The Spinach is a GO

Finally, we’ve finally started eating spinach, almost everyday! I have always loved fresh spinach, it didn’t take much for me to make the conversion. But the girl, she thought spinach was GROSS.

Just by happenstance when we went to Costco it was food sample day, and there was a berry spinach smoothie, she reluctantly tried it and LOVED it!! I was so excited I made the baggies up at home and now she drinks her spinach 3 times a week. We also discovered that she loves fresh spinach with strawberries as a “salad”.

Since this discovery she is certain that her taste buds must be changing early and has made several positive healthy changes. We have incorporated probiotics by drinking some cherry, apple, watermelon, pungent drinks, also sprinkling them on one meal a day.

I am hoping these changes will help us move away from medications for stomach issues. The medications they have tried make her more sick, and she’s understandably sick of Pepto Bismol. She calls it pink death, and insists that they should change the color because it’s not a happy thing so it shouldn’t be a happy color.

My fridge is so full of fruit and veggies there is no room for junk! Times they are a changing and ya know I don’t mind that much. This way of eating and the food we’ve been choosing has much more flavor than store bought white or wheat bread. It just taste better when you make your butter at home, and now my little lady knows how to make butter by hand, this is handy knowledge.

This is the first summer I have NOT bought any Popsicle from the store, I’ve MADE them all, coconut water or mango nectar, some chopped fruit and BAM summer is delicious. Frozen grapes and cherries are the favorite here, though starfruit doesn’t taste so well after freezing.

We have glass containers to drink water from and now and then I slip in a smart water for the electrolytes. I’m hoping all the changes help our guts, both inside and out. It’s beyond time to get our health in order. So the journey begins…………………….

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This is where religion loses me….

I’ve been digging deep lately to try and get back my love for life, and everyday I’m finding it. I am accepting things as they are, life without my soul sister is sometimes a bit lonely, but I’ve learned to reach out to the others that love me back. So I find that I’m getting signs that make me want to find some type of place where I can meet up with other like minded people, good, moral, community minded people. I look towards religion.

I’ve been asking my friends what they like about their church, and I also tell them, for the most part I do NOT believe the stories of the bible. Some of them I believe, some of the stories that have been repeated since ancient civilization, those I believe. I most assuredly believe in a higher power, a God, the enlightened one, what ever you want to call the presence that is the light and power of all life, I believe that exists! I feel that in my heart and soul. I believe that ALL of us EVERY ONE OF US are made in it’s image. I believe GOD is in ALL of us.

But I also believe EVERYONE has the right to believe what they think is right for them, so long as they are not hurting anyone.

Where I get discouraged or where religion always looses me, is when the say someone or something is perverted or wrong because they don’t believe it. I can’t sit and stomach a sermon of righteousness. I will NEVER believe or support any organization that promotes hating or segregating anyone because of WHO THEY ARE. I could never believe in a book that men use to eliminate entire groups of people and whole cultures.

Being a Native, Ottawa WOMAN, I wonder how anyone who has these traits as I have could believe or support or perpetuate the stories and rituals of an organization that has used religion to murder, rape, pillage, conquer, and decimate entire cultures. How can you teach your children, pass it on to them, that this type of thing was done in the name of GOD.

Being a HUMAN ON EARTH, I wonder how anyone who has these traits as I would ever condone teaching generations of children that GOD is ANYTHING but LOVE???!! The GOD we should all want to believe in is pure LOVE, disturbed by HATRED AND IGNORANCE. Enrage by VIOLENCE, and COMPASSIONATE TO EVERYONE.

In my eyes, the God I know would NEVER exclude anyone from living the good life and loving the life they have been given. Every single minute of the day you can find something to be thankful for, someone to give your love to, somewhere that needs what you have to offer.

I’m still looking for that meeting place I can go to, and I hope someday that group will find me!

With all this google help you’d think I would have found it by now………

 

I ramble on again………….

Progressive Insurance BS *swear words are used in this piece.

