Meg Johnson

Signage

2012-02-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

So now my name's in lights above the title
(or it's not on the dotted line...)
On the back lots now, I call the shots now,
when there's a contract to sign!

Those are lyrics from "Big Time," a song I learned when I was 14 and taking voice lessons. And if having your name in lights above the title is the epitome of making it big, then I've made it!

Okay, okay. It's not in lights. And it's above the ad for the Institute Valentines Dance. But almost, baby. Almost.

Sitting Tall

2012-02-24T13:22:00.004-08:00

You don't have to stand to stand tall!

That was the Miss Hotwheels 2011 platform from last year and I often think about it, it's quite inspiring. But now I have actual literal experience with standing "tall" while sitting - make that 6 feet tall!

I am very specific in detailing how the chairs in the room need to be set up when I speak. If there's a stage or platform, how the chairs are arranged doesn't matter as much, but if there's not, everyone needs to see me (otherwise it's definitely not as good an experience as it could be).

But a cabinet maker from Kaysville has fixed this problem!

I came to his ward to speak and he, having already known the dilemma, surprised me with a custom-built stage all for me! It comes apart in three sections and fits in my car and easily sets back up again! The best part about it is that when I'm on it, I'm about 6'3"!

2012-02-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

This is me with a few young women after speaking at a breakout session during stake YW conference (I'm the one with the short hair). This event was very well attended because their keynote speakers were Sis Elaine Dalton and her daughter, Emmi. I did one of the breakout workshops after the keynote but I got to sit on the stand with the other workshop presenters during Sister Dalton's and Emmi's talk..

After Sister Dalton spoke, a rush of young women and their mothers started coming from the congregation. Before they got there, she turned to me and said, "You are so full of light, I have to know you."

I think I smiled for days.

Give us a break!

2012-02-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

I broke Whit's toe. So he broke my nose. So I punched him in the face. True story.

We were watching the Jazz game and I was rubbing his feet and I guess I pushed too hard and broke his baby toe. I guess I don't know my own strength. I mean, I have been working out.

A night later, we were laughing really hard together and he came in close behind me and I swung my head toward him and broke my nose on his forehead. You can't really tell unless you feel it. But it still hurts!

I must still be miffed about it because this morning my tummy was spasming (flexing without my consent) and I flailed my arms to counter balance myself so I didn't fall off my chair and hit Whit in his face with my fist hand.

Serves him right for breaking my nose, which served me right for breaking his toes.

We now have a truce.

Chill

2012-01-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

The semester just ended and I gave my seminary classes time to bear testimonies or just share what they learned this semester. One of my students got up and told the class how he and some of his buddies were talking about how Sister Johnson (me) is "so chill."

I guess "chill" is the new "cool." I love high school kids.

Christmas Wreath for Valentines

2012-01-05T18:03:00.001-08:00

Taking down my Christmas decorations makes me a little sad. The season always seems too short to me. But what makes it better are the after-Christmas sales. I LOVE to go and get something(s) fun for next year and when I open my Christmas decoration boxes I surprise myself with my on-sale treasures from the year before.

But this year I found a red Christmas wreath ($5) and a bird ornament ($2.50) that I combined with a fake flower thing (craft-language illiterate) to create Valentines wreath!

Now I'm not missing my Christmas stuff at all.

Food Storage

2011-12-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

It was our goal this year to get our year's food storage supply and we did it! We bought long-term storage stuff like rice, oats, sugar, flour, etc. we went to the dry-pack cannery in Ogden where we met this wonderful missionary:

who helped us can our food storage.

We were mild-moderately intimidated by getting our food storage. We didn't know what to do really but it was so easy! I'll take you through it step by step.

Step 1: Find hidden location of dry-pack cannery.
Step 2: Sign in and put on funny hat.
Step 3: Shake hands with service missionaries and do what they say.

Step 3.1: They told us to get a cart and put bags of rice on it. So we did (well, Whit did).

Step 3.2: They told us to open the bags and pour the rice into the cans. So we did. Well, Whit did.

Step 3.3: Seal the cans. (They helped). You can see the stacks of empty cans behind Whit - we didn't have to bring anything!

Step 3.4: Put labels on cans. So we did. This is something I can do.

Step 3.5: Then they told us to clean up. And we did! Well...

And after 3 simple steps and 5 mini sub-steps that even people who can't walk can take (when they have their own "Whit"), we took home boxes of long-term storage food that now live in our office closet!

Now I just need to master rotating through it...

Merry 2011 Christmas

2011-12-24T12:37:00.001-08:00

I can’t believe it’s Christmas eve! I knew this day would come way, way, way too soon and it did! I taught seminary up until Thursday and it feels like this beautiful holiday is going to be over so quickly. I wish I could just lengthen out this night indefinitely. I love the lights and the unwrapped gifts and the anticipation the best.

I’ve done quite a lot of painting this month, which has been super fun. My family (mom, dad, sister, brothers) are in tradition transition because people have gotten married recently and we’re not sure what to do so this year we tried doing a homemade white elephant gift exchange. I think it’s a keeper. So fun. I have the most creative family. Ever. Here’s a run-down on the gifts:

Mom – hand-sculpted ornament

Dad – hand-crafted water tower for a model-A railroad

Sister Kat – hand-knit gloves and matching hat

Brother Blake – hand-made tool shelf

Brother Tom – hand-crafted mobile with beads and hemp

Brother John – hand-carved, hand-painted Santa Claus

Sister Mindy – hand-crafted Cowboy Cookie jar (doubly homemade because the recipient gets to bake them)

Husband Whit – hand-made juggling balls with homemade “how-to juggle” book

Nephew Cael – Hand-made, hand-carved, and hand-painted bird house

Me – Hand-painted ornament Nativity set

I’ve been really wanting a Nativity but I can’t seem to find one that really speaks to me. So it was my first thought to make one of my own when this family party came up and we decided to create hand-made gifts. I thought I’d make use of some white ornaments I’ve held onto for a number of years (I never have put them on the tree, I just thought they’d come in handy one of these days. I guess this is one of the small advantages of not throwing things away…). I had many ornaments, so I made 2 Nativity sets and gave one away at our family party but kept the other one for us.

There are 7 ornaments all tied together with twine (but spaced apart so as not to hit each other). The idea was that they could be hung on a wall or between a couple stocking hangers, but we just put ours on our tree and I like it.

It starts with the shepherds...

who bring their sheep...

and find Mary...

and baby Jesus...

and Joseph in the stable...

The star shines...

and leads the way for the wise men...

Here's our tree (with 3-year-old popcorn strings Whit made our first year). The Nativity ornaments are strung across the middle.

When we first got married, our tree was a little barren and the only ornaments we had were from my little stash I had collected through my life. My parents gave each of us kids an ornament or two each year so we'd have our own little collection to decorate our tree when we got married. I like my old ornaments, but they're mine, not ours, so we've come up with our own little tradition of making each other ornaments every year.

Our first year we each sculpted each other a giraffe (weird, I know). We didn't know what the other was doing. Our second year (last year), Whit was graduating with his MBA and so I got us both ornaments - an owl for him with a little graduation cap and purple tassel (Weber State, Weber State - great! Great! Great!) and a lion for me with a purple bow (I just liked it and I was feeling, well, rawr!).

We're trying to morph the tradition into the idea that we each give an ornament that symbolizes an accomplishment of the other person from that year. So this year, Whit sculpted me a book because I got a book published (it's being released next spring at Deseret Book and Seagull) -

He was so funny as we decorated our tree this year because he was making fun of the fact that my family writes the year each ornament was received (how else would you remember?).But it does kind of get out of hand when there are giant years written all over a beautiful glass ornament ALREADY engraved with "Baby's first Christmas 1982."

So he put a "2011" on my ornament.

I think I may write 2011 on the other side in Sharpie just to make sure future generations know that it really WAS received in the 2011 year...

My ornament I made for him recognizes his halftime entertainment business he started this year. Yes, my super smart, money-managing hubby has traded in his Excel spreadsheets and calculator for three basketballs and a unicycle. To watch the video, just go to www.unihoops.com - he's quite awesome.

Yes, those charms are a unicycle, a basketball, a music note (his song is, appropriately, "Play that funky music, white boy"), and (drum roll, please) a 2011.

Merry 2011 Christmas!

Essay

2011-11-21T15:43:00.000-08:00

I love to get emails and letters from people who've enjoyed my talks but this is the first essay I've ever received. It's written by a sixth grader. I love the description of how I was paralyzed the best.

Meg Johnson Speaks by A. W.

The students from (school name removed) walked over to our school to hear a speech by Meg Johnson. Meg was very funny, and her story was very touching.

She was hiking in a place she thought was very pretty it had red rocks, red sand, and red dirt. When she came across some boulders that were squished together she decided to jump from one to the other. She got to the last boulder and when she went to jump for it she miscalculated the distance and fell. What she didn’t realize was that she was actually jumping from one small mountain top to the next, so when she slipped she fell thirty-five feet to the ground. She had to have a helicopter take her to the hospital, and now is paralyzed from the chest down.

That didn’t stop her for long though. She then showed us a crisp clean dollar bill, and got an assistant from the audience. Meg then asked how much it was worth, after that she had her assistant crumple up the dollar bill, spit on it, stomp on it, and jump on it. Then she asked what it was worth again. This demonstration was to show us no matter how down you feel, no matter how beat up you are, just like that crumpled, spit on, jumped on dirty old dollar bill you are still worth a whole dollar.

Then she goes on to tell us a ton of funny stories about being paralyzed, and how friends, family, and even strangers helped the best they could. I loved the assembly and I think most everyone else did too.

This story was written by A. W., a sixth grader.

No More Music

2011-11-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

I am unsure how exactly to phrase my words for this blog. Most of you might know that Weber State University had a concert on Sunday where the director, Michael Palumbo, got angry and asked a noisy audience member to leave. He thought someone had brought in a child.

I understand his frustrations - when I give a talk, it's monstrously annoying when people talk or whisper. But I would never say anything. And never ask anyone to leave the room, that would totally kill the mood of any message given anywhere.

Anyway, Michael Palumbo stopped the music and turned around and asked the noisy audience member to leave...but the noisy audience member was a severely disabled girl who was reacting favorably to the music (though it sounded like a howling cry).

Michael Palumbo is a jerk but the real story isn't with him. I'm really kind of sure that he would have had a little more patience had he known she was disabled.

What's had me in tears today is the poll I read in the Salt Lake Tribune which shows that almost 81% of voters think that disabled people shouldn't be allowed to come to live music events.

Really? Is a quiet music hall so important that you're going to tell someone that they can't see it? I know that this poll doesn't really affect me - I mean after all, I'm not brain damaged. I can see any live music event I want.

But I'm finding now that I really don't want.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18110746&title=group-calls-wsu-concert-ejection-a-big-misunderstanding

Temple in Rome

2011-11-14T12:23:00.000-08:00

I met with Elder Walker from the First Quorum of the Seventy for a seminary teacher interview (they check us out before we get hired). His office had really neat stuff - I guess traveling everywhere for temple dedications can create quite the cool office museum. But the coolest was the shovel (THE shovel) that broke the ground for the soon-to-be temple in Rome, Italy.

Very cool.

Pumpkin Time

2011-10-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

We had a bunch of rogue pumpkins growing in our garden - leftovers from last year and growing despite lack of water and constant harassment from neighborhood dogs. I'm not really sure how they grew actually...

But I'm glad because I really just can't help myself around pumpkins. Those bumpy, lumpy, beautiful balls of canvas. I hate - scratch that - loathe feeling like I'm wasting time, so I don't read for fun or watch TV by myself, but I can't resist taking the time to paint a pumpkin.

