GOING LOCAL

We attended the World Balloon Convention on Sunday! I thought I was a real geek for even wanting to go but once you saw the creations you couldn't help but be in awe.

The talent and creativity was amazing. I've attached my favorite 100% balloon biker! It has been a busy few weeks. I mentioned before that I am taking a 7 month leadership course and have learned so much.

However, I am down to my last class & graduation next month. I can't believe how fast it has gone. I wish everyone could go through this experience. All I can say is that it was such a gift and I am so grateful to have received the scholarship for the Power of Self class!

I have also been working on my writing and reflections—which hit a bit of a road block. I finally understand what the term "writer's block" means. But, there is always inspiration if you look hard enough. I was able to have lunch with a bright woman—Jennifer Strickland. She pushed me through a great discussion and opened me back up. Jennifer's story is really inspiring & I have read her book twice. Check her out here.

What else? Cooking has been quite the trend in my house lately. The art of cooking in my situation is very unique but also a great challenge. Fortunately, my husband loves to cook so it's never a chore. But, recently, my hubby found a great little trend called Urban Acres.

It works like this: every two weeks you get a fresh batch of local and organic produce, fruits, meats—basically whatever is in season. Then they provide recipes to introduce meals with the goodies. My favorite part is you can volunteer your time in the market then receive your food free. How great is that? Stay tuned.

Love,
Jen

THE LUKE ARM AT TEDMED

Soldiers who've lost limbs in service face a daily struggle unimaginable to most of us. At TEDMED, Dean Kamen talks about the profound people and stories that motivated his work to give parts of their lives back with his design for a remarkable prosthetic arm called the "Luke Arm". Dean also invented the Segway—what a brilliant mind!

PEN PALS FINALLY MEET

This week I was so thrilled to finally meet Merlyna Adams from Louisiana and was able to use my phone to upload video, which I will continue to do! You'll need to turn the volume up a tad to hear the demonstration well. We have been communicating since 2007 and she is doing quite remarkable. She had a prosthetic appointment at Advanced Arm Dynamics outside of Dallas and I crashed the party!

On August 13, 2007, she experienced a sharp pain in her right side which revealed a 10mm kidney stone. Over the next few days, she was transferred to several different hospitals. At the fourth hospital, she remained in ICU for nearly three weeks.

Her body developed sepsis. She suffered congestive heart failure, renal failure and pulmonary failure. Sound familiar? Like me, she lost her hands and legs, below the knee, due to the restricted blood flow to her hands and feet. We chatted about all kinds of things and shared "tips". She is walking really well and is back to being a principal in La Place, LA. Watch her video here.

Merlyna is getting the myoelectric hands so I shot a bit of video for you. What you see in the video is not the "final" product as it is not covered. She was learning fast. It usually takes a long time to work out the use of these. Go Girl.

While I was there, I learned a lot about new technology coming out and it is so exciting! In my world it's like the anticipation of the iPad or iPhone. Loved the day! Enjoy the holiday weekend.

Love,

Jen

IS IT OKAY TO ASK?

We finally had a really warm weekend in Dallas! Ever notice when something isn't quite right, as long as the sun is out (ok, maybe a cocktail in hand) it never seems as bad!

To enjoy a bit of the weather, we were at Matthew's soccer game on Saturday. Sky was basking in the sun as well, drinking tons of water, being loved on by all the kiddos and enjoying his "king of the castle" moment when one cute kid slowly approaches.

I could see it in his eyes. The game is going and he is trying to watch but then flips back to Sky, then me, then the game, then....well, you get the idea. He was trying to support his team but became very curious about Sky and then my amputated hands and had to seize the moment.

With a very polite way about him (and one final glance at the game) he says to me "Um, I'm not sure this is appropriate but, um, um..." I said, "Do you want to know what happened?" It was as if I had taken a 100 pound brick off his shoulders. He immediately relaxed and said "YES!"

After we had a quick chat I let him know how thoughtful he was by saying it may not have been appropriate but I also let him know I thought he was brave for approaching me with his curiosity. He was really a sweet kid. Then, as always, Sky seized the moment and got the focus back on him. Ha Back to the soccer game it was!

When in doubt, ask! The more we know, the more we grow.

Love,
Jen

ONLY IN MY WORLD

How harmless do these mints look? They are so small that I'm not even sure how they could turn a nice evening into....... well, let me explain.

I saw a very artistic flick tonight only to end up buying a box of, you guessed it, Junior Mints. How do I eat them? Being that the candy is so small and my fingers have been on vacation for a while, I take the whole thing very slowly.

I was doing fine until I dropped/lost/slipped from my hand one little mint. O'well, not a big deal. I have an entire box, right?

To be clear, I did look for the mint. But, it wasn't readily available to be eaten so I experienced the movie without it. So I thought.

Movie is over, we talk about it, grab my bag and we are off. I get in the light and OH MY GOSH!! I'm still laughing as I'm writing this. Chocolate was definitely the star of my dress, my belt, up & down my arms. Literally everywhere. It melted at some point during the movie. It had even found it's way onto my cell phone.

We could not stop laughing. I think we were so consumed with HOW these little tiny things attacked me without my knowledge that we found it difficult to put together a full sentence. I mean seriously, it looked as if we fought and I lost really, really bad.

I wish I could explain in some fashion how it all went down or how to connect the dots, even just a little. Unfortunately, all I got was a great story, a lot of looks and a really long laugh. Only in my world.

Hands or not, it could happen to you. For as good as they are, beware!

Cheers,
Jen