My husband + a household plunger =

 WAHOO!

(Not perfect, but good enough for sure.)

Cysts, wrists and a near miss (or not)

So...I have a cyst on my wrist. (Sounds like a rap song for the medically infirm.) Good news is that it should take care of itself in a few days. Better news is I get to wear that fancy brace of mine until it goes away. (It is like a a fashion statement of epic proportions.) Oh but the best news is that if the cyst is stubborn and doesn't leave on its own, the doctor will just 'help' it out a little with a cortisone shot. Oddly enough, I am feeling better with each second that goes by. Imagine.

So, as if all of that wasn't fun enough to learn yesterday morning (actually, all kidding aside, it was definitely one of the better options the doctor had for me), I have better news. In the form of a story.

Yesterday morning, I was headed back from my doctor's appointment. I was on a main road between our town and the next one over. And by main road I mean a road with businesses on the sides and plenty of traffic. I was coming out of a traffic light and had two cars behind me. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I hear a loud metal sound (can't explain it any other way) and the back of my car swerves to the right. I quickly put on the brakes and pull over to the side. In those two seconds, a million thoughts go through my mind, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what could had happened. I look in my rear view mirror and behind me on the side of the road, on all fours, is a deer. It literally looks straight at me, jumps up and takes off.

I sit there for about five seconds, completely stunned into paralysis. And then slowly open the door to see what had happened. The car directly behind me drives on, but the second car pulls over. The woman asks if I am okay (so nice of her) and if there is anything she can do. I take a look at the car and see a nice, large dent on it (along with lots of deer hair), but gratefully no structural damage. I thank her and tell her I am fine and that I'm glad the deer is okay. (Although, realize later that just because it ran off doesn't necessarily mean it is okay.) Then the woman says, "That thing came out of nowhere. I've never seen anything like it. I did not even see it until it hit your car." I thank her and she drives away.

I quickly text Jacob (since I was on the side of the road and could safely do that, Mom) and although he is on a work phone call, he gets off and calls me immediately. I start to cry and cannot stop shaking. Now c'mon, yes I know I am dramatic, but that kind of thing really freaks a person out, especially once it is over. After talking to him for a couple of minutes, I feel just fine and drive on home.

So, in summary, a cyst has attached itself to my wrist and a deer head-butted my car today.

All kidding aside, I can't finish this post until I share how grateful I am. It wasn't until I was almost home that I realized how bad that could have been. Literally one second (or less) stood between me and something that could have been much worse. If I had hit that deer head on, not only would the damage had been much more (it was no small deer), but the person behind me could very well have slammed into me. Or if the deer had bolted a split second earlier, it could have hit my door, the airbags would have deployed and again, the damage been much worse—to me and the car.

In addition, that woman stopping was an answer to my prayer. People that are kind are the absolute best, but what she said about the deer coming out of nowhere meant everything to me last night. I know myself and know that if she hadn't said what she did, I would have gone over and over it in my mind trying to figure out if I could have done something different. But instead, I knew it just was--nothing I could have done to avoid it.

Every time I look at the lovely dent below, I feel a little frustration that our Honda looks less than perfect now. But then I quickly remember that I was truly protected yesterday and all of the frustration goes away.

And instead, I just feel deeply grateful.

Fwimming fun

We have some incredible friends here in MA. And not just because they let us use their pool
on a regular basis. Kathy and Bryan (that was difficult even to type, President) are some
of the greatest people we know and they cannot imagine how grateful we are for them.
And for how generous they are to us. Family Home Evening tonight took on a water theme.

Ben's favorite part of "fwimming." Wait until he hears you can get in the water and play.

A chair that floats? Annie girl was in heaven.

Goggles make everyone look awesome.
But Matt manages to sport them and still look cute.

Cam, the diving crazy man. This kid is an absolute fish.

A picture for Kathy.

Relax, Matt, relax. No need to be so uptight.

And speaking of crazy. I wasn't? Well, now I am.

PS. This is how a certain someone enjoys the pool.
Happiness on a lounge chair. Oh my awesome.

Can you tell what this is?

If not, it would be a brace. More specifically, an arm brace. For my arm. Well, goes on
my arm, but the point is to try to keep my hand still. You are welcome to ask, but true
to my strange medical nature, they don't know. They are hoping a hand surgeon will.

I still haven't decided if I'm even going (don't tell Jacob, I am driving him crazy on
this one). If I had a theme for my medical visits, it would be, "So, we don't really
know what is going on, but we're hopeful we can find someone who does."

Man alive, if I had a nickel...

Jump

COOLEST

DAD

EVER!

I finally changed enough heads...

...to be able to post these photos.

Mean mom

The day after getting home from vacation.

Cousins

Great-Grandmas

Fireworks

The Allen family spitting of cherry pits

Kickball and fire