And so, with dinner cooking/burning behind me in my kitchen, I sat at my table and painted through the week...

I always have the headband around my wrist and it comes in handy when I'm painting and needing to push hard on the brush. I just tie the paintbrush to my hand.

This little football-shaped pumpkin couldn't stand up on its own (hey, I understand...) so I just painted it on it's side and it's stem made the perfect side ponytail.

This is when I remind you that I'm not a "professional" pumpkin painter...just an avid one.

This one started out as a flower. Actually, they all start out as flowers... But this one turned into a cross between a gremlin and The "Count" from Sesame Street.

One...(muahahaha) Two...(muahahaha) Three...(muahahaha)

This one stayed a flower.

This one started out as two pumpkin friends but turned into a 70s-blonde-disco-superman and his fuzzy-haired red-headed girlfriend trying to hold hands above a blue heart. I'm sure there's meaning somewhere...

This fierce piece of pumpkin art started out as a flower (surprise!) but I just couldn't help myself. Go Florida Gators and all my friends from Jacksonville!

My husband calls this one "Dragon Horse."
I think it's kind of catchy.

And here they are, in all their splendor (sans football head girl because she's still drying on the table) for my 26 trick-or-treaters to see!

And I suppose I'll get started on my fall collection of fine-pumpkin-art. As you can see, I have my artistic work cut out for me:

Have a fabulous Halloween!

...all legit artists use the word "fabulous."

I'm so legit.
Too legit.
Too legit to quit.

...hey, hey!

The Cripple

2011-10-28T07:42:00.001-07:00

I was feeling overwhelmed with all that I’ve been doing and all that’s left to do and I took myself to the temple to get some strength (it’s my spiritual gym). As I drove there, I was actually thinking that maybe I should drop something…which is totally unlike me to even consider, but I really just didn’t think I could keep up with everything I’d taken on.

It was nice there and when I entered, I actually felt a weight “lifted” from me and I felt so much better. All the self-deprecating thoughts were gone and my mind was blank. It was a great feeling…which is weird…I heard somewhere (I think it was President Eyring…?) say that when we die, we’ll be surprised how many thoughts weren’t our own. I apply this to good thoughts and bad thoughts.

Anyway, with my blank mind, I was changing in the dressing room – the big one for wheelchairs so we can shift around and stuff. All the other dressing rooms are tiny. I wore boots and couldn’t zip them up so I moved out into the aisle to find someone passing by to zip them for me.

The next girl who came walking by was very willing and we got them all zipped up. She was about my age. She walked with a tall walking stick and I asked her about it and she looked down at me and said, “Oh, I’m a cripple.”

My blank face must have said what I was thinking and she elaborated for me. “You know,” she said, “a maim. Maimed. Crippled. Halted. Whatever you want to call it.”

She continued to tell me how difficult it is being her and having to keep up with doctors and medications. She kept telling me how difficult it was to be her. She said it over and over.

I asked her several questions about marriage, hobbies, activities and stuff and they all ended with the same negative answer: she can’t because she’s a “cripple.”

It was quite the weird exchange and I left feeling very sad for her. As I rolled through the hallways toward the exit, I wondered what I was supposed to learn from this.

I remembered a quote I’d heard on the plane ride home from FL this past Monday: I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.

I changed the quote to teach me what I needed to learn: I cried because I had no strength until I met a woman who had nothing to be strong for.

And the strength I came to find found me.

Good thing I’m not a cripple. I don’t think I could handle it.

Frisky Business

2011-10-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I will be frisked.

Because, apparently, I am a threat to all airplanes and they must ensure I haven't been creating explosives with my paralyzed hands and hiding them in my seat cushion. Obviously the best, most comfortable, place to keep a handmade explosive is under your bum.

The second most comfortable - and convenient place - to keep them is in my shoes, which they will remove.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad for the safety of airplanes. I just think that their predictibility in frisking every wheelchair user is a little, well, predictable. Surely any conniving disabled person is smart enough to hide their treachery on an unassuming frisk-free able bodied accomplice.

Do I look that dangerous? Or is it that I look that unassuming and surely would accept any unmarked suitcase from a stranger if he asked me to hide its contents on my chair?

My favorite is when they tell me to raise both my arms and lean forward so they can swipe the back of my chair (for explosives, of course). I end up flopped over my legs like a rag doll, much to the surprise of the frisker, who seems to always believe that if I look like a normal, able bodied person who just happens to be sitting, surely I am. The lack of back muscles surprises them.

My second favorite is when they ask me to lift my legs so they can swipe the foot rest (again, for explosives). Lady, if I could lift my legs, I'd kick you.

Well, tomorrow morning I'll be frisked again as we head out to Florida to speak. Maybe I'll throw myself out of the chair and army crawl through the metal detector.

...but then I'd have to wait on the floor while they frisked my chair. Which, of course, was the culprit to begin with...

New Wheels

2011-10-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

My one wheel went flat when we flew back from St. George a couple weeks ago and Whit has been pumping it up every morning. The leak is slow, but annoying, as you can imagine. It's harder to push and a lot harder to turn.

I guess that's what I get for not "scaring" the flight staff of the airlines when they take my wheelchair down below. Usually we take a picture of the chair just as the airline worker comes to get it so that he knows we're serious when we say "be careful" with it. I only haven't taken a picture of my chair in front of this guy (whoever takes it below) twice: on my very first flight when they broke off the brake and severely damaged the rim, and this last time when the tire went flat.

We're flying to Florida to speak at a Women's Conference this weekend and for sure we'll be photographing the chair...just to scare the person. It's dumb, why won't people just understand that super expensive and extremely necessary?

Oh well. As long as we know the "tactic" that works.

But for today, I have a different set of wheels on from a wheelchair someone gave me. The rims are metal, which is hard for me to push because I can't grip them. But Whit, my genius husband, got some rubber rims that just snap on and viola! I have new wheels, fully pumped, with rubber rims! The rubber on the rims is amazing and I've been cruising all over the house. I turned right and it was easy! I went straight and it was easy! I went over a little ramp in our house and, guess what - it was easy!

I;ve been paralyzed for 7.5 years and this is the first day I've ever had rubber rims on a manual chair - I don't know why I didn't think of this before. It's 100 times easier than the wheels I've been using because, even though the rims a re "rubber," they're a smooth, hard rubber, not a sticky, soft rubber like these magnificent pieces of sticky beauty.

Love them.

Book Winner!

2011-10-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

My hot, geeky husband put all the names of the people who commented on my blog, facebook, liked the fan page, and reposted stuff (thanks guys!) into a random generator. Then I got to push the button and it chose the person who wins my new book, The Coolest of Days!

And the winner is...(drum roll, please)...

Lex-a-roo!

So, Lex-a-roo, send me a message on my facebook or website and I'll send you this book!

Thanks everyone who commented and got books already - you're awesome!

Disabled

2011-10-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

I left a seminary building the other day and this kid runs to get the door for me. As he holds the door, he asks, "so when can you walk again?"

Not wanting to sound like a downer and tell him there was no cure, I said, "in the resurrection."

To which he replied, "Whoa - you're disabled?"

I stared blankly at him for a second. I guess to him, up until that point, I wasn't...

Me and my big mouth!

The Coolest of Days

2011-10-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I love poetry. Not the deep, intense, beautiful stuff you study in literature classes, I'm more of a Dr. Suess, Shel Siverstein kinda girl.

Bring on the rhymes.

Every so often, I'll feel super rhyme-y and just write something. It happened a couple years ago and when my friend read it, she said I should paint pictures to go with it.

So I did.

And now, 2 years later, here it is!

I almost can't believe it. The colors in the pictures are so vivid and the book even smells good. It's bigger, about 9x11", and everyone who reads it wants to buy it for someone they know who is going through a hard time. (I did, too. I just gave it to my friend whose husband has cancer.)

The message is so good...it's definitely not "my own" idea...obviously the idea that we learn from our trials has been around forever. But trials are so freaking hard sometimes. And unfair. This is why I decided to make a video out of the book, so people everywhere can feel uplifted!

So I've decided to give one away! (and if any of you know my husband, you know that it took a lot of groveling for me to be able to do this...)

You can win one free copy of The Coolest of Days in a drawing we will hold on Friday, October 7, 2011. You can have multiple entries to win and to earn entries, just do one or more of the following (more is better):

Follow my blog (current followers are automatically entered - I love you guys) - 2 entries
Subscribe to my Youtube Channel - 1 entry
Like The Coolest of Days fan page - 2 entries
Repost this video on your facebook page (comment on the fan page to let us know you did it... my husband checks...) - 3 entries
Repost this video on your blog (post your blog link here in a comment) - 3 entries

The more you do, the more chances you have to win!

All entries must be completed by Friday, October 7 at Noon.
Winner will be announced on my blog on Friday afternoon!

I am truly excited about this book! The message is so nice for anyone/everyone who is having a hard time and I am glad for the internet to be able to share what I've learned with so many.

Much love,
Meg

Beaker for Stupidty

2011-09-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Whit and I returned home from an overnight trip to St. George (I spoke there for a WCF board retreat) and didn't quite know what to do with ourselves. It was too late to watch a movie but too early to go to bed and we were too tired to go out and too awake to just sit there and so Whit started to see if he could throw bundles of mail and Ensign magazines over his head and into the trash across the house without looking. After several unsuccessful tries and with garbage and papers strewn in everywhere, he looks at me with half-closed eyes that looked like they were trying to think and says: "boredom is the beaker for stupidity."

Nicknames

2011-09-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

You know how when we were in high school and college, we had funny nicknames for some teachers? I remember taking shop class from Moon (I don't remember his real name. Not sure why this was ever a nickname...won't dare allow my mind to venture to any obvious reasons...)

But I had another teacher we just called Frau. She was our German teacher in high school and it just made sense to us, even though it's the equivalent of just calling someone "Mrs."

And so when I became a seminary teacher, I was totally going for a cool nickname. I had visions of being the students favorite teacher and referring to me in cool ways like Sister Wheels, or Sister J (abbreviations are totally cool, too...).

But no. I overheard a student tell another student how, not Sister J or Sister Wheels...or even just Wheels taught seminary...but I heard him tell his friend, "You know that lady who came and spoke at Youth Conference, you know - Fishhand!? She teaches seminary here!

Well, Fishhand it is, I guess.

At least I know kids remember stuff from my talks...

Ahhh...

2011-09-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well, the pageant is over and done. It threw everyone off that it was so early in the year...even me. But it's nice. We had the CUTEST Princess Pageant the night before the actual pageant and all the little girls (ages 4-9) got to do their 2 minute presentations and things. It made me melt.

The little girls were so dang cute. I loved reading through their applications. One application question was: What do you want to be when you grow up. One girl said: A cat.

...her second choice was a train engineer.

Another girl wants to be a fashion designer. Another one wants to be a professional dancer.

During Orientation, I met some of these little girls for the first time and at one point, I was looking at one as she was telling me some stuff and I looked at her little disabled body and I wondered how difficult school was for her and how hard it will be for her when she wants to start dating or socializing or driving. I started to cry and I had to look away.

...but she didn't know that her life is supposed to be hard. Neither did any of the six Little Wheelzz contestants. They seemed so carefree as they zoomed around the room in their mini wheelchairs and danced with the Disney princesses who came (yes, we totally had Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, and Aurora there. It. Totally. Rocked.).

Go here and watch a little clip video of the Princess Pageant and see the pictures (thanks Sierra Hellstrom, my friend!) http://www.mswheelchairutah.org/pageant-2012.html

I'll be a better blogger now that the pageant is over. This year was particularly tough for some reason and we had so very little help. But now it's over and was truly a success. Plus I've had a 2 hour nap.

