I'm Really Good At Falling With Crock Pots

I didn't drop the crock pot or break any bones! I thought for sure there would be a hole in the wall, but apparently fate decided to scrape my elbow instead.

When I walk downstairs I have to look at the stair I'm stepping on next. I can't lift my head like a normal person and just know where the next step is. I seem to lose depth perception when going downstairs as well. This is one reason why downward escalators have always scared me. I have to stare at them for a few seconds, find the rhythm of that passing line break and then step. (Or I cling to my husband for dear life.)

When I was a little girl, I would cry if my mother tried to take me on the escalator.  Around the same time I went through another phobia phase of elevators. My poor parents couldn't shop at department stores without stress.

This morning my elbow scrape is feeling better. Last night it felt like a burn, constantly stinging. My hip feels a little sore, so I'm guessing I either hit that as well against the wall, or when I landed on my left foot, the impact shock threw my hip out a little. I'm grateful I only fell from the 3rd stair up. Why I thought I couldn't let go of the crock pot mystifies me.   

Father's Day Fun

Our first holiday spent together without the unemployment cloud over us! Yeah!

We decided to take DH out for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. We're never disappointed when we eat at Mi Cocina, and today DH said it was the best meal he's ever had there. He had grilled steak tacos, while I enjoy the grilled chicken tacos. DS14 had ground beef tacos and DS11 went American on us and chose a hamburger and fries.

After lunch we enjoyed a round of mini-golf. DS11 shot a hole in one, and the rest of us got close a few times. Its crazy how in mini-golf you can do very well on one hole only to have it all fall apart at the next.

Around the 15th hole clumsy me fell. I had on my birkies of course, but lost my footing while trying to step off the playing green. The fall was awkward because I had the golf putter in my hand and my instinct was to lean against it like a cane when I started to go over. Of course, balancing on a putter is not like leaning on a cane. I continued to timber and I remember thinking, I'll impale myself if I fall on this! I chose to move it out of the way at the last minute, and I fell to the rocks. DH said I fell in slow motion. Of course we were all cracking up! I wasn't seriously hurt, just some sore arm muscles from catching myself. Thankfully we weren't near a water hazard!

After mini-golf we brought DH to a Goodwill store to buy him some ties. Isn't that the typical Father's Day gift? Since DH is required to now wear a shirt and tie to work, he enjoyed stocking up. We had priced them the other day at JCPenney's, and we were amazed it cost $30 for a new tie. At Goodwill, they were $1.00. We found 8 silk ties at Goodwill, including a vintage Frank Lloyd Wright print, made in Italy. Its very cool!

We also found some great used board games and trivia games. Not that we have room in our game closet for them! I'll have to purge some of our younger kid games out to make room. 

We did salads and sandwiches for supper after enjoying such a huge lunch. The sun, the fun, the shopping, it was a full day well spent.

We're back!

We're back from Oshkosh and the WPA homeschooling conference. I'm going to need a few days to recover. While running around trying to hide the 20 plus Letterboxes early Saturday morning, I took a nasty fall on concrete stairs. Thankfully, we were heading up not down. I fell in such a way that my knees hit directly into the part of the stair that sticks out. My right knee took the worse of it.

The pain at first was so intense I couldn't breathe. I wasn't sure if I'd pass out or throw up. What helped me conquer the pain was the fact we still had 19 boxes to plant in less than 30 minutes. I had no time for emergency rooms. I did my best "cowboy up" and tried to walk it off Frankenstein style.

During the workshop I could feel something running down my leg. It was cold that morning so I had thankfully thrown on jeans. Denim is really pretty good at soaking up blood.

After the workshop, I headed to the ladies' room and discovered I couldn't bend my knee at all. Peeling off my jeans I could see my knee was the size of a grapefruit and I had a red stream down my leg from a stair shaped gash going straight across my patella.

Rather than miss a discussion on the Socrates method of book discussion, I send DH back to the hotel for ice. He meets me back in time to attend the commencement ceremony- the highlight of the conference for me. I love hearing the graduating homeschoolers and their parents speak of their experience. It takes my mind off of the throbbing.

We head to Taco Bell for lunch and I'm pretty pumped from the success of my Letterboxing workshop, the commencement and the fact my knee is now frozen.

We spend the afternoon attending two more workshops- Continuing Unschooling & The Thomas Jefferson Education model. By the time I make it to the WPA membership meeting, I'm coming down from the rush of the conference excitement and I'm noticing more that something is seriously wrong with my knee.

Getting into the car to head home I had to bend my leg. Instantly I felt a burning, tearing, OMG, something is really wrong kind of pain. DH wants to take me to the ER. I'm too embarrassed. At this point I decide to take Advil and just not bend my leg.

Once home I crash big time with a bag of frozen peas and more Advil. I sleep a big sleep and in the morning, thankfully I can bend my leg with only regular pain and soreness, not the scary burning, gushing feeling. The swelling is going down and I figure as long as I can now move it more, nothing must be broken.

I know you probably want to see a blog photo of my knee, but I'm just too embarrassed. I can still hear DH laughing at me before he realized I was really hurt. He says he can still see my fall as if in slow motion. I should search You Tube today. Even though DH didn't catch me, I'd bet a security camera somewhere did.

I fall all the time. I fell while pregnant with both of my boys. While 7 months pregnant with DS12 I was walking down an incline in heals. I landed on my purse rather than my belly and decided it was time to give up fashionable footwear. The second time I slipped on ice and decided to try the splits rather than land on my 9 month baby bulge.

On the 4th of July I always fall after the parade. Our old town has very uneven sidewalks.

One reason I fall so much is my feet are two different sizes. I think this is why I prefer to go barefoot so often. Another problem I have is vertigo. Its been the grace of God I haven't broken anything.

My plan is to continue icing it, taking Advil and gently try to bend and use the knee into recovery. It seems like its doing better each day.