really an emergency, but I am out of gas and I have a badly hurt foot and I am by myself. I just need enough gas to get to the next gas station. The number to Highway Patrol is disconnected. I don't know what to do."
911: "Well can't you call AAA or something?"
Me: " I don't have AAA, can you connect me to Hwy Patrol? Maybe they can drive me to the nearest gas station?"
911: "Mam...just dial *47 from your mobile, I am sorry, I wish I could help more"
Ok, so I dialed *47, It did nothing, and then, I lost ALL reception.
At this point, I was on the trunk of the car and it was about 97 degrees, I had no shade, no water, and no one was stopping to help. I was starting to panic. My foot was swelling and throbbing. I did have some water in the car, but it was almost lukewarm and I was already sunburnt from being in the sun so much that I just sort of poured it all over myself to cool off.
I was waving like crazy and people were just whizzing by me without even looking. There is nothing to even look at! It's like I was invisible. I tried everything, I even played dead at one point. After about 30 minutes of this, I started going crazy, I think I was hallucinating. I started crying and really freaking out! I was in so much pain, burnt and burning, thirsty and scared!
Finally, a station wagon with a family stopped on the other side of the road and the woman driving screamed to me without getting out of the car "What do you need?" and I screamed back "Some Humanity!!!"
Right at that time, another pick up truck stopped and the family in a station wagon sped away, I guess I scared them.
It was a man and woman probably around my parents age, but they were also acting really suspicous of me as well. I admit the car looked like a piece of crap, but I had showered and done my hair and had on jewelry and didn't think I looked that scary (unless of course you take into account my crazy behavior)
Thankfully, they did call some friends who had some gas, but they had to drive to another town away to meet them. I was so grateful help was coming, but they did not offer me water or to ride with them, so I had to wait in the heat and sun for them to return. I was also thinking that they would not return.
They did return, to me crying and sweating and about to pass out. The woman finally offered to let me wait in their truck with the air conditioning and offered me some bottled water and I cooled off and calmed down while her husband put some gas in the tank. I don't remember their first names, but I do remember that their last name was Boyd. They were my angels on earth that day.
I got in the car and just had a moment or two to get my breath, then started driving. About one mile down, I realized why no one would stop to help. I was right near a Federal Prison! NICE!
I made it to Columbia and got on 77 North, a straight shot home, but my foot is throbbing and hurting so bad, I think I am going to pass out and go off the road. I decide to stop at a Subway because of their sandwich bags, I just need one filled with ice, to elevate my foot for about 20 minutes, maybe then I can make it home. It took me about 4 minutes to walk from the car to the door and when I made it inside, the people working there were nice enough to hook me up and were so nice.
There were about 3 or 4 tables of young guys, maybe in their early 20's, I guess college guys. I am assuming that they were on their way back from a beach trip too, they looked like it. I didn't talk to them, but they were staring at the freak in the corner with the ice pack and they left before I did.
When I felt better, I hobbled back to the car to head home again and am cruising along 77 when I hear all this honking so I look to my left and there is a car with about 5 of these guys and the one in the front passenger seat has a notebook pressed against the window with "Will you marry me?" written on it. I just laughed out loud and showed him my wedding ring. I could tell he said "damn" and all his friends were laughing and I laughed about that most of the way home.
I did finally make it home alive, but could not walk. Fritz had to carry me inside and it was pretty evident I should go to the doctor, but to make a long story short, I did go on Monday and got x-rays. It was broken. The injury happened 2 weeks ago today, and as I am writing this, the top of most of my foot is still purple and green. It looks to me like I jammed three of my toes straight back but only fractured the middle toe.
The Reiki comes into this story by the healing that occured when I went to a Reiki healing circle on this past Tuesday. There was also several other instances where Reiki kept coming up in conversation throughout these past 2 weeks. I do not ignore signs from the Universe like that. I will write another blog in more detail about that experience, but I wanted to say that without this crazy thing that happened to me, I might not have been so interested in Reiki. But I can tell you that the next morning, I was walking around so much better and just felt so much better about everything.
I am healing and gaining my strength again, in new found ways.
Until next time,
Mara
I was able to call Fritz and let him know what was going on, and I told him I was going to flag someone down.
I hobbled out of the car and started waving my arms. After about 5 minutes a man in a pick up truck slowed down and started backing up and he had flashing lights on the top of the truck. I asked him if he was a volunteer fireman but he never answered me, he just gave me a magnet with phone #s for Williamsburg County and then got back in his car and drove away. He never asked me what kind of help I needed.
