Last night at B.I.G...

I'm always amazed by other survivors at the Brain Injury Group (hence the name B.I.G).
This is a support group for Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors. My group meets in Murray, UT and is hands-down the best one in the valley. I love hearing everyone's comments because I always think, "I feel like that too!"
Last night one comment in particular caught my attention. A survivor said, "I'm 5 years post-injury and I don't remember what I was like before (the injury). I mean, I remember, but I don't think about it at all because I am who I am today, and I must go forward with that." Don't take that as an exact quote, but that's the gist of what he said.
It got me thinking. First off, he is 5 years post-injury. I'm almost 15 years! When I was 5 years out (think year 1999!), the effects of my injury were all consuming. I constantly tried to do things that aggravated my brain injury (things like too much info at once, spending time in large crowds, traveling to foreign places, and never-ever getting a full night's sleep). I lived my life as I knew how, and how I knew was from experience - from the way I was pre-TBI. And I'm not that woman. After years (at least 10) of learning how to accept how my injury had changed me, I can finally say that I feel 100% exactly like him.
I don't think about it at all because I am who I am today, and I must go forward with that.
WORDS TO LIVE BY. AMEN!

PUBLISHING: so close I can smell it.

Today I received my "proof" book in the mail. Check it. Check it. Check it. That's what I've been working on. I found two formatting errors, so NOW I have to WAIT for the publisher to fix it and then my dream will become a reality.

After five years...my short, little memoir will be available for purchase! I'm so excited - I love the front cover and the back cover. It's bright yellow - which at first I couldn't stand but now I think it's perfect, and reminds me of a smiley face sticker. Bright. Happy. Smiley. Positive. I wonder if you'll think my book is positive. Please let me know! Check my blog or website www.Jennifermosher.com for the official announcement, which is just days away!

Need a good laugh?

I laughed out loud so hard while watching this, I think I busted a rib.

StraightFromScratchGranolaBars

Homemade Granola Bars

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients (use whatever kind of nuts you want. I used slivered almonds instead of peanuts, and added pumpkin seeds. I also used xylitol in place of the brown sugar. I also added roughly 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips):

* 2 cups oats
* 3/4 cup wheat germ
* 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
* 1 cup peanuts, crushed
* 2/3 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup honey
* 4 Tbsp butter
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
* approximately 8 oz. dried fruit

Crush your peanuts, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy mallet.

Then, mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.

Line a glass 11x13 glass baking dish with waxed paper, lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.

Mix the grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit.

Mix everything REALLY WELL because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.

Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Now fold over the sides of the waxed paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that your bars won’t fall apart when you cut them.

Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled. Then, open the waxed paper …

And carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper. Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like.

Wrap individual bars into plastic wrap.

Homemade Granola Bar Recipe - wait, nevermind

Today I found a recipe for homemade granola bars (on another blog) and my friend Britta and I just returned from Whole Foods after buying all the ingredients. I was going to write about the recipe here, but I just took my Am-bless-ien and YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS if I don't lay down to sleep right away after taking it...(I have a difficult time falling asleep EVER during the night and the next 48 hours become nothing but torture). So, alas, nevermind, I'm going to make them in the morning and blog about it later.

Was that too much information; a stupid thing to even write about? My eyes feel like they're sinking into my head right now which means I better close them and say GOOD NIGHT!

This generation won't grow up practicing the Moonwalk in their homes ...

Who from my generation didn't have at least one Michael Jackson album cover hanging on their bedroom wall?

It's the end of an era. Did you know that Thriller was preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry, as it was deemed "culturally significant?"

Although I was able to watch only part of Michael Jackson's funeral today, I thought it was incredibly moving. I loved seeing John Mayer in a suit, as well as his entire family each wearing one white glove. That may sound like I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not. Actually, I feel sad that MJ is gone, and sad that I was never one of those kids with the Thriller album cover hanging in my bedroom. Proudly, I can still do The Moonwalk.

It was an emotional wallop movie!

My mom and I saw a movie last night (Mom and Dad Mosher are visiting Utah for the holiday, staying in Park City). AND WOW, IT GOT ME THINKING!

The Movie: My Sister's Keeper (with Cameron Diaz)
The Story: Girl sick with Leukemia. Parents genetically engineer another child to be a "perfect match" donor for her.

Ultimately, this child sues her parents for the legal rights of her own body, so she doesn't have to be a donor anymore. Much of the movie is spent in the hospital while the mom (Cameron Diaz) and the doctor are trying to heal her. The story-telling is a bit choppy (back and forth, before and after current time, etc), but it still has some powerful scenes that really got me thinking about my own experience in the hospital.

The lawyer that helps the daughter who sues her parents, we find out later, does it because he has Epilepsy. We watch him have an Epileptic episode outside the courtroom, with a voice over of his client making a poignant realization -- one that I completely relate to! She said (something to the effect of), "That's why he took my case, because he knows what it's like to have something that makes you different." He has Epilepsy, her sister has Cancer.

I have a Traumatic Brain Injury. Similarly, I feel like this is something which makes me different. Anyway, I gotta go meet my parents up in PC now, so if you are reading this and you honestly don't know what I mean when I say that a Traumatic Brain Injury makes me different, then please read my upcoming memoir (because I don't have the energy to explain it all right now).

I'll definitely post on my blog when you can buy it (it will be available only online).