Ok, so here’s my story one morning I had to go out early and get milk for my family on the way home on M-15 I was waiting in a line of about 4 cars that were all stopped for a school bus, clearly with it’s stop signs and hazard lights flashing. As I look in my rearview mirror I see the car behind me not slowing at all, I try to get out of the way but she hit me at a high rate of speed. SO hard that my phone that was sitting in the door handle of my car flew out the window, I was in an HHR with the window not fully down. My head whipped forward and I got a sharp shooting pain the lower part of my skull when my head shot backward. My arm was hurting and various aches and pains. The ambulance came and saw no obvious signs of injury, like blood or open wounds, but did tell me if I had any symptoms I would need to go to the ER. So I drove home and around 20 minutes later I started feeling a great deal of pain in my right ear, down the side of my neck, around the back of my head, down my right shoulder and right arm, so I went to the ER.

Come to find out I had a torn muscle in my right shoulder and whiplash. I had to go to physical therapy and now use the H wave for pain at home. NOT once have I asked this company to give me medication, yet their claim rep Kelly insisted that “if I wanted to get my medication….”. NO BITCH I want TREATMENT FOR MY PAIN. UH UH anyway….SO here we are months later and I have had small twinges of pain in my arm, but for the most part the H-wave really does give me relief. I get a call from the H-wave rep who informs me that my claim has been closed because PROGRESSIVE has stopped paying for the H-wave.

Here we are today, my head and neck have been hurting and stinging in the same spot as where I hurt it in the accident so I called the PROGRESSIVE claim rep to find out if they are going to:

A. CONTINUE TO PAY FOR THE DAMAGE THEIR CLIENT CAUSED

B. WHY IS MY CLAIM SHOWING UP AS CLOSED WHEN THEY HAVE NOT CONTACTED ME OR REIMBURSED ME FOR MILLAGE.

After several minutes of being talked to like I’M THE ASSHOLE IN THE SITUATION. I decided to start speaking to her as she was speaking to me, and after finding out that my initial diagnosis (THAT THEY ACCEPTED) was now no longer valid, and I would need to see one of their doctors to find out if in fact my pain was still from the accident, I had, had enough and told her talk to you tomorrow goodbye and hung up.

I have to call back tomorrow because MY doctors opinion is only valid if he says my pain is from something other than the accident their client caused, at that time, they will assess if my claim will need to be “re-opened”.

So I went on my PERSONAL not business PERSONAL social media sites, both facebook and twitter, and posted the following:

FUCK YOU @Progressive YOU NEED TO TEACH YOUR CLAIM REPS TO SPEAK TO PEOPLE AS IF THEY ARE FUCKING HUMANS YOU ASSHOLES.

Just under 1/2 hour later, Kelly’s supervisor called me, NOT TO APOLOGIZE OR TRY TO FIX THE SITUATION, NOT TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAY IM FEELING, BUT TO TELL ME HE SEEN WHAT I POSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA. FOR REAL, IN REAL LIFE!!!????

This response was faster than any paperwork, call, question or concern I have ever directly addressed to this shithole of a company.

What seriously baffles me is why would a professional call a victim of THEIR CLIENT TO SCOLD ME FOR WHAT I THINK OF THEIR SHITTY COMPANY.

You’re telling me a company that can afford FLO, JAMIE and their massively high budget marketing is so hard up to keep their sweet sweet cash that they are fighting me to get relief from and injury THEIR CLIENT CAUSED.

I beg you, look into your insurance company before you sign that line, find out what happens if they hold insurance WITH BOTH PARTIES involved, find out what happens when the accident is 100% THE OTHER PARTIES FAULT.

I think the PROGRESSIVE THING TO DO IS FIND A BETTER INSURANCE COMPANY, OR AT LEAST ONE THAT CARES ABOUT THE HUMAN.

Where is the Humanity??

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I’m not democrat or republican, just get that out there, I believe in WE THE PEOPLE. I feel like we should be taking a stand a NON PARTISAN stand against children in cages.

How can anyone knowing they can change this situation sleep?? Babies young enough to breastfeed are being ripped from their parents arms and put in cages with other children, STRANGERS.

WOULD YOU SLEEP KNOWING YOUR CHILD IS DETAINED WITH OTHER CHILDREN WHO ARE STRANGERS??

Those who can do or say something that will make a difference have NO RIGHT remaining silent!! ELECTED officials should be as outraged as every mother should be outraged, as every father should be outraged.

So called CHRISTIANS have no problem supporting ELECTED officials who stand by and SAY NOTHING.

What happened to HUMANITY, these are humans, not animals, WHO THINKS IT’S OK TO TREAT CHILDREN LIKE DOGS BECAUSE OF THEIR IMMIGRATION STATUS??

