Melissa, Oh!

Tag: Dad

  • 5 years without Mia

    5 years without Mia

    I call myself decent at remembering birthdays, but I’m terrible at remembering dates of tragedies. I suppose this is mostly a good thing. However, Facebook Memories was here to remind me at 3am when I woke to let the dog out that 5 years ago today, I was lying in bed beside my grandmother, Mia,…

  • Fear of committment

    I received a wonderful compliment from Stephanie yesterday – she told me that she admires my committment to fitness. This said during the same day that I a) had committment on my mind, (namely, people who commit to things and then disappoint) and b) started a new workout journey – boot camp classes at this…

  • Trim that ugly tree with tradition

    “I miss Mia,” Jenny confided to me the other night. “I was just thinking about her crazy Christmas trees.” My sister and I had a good laugh over that one, and we decided to file it into another of those “Mia stories” categories that just have to be shared with you. So, in the spirit…

  • Pink ballerinas, freight trains and talking mice; and yet no, this is not a post about drugs

    Severe weather had been predicted all day yesterday, but in the morning the news was calling it merely a “slight” chance for tornadoes. So I didn’t worry too much about it, and I even thought that my plan for an evening run probably woudn’t be affected. I tend to keep the news on in the…

  • She was a terrible singer.

    But when she called me to belt out her rendition of “happy birthday” when I turned 33 this year, the terribleness made it all the more endearing. The other voicemail I’d saved from Mia was recorded after the last daywe spent together. She had called me to thank me for a wonderful day and to…

  • Have a bucket list. Check it off. Life is short.

    I was hanging out with Mom and Dad last week in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Dad had a rather awkward trip down the resort’s water slide. I felt badly that I’d convinced him to give it a try and he’d clearly not had a good time, but at the bottom, he turned to me and said,…

  • It’s not about me. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

    It’s not about me. It’s not about me. It’s not about me. I keep telling myself that, but it doesn’t make this any easier. Things are changing too fast. In the past four weeks My grandmother died. My parents who live with my grandmother now have to decide what to do. And what to do…

  • Things are always better with your mom

    I won’t be spending Mother’s Day with my Mom because she is busy being a “Mom” to who she calls “her ladies” today. My mom has made a career out of being a mom, that’s how good at it she is. After raising three wonderful, successful, perfect children (haha, ok, Kevin’s not perfect), she decided…

  • Things are always better with your mom

    I won’t be spending Mother’s Day with my Mom because she is busy being a “Mom” to who she calls “her ladies” today. My mom has made a career out of being a mom, that’s how good at it she is. After raising three wonderful, successful, perfect children (haha, ok, Kevin’s not perfect), she decided…

  • ‘My Cabooooooodle!!’

    It was 1992 or 1993. We were in the family’s Astro van, driving out west. All five of us in one car, and two of us were teenagers. So yeah, you can imagine the highs and lows of that trip. Some notable things: = Dad got a speeding ticket. That was when I learned that people are…

  • ‘My Cabooooooodle!!’

    It was 1992 or 1993. We were in the family’s Astro van, driving out west. All five of us in one car, and two of us were teenagers. So yeah, you can imagine the highs and lows of that trip. Some notable things: = Dad got a speeding ticket. That was when I learned that people are…

  • ‘like peeing in your pants’

    Ah, I turn twenty-thirteen today. Love being in my 20s. I was going to write a post going on and on about how wonderful all those in my life are (yes, I am talking about you!) but I have been doing that a lot lately. Instead I’ll show you some of my super-cool presents. Pampering…

  • Even better than backpacking

    So, my meeting with Caleb didn’t go as I had planned it to. In fact, I had been scheduled to be at my sister’s on March 1. Which meant I would have been there when Caleb arrived on March 3. But my little stint in the hospital changed those plans. And as I spent time…

  • Pain-free permanent hair removal (well, it could have been the vicodin)

    So, I recently went for my first session of laser hair removal. Before I tell you how it went, I should tell you the hilarity of the day. Because of my pain medications from my injury and because of my propensity to go from being just fine to being miserable in a matter of moments,…

  • Weddings, babies, surgeries, life …

    So, you wouldn’t know it by reading this blog, but other things have been going on besides the fact that I fell on my face and have spent the past few weeks recovering. Who knew?? So, in a nutshell, here’s some other things that have been going on: = My brother had back surgery. You…

  • The story of how an intruder (didn’t) catch me

    So, one of the most wonderful silver linings about the past few weeks is how many visitors I have had. I know I’ve mentioned them to you all along, but it’s just been so touching. Colleen visited me *every day* in the hospital and some at home, as did my parents and Jeff wouldn’t leave…

  • Health update and the power of supportive friends and family

    Lots of updates. I will try to keep it brief – I feel like I’ve been talking about my injuries so much that even I am starting to get a little bored with them! But, in a nutshell … On the health front: – Every day is different. Some days are better than others. The…

  • Why I love the hospital

    So, I stopped talking yesterday during the second ambulance ride, this one to CMC Mercy. I was alone during this ride. Colleen and Jim had driven the Jeep to CMC University the night before, so Jeff drove that one. I’d been in the ER from around 9 p.m. to around 8 a.m., and neither of…

  • Why I love the hospital

    So, I stopped talking yesterday during the second ambulance ride, this one to CMC Mercy. I was alone during this ride. Colleen and Jim had driven the Jeep to CMC University the night before, so Jeff drove that one. I’d been in the ER from around 9 p.m. to around 8 a.m., and neither of…

  • If you promise free beer, you better deliver …

    So, Charlotte Racefest happened. And I was there. And I ran. And I did way better than I thought I would. In fact, I was only about a minute and some change slower than the half marathon I ran in October, and I was more prepared for that one, and that one was less hilly.…

  • If you promise free beer, you better deliver …

    So, Charlotte Racefest happened. And I was there. And I ran. And I did way better than I thought I would. In fact, I was only about a minute and some change slower than the half marathon I ran in October, and I was more prepared for that one, and that one was less hilly.…

  • I was destined to be an Aries

    Today is my birthday. My birthday. But for some reason, I’m not thinking of myself so much today. I’m thinking of my mom. Because the day of my birth was a much bigger deal for her than me. Heck, I don’t even remember it! Apparently I was impatient even in the womb. Because my mom’s…

  • It’s all uphill right now … but I have a hammock.

    Stealing this picture from Kevin’s blog because this is just what I need right now: And lucky for me, I have an awesome brother and friends who invited me to go hiking/camping with them this weekend in Roan Mountain, Tenn. We will be leaving tomorrow evening and hiking 3 peaks (a total of 12 miles.)…

  • Do NOT give grandma a sleeping pill while the basketball game is on …

    Things I learned while staying with my grandmother at the hospital and rehab center: = Nurses at the rehab center are not the same as nurses at the hospital. Nurses at a hospital are nice, with good bedside manner. And they come when you push the call button. And they don’t roll their eyes and…