There were 2 #'s on the magnet; one for the Highway Patrol (which was disconnected!) and the other for the Police Dept. (which was an answering machine saying that the business hours were Mon-Fri 9-5).
NICE!
So, I called 911 and the conversation went something like this:
911: "911, what is your emergency?"
Me: "Well, it's not really an emergency, but I am out of gas and I have a badly hurt foot and I am by myself. I just need enough gas to get to the next gas station. The number to Highway Patrol is disconnected. I don't know what to do."
911: "Well can't you call AAA or something?"
Me: " I don't have AAA, can you connect me to Hwy Patrol? Maybe they can drive me to the nearest gas station?"
911: "Mam...just dial *47 from your mobile, I am sorry, I wish I could help more"
Ok, so I dialed *47, It did nothing, and then, I lost ALL reception.
At this point, I was on the trunk of the car and it was about 97 degrees, I had no shade, no water, and no one was stopping to help. I was starting to panic. My foot was swelling and throbbing. I did have some water in the car, but it was almost lukewarm and I was already sunburnt from being in the sun so much that I just sort of poured it all over myself to cool off.
I was waving like crazy and people were just whizzing by me without even looking. There is nothing to even look at! It's like I was invisible. I tried everything, I even played dead at one point. After about 30 minutes of this, I started going crazy, I think I was hallucinating. I started crying and really freaking out! I was in so much pain, burnt and burning, thirsty and scared!
Finally, a station wagon with a family stopped on the other side of the road and the woman driving screamed to me without getting out of the car "What do you need?" and I screamed back "Some Humanity!!!"
Right at that time, another pick up truck stopped and the family in a station wagon sped away, I guess I scared them.
It was a man and woman probably around my parents age, but they were also acting really suspicous of me as well. I admit the car looked like a piece of crap, but I had showered and done my hair and had on jewelry and didn't think I looked that scary (unless of course you take into account my crazy behavior)
Thankfully, they did call some friends who had some gas, but they had to drive to another town away to meet them. I was so grateful help was coming, but they did not offer me water or to ride with them, so I had to wait in the heat and sun for them to return. I was also thinking that they would not return.
They did return, to me crying and sweating and about to pass out. The woman finally offered to let me wait in their truck with the air conditioning and offered me some bottled water and I cooled off and calmed down while her husband put some gas in the tank. I don't remember their first names, but I do remember that their last name was Boyd. They were my angels on earth that day.
I got in the car and just had a moment or two to get my breath, then started driving. About one mile down, I realized why no one would stop to help. I was right near a Federal Prison! NICE!
I made it to Columbia and got on 77 North, a straight shot home, but my foot is throbbing and hurting so bad, I think I am going to pass out and go off the road. I decide to stop at a Subway because of their sandwich bags, I just need one filled with ice, to elevate my foot for about 20 minutes, maybe then I can make it home. It took me about 4 minutes to walk from the car to the door and when I made it inside, the people working there were nice enough to hook me up and were so nice.
There were about 3 or 4 tables of young guys, maybe in their early 20's, I guess college guys. I am assuming that they were on their way back from a beach trip too, they looked like it. I didn't talk to them, but they were staring at the freak in the corner with the ice pack and they left before I did.
When I felt better, I hobbled back to the car to head home again and am cruising along 77 when I hear all this honking so I look to my left and there is a car with about 5 of these guys and the one in the front passenger seat has a notebook pressed against the window with "Will you marry me?" written on it. I just laughed out loud and showed him my wedding ring. I could tell he said "damn" and all his friends were laughing and I laughed about that most of the way home.
I did finally make it home alive, but could not walk. Fritz had to carry me inside and it was pretty evident I should go to the doctor, but to make a long story short, I did go on Monday and got x-rays. It was broken. The injury happened 2 weeks ago today, and as I am writing this, the top of most of my foot is still purple and green. It looks to me like I jammed three of my toes straight back but only fractured the middle toe.
The Reiki comes into this story by the healing that occured when I went to a Reiki healing circle on this past Tuesday. There was also several other instances where Reiki kept coming up in conversation throughout these past 2 weeks. I do not ignore signs from the Universe like that. I will write another blog in more detail about that experience, but I wanted to say that without this crazy thing that happened to me, I might not have been so interested in Reiki. But I can tell you that the next morning, I was walking around so much better and just felt so much better about everything.
I am healing and gaining my strength again, in new found ways.
Until next time,
Mara