Now it's onto the next....

New Laptop

2011-08-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

I need a new laptop super bad. I've needed one for a while and I emailed Whit to tell him again how bad I needed one and this is what he wrote back:

Okay, Meg, here is what you need to do:

Do a jig while snapping your fingers three times in exactly a 5 second period.

While doing these first two steps you need to say (in you head) 5 severed ears one time followed by vocally saying 5 severed ears 5 additional times.

Then you need to do the quad dance as quickly as possible and then smile from ear to ear (attached ones) for 25 seconds.

Last of all (which is really first of all) you need to have this whole recipe filmed.

After completing the steps to this magic potion a computer will appear!

Sincerley,

The W(h)itch Doctor.

My husband is magic. I did what the email said and *poof* I have a new laptop on its way!

Horchata

2011-07-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Horchata (hor - chaw - tuh): delicious creamy smooth drink made with ground rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and other good stuff. Usually served at your local Beto's.

I can drink a gallon at a time. When it comes to horchata, for some reason gulping seems appropriate and I don't mind the semi-sticky rice milk dribble running out the sides of my mouth and down my neck.

I want to have it so often and I googled a recipe so I could make it at home. It actually seemed pretty easy:

Ingredients

1 cup long grain rice, rinsed
2 quarts water
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine rice, water and cinnamon stick. Set aside for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool.
Puree rice mixture in a blender until smooth. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Flavor with vanilla and sugar to taste. Chill, and serve over ice.

I followed the directions and viola! Horchata:

Okay. So, instead of creamy smooth goodness, I created a thin, weird, foamy science experiment. We poured it into glasses and stirred and chomped through soggy-rice baby food.

Gross.

Our neighbors across the street are from Mexico and have the sweetest teenage boys. Whenever I come home from grocery shopping one or all of them rush to help me bring in my groceries. One of the boys stopped by to say hello and I told him about my horchata fiasco and the very next day he brings me this:

Fresh horchata his mom made for us! We didn't want to stop drinking it to take a picture...which is why it's almost gone.

So I've decided that there are some things in life that we just can't make ourselves: horchata, really good Chinese food, apples. And not being able to make them is part of why I like them so much. I guess if I could make horchata whenever I wanted, it'd lose it's appeal.

So even my home-made-horchata-making days have ended, this story has a happy ending: I found a horchata mix.

Mooove over, Mahana

2011-07-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

I spoke at a Hawaiian-themed Relief Society activity decorated with leis, tiki torches, and grass-skirted buffet tables with - you guessed it - Hawaiian haystacks.

And what great Lattter-Day Saint Hawaiian-themed Relief Society activity is complete without a visit from everyone's favorite Hawaiian, Johnny Lingo?

But move over, Mahana, these RS sisters have your 8-cow price beat. Each sister (including me!) left with an official certificate (official) certifying them as 10-cow women.

So if anyone questions my beauty or worth, I'll just whip out my certificate and SHOW them that I'm *officially* a 10-cow woman.

I love relief society.

The Husband

2011-07-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

I love being married! It's pretty much awesome and my husband is a rockstar.

My home office is a mess (they say all the creative ones are...) and I've got sticky notes all over the wall behind my computer - I probably should invest in a cork board... They say things like quotes I've liked or my current goals or future ideas for goals and stuff. But there're two small sticky notes that have one of Elizabeth Barret Browning's poems on them in tiny writing:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

I usually don't like poetry unless it rhymes (you know, like Silverstein, Suess), I'm sure it has something to do with my literary immaturity. Anyway, I love this poem. Mostly because I'm a sap. But in my sap with the sappy thoughts I've had after having lunch with a 50-year-old-ish friend of mine who's only wish is to find a husband, I thought I'd write my top-ten reasons I love mine:

he fixes my car (or gets it fixed)
he always makes the budget even out if I go over with buying food or clothes
he must immediately remove his shirt when he comes home from work
he always follows the rules
he never yells (ever)
he feels passionately about swearing and even though he's calm, quiet, and never yells, I watched him tell off a basketball referee at a game for doing it so much
he always wants to do better
he'd give me whatever I wanted
he grows a beard just to shave a mustache and gross me out
he always makes to-do lists
he cleans with amazing speed

I know that's 11. They just came so fast. Being married is awesome. I remember being newly paralyzed and thinking that no one would ever want me anymore. Who could look past something so blatantly wrong with me?I guess someone :)

We got married 3 years ago. I was on my honeymoon on the 4th anniversary of being paralyzed.

Here's us yesterday in Logan. He drove me to my talk because 1. he always comes to my talks on the weekends, and 2. he would have anyway because it was so far. My husband = awesome.

(yes, he is currently growing a beard with the intent to shave a mustache and gross me out)

The Train

2011-07-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to drive under a bridge at the exact same moment that the engine of a train was going over it and yesterday I TOTALLY DID IT!

I was driving through South Weber and was almost at the train bridge and looked down the track to see if anything was coming, but I didn't see anything. So you can imagine my surprise when I drove under the bridge at the exact moment the engine did!

I guess I needed to look both ways...

Owls and Cows

2011-06-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

The last time I kissed my husband I was in Paradise!

No, really, we were in Paradise, UT on our way to Cinnamon Creek Campground (it sounds delicious, I know). It was WAY further than I expected and the roads were unpaved and narrow, so I ended up being 30 minutes late (which is the latest I've ever been to a speech...ever). Good thing YW are so forgiving :)

I had fun with their theme: One With the Lord (or O.W.L.). They gave me this super cute handmade pillow:

We drove though the tiny town of Paradise and saw the most e-la-bor-ate castle/barn ever. Turrets and all - for the horses, we assume. A Kingly breed of sorts for sure.

After Paradise we entered Avon and saw a little sign that said: City of Avon, Home of 306 Friendly People.

And wouldn't you know, the first person we saw in Avon waved to us!

I caught onto the Avon spirit right away and waved enthusiastically to the next person we saw, but he looked sideways at me and scowled. He must be the 307th person. Definitely not numbered among the "friendly."

...Whit wondered if there's anyone who sells Mary Kay in Avon...

There were lots of great things about those little towns - like the tiny baseball diamond with the little league team, and the old fashioned house covered in tiny American flags, and the main street that's obviously being prepared for the big parade this weekend - there were a bunch of roped off sections and chairs from people staking their parade-watching locations...at least four days early, since we saw them on Wednesday and the earliest we'd assume that they'd have the parade is Saturday.

I want to live there.

We had to stop several times on our drive for cows...

Good thing the people of Avon put up handmade signs warning you for the reason of your expected delays...

It says: Cattle Grazing Area.

Whit and I had lots of time to practice our Mooooooing...hoping we weren't communicating anything like, "hey, cow! Come and hit our car!"

Smiles

2011-06-28T15:15:00.001-07:00

I picked Whit up from work today and stopped at a red light next to a guy in his car. The guy was on Whit's side and he looked over at us and I smiled at him and we drove on.

We turned a quick left and the guy went straight but then we saw him flip around quickly and race after us, which was kind of weird. We didn't want to drive home and show him where we lived, so I drove through a different neighborhood. When it was absolutely clear that he was indeed following us, I pulled over next to a church (nothing bad happens in front of a church, right?) and he pulled up next to our car.

He asked Whit if I was his girlfriend. When Whit said that I was his wife, the guy looked truly disappointed and said, "I mean no disrespect, but she is a very beautiful lady!" and then he drove off.

I'm pretty sure Whit was flattered.
(So was I).

Bummer

2011-06-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Whit and I came home and were pushing each other, trying to race into the bathroom. I got in first, but he tried to squeeze by me and push me out of the way. We both stopped dead as we heard a loud RRRRRRRIIIP – and Whit couldn’t go any further…

The door handle had ripped a hole straight through his pants and exited through the back pocket button hole!

...I guess this means that the door is on my team.

Bike

2011-06-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

And I’m off! I’ve got a brand new bike – thanks Challenged Athletes Foundation (and Whit…). We rode around a nearby lake, which, according to Google, is approximately a mile. So I’ve gone 1 mile on my new bike! Way better than the three house lengths for my first try…

We were quite the pair. Me on my tricycle and Whit on his unicycle – I guess that together we made up enough wheels for two bikes…

The Plan

2011-06-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

At church we have the most awesome new convert – an 18 or 19-year old boy. Whit and I sat in on his Sunday School class because his teachers were late. I had taught the Mia Maids the Plan of Salvation in the class before, so it was fresh on my mind. (Here it is:)

And so while we waited for his teachers we had him draw the plan of Salvation on the chalkboard. Here his is:

(it goes from left to right and then right to left on the second row)

I love that it's Pac-Man ghosts. The Pac-Man ghost starts out in the pre-mortal existence, symbolizing our spirits in the spirit world, then going through the veil to Earth, then dying and being buried, then entering the Spirit Prison or spirit Paradise (see the palm tree?), then the Pac-Man ghost is on top of the grave (pulling out his body), then it stands before the judge at Judgement (complete with gavel), and then he goes to one of three kingdoms: happy-face Celestial, semi-happy-face Terrestrial, or moderately-somber-face Telestial. Outer Darkness is scowling. If you can’t tell, the end Pac-Man ghost has arms, which means he’s a resurrected being, of course, and is being multiplied by 50 billion (because that's how many people will make it to the Celestial Kingdom...which is false doctrine, but it didn't get erased before the picture).

I love this kid.

"Normal"

2011-06-16T19:35:00.001-07:00

I went to the SLC today and had some time before my meeting so I went for a "walk" around the city. I went down this one sidewalk that went downhill just slightly. It was nice to not have to push my wheels every 3 seconds but just let gravity do its thing.

For that brief moment - well, as long as the sidewalk was - I had a tiny remembrance of what if feels like to be moving and normal at the same time. I'm so slow and weak that every push or reach or tug or turn or whatever takes so much effort. But weaving down the sidewalk was a nice reminder of what used to be "normal."

It felt awesome.

Last Day of School

2011-06-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

I had my last day of school on Wednesday and my beautiful class gave me a bouquet of daisies! They were squished because I kept squeezing them so tightly - I cried. What awesome kids!

Utah Choice and Entertainment Awards

2011-06-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

So Utah had their first annual "Choice and Entertainment Awards" event at the Salt Palace.

It was black-tie and very fancy. Whit and I were special guests. Apparantly, Danny Thompson got the entire idea for the whole event while sitting in the audience of the Ms. Wheelchair Utah pageant last November. He loved my opening speech and how the entire MWU pageant even came about and he thought, if she can get this event started then I can do one, too! This is Whit, me, and Danny here:

It was really well done. They had a whole "celebrity" red carpet walk where people came in and were interviewed and photographed. Don't we look legit?

There were also many celebrities there - David Archuletta, Miss Utah, local and famous actors, like the guy from the Matrix. Sports people including Shawn Bradley. Lots of radio people. TJ Fredette performed. Here I am with his backup dancers - I fit right in...

After the event they interviewed me because the inspiration for this event was my speech at the pageant last fall. It was fun to be interviewed, but I believe all the credit goes to Danny Thompson and his initiatives. Yay for pro-active people!

In Stores Now...

2011-05-18T14:43:00.001-07:00

We went to Deseret Book in Layton Hills Mall to buy my talk on CD that was just published. We were so excited, but once we saw it, we were both too shy to make the purchase. So we just took pictures in the most discreet manner possible...

I used to sit outside Deseret Book in my car and tell myself over and over that one day I'd "be" in there with something. Anything. A book, CD, whatever. I thought that once I saw something of mine for sale in that store, I'd have a sense of completion. But now that the day has come and gone, I don't feel anything like "completed," more like an overwhelming sense of "getting started."

