A story I wasn't allowed to tell...until now...

Do you stalkers remember the ill-fated motorcycle trip to Deal's Gap from like a month & a half ago?  

If you don't - you can read about it here. 

There have been SO many after shocks from this trip I can't even begin to tell you.  Even though the accident didn't happen to B-rad, he was affected nonetheless.  The repercussions of this trip have changed our lives forever.  Bum, bum, buuuummmmmm....  Seriously...forever.... 

 (This is a really long post... put the kids to bed...you don't want to be distracted... it's good...)

A large group of guys from the motorcycle gang headed down to Deal's Gap back in June to ride the twisty & windy roads.  Ya know - to drag knee, drive fast, eat bologna sandwiches, fart & burp.  Disgusting boy stuff. 

I told you vaguely about the accident, me going with his wife to get him, blah, blah, blah.  Well, if you've been observant stalkers - you may have noticed in recent posts where Brian & Shauna went to the lake with us, etc - Brian was wearing a neck collar & had his hand in a cast.  Yea, he's the guy that was hurt...  

So let me break this down for you.  When I did that blog post Brian was in the hospital waiting to have surgery.  They really didn't want information about him on facebook, etc because his parents are facebook stalkers.  I'm sure you can ALL imagine how upsetting it would be to see information (& bits & pieces at that) about their son on facebook when even his WIFE didn't have all the information yet.  We were going down interstate 70 to Tennessee with our hair on fire...in the middle of the night & there was really NO GOOD WAY to communicate with the guys on the trip.  It was lovely.  So, to respect their privacy - I didn't even tell ya'll details.   

When we got the call, all we knew was the Brian crashed & had been taken by ambulance to the hospital with a broken hand.  Ok, not too bad, right?  My job on the road trip was to patrol facebook to see if anyone had posted pics and/or tagged Brian in them.  
And I came across this pic... & even though I knew he was fine...it took my breath away...

 A guy they were with posted it on facebook...and it started a MAJOR shit storm.  He wasn't 'tagged' in it so the probability of his parents seeing it was low.  BUT if someone else had shared it & they were friends with his parents...uhm, you can see where I'm going with this...

So...people DO NOT survive crashes like this.  His bike was broken in HALF.  Look at the tires...they are facing the opposite direction.  I could tell you all the other things that happened to it, but I don't understand them so that would be pointless.  I told you in my last post that my opinions of bikes may surprise you.... I do NOT like them.  

You are out in the open for God & everybody.  No metal walls around you.  Nothing.  Not only that, but people in cars do NOT pay attention.  Everyone thinks they own the road & that's a big reason why motorcyclists get hit.  They aren't seen as easily as a big ole car.

 NOW, on the flipside of that - I am not so naive that I don't know that some riders are irresponsible.  They ride wheelies on the highway, they ride between lanes of traffic or on the shoulder.  Foolish?  Yes.  Saying because they do that they 'deserve' what they get when they are hit or killed?  No.  

As a car driver I speed sometimes.  I whip around people sometimes in traffic.  Doesn't almost everyone?  No one is perfect. It still doesn't mean I 'deserve' to have bad things happen to me.  

When a woman wears provocative clothing & gets raped, did she 'deserve' it?  Of course not.  Certainly she didn't help the situation by dressing that way...but she doesn't deserve to be violated.

Wow...I'll get off my soap box now....

Ok, so B-rad is an adult.  I'm not his mommy & I can't tell him what he can or can't spend his time doing (within reason...). He enjoys speed, he enjoys the friendships & he works hard everyday.  It's not like he goes out every night & drinks himself into oblivion or does drugs.  So, I'm not one to be miss bossy pants on telling him what he can or cannot do.  However, I don't have to like it...

This crash was especially difficult to understand because by all accounts, Brian did nothing wrong.  They were not going at a high rate of speed (around 55-60mph).  Don't be mistaken - they drive fast a LOT. That's what these bikes DO.  But during this instance they were not.  According to the guys, they were coming out of a corner & the bike practically fell out from under him.  The official term they all say is, 'the tires let go'.  

B-rad & his friends ALWAYS wear gear head to toe.  And even Brian will tell you it saved his life.  B-rad was directly behind him when it happened & it still haunts him.  He watched is buddy slide across the pavement. The bike hit the guard rail & broke in half.  Then one half come back & hit Brian which threw him back into the street.  B-rad had to swerve & brake just to avoid running him over.  

B-rad was convinced he just watched his friend die.

UHM...that's heavy...

After Brian was thrown back into the street, B-rad watched in his rear view mirror as he miraculously stood up & ran out of the street to not be run over by the other bikes that were coming up.  B-rad says that he said out loud, "Thank God - he's alive!"  It's a story I've heard 8,732 times now & it does NOT get any easier to hear. (But, we are able to joke & laugh about it a bit more now...)

