Hearing loss is an emotional rollercoaster. It has its ups and downs, its twisty turns that make you want to toss your cookies, and at times it has super scary drops that make you feel like youR…
Source: The 10 Emotional Stages of Hearing Loss as told by Leonardo DiCaprio
It is Valentine’s Day and I use this day to reminisce of how Chad and I became a couple. Was it fate, the stars or divine intervention. I tend to believe the third one.
I was in college and I have had a couple different boyfriends during those years. One ended quite odd. I dated a man I worked with in St Paul. I cared for him and I believe he did for me. We had some great times together. He took a vacation to visit his family in Mexico. I come to find out he went home to be married!!! How does that even happen? Needless to say it was a shock and that relationship was over. The next boyfriend we were friends before we dated. When I went away to New Mexico to college it occurred to me we weren’t a good match. I ended the relationship and decided I wanted to look for marriage not just fun and a date.
Here is the part of the story that isn’t conventional. My mom had told me that I should have an arranged marriage. She wants the best for me so she could find someone. HA!! that would happen when hell froze over. As a joke I grabbed a meeting people magazine, threw it at my mom and asked her to pick me a husband. Yes a magazine, I hate to say I am getting old. Match.com and things like that didn’t exist. Still had AOL dialup Internet.
Mom poured over the magazine and she picked 3 ads. I was surprised never expected her to even look at it. I secretly looked at the ads and kinda agreed. I wrote one letter to the mystery man. I told about being in college and our new puppy. I never told a soul that I wrote this letter.
Around this time we gained another piece of new age technology, caller ID. My dad was getting driven nuts by this ,Chad Lundquist, that kept calling our home. We were never there when he called and it was driving him crazy!! Finally we were home and I talked to Chad on the phone. We just clicked. We talked for two hours non stop. I finally had to tell someone I wrote to a personal ad and we are talking. We talked numerous times. Finally met for dinner at Baker Square by Sunray Shopping Center. Then went to a movie with a friend of mine, she was also on a date. The night was great. Chad was a gentleman. He opened doors and pulled out chairs. He was slow to kiss me that took a couple months. It was so fun dating Chad. 13 months later we were engaged and 5 months later we were married. The story took off from there. In a few months we will celebrate 16 years of marriage. We have had our good times and plenty off of bad times. Never have I looked back from picking up that phone when the caller ID said Chad Lundquist.
I love you Chad.
We are to be getting a Blizzard of Armageddon proportions today. You know the type; the media is in a frenzy, the stores are packed and you have your rations of milk, eggs and bread.
I often wonder what are we to do with this milk, eggs and bread. Is the staple meal with a blizzard, french toast. Why wouldn’t we just have our normal groceries in the house and just eat our normal menu. I am very glad in times like this I am a caner. I can open a jar of soup, or meat to make a meal. Very handy to have in situations like this.
So there is this hype and frenzy in the air with a storm. Mind you not one flake has fallen yet but a big percentage of the schools in the state have already closed. A major metro school district, St Paul, is closing at noon. That floors me- these predictions better be good. We are still in school but the school closings are getting closer and closer to us. We are now seeing schools within a 30 mile radius are closing.
I don’t know what to think. An old fashion big ol’ blizzard would be fun. Watching the snow get higher and higher is exciting to watch. No one has to leave tomorrow so we would be safe. We have our bread, milk and eggs. Then there is this practical adult part of my brain that is saying NO we don’t want this. Our cars will be covered in snow. Then we have to shovel this snow. As soon as I am done shoveling the plow goes by and makes a wall that is waist deep that we now have to shovel through.
So we wait, and we wait. The electricity in the air of anticipation is almost to much. Technology is such that we can text friends and family far and near, “Is it doing anything by you yet.” Yes that childlike part in my soul is ready for a big Minnesota Blizzard.
I spent a lot of this Christmas season thinking and replaying memories of my grandpa in my head. First let me tell you about my grandpa. He was hard and firm. He swore with the best of them. He was a deputy sheriff in our … Continue reading Grandpa
Do your kids ever tell you something or announce something that you can’t help laugh till you need to catch your breathe. With my daughter we used to call them Gretaisms. I really wish I would had written down more of these. She was so stubborn if we told her the correct name or saying it didn’t matter. Do you remember the animated movie of a family of super heroes , The Incredibles. Yep to her it was, The Commadores. There was no changing her mind. All kids have these and being a mom who happens to be hard of hearing I can hear some hum dingers of mis hearing.
