What was your very first job?
My first job turned me into the best shirt folder in the world. I spent hours folding sweatshirts around a clipboard and loading them into wall cubicles where customers would proceed to yank them out and stuff them back shaped as little balls. Sweats & Surf had secured the niche market of selling sweats in every color imaginable and surf clothing. And people were into it! Ah, the early 90s, not long enough to rid yourself of the hellish fashion of the 80s. Purple sweatpants anyone? In retrospect, it was not the most terrible job I ever had. My time as a Bullwinkle's hostess wearing a ranger outfit serving pizzas to screaming kids...that may have been the worst.
Making champagne cap chairs :)
...Except that it's still raining here in San Francisco. Every other week that is. I know I'm long overdue for a life update. But after so much time it's a little difficult to know where to start. As many of you know, I was impaled by a 400 pound ATV back in February. The short summary for the non-6Aers: four cracked ribs, a punctured lung, one broken collarbone (which now has plate and six screws over it), chest tubes, a medic jet evacuation from Mexico, a week's hospital stay and several more weeks of sporting around oxygen tanks. Oh, and I also burst blood vessels behind my eyes which caused blurry spots around my center of vision. Initially the spots were purple and I thought I was hallucinating from all the morphine. My doctor laughed when I told her, apparently you cannot hallucinate from painkillers. Not even if you take a ton of it.
A horrific experience indeed but I feel blessed to have walked away with mind, body and spirit intact. I've never been more thankful to be able to move my hands and feet than I did on that day. The outpouring of love and support from friends and colleagues was truly amazing. You guys rock, <3. And I was lucky to have D at my side, as he went above and beyond to ensure that I had the best possible care. During those eight weeks of recovery life was really simple, and despite my limited mobility and sometimes painful days, quite enjoyable. Well, except for the part where I couldn't shave my armpits. That was kind of rough. There was a lot of good food (I rekindled a love of apple juice in a box), reading, visits from friends, naps and pretty sunsets from D's deck. The urgency and need for "things" went away because well, I couldn't really do much on my own. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about people, relationships and the forces that move us in life. I don't have any answers for you but I did gain perspective for myself.
Now that I'm back at work, I'm feeling a little bit funky. Bound to happen, right? Most of it is probably due to my adjusting to the new schedule and the general insertion of me back into society. Hello, world. But if having a near death experience doesn't put you down, then a bit of the blues definitely will not. :)