Spoke in Spokane

2011-05-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

Rochelle is the most dynamic person I’ve ever met. She heard my interview on the Mormon Channel and wanted me to come speak for her girls camp this summer. It wasn’t approved by the Stake President, so she decided to create her own Women’s Conference! It was nuts – she organized a huge event in a month and flew me and Whit out to Spokane. We had a blast staying in her mom and dad’s bed and breakfast, the Inn at the Lake…

It looks like Zorro's house. Ole!

The breakfast was awesome - this is the "first course."

A little un-staged, light reading by the massive fireplace...

This is Blane and Virginia Coffey, they own it. We weren’t even out of our car yet when Blane ran outside to meet us. Best experience ever. Check it out at http://innatthelake.com/

We got to stay a few days and made our way to the Newport Museum where Whit was put right to work in the "Ice House."

The museum was awesome. I got some work done...

taught a class...

made some waffles...

and still had time to be creeped out by strategically placed mannequins.

We had a little bit of geography trouble when we were there at the museum. Newport is about an hour from Spokane and 4 minutes from Idaho, but we're not sure if they know that...

This picture says Newport, Washington...

but this one says Newport Idaho.

And we're not sure why these flags were flying right outside. I guess when it comes to nationality in Newport, close enough is good enough!

They had an awesome outdoor area and we went inside this cool caboose -

and what all-American (and part Canadian) caboose would be complete without, yep, that's right - Fusees and torpedoes!

We're still not sure what fusees do.

But we didn't have time to figure it out because we were off to the First Annual Spokane Women's Conference!

Rochelle and her sisters and mom (and husband) did the best job decorating and putting together the cutest boxed lunches. They even had Rollos covered with cute paper and my motto: When life gets too hard to stand, just keep on rollin'!

(Rollin' and Rollos...get it, get it?)

It took me a minute.

Whit was up first and was amazing. He makes it hard to follow him because he doesn't mess around - he was juggling 5 balls and having the women in a trance with his good looks and charm -

even making them mimic his every move...

Then me.
Do you like cheese? I do.

I like to see pictures of myself doing stuff like this. It keeps me humble. My sister told me once that I'd be pretty if I stopped doing weird things with my face.

I guess beauty is overrated.

We ended our trip with some burgers and house fries (with parmesan and parsley!) at Rusty Roof in Spokane. Here we are with the owners - they handmake the icecream for their shakes and stuff each day. Try the huckleberry. So, so good.

...see more pictures on my facebook!

Roosevelt Ramp

2011-04-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I spoke to Relief Society sisters from the Roosevelt, UT stake. We drove 174 miles (one way) through many canyons, across bridges and rivers, past lakes, and through deserts. We went through a box of granola bars, a package of Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers, two liters of water and 4 CDs...

and it was all worth it when I saw THIS:

Yes, you are looking at the first ever custom-built stage, complete with code-meeting ramp. The wood was freshly cut and it smelled like, well, freshly cut wood. The freshly-cut wood smell of awesomeness.

I was able to be close to the sisters and still high enough so that I could see them all. I wish I could have packed it into my car and driven it the 174 miles home with me.

San Mateo

2011-04-04T08:54:00.001-07:00

I spoke in San Mateo, CA last weekend for a couple of Tongan singles wards. It was awesome. We flew in Friday and saw some sights and went to China town to get some Chinese candy for my seminary class (which took FOREVER to find!).

On Saturday we went to Muir Woods National Monument and saw some baby redwood trees. Enormous. Seriously huge. I even rolled inside one with a hollowed out trunk. It was crazy.

We were going to pay the $5 to get in, but as Whit handed the lady our money, I saw a wheelchair symbol next to the words “Interagency Pass – Free.” As I sat in my wheelchair, barely able to see over the counter, I spoke with the lady. Our conversation went like this:

Me: What’s an “Interagency Pass”
Lady (leaning over the counter to look down to me): If you have a permanent disability, then you and whoever is in your car can get into national parks for free.
Me: I have one of those.
Lady (looking skeptical): Is it permanent?

And we got in free!

We also went to the Oakland Temple. There was a huge parking lot and it was FULL - even though it was raining. I asked a temple worker inside if it was always so busy and she said that this was a slow day. She blamed it on the rain.

On Sunday we went to a dinner with some leaders from the Tongan ward. It was decorated so beautifully! The table was round and had a beautiful skirt on it and the plates were blue and green and yellow and all mixed and matched. We were served Tongan foods that I’ve never even heard of and I loved every bite. We had: Egg Potato salad (sounds normal, but very different), spinach and meat stuff that was super good, sweet potatoes (my mouth is watering when I think of them), some steaks, a chicken and rice noodle mixture with vegetables, some red punch, and some official Tongan drink that had coconut milk with apple shreds, peaches, and coconut flakes (freshly grated).

I was so full!

Whit and I were sitting up on the stand, but before we spoke, the two wards each sang a song. The first ward sang “Come Thou Fount” and the second ward sang “I Believe in Christ” – my favorite! Their music was so beautiful; I really haven’t ever heard a choir sing like that before. After our talks there was a dessert table with all kinds of treats – I had pineapple pie. And pictures!

Truck Look

2011-03-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

I have that "truck" look. You know that feeling when you're hanging onto the back of a moving pick-up truck and you step down every fifteen feet or so, so it kind of feels like you're flying? And you've got to hang on because, well, you've just got to.

I think everyone feels like that every once in a while. Like when life keeps moving so quickly and no matter how bad you want to slow down, things just keep coming up and the truck keeps a steady speed of much-too-fast, so you hang on tighter and do what you've got to do, stepping down every fifteen feet or so.

My truck has been driving fast this whole month of March. By the end of this month, I'll have spoken 14 times in three states and taught 11 seminary classes. I just have a few talks left, a plane ride, and a couple classes and then - on to APRIL!

My best moments in March so far are as follows:

Making 500 elementary school kids be dead silent.
Getting a great note right after a talk. Now we're email buddies.
Getting a hand-made card from some YW in WY (ha! YW is WY backwards!).
Having a YM hug me three times with tears.
Having a lady hug me so tight after a talk that I couldn't breathe.

Things like this make hanging onto the back of the truck worth it :)

2011-03-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

It's super late, but I had to post this picture to show everyone this super cute apron! I spoke for the wonderful youth of a stake in Bountiful and this was a gift they gave me. It is awesome because it has no strings, so nothing gets wrapped in my wheels! I've wanted one like this for a long, long time!

When life gets hard...

2011-03-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

Holy cow! It is finally here!

http://deseretbook.com/When-Life-Gets-Hard-Meg-Johnson/i/5061075

The publisher called last Fall and wanted to publish a fireside and now it's out and real! I am excited because being in a wheelchair is kind of like swallowing a giant pill, but when I can share my experiences with others and help them in their own lives, it makes it all 'go down' easier. Now I can reach more people!

Birthday

2011-03-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me! Even though I have several assumed teenage children and a 30-something year-old daughter (and 4 assumed grandkids), I have only turned 29.

At school yesterday, my students came early and decorated the classroom with "Happy Birthday Sister Johnson" on the board. Best. Ever.

They even brought little hats, which, of course, we wore through the lesson. I brought an object lesson with paper airplanes, which made for the funnest birthday activity (which happens to also teach a gospel principle), so all in all, it rocked.

Some like it hot

2011-02-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

If you break your neck, you can't control your internal temperature. It just is. If it's hot, I'll get hot. If it's cold, I'll get cold. And once I'm one way, it takes forever to warm up or cool off. It's been almost 7 years, and it's gotten considerably better. The first summer was the worse by far - my mom would drive me to doctors visits and such in the car and I'd have the heat turned up FULL BLAST. In the SUMMER. Every so often, she'd softly ask if she could just crack the window just a tiny bit. I'd cry.

My poor mom.

And now, it's 'my poor husband.' Though it's nothing like it was, I still need extreme temperatures to help me regulate my body. I usually ride around in a pretty warm car in the winter, which doesn't sound so bad, but Whit usually sweats before we reach our destination.

So we were riding home from my in-laws house Sunday night and we had two of my husband's nieces with us - Vivian and Naomi. They were being super cute and Naomi was asking Whit questions like, What is your favorite color? Favorite tree? Favorite animal? Then she asks, "Where is the hottest place you've ever been?"

This little 7-year-old has moved around the country quite a bit and so after Whit answered "Brazil," he asked her the same question, to which she replied: This car.

My poor nieces.

CD Pictures

2011-02-04T12:58:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited - Covenant Communications called me last Fall and wanted to publish one of my firesides on CD. I recorded it in December (thanks West Bountiful!) and now it's being released in April! Holy cow. They designed the cover and are putting a picture of me next to my bio on the inside - but it's cool because Covenant agreed to let people vote on which picture to use next to my bio - so pick a good one for me, k!

Here are the pictures:

Yellow
Pink and Green

Blue and Yellow

Blue and White 2

Blue and White 1

Old

2011-01-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what it is about me that makes people think I'm older than I am. I haven't gone wrinkly or gray or anything, but for some reason people seem to always think I'm someone's mom. And not just any someone like a cute little baby - no, they think I'm a mom to older kids like teens.

I went to Logan with a friend (a FRIEND) of mine to apply for her scholarship there and someone asked if I was her mom.She's 18. I was 27.

I was at a service event in Murray with a 14-year-old and someone asked if she was "mine."

I was with a 17-year-old and someone asked if he was my son.

Ack!

But the winner happened last night - again in Logan - when I was waiting to speak at a fireside. Someone was being welcoming and friendly and chatting with me, and then asked who I knew there. I told her the name of the Young Women president because she was the only person who I knew (she was the one who invited me and coordinated the event) and the nice, friendly, welcoming lady then asked me if I was the Young Women president's MOM!

The Young Women President has 4 kids, so this nice lady basically asked me if I was someone's GRANDMOTHER!

Double Ack!

I felt bad for the lady who even asked me because she felt super bad! It's got to feel like asking someone if they're pregnant and they aren't - though, nothing could be that bad...

I once asked a lady when she was due and she wasn't even pregnant - I still feel terrible! Now I won't even mention it, even if it's blatantly obvious that someone is pregnant. I'd rather seem quietly disinterested than out loud rude, I think.

The Car Story

2011-01-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

My car was stolen right before Christmas! It was CRAZY! I mean, who steals someone's car? And not just MY car that's specially adapted, but anyone's car?

They only had it for a couple days and then the police found it - the thieves didn't even take off the Ms. Wheelchair Utah magnet from the door. I thought they were dumb, but the policeman said they are just "young gangster thugs" who "just don't care about anything - even if they get caught." I think that is so, so sad. I wonder where their mothers are.

I don't really consider myself disabled, or special, or needy, or special-needs, or whatever. But everyone went bonkers at the thought that someone would have stolen a little disabled girls' car. I was bombarded with news people doing stories, filming, and taking pictures. It made for a very lively holiday.

I was in the newspapers three times - twice on the front page - I was on TV 5 times (the KSL thing was broken up into segments), my phone and email went crazy, as did my facebook (thanks everyone!), and some man called and wants to fly Whit and me to Hawaii. Whew!

These are the links for the news stories:
KSL News
ABC News

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

I especially love the ABC 4 version. They made it seem like they were with me all day and night, even though they were only there a few minutes. I don't even know the lady who stopped to congratulate my car - she's my mom's neighbor's daughter :) She was very nice, though. I hope that she thinks it's as funny as I do! We're pretty much best friends now.

