Living Out Loud volume 24: Total recall

A few weeks ago I was watching 60 Minutes (because I'm old)and they had a fascinating segment on superior autobiographical memory. This handful of people can literally remember everything about their lives. Every single detail! It struck me because as my parents have been enjoying the wonderful world of being grandparents, my father in particular has been experiencing it all as if it's his first time. He just keeps saying over and over, "I just don't remember this with y'all kids. I don't know where my head was."

This all got me thinking about memories and what makes them stick. As Rich says, he can tell you all the lyrics to Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" but has trouble remembering his own ATM PIN at times. The TV segment said that adrenaline helps set memories for people. That's why more people remember what they were doing on September 11 versus September 10, 2001. But I've also heard that brain chemicals can blur some of those memories, blocking out painful moments. Another interesting factor was that forgetting some details is what helps us generalize things and make logical assessments.

I've been on vacation the last week or so and been meaning to write about all this. But I'm rallying to get this topic for our Living Out Loud project. I'm curious what moments in your life are vivid. What are your personal snapshots where you could describe the scene down to everyone's wardrobe and the song on the radio? Was there a particular scent in the air? Was it hot or cold? When it was happening did you think it would be a moment you'd never forget or did your sharp memory surprise you? Do you generally trust your memory?

Details include:

• Write something personal about yourself using the previous paragraphs as a guideline. Do not feel that you have to address each prompt above. The spirit of this project is to share something about yourself; I'm just throwing out ideas.

• Once you have completed your entry and posted it, please email me the link at genie [at] inabottle [dot] org. Remember, if you don't email me, I'm likely to forget to include you in the recap!

• If you do not have a blog to host your story, you can email me the story directly and I will add it here as a guest post giving you credit. The more the merrier!

• The due date for entries is Sunday, January 9th (the second Sunday of the month) at 5pm Eastern.

• Once I have collected all the entries, I will post a wrap-up to list them all and announce a winner. The winner will receive a small prize but all participants will receive fame and glory and a link on our Living Out Loud blogroll.

I've only given you a week to rack your brains for those photographic moments, but I'm super excited about this topic while we're feeling all retrospective at the cusp of a new year. Share your memories with us!

Recap of Living Out Loud volume 23: It. Was. Awful!

We all worked so hard to post every day in November that this month's LOL wore us all out! Entries were light this month but I'm not worried (thank you Zoloft!) and know we'll all rally for the new year. But let's check out the great entries for this month first:

Martel's comment I've never noticed the scar on your jawline or knuckles. But yeah, I could see how they're painful to think about.

Peg's Scarred for Life I would be furious with that doctor!

SuziCate's One Never Nose the Power or Words I never though about the body features we may hate tie us to those we love.

Erin's It WAS Awful Again, I would be furious! People just don't understand how to behave.

Candice's My body is a moving object Argh! That deli would lose my business. I've had people ask me that too when I was nursing and eating everything in sight. Mind their own business!

Megan's No I don't dye my eyebrows And here I thought you were gonna talk about your hair. But I understand the late to eyebrow maintenance routine. It's a slippery slope to not over-pluck!

And my own My right hand man

I would like to note the irony of writing about this damn cast is harder to do with a cast on. I'm actually pecking out this recap on the iPhone. This is what I do for you all.

I liked so many of the entries this month it was really hard to choose. In the end I picked SuziCate's entry, not the least of which is because I'm a sucker for a good pun. And I like how she talked about her scars affect her and others, which I thought was unique.

So hooray SuziCate! You'll receive our customary $25 amazon gift card (I'm way behind on delivering those but plan on that this week). And thank you to everyone who participated in the midst of the holiday rush! I'll have a new topic soon for the new year which will mark two full years of Living Out Loud. Go us!

My right hand man

I first thought I would tell you about the time a dog bit me. I was 4 and our neighbor's collie pinned me down and bit my face. My mother was standing only a few feet from me when it happened. My face was so bloody, my mother left for the ER with me while my father scoured the yard looking for my nose. Thanks to plastic surgeons, though, you'd never know it. Then there's the standard pregnancy wear and tear. I've got stretch marks and a few stitch marks in sensitive areas but everything is working like it should so I can't complain. And really the stretch marks blend in with the numerous marks from infusion sites for my insulin pump so I don't lose sleep over them.

But what I really want to talk about is this damn cast. It's bright red and people either ask me how I broke my arm or very obviously aren't going to ask even though they're dying to. I feel like I should have written on the cast TENDONITIS SUCKS. CAN'T BE TRUSTED TO WEAR BRACE.

There are a few times when I forget I'm wearing it. Those are usually when I'm just riding in the car or sitting around (which isn't very often). But times like right now, when I'm trying to type at something better than 10 wpm, it's painfully aware to me that I have this club on my arm.

It sucks. I'm slower at everything. Showering is harder, putting on a bra is harder, typing is harder, finding clothes to wear that I won't stretch out and ruin is harder. I don't sleep as well at night (though that could be other factors than just the cast) and it's wearing me down. I wanted to go shopping Saturday but after two stores with the boy I had to go home and rest.

I'm worried. I'm worried that when I do take the cast off in two weeks I won't feel any better. I'm worried that four weeks of favoring my right arm will just make my left one hurt. I'm worried that it will happen all over again because my kid is still really heavy and I still need to lift him and buckle him in car seats and change his diapers. I'm worried this won't be an incident but the beginning of a long phase of aches and pains in my life. I'm worried I'll have to say no to things I want to do because of my wrists.

And when this cast comes off no one will know that I ever had it on. There won't be a reminder on my wrist to tell me to lift with my legs. I won't have a scar.

This cast is primarily because my son is incredibly heavy. So instead of a surgical scar or saggy boobs (or perhaps in addition to those one day) my physical reminder of the burden of motherhood is this bright red piece of fiberglass.

Mostly I'm worried that the fact I have to wear this cast means I won't always be able to do all I want to for my child. I just want him to know I'm doing the best I can and we'll get by.