Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Day I was Attacked and Other Adventures

This is a plate.

It is kind of heavy but it is really just a salad plate so it is not even very big.


But do NOT be fooled!

This innocent plate can be used as a dangerous weapon!

One day this past week I had a bowl with leftovers in it and just grabbed a plate such as this one and plopped it on top as a lid.  Is anyone else that lazy?  Well, I've done it many times.  Maybe I am not lazy, maybe I am just trying to not waste plastic wrap.  Whatever.

Anyway, I reached into the fridge and moved the bowl/plate combo aside as I reached for the orange juice.  Well, I unintentionally knocked the plate off and I'm not quite sure what happened next but I suspect it probably hit the next shelf down, broke, and continued it's descent, hitting me in the shin.  I felt the smack and saw the plate break all over the floor.  Rats!  I had company and was preparing to cook breakfast and now I had to clean up the floor. 

I walked across the kitchen before I noticed a disturbing squishing in my shoe... if you are squeamish, you might want to stop reading at this point (that means you, Mom!) and definitely don't look at the next picture.  Actually, it isn't that bad. 

The squishing was because my shoe had filled with blood.  I looked around and saw blood all over the floor.  I grabbed a paper towel and applied it quickly to a wound on my shin.  I only caught a glimpse of the wound but saw enough to know I needed to keep compression on it.  It really didn't hurt all that bad so I tried holding that while hobbling around picking up broken pieces of the plate with my other hand.
That wasn't working out so well for me.
 
I called to Mike to come help me clean up the mess (poor Mike).  Bode arrived first and wanted to assist so with my free hand I grabbed his collar to keep him from getting hurt.  I suppose I looked kind of funny.  I'd really made quite a mess! 

One of our guests appeared. 

I have quite the dramatic flair and like to keep our company entertained so when he requested to see my wound, I complied.

It was quite apparent I needed stitches.

Our guests were here from New Mexico and we hadn't seen them in a couple of years.  When we lived in New Mexico we saw them several times a week, including playing pinochle nearly every Sunday night for 9 years.  We had some catching up to do and we really had only that one day to have fun so I did NOT want to go to the E.R.  and waste half the day!

So, I reasoned that I didn't care much whether I had a scar on my shin, I tried to pull my wound together with band-aids (no steri-strips at hand) but for 2 hours I kept dribbling blood down my leg. Yuck!  I was pleased, though, to realize I was wearing a washable pair of Keen shoes.

 I got the bright idea of calling my doctor's clinic just in case they wanted to get in on the action.  They did!  The physician's assistant I saw took me right in.  She was kind of excited because she doesn't get to do stitches much anymore.   She said most people just go to the ER with such injuries. 
I was happy that she was happy.

She complimented me on the nice straight cut before she cleaned and numbed it up.  I was grateful that I'd shaved my legs before they got all that attention. 
She expertly created some really nice stitches for me while I admired her skill. 
The nurse gave me a tetanus shot and I was on my way in 30 minutes! 




After that, I caught up with Mike and our friends and we had a delightful day.  We saw Maria, Cordelia and Eric along the way, making it all the more fun.  I got to drag more people out to see water in various locations (one of my favorite things).  Here are pictures from some of our adventures...


Cordelia looking at water...just like Grandma!  She really is fascinated with water...



I didn't get permission to show our friends on the blog so I am just showing enough so you know we really do have friends.



Grandpa Mike and Cordelia by the water.


We had Bode (dog) with us when we took our friends to see the museum where our son-in-law, Eric, curates.  Mike & I took turns walking Bode.  Since Bode ate a flag on the 4th of July, I thought he'd like to also see more flags. 
What a patriotic dog!

Thankfully they were safely out of reach of his chompers.



Making our friends look at water...


Making them walk over the water while looking at it...

Despite the dramatic start to that day, it was wonderful to have our friends visit us. 
We also enjoyed a nice dinner at a local restaurant that has a distinctive Wyoming flair.
We laughed and reminisced and we topped the night off with hours of pinochle!

I was happy that the day ended with less mess than it began!






Featured Post

My Life as a Travel Agent

On a recent morning I was at work and as one of my patients was waiting for his death, I thought again about an idea that keeps popping int...