The police didn't catch who stole the car because they fled the scene after being pulled over. The canine cop and his dog chased down one guy and the dog held him, but he claims to not know the other two people and only paid them to give him a ride. Oh well. We found a bunch of rap CDs in the car - with people's NAMES on them! Why would you put your full name on a mix CD anyway? We also found brass knuckles! So the police definitely have a lot to work with.

One thing we didn't find was the treats in the car, so hopefully the robbers ate them and gave away the calendars as gifts. That would make me happy :) I think they at least opened the treats because we found one squished between the seats.

I think I need a vacation from this vacation.

Leave me a comment/question if I left anything else out :)

Floor Cookies

2010-12-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

here is the picture Whit took from the day I was in between speeches trying to make cookies and I fell off my wheelchair and continued to bake.

boo-boos

2010-12-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

I spoke at the Valley Mental Hospital today for the patients there and I got some major insights into "disability." The patients there look normal, just like us, but their disabilities are much more paralyzing than mine are. They don't have what they call "casserole" disabilities, like when someone brings you and your family a dinner casserole because you're having a hard time.

They don't get the sympathy from other people for their struggles. Just like anyone with any kind of unseen challenge doesn't.

I don't think anyone should dwell on their disability or require sympathy for it, but maybe if we each offered it willingly, without being asked, each of us would get a little unsolicited hug and kiss for our invisible, but very felt, boo-boos.

Reason #649: Forced Lingering

2010-11-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Why it's cool to be in a wheelchair reason # 649: Forced Lingering

I helped clean the church today and I spent my hour cleaning fingerprints off the doors. Well, eight doors anyway. I work soooo sloooowly, it takes me a while just to reposition to be at the right angle in my wheelchair just to wipe off a tiny smudge, but as I'm positioning, I see more smudges, so I slowly reposition again...and again...and...

I'm pretty sure that those eight doors have never been so clean (from the doorknobs down).

So I'm not fast, but I'm very thorough.

Jiffy Lube

2010-11-26T20:23:00.000-08:00

There are many assumptions people make when they see me in my wheelchair. People think I’m “poor” or “homeless” or “jobless” or “brain damaged” or any combination. If they talk to me, they talk slowly using small words and look surprised when I answer them.

Yes, it's annoying.

These assumptions are common and there isn’t much I can do about them. I suppose I could paint the back of my wheelchair to read “I have a job, an address, a bank account, and I’m not brain damaged.” – but then I’m pretty sure no one would believe the part about not being brain damaged.

I took my car to get its registration done this week at a Jiffy Lube. The wait was a whole hour and their store wasn’t wheelchair accessible. I mean, I guess most people would say that it was because they had a ramp – but it was almost a 90 degree angle for two feet and then the landing was super narrow. I didn’t dare try so I went to a nearby store to shop around and wait.

The area was really ghetto and seedy and I saw six homeless people walking to and from different surrounding areas as I came back to the Jiffy Lube. I was having trouble pushing through the parking lot that joined the two stores and I was getting super self conscious because I just KNEW the people driving on the nearby main road were judging me. I started to get so mad at…well, everything.

I was mad that people were judging me based on what I looked like – a struggling little wheelchair girl, probably brain damaged and poor. I was mad at the parking lot, why was it shaped this way? I was mad at me – why did I have to be in a wheelchair?

But then I thought about disabled people in other countries. So many don’t even have wheelchairs. They couldn’t push through a seedy parking lot even if they wanted to.

It occurred to me that I could go anywhere I wanted with my wheelchair - anywhere! My wheelchair isn’t my disability – and neither are my lifeless legs – what seems to disable me most is my pride.

And so as I pushed through the parking lot, I discovered the best remedy for pride: gratitude! As I pushed all the way back to the Jiffy Lube and as I endured the many sideways glances from the patrons there, I listed all the things I could think of that I was grateful for.

...and I felt so much better.

So here’s a quick list before bed:

pumpkin pancakes
Christmas trees
my husband
mechanical pencils
snow flurries
the game Scrabble
hot chocolate
down pillows
street dancers
policemen

…what’s yours?

Falling

2010-11-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

I'm considering going into seminary teaching and am currently student teaching - which is so much harder than speaking. It takes so much more time and energy. I taught last Tuesday and had to quick rush to the Ogden Golf and Country Club to speak for the Weber Chamber's Women in Business luncheon. After that I had to rush home and bake cookies to send to my Mia Maids for their activity (I couldn't be there and wanted to be supportive) before I left again to speak at Weber High School's volleyball banquet. As I was baking cookies, I had the mixer going with the butter and sugar and was getting out the oatmeal, which was on the bottom shelf of the cupboard and as I was reaching just as far as I could, I fell! Totally and completely out of my wheelchair.

I was so tired and frustrated and sick and I started to cry. I cried like a baby on the tile floor. I was thinking the whole time - I'm a motivational speaker! I'm a motivational speaker! There's got to be a lesson here! But I couldn't think of one. So I stopped crying. I sat myself cross-legged, and continued to measure the ingredients for the cookies.

When Whit came home, he found me on the floor, surrounded by various measuring cups of flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, and baking powder.

I guess sometimes we fall just because we fall and not really for any reason. So, when we're done crying, we have to right ourselves and keep cooking.

Ms. Wheelchair Utah This Tuesday Night!

2010-10-29T12:50:00.001-07:00

After falling off a cliff and breaking my neck in 2004, I entered the wheelchair world. I couldn’t dance anymore, so I tried new activities like biking, racing, and wheelchair rugby, but hadn’t found anything for “girly” wheelchair users like me.

Then about a year after I was paralyzed I heard about the Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant. Perfect!

I called up the national board. I told them I wanted to participate.

They said no.

They said Utah didn’t have a state pageant and that I had to be a state winner first.

So I hung up the phone.

And got on ebay.

And bought myself a crown.

I called back the national pageant.

I told them I was Ms. Wheelchair Utah.

I flew to New York and competed in the national Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant.

I won the Spirit Award.

Coming home, I started the state pageant with my husband. The fifth annual pageant is next Tuesday.

Ms. Wheelchair Utah: The Inner-Beauty Pageant

When life gets too hard to stand, just keep on rollin’

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

7 to 9 pm

Pre-show at 6:30

Salt Palace Convention Center

Salt Lake City, Utah

Tickets $8 at the door, $2 in advance

We can’t do a lot about what life chooses to give us.

But we can do a lot with it.

Come support the most beautiful women you will ever see.

They can’t stand up, but they can stand out.

Judge's Breakfast with Mark Eaton

2010-10-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Got to hang out with Mark Eaton last Saturday! He is the nicest guy! He stayed for hours coaching the contestants at the judge's breakfast. So cool!

Ms. Wheelchair Utah Begins!

2010-10-15T21:09:00.001-07:00

Ms. Wheelchair Utah Orientation begins tomorrow. So excited! We have 15 contestants from all over Utah - the youngest contestant is 3 and the oldest...well, a little older :)

I've got an awesome team of volunteers - thanks Mindy, Wendy, Susie, and Kimberly! - I'd fit in a little better if my name ended in a Y sound. So for the rest of the pageant, I'll be known as Meg-y.

We also have some really cool performers and guests including Craig Bolerjack, Peter Brienholt, Jason Tonioli, and even little Gabe Adams!

This is going to be the best pageant yet!

Combined Federal Campaign

2010-10-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

Had an amazing time speaking at the Combined Federal Campaign this morning! They do a lot of good work for a lot of good nonprofits.

I loved being with all those charitable people.
I loved sharing my message on service.
I loved hugging Bob Evans from Fox 13.
Plus who wouldn't love speaking right next to a FIGHTER JET?!

Check out their facebook and SEE ME!

New Blog

2010-10-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

So I am officially dissolving my more "professional" website blog and now opening up my personal blog! I have let this personal blog slide kind of because I was focusing on the "pro" version, but the more I think about it, everything I do (and I do quite a bit) comes from my heart. There isn't a distinction between "working Meg" and non-working Meg." It's just "Meg."

Shutters!

2010-06-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

I love my little house so much! Our south side is super dull and has just a boring window...bnut not anymore!Whit painted me some beautiful shutters!
(don't mind the green splotches...we don't know where they came from.)
and he even went ABOVE and BEYOND and built, painted, and attached a planter box full of flowers!
doesn't it look amaZing? Our neighbors are slowing down to look at it as they drive by. I love the planter box, I have beautiful flowers right in front of me every day as I work! (my computer is just inside that window...I can even see those flowers right now!).

2010-06-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

We started a garden!

Our onions are sprouting...Our nine-legged garden is growing marigolds, broccoli, lettuce, beets, onions, arugula, cabbage, and some other stuff I can't remember.

Last year Whit ripped out the strawberries because he didn't know they grew back but this little plant survived the thrashing and here it is!

We even had broccoli come back from last year and some lettuce that never even grew last year but is growing now (before we even planted any seeds). I guess it needed to think a little bit before deciding to grow.
ahhhh, drinks!

watermelons

2010-06-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

I started to carve a watermelon for my mom for mother's day but Whit took over - check out his creation!

the reaction was awesome...

The Many Faces of Whit

2009-08-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post today and show everyone my hot, hairy hubby. He grew a full beard for a couple weeks and then shaped it into multiple 'staches (for my benefit of course).

He started out growing one for the 24th of July breakfast. The elder's quorum presidency was in charge of it. When he started, the other guys wanted to join in, so I put in a coule pictures of their 'stache attempts :)

On the 24th, he wore his pearly snap cowboy shirt and under it he wore a shirt with this message: Guns don't kill people. People with mustaches kill people.

Well, he wasn't arrested, but he was definitely responsible for quite a few people who died laughing.

2009-07-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today I finished writing the first draft of my third book at 7:52 am!

Fast Food, Slow thinkers

2009-07-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

It took me over an hour yesterday to drive home from 5300 South and the hospital where I volunteer on Wednesdays. It was a hot, hot day yesterday and my air conditioner wasn't working. My windows -all of them - were down to let the warm air at least be moving and keep the inside of my car breezy.

I know I am mostly cold, but I can get hot, too. It's actually kind of dangerous because I can't sweat (at least not to cool me down) and I can overheat easily. I was trying to avoid that and kept hunkering down into the shadows by the door handle so I could get out of the sun.

It didn't really work and by the time I got onto 89 to go into Ogden, I was so, so hot. Hot and tired (you know that kind of super tired you get when you're way hot?). Anyway, I called Whit and told him I was picking up fast food for dinner because I'd be too tired to make anything.

Actually I'm kind of lying. I'd been planning on getting hamburgers from Carl's Jr anyway. I LOVE them so much. I can't help it, they're delicious. I especially love the Bourbon burger. Mmmm. So I was pretty excited and hungry. I had a coupon for a 2 for 1 Teriyaki burger and my mouth was already watering.

I pulled into a little strip mall area where there are a few restaurants and shops and things. Carl's Jr is there and it's really convenient because it's like 2 minutes from our house.

But I was disappointed that there was a long line. Two cars, then me, all waiting to order through the box. I was frustrated because I was hot and the sun was beating inside my car. I kept hiding in the shadows to at least get a little relief. It didn't really work and I was getting hotter. I started fanning myself with my Teriyaki Burger coupon.

The two cars were taking freaking forever. I was like come ON. Order already. By the time my turn came I was a little hurried and asked what their specials were. 99 cent crisp burritos. Carl's Jr also has like a small Green Burrito-type menu, I guess for competition purposes. That wasn't what I wanted, though.

So I told the guy I wanted two Teriyaki Burgers and I had a coupon.

"What?" came the static-y guy on the other end.