I don’t know what all influences our kids. I hope our well meaning parenting does the most shaping of our kids. I am afraid that the world and outside forces does their share also. Like a play do mold. I try to teach values and morals to my children. Mold them into someone of good moral character. There is always that play do that squeezes out of the mold. I wonder if that part absorbs the world around us. Like it or not. It doesn’t mean they will go down a bad path but they have heard it and they are exposed to it.
Tonight my family went for Chinese food. First we had to convince our son that K2 was a regular shrimp and fries plate not kids. You know being 7 we shouldn’t have to eat from a kids menu. So yes I lied K2 is a big meal…NOT When he takes the step to read the menu this will be stopped I guess. We were eating and enjoying each others company. My son yells in the middle of conversation while pointing to the sweet and sour sauce, “WHAT IS THAT STUFF? IS IT MARIJUANA?” Needless to say I chocked on my Mountain Dew and I don’t think I composed myself from laughing for several minutes. Where did that come from. I still can’t even type this at 3:30am without laughing. We don’t do drugs we don’t talk about drugs. I am guessing news or the few times my husband and I have debated over medical marijuana. We feel very different about that subject. That is besides the point. What does he think Marijuana is? To him a sweet pinkish dipping sauce. I didn’t know to respond but to laugh. My husband just said “Marijuana is illegal” I am not sure that cleared anything up for him. Kids say the darnedest things.
So next time you are out for Chinese be careful you don’t have to much fun with the sweet and sour sauce.
I have such fond memories of washing jars in my grandma’s kitchen. She and my mother taught me to can. They gave me the love of a jar. The love of a full fruit room which is what grandma had. We made applesauce and … Continue reading Jars
It is the busy time of summer again called, county fair. Both kids are active in a 4H group and projects had to be made and deadlines were looming. Fair time reminds me a tad of Christmas time. So much to get done and finished … Continue reading Fair Time
Summer is busy, and summer seems to just get away from us. Day to day chores and obligations mixed in with family fun is what summer is all about. I can’t believe that a month is left. A mere month. I also can’t believe all we have fit in the summer. Family vacation, day trips, a trip to the zoo and relaxing at the pool. This was such an uncertain summer. I had many hours of lost sleep over this summer. A husband laid off and me who had a job only during the school year how was this to work, but it did. We had a great time. We traveled and laughed and played games and the list goes on and on. God will provide was made known to me this past year. Our needs were met. The summer isn’t over. We still have a son’s birthday and a family reunion, county fairs and the list goes on and on. We trusted and we survived and we rose even higher than we ever expected. Our family is blessed with wonderful family and friends that assured us all would be fine.
A few pictures of family fun
This amazing day happened a year ago today. June 10th is a day I started a whole new being. It started me taking advocacy to a new level. It started me taking action with emails, phone calls and letters to the editor. I have truly been blessed to be a Hearstrong champion and all that that entails. I still love my Starkey hearing aids. I now have 3 series i110 RIC’s instead of the Xinos I had in this blog post. I love going to Starkey for a tweaking of programs or a fix of some sort. They are the most caring people I have ever encountered at a business. June 10th was a wonderful day, I hope I will have new things in my life soon and June 10th will be a great day for this year also.
On June 10, 2014 I was invited to attend a ceremony at Starkey World Headquarters in Eden Prairie, MN. I traveled the near 3 hours to the headquarters, I was full of nerves, and excitement since I had no idea what I was to expect. I was presented a HearStrong Award. It was a wonderful honor and experience. I hope I can get into words what I experienced and what transpired on that wonderful day.
HearStrong is the nonprofit that is held by the company EarQ. It honors individuals that have overcome hearing loss and decide to do something about it. The way they heard about me is they happened upon one of my blog posts on the SWC Blog. I was given a gold medal and a framed certificate from two great gentlemen from EarQ and from Tani Austin from the Starkey Hearing Foundation. I was accompanied…
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I read this today and had to laugh. It is sooo true. I find myself doing most of these things on a daily basis. Yes I am a super spy!!
Illustration with apologies to Dick Bruna
It occurred to me last week, after a series of frustrating occurrences at work, that my rapidly evolving HOH behaviour patterns have the capacity to be misunderstood. Just in case anyone else out there is wondering whether their deaf colleague might be a secret agent, I have prepared a handy checklist of similarities in order to clear up any potential misunderstandings.
Always first in and last to leave
They might be on an intelligence gathering mission for MI5, or just catching up with all their extra prep and trying to get some head space because their brain is fried after a long day of listening.
Their eyes always seem to be following you
They might be waiting to inject you with a poison dart hidden in their umbrella, or just trying to read your lips.
They keep fiddling with their ear
They’re either wired…
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Musings of a Momma 