Day Twenty-two, Gift Twenty-two

Thank you for all your responses to yesterdays gift! That was very encouraging. Day Twenty-two was quite encouraging as well. I woke up feeling pretty good and couldn't wait to jump on the scale to see if I had lost any weight. I was shocked to see I had lost 5 1/2 pounds in one day! On average, on this diet, you lose 1-3 pounds a day, so I was thrilled. I even had Tim come double check because I thought maybe I was reading it wrong. So that was very motivating. I went straight to my yoga workout but I was sore from the day before so I was only able to do 30 minutes before heading off to get decompression therapy.

Decompression therapy is when they put you on a machine and gently pull on your lower spine to help relieve pressure from bulging disks and pinched nerves. Last Friday's session has proved to be beneficial and I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I was quite a bit weaker today and it was a bit too much. I walked in feeling pretty good, but I left not being able to stand up straight. The doctor told me to ice and lay down for at least the next few hours. This worried me because it is my day to cook for the co-op and I had 38 chicken breasts waiting to make Chicken Cordon Bleu.

While I was laying on ice, I did my blog entry and got some emails answered. I was quite dizzy due to a medication I needed but wasn't ready at the pharmacy. Around 2pm, the medication was finally ready and Tim went to get it for me. He said he saw the man by the pharmacy again today and I was glad to hear he was alright after the storm the night before. I knew that I had to get my dinners delivered by 4:30pm, so dizzy or not, I resolved that I was going to start cooking. Tim helped me get the assembly line situation set up and I went to work. I had two pans browning the chicken, then I would add the ham and cheese and broil them, then put them in their pan. I had made up the garlic bread loaves ahead of time, so I had one less thing to worry about. I was getting so dizzy while cooking that I pulled a stool in and sat down in front of the stove...that worked well and when I was done, Tim loaded up all the food in the car for me.

By this point, I am happy to report that my meds had kicked in and I was no longer dizzy. However, my back was hurting so much that I couldn't hardly walk. That's when I asked Dakota if he'd consider coming to deliver the meals with me. I told him I could drive, but I couldn't get in and out of the car and walk the meals up to the door. He looked outside and said, "Uhhh...it's cold and windy and raining mom." Tim was disappointed and said, "Help Mommy out, Dakota..." He agreed, I think out of guilt, but I was going to take any help I could get anyway I could get it!

Well, come to find out, our ride together ended up being amazing. I started out by letting Dakota sit in the front seat, he's never done this before and was quite ecstatic about it. As we pulled out of the drive way he was smiling ear to ear and said, "I know all the houses are close, I read about how you do your co-op on your blog..." I said, "What? You've read my blog? What day are you on?" He replied that he had spent the night before reading it and he had read all the days and wanted to know how to make comments. I was thrilled and told him I'd show him how to make comments when we got home.

We quickly got to the first house and Dakota threw on his hood and braved the storm to deliver the food. As we headed out, he asked if he could tell me all about these aliens he's obsessed with and I said "of course". He talked and talked, describing the strange characteristics and super powers of each one as we sat at the railroad crossing waiting for a train to go through. I was pointing out how flooded the areas were and he was gasping at the usual sandy spots and cars headlight deep in water. I told him I was worried about the homeless people...that's when he said to me, "Like the one in your blog? I'm so proud of you..." He took my breath away and big alligator tears came running down my face. "You're crying?" he exclaimed, "Oh, but it's out of happiness, right?" I nodded my head in agreement and grabbed his hand. He understands me so well because of this blog...what a gift.

This is when I told him that he was giving me a gift by coming to deliver the meals. His eyes grew wide..."I'm giving a gift?" he said. Then I explained, "A gift is anything kind you do for someone else expecting nothing in return." Then he said, "Then it is a gift!" "And so was that compliment you just gave me..." I told him. I don't think he could have been beaming more if he tried.

As we delivered the meals, I decided to show him examples of gifts. I started with letting a car stuck in traffic through when no one else would, they waved at us happily..."That was a gift!" I said. As we drove to our third stop we drove by a long line of people on the sidewalk holding signs in the rain. I was thrilled with this "teachable moment" as Dakota and I had just been studying the First Amendment earlier in the week. I said to Dakota, "What part of the First Amendment are they exercising?" He said, "Well...uh...free speech and the right to gather?" "Yes, exactly!" I replied.

Then he said, "Mom, what's abortion?" I found the best way to handle these questions with Dakota is to answer in a matter of fact, scientific, way. I told him simply it was a procedure of a doctor stopping a pregnancy and that it was legal in the United States. He yelled, "That's a wrong law!" Then he looked at me, "You think that's a wrong law, don't you???" "Yes" I smiled. "I thought so" he muttered. "Most Christians don't believe in abortion and this is a Christian group." He thought that made a lot of sense and we decided for another gift that we would drive by them slowly and wave to them in support. When we did this the whole group started waving vigorously and smiling at Dakota. I explained to him that if we didn't have First Amendment rights that people wouldn't be allowed to stand on the street in protest of a law like that. He thought it was pretty amazing.

It took us almost an hour with the train and the storm to get everything delivered and home, but it was the most enjoyable time. We decided that he was going to start delivering with me every week so that we could have that one on one time which is so precious and rare at our house. My gift for the day was cooking one of my families favorite meals even though I was so sick. My father in law moaned and groaned with every bite and the rest of the family enjoyed it too! I, on the other hand, had my little piece of dried chicken and cucumber, lol.