I said it louder: "Two Teriyaki Burgers and I have a coupon."

"Sorry. What is your order?"

"Teriyaki Burgers. The Teriyaki Burgers!" I yelled.

"What?"

Ugh! Come on! "Two TERIYAKI BURGERS and I have a COUPON!" I practically screamed. Geez.

"Um...This is Taco Maker."

Finally complete!

2009-07-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

The duplex is done! We finally finished all that work – and by “we,” I mean “Whit.”

That duplex was a monster – it’s only 2-bedroom, 1-bath, but it seemed to need everything! For the entire month of June (and the last part of May) he worked straight through his lunch hours and clear until 10 o’clock every night. He watched no TV the whole month. He always eats fast, but he ate particularly fast so he could hurry over and keep working.

Here is his list:
Rebuilt the hallway floor because it was soggy wood. Then he tiled it.
New back door. Paint it.
New tracks for both bedroom closets and hall closets.
New light fixture in Master
Repaint entire place. Patch holes (many, many holes to patch. The guy who lived there before punched holes everywhere, plus they had posters covering every square inch!)
Paint kitchen cupboards
Re-do all baseboards
new stove
New kitchen sink plumbing stuff (he worked upside down for hours!)
New plumbing for toilet, bathroom sink
New bathroom fixtures
New flooring throughout – bathroom and hall were tiled, carpets in bedrooms and front room were pulled and hardwood underneath was refinished.

Geez. That doesn’t quite seem like a very long list…I’m sure I forgot something. He worked so hard. I am so lucky to have such a hard-worker! Let us know how you like it!

He did awesome and escaped injury...almost entirely! The very last day, in the very last hours, he cut his left thumb with a razor blade and his right thumb on a light fixture. They're both really, really bad! Poor Whit!

MWU Float

2009-07-06T14:24:00.001-07:00

We did a float in the Kaysville 4th of July parade! It was pretty fun. The parade theme was “Proud to be an American” and we wanted to do something catchy with that song, so we made banners that read: Proud to be an America, where there’s just a-bil-i-ty!

All three titleholders rode with 362 kids. It was fun.

Our Growing Garden Part I

2009-06-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

Our Growing Garden Part II

2009-06-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

We've had garden success! It's been fun watching the plants grow. So far we've eaten parsley, chives, spinach, arugula, broccoli, and even strawberries!

We picked some broccoli, but I didn't cook it in time and it flowered!

Even our flowers are growing! We have mini pansies (I heard someone call them Johnny Jump-ups) that are right outside my door and it makes me happy to see them every morning when I see Whit off to work.

And our huge geraniums that JMom gave us are blossoming so big - I love it!

A Hendleday...

2009-06-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

My mom called me the other day and told me how excited she was because she found a xylophone at a yard sale.

"Why did you buy a xylophone," I asked. None of us play the xylophone.

"To go with the lute!" she said.

"When did you get a lute? Why do you even have a lute?" I asked.

"Because you need more than a hand drum," she said.

"What? Why do you have all these instruments?" I asked.

"Well, I've been getting them when I see them so we can all play them when we're together on our Sundays! I have a drum, a lute, a xylophone, one, no two sets of maracas, a couple tambourines, a zither, and a train whistle!"

"What?!"

"Yeah! I'm so excited! I know it will be so much fun. Your dad thinks I'm crazy."

"Everyone thinks you're crazy."

But there are two things I love most about my family: 1. whatever happened, they're on my side, and 2. days like this:

Unofficial Best Aunt of the Year Award

2009-06-27T12:34:00.001-07:00

I got this letter in the mail from Ellie (Whit's sister, Brook's, oldest daughter):

It says:

Dear Aunt Meg,

You are my hero. Really, honest! I don't think if I had that accident I would be able to wake up every day with a smile on my face. And I wouldn't be able to draw as good as you. And I would not be brave enough to bring Ms. Wheelchair to Utah. I think if there was an aunt of the year award you would win it. You are the best aunt I could ever have

YOU ROCK!!

Love,

Ellie

When I read it, my heart went bling :)

Duplex - a work in progress

2009-06-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

The duplex is coming along really well. Whit has had a lot of help from our families to do the work - and there is so, so much work. Everyone has come to help - Tom, Hendlemom and Hendledad, John, Tawnee, and even Ian (he painted the doors!). Jared came for a few hours and did some major sanding on the wood floors; I'll post some pictures in a day or so when I show you all just how gorgous it is. Whit still has some small stuff to do like fix all the sinks (they leak), paint base boards, put the light switch covers back on, etc. It looks so gorgeous that the first potential rennters from the KSL ad took it and will move in sometime during July. We are so grateful for everyone!

Here are some working pictures for you! Kaila helped a lot with painting. Whit got a paint gun from Paige and couldn't quite figure it out at first...

see it squirt?

it was squirt, paint, squiet, paint...

good thing the carpets are coming out!

Kaila kept going back to our house to research the gun online. They figured it out :)

So, it didn't really save a lot of time. But Whit had fun using it.

Lots of fun!!

Haircut

2009-06-27T11:56:00.001-07:00

Before:
During:
After:

Head wars

2009-06-10T08:11:00.001-07:00

I had this pounding feeling like I should visit my neighbor from across the street. Her husband had left her and I am her visiting teacher, even though she's inactive. It went on for a couple days and I never acted on it. (In my defense, it's not like I can go knock on her door, I have to just sit at the bottom of her stairs and throw rocks until someone hears me - or I just wait until I see her outside already...which is rare). Anyway, an easy opportunity never came and late Friday night I baked some cookies to take to her Saturday morning (why do we always need a reason to visit?) Anyway, Saturday morning I was getting ready to take her the cookies and Whit was putting on his grubby work clothes because he had to go help someone move (since he's been in the Elder's Quorum presidency, he's had to do a bunch of stuff for the members of the ward). He called the president to find out the address of where to go and guess what - it was my neighbor across the street. She was moving away and I didn't even know. Sigh. I'm the worst visiting teacher ever.

Too bad that backwards isn't an option.

I decided then that whenever I get a nagging feeling like that, I'm going to act (whatever it is). Since then, I've done some weird things, but it's always turned out sucessful - and not just for others, but for me.

Like, I was driving through my neighborhood and I saw a nice looking black lady lady on a motorized scooter and a feeling came that I needed to stop and ask her to be in the Ms. Wheelchair Utah pageant. I was like, no way! And I sped up my car to drive faster. First of all, it's awkward in anycase to invite someone to be in the pageant, every time I'd done that, they get offended (not joking), so I only do it through referrals now. Second, she was in a scooter, not a wheelchair. Scooters have a bad rep in the real wheelchair world, they're reserved for older people (which is good, they sometimes need that kind of help) and fat or lazy people (am I letting too much of my awful self show thru this post?). But as I sped away, I remembered that I'd PROMISED myself I'd act on those feelings. So I rolled my eyes and turned my car around to go ask her (really though, what was I going to say? "Hey, I can see you're not walking. I can't wak either. We have tons in common. Let's be friends.")

I'm so sure.

But I did and said something not unlike what's above. But it was weird - she was so excited about the pageant and said she would definitely do it (that was a first for me). Even more though, she was excited that I'd stopped to talk to her. She asked about my car. She was really nice. When I was ready to leave she grabbed my hand and said in a very born-again Christian way that she was sure God had sent me.

I like it when stuff works out :)

Handsome Hubby

2009-05-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Whit and I eat lunch together every day, but we picnic it on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I'm already at the college taking a class. It's a nice change and the weather has been really warm, so I love it. We ate together yesterday a little ways from a small group of girls from my class. We finished all at the same time and Whit went back to work and I went back to class with all these girls. In the elevator, one girl asked if that guy I was eating with is my husband. When I said that he is, she was like, "dang- he's cute!" and all the other girls agreed.

They are so right!

Hmph.

2009-05-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

For the second time in as many months, someone has asked me if another ADULT was my offspring. This was pretty funny the first time - Ha Ha, the lady probably didn't even look at me - but the second time the person who asked me is a lady I see on a weekly basis! I met this kid (well, if 20 is a kid) when he helped me take groceries to my car from the store. He is new to Utah and wanted something to do so I invited him to volunteer at the hospital the next day. He met me there and a nurse (who I KNOW) asked me if this 20-year-old kid was my son.

Did I mention he is 20?

This is only kind of funny the second time. Do I look maternal? Whit says that instead of waiting, I should just introduce whoever I'm with as my child, that way they will say something like "oh honey, you look way too young to have a child that old," and I can start piecing together my shattered confidence through their compliments. Yes. I think I will. I will now refer to Whit as my son. Go ahead, tell me no one will believe me - that's exactly what I want to hear.

Summer Projects

2009-05-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

One thing I love most about Whit is that he's a doer. If he has a good idea, he acts on it immediately. And it never matters if he even knows how to do whatever it is.

Instead of wasting time at the car shop, Whit fixes both our cars. He's never been trained in car-fixing, so he researches online and in the car manuals how to fix stuff - and they both work great! Instead of calling a plumber to fix the chaotic mess of a sprinkler system we had, Whit spent hours researching, building, and rebuilding the entire sprinkler system. Now it’s on timers and will go off in the middle of the night. Yay!

One major summer project Whit has accomplished is building us a garden. He researched square foot gardening and built one up high so I can reach it. He wanted to make sure it was secure, so instead of just four legs, he built it with nine.

Heh heh heh

Square foot gardening is the idea that you can grow 16 squre feet of garden and have it be super productive. It’s basically the soil that makes it so good– vermiculite, manure, and top soil. It never touches the rest of the ground, so weeds aren’t a big issue.

We planted –
basil
tall onions
garlic (we’re both not sure why)
lettuce
spinach
beets
carrots
flowers
brussel sprouts
parsley
broccoli
tall onions 9yes, again – we really like these)
arugula
flowers (they’re good for attracting bees)
cucumbers – we’ll plant these when it gets warmer
potatoes (we’ll plant these when our little potato pieces sprout eyes…they’re currently on our kitchen table)

We also have a longer garden bed running by our carport where we put JMom’s old orange wheelbarrow and planted strawberries. My dad came and planted yellow squash and acorn squash there also (we love squash). We also have big pots and we planted red peppers, cherry tomatoes, peas, and lima beans fresh ones taste so, so good, not anything like canned ones).
So, my wonderful husband has been pretty busy with his summer projects…and it’s only May!!!

Inner-City

2009-05-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the inner-city, I have news...or maybe I should say "holla! Let me give yous the skinny on what's going down in our 'hood!" Apparently we live in an inner-city ward. We heard a new couple missionary say that about us and we laughed, then we heard it from the Stake President. Huh. I always imagined I'd feel unsafe if I lived somewhere where we had to have bars on our windows...oh wait...we DON'T have bars on our windows!

Whit just got a new calling to 'seek out the poor' in our inner-city ward. He was called as the second counselor in the Elder's quorum presidency. We're both pretty excited, he'll be pushing the home teaching, apparently that's a huge deal with our for us ruffians. President Monson said we're supposed to 'seek out the poor', so that's Whit's new church job.

He's pretty excited because his new best friend is the president. They both play basketball and carried their ward team pretty far. They work really well together and it seems like it's going to be fun and productive.

...or maybe I should say, "they's homies who know how ta make stuff happen."

Faith

2009-05-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is 'Faith' This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 3 legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which had to be amputated. He of course could not walk when he was born.

Even his mother didn't want him. His first owner also didn't think that he could survive. Therefore, he was thinking of 'putting him to sleep'. By this time, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him. She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself. Therefore she named him 'Faith'.

In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfing board to let him feel the movements. Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and rewarded for him for standing up and jumping around. The other dog at home also helped to encourage him to walk. Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward.