(Disclaimer:  ALL the photos I'm showing are on facebook now.  I totally stole them from Brian's page...)

When he hit the ground his glove had like these metal protectors on them.  They were pushed back into his hand which broke 2 of his fingers.  He had a ligament sticking out as well.  When B-rad said to call the ambulance, Brian was NOT happy about that.  B-rad explained to him that his hand was pretty messed up & he needed it looked at. 

He spent about 5 hours in surgery to repair his hand.  

He's healing well now, and in a couple of weeks they will remove those pins.  Yikes!  It's extremely painful (duh) so he will get knocked out for that.

He's lucky chicks dig scars...

So, are you wondering about the neck brace?  Why in the world does he need that when his hand is broken?  Well, people - let me tell ya THAT story...

***15 minute intermission***  

Walk away from the screen, go to the potty, get a diet coke...

B-rad drove him 3 hours north that night in the passenger seat of his truck.  Shauna & I drove him home another 3 hours in the back seat of her Honda.  He slept most the time because he was hopped up on meds. Shauna is a nurse & when they took him back to the emergency room at Jewish she asked them to do some additional tests on him.  And guess what an MRI showed?  
He.had.broken.his.neck.

UH, yea.  It was a bad, bad deal.  The hospital down south never even checked him for anything but his hand.  His only pain complaint was his hand so that's all they treated him for.  I haven't been to med school or anything, but I would think if a dude went sliding across the road & then was hit back into it with something that weighs thousands of pounds, I'd check for a few more things.  Call me crazy.

We went to their house & got on their nerves to visit a lot when he came home.  Brian couldn't do anything but sit or lay.  How boring is that?  

He hasn't been able to work so he's home all day, everyday.  He couldn't drive himself anywhere so he was stuck.  Oh, the humanity...

The story is almost over, I promise.  Brian is doing MUCH better now.  Like I said, the pins come out soon.   Then he'll probably have to do physical therapy.  His neck is healing & he can lay on his tummy now when he sleeps!  Score!  He still has to wear the neck brace most the day which means he still can't go to work.  (I think that part sounds like Heaven...)

In closing... (YAY!  Congrats - you made it to the end...)  B-rad has decided to hang up his helmet.  No more motorcycles for him.  Sure, he may get on someones & take a spin but he has sold ALL of his motorcycle stuff.  Thinking he watched one of his best friends die really takes a toll on your head.  Not only that, but what if that happened to B-rad during planting or harvesting?  The farm would be screwed.  There's a reason it's called McAfee BrotherS farm.  Sure, there's an element of danger to anything you do.  Hell, my dad was hit by a truck walking across the street.  But getting on a motorcycle of any kind takes that danger level up by 75% & getting on the kind B-rad drove knocks it up by 110%.

HOWEVER.... have ya'll met my hubby?  I mean- did you think he was just gonna ride off into the sunset & grow old with no hobby...nothing to spend money on?  Oh, tsk...tsk...tsk...  Back in the day, B-rad used to drag race his old Mustang.  Basically you go down a short, straight track as fast as you can.  And since he has a need for speed...

Now, we have THIS!!!!!!!!

It's ANOTHER Mustang!  YAY, we have 2 now!!!!  (insert sarcasm here) A matched set!

This was Butterflies drag racing car.  Since he's all about training & boring stuff like that - he hasn't messed with it in years.  B-rad bought it & now Butterfly & him are working to get it put back together so they can drag race.  

  I have to laugh so I don't cry...Seriously...

McAfee overload

After one of my riveting 'spending a weekend at the lake' posts, Alicia said it looked like fun & she invited herself along.  That was A-ok in my book!  I never even thought of asking them because they have a camper, they are so busy & they go to the lake with her parents.  Of course that's not the same as hanging out with us - but it's the same sort of activity.  I texted her right away & said, "Lets do it!!!"  It took 6 freakin' weeks for the stars to align for us all to get together!

Sam was excited to go down the slide right away.

 Brian took her boys out on the jet ski.

 Nora was ready to get in the water!  She could hardly wait for Daniel to get his vest on.

 Nora was pretty shy around us all.  She was sitting on the back deck, facing the water.  B-rad sat down behind her & opened a package of candy.  I swear to you, she turned around, walked over to him & plopped right down.

 UHM, what kind of Aunt & Uncle would we be if we didn't give kids junk food? 

 (I fully realize we're not these kids' aunt & uncle - it's just a great excuse to do what we DO!)

She usually had one worm in each hand.  That's why God gave her 2...duh...

 Lake full of McAfee's !

