A Challenged Panic Attack

For Christmas, Greg had bought tickets for his Dad and his brother to go ziplining with him in the Louisville Mega Cavern.  I thought this was a fabulous idea, especially since we've started to try to give more "experiences" as gifts rather than material items.  It was a good idea until....I realized that Greg wanted me to go too.  

The Mega Cavern is home to the world's first and only underground zipline.  It consists of five ziplines and three challenge bridges.  I knew immediately that I could do the ziplining part.  Yes, it was a little nerve wracking stepping off of a platform and hanging by a cord 80+ feet above the cavern floor but the part that sent me into panic was walking across the challenge bridges.  You had to walk alone...there was no one to hold your hand (as if it would make a difference to the size of your heart attack if you fell with someone versus falling alone.)  I watched with apprehension at the others going ahead of me and I was shaking like a cat.  The tour guide spoke slowly and gently to me explaining that there's no way the cables would break, they can hold "x" amount of weight, etc.  What he didn't understand was that I had complete trust in those cables.  What I did not have trust in was myself.  I was terrified that I would lose my balance, be thrust between the ropes holding the bridge in the air and then dangling, waiting to be rescued. 

Finally, it was my turn.  I started out with a plan.  I would not look down, I would walk very slowly and I would look straight ahead at my husband waiting on the other side.  My plan worked perfectly until about halfway across when I felt my knees start to buckle.  I began to hold back tears and shake and this began my panic attack.  I felt just like Fred Sanford and if I wasn't afraid to let go of the ropes I was clutching onto, I would have held my chest proclaiming to "Elizabeth" that this was the big one.   Instead, I prayed silently to God (not Elizabeth) and fighting back tears, somehow I began to move my feet again.  One slow step at a time.  When I finally made it to the other side, I couldn't speak to anyone for a minute because I knew if I did, the tears would begin rolling and then I would appear pathetic.  My ego was still alive and well apparently, even in the midst of panic.  

That tour seemed to be the longest 90 minutes of my life.  I thoroughly enjoyed the actual zipping part.  The cavern was dark, cool and quiet and it felt good to have the breeze through my hair.  It was also nice to make those memories with my in-laws but I've decided that the next "experience" gift I give someone will be a little less adventurous.  How does a nice trip to the library sound?   

We ended up getting our picture for free since the quality of it wasn't good but here we are (and here I am, pre-panicked)  

You WILL Be Kind (Or Else)

So, my Mother Bear instincts came out in full force at no place other than the Jefferson Mall.  For those of you that aren't aware, it is one of the malls in our area that some may describe as "sketchy."  At any rate, it's close to our house, has all the stores I normally like to shop at and a great play area for Emme to burn off some energy.

We routinely go to this mall and Emme just loves it.  She calls the play area the "park at the mall."  We were there just a few days ago and as expected, she jumped right in and started having the same good time she always has.  It was a little more crowded than usual but I found a seat on a bench inside the play area across from two other mothers that were sitting next to each other chatting it up (and apparently not paying attention to the bullies they call their children.)

Emme tries to make friends with everyone and I love that she is so outgoing and not intimidated by other children.  She immediately tried to make friends with the four year old bullies...um, I mean kids and was following them around the play area trying to mimic whatever they were doing.  I was sitting back, sipping on my Starbucks when I overheard one of them saying to the other "Eeewww.  Gross!  Get away from her."  Surely they were not talking about my child?  I ignored it and watched as Emme followed them to the big, giant raccoon they were climbing on.  I heard it again..."Yuck.  We don't want her playing with us."

And that my friends is what set me off.  Without even thinking, I sat down my coffee and marched right over to the little snots.  I bent down on my knees so that I was eye level, looked directly at them and said "That is my little girl and you WILL be kind to her. I heard what you were saying about her and I will not tolerate it."

The mothers were within ear shot but said nothing.  I went back to drinking my coffee and felt proud as the two children who were mean to my own walked past her and politely said "Excuse me."  

And this is what has got me wondering...what am I going to do when Emme is in school and children do what children do and start to torment and tease? Maybe once again my instincts will kick in and I'll know exactly how to handle it or maybe, I'll embarrass her further by marching right into the school and threatening everyone in my path that they WILL be kind to her...or else.

                                   (this is Emme at the play area, oblivious to the fact that sometimes kids are mean.)

My Obsession with Pinterest

I've recently become obsessed with the website, Pinterest, which is apparently an obsession of lots of other people too.  The website is a way to "pin" your interests to a virtual bulletin board for later reference.  It's chock full of creative ideas, recipes, words of wisdom, etc.

I've crafted a few small things with ideas from this fabulous website and I'd like to share my creations with you.

The first thing I created was a rag wreath.  It's pretty simple to create.  Here's what you'll need: 

About 2 1/2 yards of fabric torn into strips of about 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide and about 10 inches in length.
A plain wreath (I used a 12" wooden one)

And the steps are really simple.  Tear your fabric and tie it onto the wreath. As you tie the fabric on, make sure you push each piece close together to give it maximum fullness. And there you have it...a rag wreath.  The cost to  make this is under $10 (depending upon where you buy your fabric and what kind of sale you can find.)  Also, I chose two different, contrasting fabrics to add dimension to the wreath.  

The Prayer Pail is another craft that I easily put together.  I got this idea from a friend and I fell in love with it immediately.  A Prayer Pail is a small pail with craft sticks inside.  Upon each stick is the name of a family member (as well as pets that we love, our President, our country and our city)  All of our family members have a craft stick with their name on it and each night before bed Emme draws a stick out of the pail and that is who we pray for that night before bed.  She loves this new part of our bedtime routine and it's something we look forward to each evening.

Last weekend, I crafted some puzzles to keep in Emme's diaper bag.  I'll pull these out when we're waiting for our food in a restaurant to keep her little hands and mind busy.  To make these, you'll need scissors, glue that is safe for pictures, pictures and craft sticks.  I basically just cut up pictures into strips the width of the craft sticks and then glued them on.  I used five pictures and now we have little, mini-puzzles for her to put together. I keep them in a ziploc baggie.