After further training in the snow, he now can walk like a human being.

Faith loves to walk around now. No matter where he goes, he attracts all kinds of people. He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared in various newspapers and on TV shows. There is even one book entitled 'With A Little Faith' being published about him. He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies. His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul'. In life there are always undesirable things. Perhaps we can feel better about ourselves if we realize just how good we have it. I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone and that everyone can appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day that follows. Faith is the continual demonstration of the Strength of Life.

Rain Fall

2009-04-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

I fell out of my car on Tuesday, April 14, 2009. It was after my genealogy class (yes, I take a genealogy class, I have now entered womanhood). I got all my dad’s names, he’s got like 37,449, some crazy amount but he didn’t send any to the temple because he just didn’t know how and it’s very, very difficult to learn from the old people at the genealogy library, so no one wants to. Anyway, I was leaving the class and getting into my car, but it was raining very hard. I positioned the slideboard and slid across, but the wetness of the board stuck to my jeans and I pulled it across before I was over, so the chair slid away and I was barely in the car with the sideboard. The slideboard fell to the ground and I went with it (after a lot of struggling to pull myself inside the car). I fell into a puddle of water. My slideboard was on the ground next to me and the wheelchair was also. I was soaked on the underside because of the puddle, but I was soaked on top because it was raining so hard. I was just soaked.

Worst of all, I was so embarrassed. I was sitting in a water puddle in the rain and I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t climb back into the car (even though I tried) and I couldn’t call Whit because I had already thrown the phone to the passenger seat with my purse. So there I sat, looking pathetic and feeling even worse. The only thing I really could do was wait for someone to come by so they could hand me the phone so I could call Whit to come help me. Everyone at that place is super old and for sure they wouldn’t be able to do anything themselves.

A big white van pulled out of its parking stall and passed me slowly, but didn’t stop. Some old people walked by, but I don’t think they saw me through the pouring rain. I sat for a while (it felt like forever) and decided I’d have to get my phone myself. I couldn’t get it through the car, so I had to scoot around the whole car and open the passenger door to get it. Scooting is just jerking my whole body in the direction I need to go. I can go forwards or backwards only, backwards is easier –and better in this case because I was facing the same direction as the car and it would be easy to go backwards around the back of the car. I had to go slowly though and be very careful so I didn't slide my body across the gravely pavement and get a sore on my legs or bum. Sore-caused infections are the number one cause of death for spinal cord injuries and they are a big no-no – they take months to heal and you’re bedridden the entire time. So I began my treacherous, death-defying, scoot, but I only go like six inches before 'Grandma Insane' spots me.

She’s a very old lady and she walked by once on the sidewalk, then turned around and walked by again, then one more time really slow (she was already really slow to begin with, so I mean REALLY slow). I don’t know her age, but she had shoulder length (with bangs) dyed Fowler-brown hair that was thin. She had lots of wrinkles and was very thin herself, not just skinny, but frail thin. She came up to my side of the car and said with a sweet, shaky voice, “You know, you probably don’t need my help, but I just wanted to know if there was something I could do.”

I told her I couldn’t get in myself and asked her if she could please hand me my cell phone so I cold call my husband. I had to convince her that he worked close enough to come help me, but even then she wouldn’t get me my phone and insisted that she could pick me up. I was like, “No thanks, I really don’t think –“

“Oh yes,” as she moved the wheelchair – barely because it’s heavy and she tried to pick it up by the handles and shift it, “I think together we can do it.”

“No please,” I begged, “you don’t understand, just get me my phone and I’ll call my husband, he’s just one minute away and he’ll be here fast!”

Meanwhile, rain is pouring down and she is coming closer.

“I think this will work,” as she picks up my left arm with both her hands, expecting me to miraculously stand up.

“No, no, please, just hand me my phone, or go inside and grab somebody – anybody –to come out and help us!” I was thinking that somebody else would get me my phone.

“Oh come on, honey,” as she bends down and grabs me like she’s picking up a 3 pound toddler, you know, with both hands in the armpits. “One…” I look at her through the pouring rain in frustrated disbelief. “Two…” I close my eyes and hope she doesn’t fall on top of me in her futile attempt. “Three…”

And if I wasn’t there I would not have believed it. That frail, shaky, old woman, who is half Kat’s size, single-handedly picked me up and shoved me into the driver’s seat, then turned, and shuffled away.

I guess miracles come in many shapes and sizes...and ages.

Car

2009-04-24T07:34:00.001-07:00

Last night, Whit and I opened a bottle of Martinelli's and snuggled close on the couch (with the laptop) and paid off our Subaru! Yay! We toasted and cheered and smooched.

Babies

2009-04-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

I guess it's because I'm in a wheelchair, but no one ever asks us when we're going to have kids. Just for both of you blog readers, yes, I can have kids. Inside I'm all normal, so I just have to be a little careful to plan stuff like making babies. Anyway, we watched our nephew Cael last weekend and when he went out with Whit to run errands, he asked the faux paus question: Are you guys going to have kids? Can Meg even have kids? Whit said he laughed a little and said that yeah, Meg can have kids and we'd have them someday. Whit said that Cael was quiet for a minute and then asked, "Will they be in wheelchairs?"

heh heh heh

(just for the record, if anyone's confused, no, spinal cord injuries are not genetic)

Easter

2009-04-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Easter is the second biggest holiday at the Hendleman house. We do the whole egg hunt and we have an Easter Egg Cupcake-off (even though no Hendlemen really like cake).

This year, the hunters were:
Tom
Jamie
Gabe
Kat
Blake
Cael
Whit
Meg
Hendlemom
Hendledad
*John is at training and Mindy was at work.

and the rules were:
anything goes. But if you find a sticker, you have to put it on your head to get a prize. Prizes include anything that was too big to fit in the eggs (like giant sticks of beef jerky).

Hendlemom put plastic lips in the eggs. It made for some fun smooching.

We had our second annual Cupcake-off. Last year’s was immensely disappointing to Whit, who was new to the Hendleman house – when we said “Cupcake-off,” he undoubtedly had visions of mounds of cupcakes – chocolate frosted, sprinkles, candies – the works. He was surprised (to say the least) when we arrived, with our “normal” cupcakes in tow, to see the competitors: Kat had dished sugar-free homemade tapioca into little cups and Hendlemom had crafted tiny pie crusts filled with hollandaise sauce and stood three spears of asparagus tied with a red pepper bow in it. Azucena, had she been able to make it, would have brought her cupcakes made of play dough. Whit went ballistic – “Don’t call it a Cupcake-off if it’s a One-Serving-off!” He never let it die all year; whenever we went to my mom’s, he’d ask if we were having asparagus cupcakes.

So, this year, the rules were a little more specific and the entries were a little…sweeter.

Cael frosted chocolate chip bottom brownie cupcakes (that Kat made).
Kat had brought half a cake leftover from their adoption celebrations.
Tom made nutty caramel swirled brownies.
I made egg-shaped cakes filled with whipping cream and drizzled with strawberry syrup.
Hendlemom made ginger cupcakes topped with whipping cream, chocolate candies, and a miniature second ginger cake (Whit said she definitely made up for last year)

We voted and I won – whew. I love winning.

I was talking to Blake and Tom afterward, telling them that the strawberry syrup I drizzled over the cakes had initially started out as strawberry jam. Whit said he really liked homemade strawberry jam, so I tried to make some, but just ended up with really thick syrup – you couldn’t even tell that there were any strawberries to begin with except that it tasted super strawberry strong. The next part of the conversation went like this…

Tom: And you used the syrup in the cupcakes?
Meg: Yeah, I drizzled it on the tops.
Tom: They’re all pink. It looks like you did more than drizzle.
Meg: I had a lot of syrup.
Tom: So the syrup was supposed to be jam?
Meg: Yep.
Tom: So…you’re telling me that you soaked the cupcakes in failure?
Meg: Well, yeah, I guess so. But I won, didn’t I?
Tom: And so, in failing, you succeed.

- dun dun dun –

Stand by me

2009-04-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

This link is wonderful.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow!

2009-04-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

This happened last Christmas time, but I keep thinking about it and wanted to share.

I had just learned how to tease my hair with a comb. To do it, I take a stretchy headband and wrap it around my left hand three times, then I wedge the comb in the band and push it through some of the teeth so it holds. My left hand had a surgery a long time ago, so it can kind of hold things all alone, so I use that hand to hold the hair and the comb to do the teasing. My hair has been the single largest frustration since being paralyzed, no one could get it to look how I want, especially me. So learning this was a big, big deal.

I'd been doing my own hair for a couple weeks (and loving it). I keep my stretchy headband around my right wrist like a bracelet, always at the ready, and a comb in my purse, in my car, and with my make-up. But, I'm awesome at leaving my purse comb in my car or putting my car comb in my purse or taking my make-up comb with me when I leave the house. I was always losing my combs at first - I guess I just wasn't used to having them.

Around Christmas time, I had lost them all and needed one - badly - to do my hair for Sunday. Late Saturday night, Whit and I went to Big Lots near our house for the specific purpose of purchasing a comb. Since our list was small, we didn't get a basket. As we roamed the store, we found other "necessities" we needed like toilet paper, chips, some peanuts, and a few other things in addition to a small pack of combs. We didn't have any basket, so we just piled everything onto my lap.

We checked out and paid with our card (we rarely have cash on us). Whit carried the bags and I was right behind him when I looked on my lap and saw the combs! We didn't pay for them. We looked back into the store and, because it was so late, they just had one cashier open and the line was so long! Whit grunted that he didn't want to buy just the 45 cent combs on the credit card since we didn't have any cash on us.

Grr!

I was so grumpy, but he promised me that he'd look through the house and find my combs when we got back.

On our way back to our house, we stopped by Betos and got a burrito. The lady overcharged Whit's card by a lot but didn't know how to refund his money on the card, so she just gave him cash back - yay! I was excited and told him he could run back into the store and buy those combs now! We weren't very far from the store anyway - but instead of turning right to go back to the store, he turned left to go back home!

I was freaking out, telling him that I'd already looked everywhere in the whole house and he'd never find them! He promised me that he would and kept driving. At home, he sat me on the couch while he looked. I was super grumpy because I already had looked and didn't think he could find them.

It has been a sore spot in our marriage that Whit isn't as lavish with his compliments as I'm used to. Sometimes it's hard when he doesn't take note of how I look. I'm definitely used to more verbal praise.

But I could see that he was trying and I want to be a good wife. I tried to be calm and tell him that without my comb, my hair isn't going to look very good tomorrow (for church) and if he could please, please just tell me that he likes my hair, it would make me feel so much better tomorrow morning.

So exasperated, he comes into the family room and, with both arms wide, tells me with his whole being: I DO like your hair tomorrow!

April Fools

2009-04-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Little brother John got married yesterday in the Bountiful Temple. He was always such a Don Juan that Mom always thought he’d be the first (but third is good, too). It was fun and the reception was really pretty. Mom did all the food and it was amazing. She made teriyaki meatballs, sausage in dilled hollandaise, crab in cabbage leaves, little cheesecakes, chicken “pillows,” raspberry asparagus, iced grape kabobs in sorbet, and tortilla sandwich wraps. She also had a fifty pound block of cheese with tons of fruit. We all helped to pull it together (I took pictures) and it was a success!