 Nora wasn't going to be happy just sitting on the back deck watching all day.  She gave me several heart attacks climbed down those steps a thousand times.  

She was headed for the water...she didn't care if there was no one there to hold her.

 Daniel wanted to take the jet ski on his own.  He put on my mother in laws vest at first...B-rad made fun of him since it had a pretty birdie & ribbon so I offered him mine.

 It's much more manly.  I mean - it's BLUE & BLACK for crying out loud.

The manly detail in the back is really what sets it apart.

 If her little legs would've been long enough to get up those stairs - she would've gone up them.  Still clutching a worm...

 

 These kids are good kids - obviously they have their moments like any kid does.   I try to always respect the parents wishes unless I think the wishes are stupid & try to make their kids do what they expect from them.  Daniel & Alicia are big into manners & I'm all about that so it's a no-brainer.  The kids would ask us for stuff & not use their manners.  I would stop them & have them correct what they should have said.  I finally told them, "Listen kids - I've been around ya'll long enough to know what your parents want so you can forget getting away with it with me." 

 After that, it was all manners, all the time... Kids are so funny.

Alicia was giddy about going out on the jet ski.  She forced me to come along asked very lovingly & sweetly for me to ride with her.

  We had some trouble parking the jet ski so Daniel was kind enough to swim out a bit & pull us in.  And by "in" I mean, he dumped us off the jet ski.  Hmph.  Sam didn't believe that I would jump off the top of the boat.  Yea-I showed him...

 All the McAfee boys went out in our little boat to ski for a bit.  

 And it was time for us girls to talk & have a couple of drinks.  Alicia brought me some grape Smirnoffs.  Yum.  Me liking it has nothing to do with the fact that it's purple.  I just now noticed the label is purple.  So weird...

When dinner was finally ready, Alicia had to round up her crew.   

My favorite line of the day from Alicia, "OK, McAfee's...come to this table to eat."  UHM?!....  

She had to improvise by adding, "OK McAfee's...under the age of 10... come to this table to eat!"

B-rad was a super popular guy when the chewy sprees came out.  These kids were nowhere around until they heard that package open.  

 Notice every.single.one of them got sprees.  He's such a sucker.

 I'm not sure what happened next (because Alicia & I were downstairs cleaning up dishes), but when we got back upstairs, the kids were running around like banshees hopped up on sugar looking for the sprees & Daniel & B-rad were giggling like 12 year old girls.  

 All it takes is sprees & worms, people. She'll be your best friend.

 Finally, the big kids let the little kids know what was going on & Sam took NO time in climbing up on the counter & getting those sprees down.  Look at Jake's face.  I'm just sad I didn't get any pics of them screaming for the sprees.  It was hilarious.

 Ah, success!  See what sugar will do to a kid?  Ruin 'em, I tell ya...

We had a great time hanging out with the other McAfee's.  We don't get to do it nearly enough.  I'm so glad Alicia invited herself.  She must do it again!

Adult blogger playdate

The blogging world is strange to me.  I mean, you put your life out there for people you know (or don't know) to be entertained.  And I'm no different.  I secretly stalk in silence.  

But-I will tell you - when you finally get the balls to come out of the stalker closet - you can have a lot of fun times & make some new friends.  Last night we had a mini-blogger convention at Alicia's house.   

No one brought their kids... not even me.  I know I have a different perspective on the parenting game, but I really think it's good to leave the kiddos at home sometimes & to go out & have fun with ADULTS.  Everyone got to eat their food when they wanted  - no making kids plates first.  Everyone got talk about what they wanted to talk about - no mooooooommmmmmm coming from the background.  (Unless you count Sam telling his moooooommmmm that we were being too loud.  I don't...)

 This gal right here stalked me in silence for a while.   And I'm sooo glad she finally commented on a post years ago.  Her blogger name is Ginmommy & I remember asking Alicia, "Who is this Ginmommy person?  Does she like to drink a lot?!"  

She had a bit too much kid-less fun & had too many drinks a little too fast.  She quickly switched to water.

I was trying to take a candid 'yea we're just talking' picture & Alicia struck a pose & Ginmommy?  Well...we never know what to expect from her...

 UHM-this is the scariest picture of Alicia I have ever seen...

 I told her, "That was the scariest smile ever.  We have to have a do-over."  THIS is much better.

Tracey on the left is Ginmommy's bff.  I'm sure she stalked me because Ginmommy raved about how great my blog was.  Funny story about Tracey.... her sister, Tricia, is one of my jewelers now.  She went to Texas with me & everything.  Such a small world...

 Me & Ginmommy.

 Alicia broke out the blog books & these girls were like moths to a flame.  She does have an impressive collection.  Jami Leigh Lee is on the right.  Ginmommy, Tracey & JLL are a package deal.  They've all been friends & when you get one of 'em - you get 'em all.  But they're fun so that's ok...