This isn’t something that has just started today with this president, however this is something that is on the rise and NO ONE IS SAYING A WORD TO HELP THESE CHILDREN.

There are not enough social workers at these kennels to change the children’s diapers, and BORDER PATROL DOESN’T CHANGE DIAPERS!!!!

Please tell me what parent would be ok with a stranger changing their child’s diaper??!! It’s not okay to sit and be silent!!

IT’S NOT OK TO SIT BY AND SAY NOTHING, YOU ARE HUMAN WHERE IS YOUR HUMANITY??

I am have a broken heart and bruised soul thinking of babies as young as 2 growing up in a cages, essentially alone, what does this do to their development??

TALK ABOUT A DETERRENT TO FLEE OPPRESSIVE TORTUROUS SITUATIONS……EITHER STAY IN YOUR COUNTRY AND DIE OR COME TO OURS AND GET YOUR CHILDREN TAKEN AWAY……

I’M DISGUSTED BY NOT SURPRISED OUR GOVERNMENT SEEMS TO BE UNFAZED AND UNCARING FOR THESE TINY SOULS.

Don’t forget to……

Forget me nots, should be bright red and attached to my keys! I can’t find them AGAIN. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a ghost following me since drivers ed, purposely taking my keys and replacing at their convenience. I have tried, the hook, the bowl, the cup, the shelf, the “spot” and yes they always come up missing, moved, misplaced, lost, stolen, abducted whatever the case may be…they are never where I left them, EVER!

Ok not, EVER, but for the most part I can’t find my keys. Sometimes they will stay in the same pocket in my purse for weeks at a time, that is when life is going good, everything is in it’s place and things are running efficiently. But then BAM all of a sudden I am borrowing keys from everyone else that lives in my house.

One time I actually found my keys UNDER the kitchen garbage bag at the bottom of the container!! HOW does that even happen. To support my ghost belief, the curtains on the backdoor window were pushed open that day, yet NO ONE in our home would admit they did it, UH HUH!!

Another time I left them on the tray with our fast food garbage and proceeded to throw them out with the garbage. Which turned our next few hours of the day into a garbage digging adventure, much like excavation, or at least that’s what I tried to convince my “short round”, eh because I was Indiana?? Yea, ok it didn’t work on her then either.

 

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Feeling the Emotion of Music

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I love to watch someone play an instrument that they love and they do with passion including singers. It shows in their entire body, they way their hands move, their fingers fly across their instruments with such intensity and ease all at the same time. The way the eyes light up and the face relaxes and tenses and contorts with every note. The way a singer closes their eyes to feel the music better, deeper in their soul. It’s one of the most beautiful things to witness.

There’s an energy that flows from soul straight out of their instrument, including the voice. It’s almost like the notes have a color and the whole song ends up being an enormous painting with wildly splashed vibrant hues on every inch of the canvas. The painting of music has illumination coming from some unknown source. We can all see it shining but we’re never sure where it comes from, we just know we love how it makes us feel.

Music affects emotions, memories, and the speed at which I drive my car. Shut up Drive, by Rihanna, is sure to get almost anyone a ticket and some minor points on their record. But I’m sure all songs affect everyone differently. I enjoy good lyrics, about strong women or unity, a good protest song, folk music, Native Pow Wow drumming, Pop rock, Blues, Dance, and almost anything I can sing along with, like most professional car stars.

The way you really know if you can live with someone is if you like the same music. There is no other more efficient way to choose friends, than to choose ones that listen to the same music you do and if you’re lucky to have friends that introduce you to new music, life divine.

It’s good to find the little things in life that give you joy, for me that is music. I am more than blessed to know so many talented musicians, singers and song writers. I fall asleep to music, wake up to music, clean with music, shower with music, drive with music, relax to music, eat to music, and live to music everyday.

What’s your favorite sound? Music? Artist? Singer? Yodeler?? I won’t ask who’s your favorite accordion player, because we all know it’s Weird Al.

Movie Anxiety

I have grown up watching horror movies, I remember sitting on top of our family van at the drive-in watching ‘The Hills Have Eyes”. The next weekend we either seen the double feature of “The Evil Dead” and “The Howling” or “The Shining” and “The Fog”. The point is I am not easily scared by horror movies.  Every Saturday my family would gather at my aunt’s house to watch the Saturday Scary Movie, my favorite was “The Swamp Thing”. We laughed at movies like “Friday The 13th” and “Halloween”. I loved the movies and the fudge and popcorn, those smells always take me back to the best memories.