John is very sentimental (like he keeps funny stuffed animals and things from who knows how long ago). Anyway, it was important to him that his first night with his new wife they sleep in “their” bed in “their” own place. But “their” bed is really his bed and “their” place is really his parent’s place because they’re staying in the basement for a couple months before they move to Belgium for a while John does some massage training. But John insisted on staying there for their “honeymoon” night and so my parents booked a hotel to get out of the way. When Whit heard this, he couldn’t believe it and was convinced that this was the perfect chance for some April Fool’s fun. He got a hold of 3,000 square feet of industrial saran wrap and he, Blake (Kat’s hubby), Tom (brother), Cael (nephew), Patrick (friend), and Jeff (friend) went to “their” place and seriously saran wrapped their bed – both ways and around the edge.

They put some rose petals on it so it didn’t look like such a heartless prank. But after it was completed, Tom said they probably should have first wrapped up the sheets and then the outside comforter. So they threw an extra blanket on top and wrapped it up again.

They then signed their names all over it…including the names of those of us who had no involvement whatsoever (Kat and me…and the dog).

Of course, why would five guys stop with the bed? Jeff brought some rootbeer bottles and a bucket of ice and they wrapped it up. Then they wrapped up miscellaneous items on the night stand and around the room. Then they scoured the ENTIRE house and hid every sharp object they found. They had one pair of scissors and wrapped it up tight and left it on the bed (they now regret not wrapping it INTO the bed).

Whit has not stopped laughing about it.

Compliments

2009-03-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

The best compliment I've ever received was from my Victorian Literature professor. He was about a hundred years old and was the most energetic speaker I've ever heard. I don't remember what prompted it, but after class one day he stopped me and exclaimed, "Meg, you are so full of blithe!"

The weirdest compliment I've ever received happened last night. I spoke for Whit's boss' wife's Relief Society group in their ward in Layton. It was combined with the Young Women and another ward also, so it was a packed room, which was fun. Afterwards a lady, about late thirties, came up to me with her compliment, "Sister Johnson, you're so beautiful, you must be Kyle Korver's sister! We just love him."

Past my prime?

2009-03-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

I took a little friend (Sophia) up to Utah State last Thursday to watch her compete for a scholarship. She had to give a presentation to a panel of judges, but it wasn't just a short event- it took all day long. While we were eating breakfast, the head judge came up and met our table. Even though there were hundreds of little high schoolers there, this judge knew the presenters because there were only 15 who were there to compete for the scholarship and she'd been communicating with them through emails for the past few weeks. After she recognized Sophia, she looked at me and asked if I was her MOTHER.

Do I really look like any child of mine should be attending college?

Twenty-Five Simple Pleasures

2009-03-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

1. eating lunch with Whit
2. cold days with lots of warm sunshine
3. wildflower fields
4. when Whit twitches a lot just before he falls asleep
5. flash drives
6. red cars
7. hot sandwiches
8. handwritten thank-you notes
9. when Whit tells me every detail of every scene in a movie just to tell me the ending line
10. handmade quilts
11. driving 90
12. statues of animals
13. colored cardstock paper
14. cupboard turntables
15. pull-top cans
16. hot showers
17. watching someone get a good idea
18. kittens
19. puppies
20. painted toenails
21. completing a project
22. heaters
23. fast copy machines
24. yogurt covered pretzels
25. competing in something mundane

My girlfriend did this on her blog and challenged anyone who read it to do the same. It was a little harder than I thought...I must be out of practice! Tony Robbins says you should start each day with being grateful. I guess I do feel better :)

Juggling

2009-03-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is Whit juggling at the ward talent show. He practiced a ton and got it down perfectly (and would have executed it perfectly if the punk audience would have just not been there)...:)

The Husband...

2009-03-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

Whit is the ward celebrity. He's playing church basketball right now and our little ward is undefeated. They're playing in the region games. They had one last Saturday and Whit was crazy good. At church the next day, everyone was coming up to him and telling him how he was so "on fire."

I kept a record of his points on the back of a bank statement I had in my purse. He pretends like he doesn't care, but he's asked to see it like four times.

First Quarter end score: 15 to 12 (we're 15)
3 - 3-point shots
2 - 2-point shots
0 - Foul shots
13 - Total Points

Second Quarter end score: 28 to 20 (still winning...)
1 - 3-point shots
1 - 2-point shots
0 - Foul shots
5 - Total Points

Third Quarter end score: 39 to 28 (still winning...)
0 - 3-point shots
1 - 2-point shots
2 - Foul shots
4 - Total Points

Fourth Quarter end score: 50 to 41 (yay!)
0 - 3-point shots
2 - 2-point shots
2 - Foul shots
6 - Total Points

And all that said, he still couldn't beat his dad last Sunday.

twenty-seven

2009-03-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

I have now entered adulthood. I'm on the closer-to-thirty-side-of-the-twenties. Even though 26 is closer to thirty than most other numbers, it's still a little too close to 25, and 25 is a "cute" age. So, with that complex and irrelevant analysis, I can now say that I am an adult.

First, it was off to my mom's to begin my "birthday week" (we Hendlemans are always looking for reasons to party).

If you're wondering, on my head isn't a dunce cap, it's my birthday hat Cael made me. He also made me a pin the tail on the donkey game that we played.

(Grandma couldn't find the right donkey)

For my real birthday, Tom, Katie, and Chris (Katies boyfriend) came over and we ate chicken. Mmmm, delicious chicken. I figured Whit and I have been married a full year and it was about time I made one. Whit made me a fruit pizza and they all decorated it with kiwis and strawberries.

Questionable kids...

2009-03-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

Three girls (age 8-ish) all huddled around me and were leaning on my lap asking me a bunch of stuff. One kept patting my legs and asking if I could feel it. I told her that I couldn't feel me legs at all and all their eyes got wide as they stared at me in disbelief. I smiled. But then one brazen little girl broke the silence and asked, "Well, what if we stabbed them?"

Five Years!

2009-03-06T15:14:00.000-08:00

So today I have been parayzed exactly five years! It's crazy to think that just five years ago I was walking around in St. George. Walking around and jumping. One of my favorite things was feeling air on my legs, like on a breezy day. Ahhh, memories.

People always try to compliment me by saying that if they were me, they'd never be able to keep a good attitude. Five years (and a day or two) ago if I had the opportunity, I'd have probably said that to someone in a wheelchair, too. I'm glad I never had time to think about it, though, and it just happened.

When I was in the respiratory ICU, someone gave me a small white board and a dry erase marker to communicate. I couldn't talk or anything and couldn't use my hands (for obvious reasons and also they tied them to the bed because they thought I had brain damage - I don't).But the marker was really hard to use and I only wrote once on the board because of the immense effort it took. I wrote that I was glad Heavenly Father chose me for this challenge.

And it was so challenging - everything about it was hard. But now (five years later!), it's not so hard, I never even cry anymore at all! It's not that I'm used to it, don't get me wrong. I still try to get up from the couch sometimes and every once in a while it'll dawn on me that I'm paralyzed, but I think that I'm tougher. Stronger. Better than I was five years ago.

And it still is challenging, but now that I'm on the other side of awful, I'm seeing that it's no better or worse than the challenges other people have. It's just different. And with anything new, it comes with more opportunities and people and insights, which make it worth it.

And that's my thought on my fifth aniversary. Written just before Whit gets off work and when I should be making dinner...

I remember when I thought I'd never get married. And here I am 'Mrs. Johnson'. Hmm. I take that crying thing back, I cry a lot actually, but only because I'm so happy!

2009-03-04T20:42:00.001-08:00

Just seeing if this works...
still figuring out this computer thing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnAMgRki8Mo

2009-03-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

This is just a funny video Whit took on our honeymoon. We went to a butterfly farm. I don't know how to post videos and I really need to upload some on my other site so Whit was just showing me how. (How does he just instinctively know and I had to research it forever? I finally asked Dayna and she told me to do exactly what Whit did. I don't know how he just knows, it's not like you're born with knowing that).

Anyway, this is a video taken at a butterfly farm in St. Thomas. It was really cool.

Old clothes...

2009-02-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

Whit and I got pix taken before we were married in my grandma Louise's wedding dress and his Grandpa Fowler's hat and cane. It was so very, very hard to get Whit to do this...and even harder to get him to smile for it...but I tink it's cute.

Ayúdeme

2009-02-26T07:50:00.000-08:00

I’ve always known that I'd someday fall during a car transfer. It's an easy transfer and I knew I'd eventually get complacent. Well, yesterday was that day. I was done shopping and getting back into my car in South Jordan, it was really windy. I always park with the nose of my car facing down an incline becaus I don't use breaks on my wheelchair and the slope keeps the chair snug against the car when I'm transferring. But as I was halfway between the chair and the driver's seat, my chair began to roll backward! I don't know if the wind blew it or if I was positioned funny or what. My feet were still sitting on the foot bar and they were rolling away with the chair, making my knees bend at an awkward angle. My slide board had fallen off the wheelchair cushion and landed on the top of the small front caster wheel, but the other side was still on the driver's seat...barely! The slideboard wasn't a "bridge" anymore and it was a real "slide" going down into the pavement...or at least the funny metal bottom part of the wheelchair. I was holding myself up with both my hands on the driver's seat, but my tush was slowly sliding down the board! I couldn't use my arms to scoot me more into the car because if I picked one up, I'd fall for sure. I couldn't lean into the car anymore than I was because I was straining to maintain the angle my body was at and not fall anymore forward and out of the car. My wheelchair was slowly roling further and further away (I still don't know how that was because I was on an incline going down and forward!). My legs were twisting even more and I was most afraid of breaking my ankles because my feet were still resting on the wheelchair.

I couldn't move my head because I was afraid that any extra body movement would jar me enough to lose the loose hold that I had. But out of the corner of my eye I saw some people nearby and I started yelling for help. These two guys came rushing over and I was so glad- except they just stood there! I didn’t know what was going on, I couldn’t look at them because I couldn’t move my head or my hold would weaken, all I could see were their feet and I kept saying help me! Help me! Then out of nowhere, I said “Ayúdeme!” And those two guys moved so fast, it was crazy! The one grabbed the wheelchair and pushed it a little closer so my ankles wouldn’t break and the other guy raced around to the passenger’s side and reached across and pulled me into the car.

Apparently, these two guys didn’t speak a word of English and “ayúdeme” means “help me” in Spanish. I don’t even know where that word came from, I mean, without thinking, I just said it. These guys didn’t even understand me when I thanked them so profusely in English.

So gracias, mi amigos!

2009-02-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

I had this brilliant idea last summer that I'd keep a little journal of all the cute things Whit did for me and then give it to him on our first anniversary. I guess it worked out exactly as I thought it would, though I'd have liked a few more entries (I guess my brilliant ideas need to be more timely). Anyway, I put the little entries into a book and then illustrated it. It worked out okay :)

2009-02-16T19:28:00.000-08:00

I made Whit his favorite cheesecake. It's an old family recipe I got from his mom and it calls for something like 11 ounces of cream cheese...which isn't a whole package, it's like a package and then some. I think Whit's favorite part of this was that I actually followed the recipe in it's entirety...but he told me that he's most happy that I don't take any creative liberties with asparagus in my desserts (sorry mom).

2009-02-16T19:27:00.001-08:00

This is Whit with his almost famous pesto-alfred0-cheddar-deli turkey-olive-artichoke heart pizza :)

Valentines Day

2009-02-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

We just had our first Valentines Day! It was awesome. We combined V-day with our first anniversary, so Whit went all out (and by all out, I mean real flowers, not balloons). He also made the card in the pix that's shaped in the LUVYOU. He made a heart-shaped pizza and decorated the table with the flowers and floating votives and (gasp) real plates! He rented my favorite girlie movies and even stayed awake through them. My husband rocks.

2009-02-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken at a WSU football game in the summer of '03. It was one of our first dates when I could still walk (see, no neck scars).