 Alicia decided to show us how she could not do a cartwheel... several times.  But my camera is slow & she is fast... this is all I got...

 We decided to allow Daniel downstairs to take a pic.  Check out that pile of cameras.

 Ok-here we are.  Left to right: me (duh), Denise (I know her because she's a friend of Alicia's), Janelle (also a friend of Alicia's), Alicia (I've known her for-eva), JLL, Melanie (who also knows the Ginmommy posse), Tracey & Ginmommy.  So, if you're keeping count, I am the lone man out.  I gotta find more friends of mine that blog.  Waaaaaa I wanna posse!!!!!

 With the good of Daniel taking pics, we also have to take the bad.  He's showing us here how to hold the camera way up as to not get a double chin.

 For those of you who have forgotten (Ginmommy...), Daniel is B-rad's cousin.  So - we're like - related.  Which in turn, makes me related to Alicia too.  God help us all...

Thank you, Alicia for having us over!  

The Red Dress Gala... (aka the fanciest party EVER)

Ah yes, the Red Dress Gala.  The bane of my existence.  I don't like dressing fancy...I don't like being fancy...I don't like eating fancy... & this night was all about the fancy...

When we got our rally packets, I had my place setting for the Gala.  Table #61...that's me...

They had a red carpet all set up for friends to take pics.

Awwww, here I am!

There were people in red everywhere!   My only regret is that in my lack of attention to detail, I didn't get a red camisole to go under my dress.  Curses...

I was the only one from our group to qualify to go.  The other girls decided to get dressed up too & go out to dinner without me.  Sniff, sniff...

We posed for some pics...

 And they took 9,432 pictures of me.  I loved it but hated it because I was so uncomfortable in this fanciness.

This lady right here is the only gal I knew at the Gala.  Her name is Lora & she spells it like my sister in law so that's convenient.  She's from a group in Kentucky & we're friends on facebook.  She wasn't at my table so we hung out on the red carpet.  (There's my shoes!)

They were ushering us in & I needed my camera!  Can't you tell we're saying, "Stop with the pics - I need my camera!"

While I was looking through all the pics & I found some HILARIOUS ones I wanted to share with ya'll.  I have such an animated face.  It makes me giggle at myself PLUS it makes me wonder what the hell kind of faces I make on a daily basis?!

 I mean, really?!  Look at me & look at Debbie.  It's like she's talking to a normal face person when she is clearly not.

 Oh good God.  Like I said - animated!

 Let me explain this.  When you go to rally, they recognize you for your achievements.  We get name tags & little banners showing what we've done.  My banner is fairly long.  Fairly long banners are good!  It means I've worked my booty off  free jewelry & chances to walk across stage.  So...some people don't have such long banners... & they are a little jealous...just a little...

We're supposed to wear our tags everywhere & I had mine on when we left for the gala.  Well, uhm - no one else was wearing theirs so I felt like a dork.  I asked one of them to hold it for me... & what they showed me later had me laughing so hard I nearly peed on my fancy red dress.  

They all took turns putting my name badge on....

Will the real Jaime Mac please stand up?

Oh, are YOU Jaime Mac?

 Noooo, it's you!

 Wow, she loves being Jaime Mac...

 Here's all my buddies going to dinner...without me...while I was drowning in fanciness...

 I cannot put into words for you how regal this was.  It was crazy.  This room is normally a white room full of tables where we eat lunches.  They completely transformed it... 

 REAL flowers on ALL the tables.  (While I was looking for my table, the highest table I saw was 104 & there were more than that.  8 people to a table...you do the math...) 

This was our place setting.  Isn't it pretty?  We all sat down for dinner & no one had touched anything.   

Members of the marketing team came out to welcome us & tell us how proud they were of us...  But they had a surprise for us.  The napkin ring...

was a ring for us to keep.  We all went bananas.  It's awesome.  

 This was the stage.

 THIS was in the center of the ceiling.

 There's my name on the screen!

 The entrance.

 They had a board for us to sign.

 Most gals had someone take their picture as they signed...I had no one...so I just took a pic of my name!

 They had 3 HUGE red dresses set up in the convention center.

 There was also like a press area to have your picture taken & be interviewed.  It was VERY hollywood'esque.

 This is a total view of the room.  Amazing.   

 The only white on the walls was these areas with the logo in gold glitter.

 A sea of red dancing after dinner. 

 When everything was over, I walked back out & the red carpet was still there.  

 I thought it was very cool to see it all lit up.

 They gave us some other gifts as well.  We got a red pashmina, some red hots & another charm for our bracelet!  You know I love me some charms for my bracelet...it's nearly full now...