Over my 30 year history of watching movies only one had me so worked up I was almost hyperventilating, “No Escape” with Owen Wilson. He and his family movie to a foreign country, for his job. They are staying in a hotel when it is overtaken by terrorist who go room to room killing the patrons. So it’s an action movie for sure, but when he throws his child from the roof of one building to the next, I literally had to stop the movie.

I was so worked up thinking about what I would do if that was my family and how would I THROW MY DAUGHTER to another building. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever watched. I thought if I were not a mother would this affect me the same way? I had to take a minute to stop myself from crying and calm down, I couldn’t finish the movie until a few days later, but I had to see the outcome. YES I know it’s a movie but it was something that REALLY could happen in our world.

Have you ever had a reaction to a movie like that?

Appreciation

I sometimes need to remind myself to appreciate everything in my life. Even when I’m struggling to make it to the next month, or I’m constantly saying “no” to every request to do something with my little honey. We make the best of it, attending free activities and spending time watching movies or doing crafts.

Today we met up with some friends and walked the grounds at Applewood, in Flint, Michigan. If you’ve never been here, it’s the home or the Mott’s, home is an understatement though, it’s a mansion. It’s immaculately kept, both inside and out. It’s a gorgeous piece of period art, a moment in history captured and displayed for all to admire.

I can only imagine the generous and loving hearts the Mott’s must have had, to open their lives and home for all to enjoy and appreciate. We all ran through the gardens and grounds with wonder and delight, sometimes pretending to own the chairs and benches we took solace on as our children laughed and played rolling down the hills.

I wonder if their spirits are happy with all the people their home and gardens have entertained? If they anticipated so many people would still be enjoying all the flowers and the beauty of their home. It’s definitely modest but it is also grand and spectacular. I can’t wait to go back to tour the 2nd floor and basement. I say the home is modest, only because you can tell they enjoyed the outdoors just a bit more than being indoors. Although the home was obviously spared no expense on building material and finishes, it is not a sprawling home that overtakes the beautiful land. The land is most obviously the star of the estate.

I appreciate the generosity and openness of strangers from long ago that have been positive and lasting role models and advocates for our city. Flint, Michigan is a beautiful place that has sadly been mistreated and depleted of it’s natural resources, it nice to have Applewood as a reminder of a more beautiful time in Flints history.

The reason why……..

For me the reason is my little honey. 

The day I found out she would be born with Idiopathic scoliosis I cried and cried, thinking it was going to mean my daughter wouldn’t have a very fun childhood. When she was only 10 months she had her first surgery and we learned that she would need to have these surgeries every 6 months. I thought am I being a good mother, is she going to have any kind of childhood? Will she be able to do anything other kids her age will be able to do? Will she be bullied? Will she hate me? My fears ran the wild, as I struggled with my decision to put her in a study that requires so much of her tiny body. Would it all be worth it, to her, in the end?

Before her first surgery she began to walk, she was tilted to the left. She would get herself upright, start walking, and bam right into the wall, she fell down. She would giggle and get back up, always falling into the wall. It was hard for her to stay upright because her curve was pretty severe. After the surgery, which was 4 hours long with a recovery in the NICU of a week, she started walking and stayed UP! We were so excited to see such a positive change, I realized I had made the right choice.

She continued to grow and the curve slowly became corrected. With the help of the VEPTR, (Vertical Expandable Titanium Rod) she has been able to grow without the hardware that generations of scoliosis patients before her have had to wear. She has very little visible signs that she has scoliosis, other than a very slight raised left shoulder and she is about a head shorter than her classmates, which sometimes causes emotional issues. I’ve learned a lot about building her confidence and self esteem, to counteract any negative opinions that may come her way. We learn to recognize who’s voice really matters, OUR OWN.

 

I’m glad I made the choice to put her in the VEPTR study and we BOTH recommend it for other children born with scoliosis! She’s happy, funny and full of life, without having to wear a brace or other awkward hardware. She tries to everything and lives every single moment to the fullest. My life wouldn’t be so wonderful without her by my side.

This is my first blog, I hope you enjoyed reading it, thank you for your time. This can only get better as I learn more and share more.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton