Wednesday, January 19, 2011 – NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 – NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON!:

Today is going to be laundry day.  The washer has a teeny tiny tub, so it won’t hold much – a pair of shorts, 2 T’s, socks and a couple drawers…and that’s about it! Pulled a buck seventy-three out of the bottom of the washer after the last load.  Finders keepers – loosers weapers!  It’s going directly into my jewelry fund!  

I’m also scrubbing the burned on food rings off the glass-top stove. They’re annoying me and I can’t stand it anymore. I also found a pitcher shoved in the back of a cabinet when I was reorganizing them. I had no idea it was back there until I pulled everything out of the cabinet. (I know…I know.  A little bit of OCD? =)   The pitcher still had tea droplets (or something) in there. Someone emptied it out and just shoved it in the back of the cabinet. Could you not have at least rinsed it out? It has mold around the ring now, so I’m soaking it in bleach water.  I’m also going to put it in the dishwasher and hope it survives the heat cycle – but it needs to be sterilized. What is wrong with people that they would do that? Huh? No dignity or consideration whatsoever - with the manners of pigs. Why would you do that?

They’re grooming the bushes, hedges and trees in the gardens - both yesterday and today.  Right now they are right under our deck and the chainsaw noise is so loud we have to keep the doors shut. So it’s getting a little stifling in here. (Don’t hear any screaming…must be a safe machine … eh sis? AAAAAHAHAH!!!)  

Young Frankenstein…one of my all time favorite movies…is on TV. It’s such a funny movie! Gotta stop and watch it!  Plus I can warm up my leftovers and enjoy that YUMMY mac-n-cheese again! Mmmmmmm! (ooops…I’m drooling!) =)

I think that will be a quest of mine. Finding the best Mac-n-Cheese. Some of my favorites are:

-          St. Louis Bread Company/Panera’s.  Their Mac-n-Cheese is so good! When I worked in Clayton, I used to get two containers! Sometimes 3 and I’d take one home to Gerald for supper. So rich and creamy! Such a good winter comfort food too.

-          Toppers (used to be Banana’s) in Simpson Bay, St. Maarten.  Oooozy cheesy goodness.  We go there every year and get it!

-          My mom. She made it for me when I was a teenager.  I wanted the “box” stuff, but she made the good stuff! She would just throw leftover cheeses from the fridge in the pan and it came out so good.  I do that and it tastes worse than the box itself!

-          Anthony’s Mom.  He brought some in for Thanksgiving one year…yummy! Wish I would have gotten that recipe!

-          And now - Salud Bistro. Yummy creamy goodness with mushrooms and truffle oil. (sigh!)

We hadn’t received our replacement credit card yet, and it was supposed to have arrived Tuesday night.  Gerald checked earlier with the front office, but nothing came yet.  I called the credit card company and we checked the FedEx tracking # and apparently it was delivered at 4:35 this evening (not yesterday like they said).  Unfortunately it’s now 5:30 and the office closed at 5.  We’re going to go see if the guard can get it for us, then go to K-Mart to get some stuff.  Well, unfortunately, the guard can’t get in the office so we will have to wait until tomorrow morning to get the package.  So we call Big John, the taxi man, to come pick us up to take us to K-Mart.  So we walk out to the front road and wait for him at the corner.

Let me begin this next part by making this statement:  There’s a full moon out tonight.  And you know stuff happens when there is a full moon.  There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise would be more appropriate. And since this is me…you know something happened! While I didn’t turn into a werewolf, grow fangs (my dentist cut those off already) or do a Jekel/Hyde thing (thank goodness I’ve been taking my hormones), I did get hurt.  Would you believe that I was surfboarding this afternoon and while riding in this gnarly tube, I lost my balance when I hit a great white shark surfing in the wave with me (you’ve seen those pictures on the internet right? of a shark in a wave next to a surfer?) and consequently crashed and rolled in the water? Or what about: a giant Caribbean Yeti was on the loose, kidnapped me, took me to the jungle and while we were swinging from tree to tree on the vines screaming like Tarzan, he spotted his Yeti wife and dropped me like a hot potato to the jungle floor? No? Ok…but either one of those stories sound better than what really happened. While waiting for the taxi, I stepped off the rock I was standing on because I was going back to the room to get the list of things we needed from K-Mart, when I stepped down, my foot hit a hole and I twisted my ankle, lost my balance and hit the ground like a moron. The pain was excruciating, I couldn’t move my foot, I skinned up my other knee and cried like a big fat baby. Happy now?

Yes…not to be outdone by Judy always breaking an arm before vacations, and making it impossible for her to carry any luggage, dress or do her hair (Bob has to help her), I had to hurt my leg, so now I can’t even walk. Thank gawd I’m not working and wearing my stiletto heals!  Yes, yes.  Pick yourself up off the floor laughing. Hilarious – I know.  The “fickled finger of fate” flipped me off big time!

So here is the story.  I fell off the rock, I fell off the rock, I fell off the rock. (that’s an old Bill Crosby record reference there…)   It was about 7pm.  Gerald and I were waiting for Big John to pick us up to take us to K-Mart to pick up a few things.  I thought we had forgotten the list and so we were going back to the room to get it. I stepped off the rock, and my foot hit the side of a hole and unfortunately my foot went sideways and my leg went straight down.  I heard and felt the snap, crackle and pop.  I lost my balance and fell to the ground, which caused me to skin my other knee.  A guy (his name is Rick Colette) was getting ready to pull into the street and saw the whole thing. He stopped because he knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. I tried to be brave and not cry, but it was no use, eventually I let it out and just bawled.  My gawd it hurt so bad. I knew I was in trouble because the pain was so bad and it was getting worse, not subsiding.  Another guy stopped and took a look at it and said I need to go to the hospital.  Great.  Just where I wanted to be on the night of a full moon…in the emergency room! Rick offered to take us to the hospital which was only about 10 minutes away, but it felt like it took hours to get there.  Every movement and bump hurt like crazy…and I cried the whole way there. 

We got to the emergency room and of course they were busy. It’s a full moon remember? As with everything else, no one moves fast, but I wasn’t bleeding (except for the booboo on my other knee) and the shooting, stabbing, little boy with broken arm and domestic squabble took priority over my wimpy twisted ankle! So we waited. We got to x-ray and apparently interrupted his dinner, but he did stop to take my picture. Gerald was standing right there with me! He didn’t even make him leave! So Gerald is glowing right along with me! Then back to the waiting room. Triage finally put me in a temp room right at the intake desk, because if I waited for a full emergency “room” it would take longer.  So I took the temp room.  Luckily, the ER doc said she did not see a break but because of the visual bruising, swelling and noises I heard, I probably tore some ligaments and tendons.  She said I am absolutely not to put any pressure on it at all until I see the orthopedic surgeon so it will have time to heal. She scolded and said that if I did not follow her advice, and allow the ankle to heal before I saw the doctor, I would surely need surgery, then would be in a cast and it would take 6 months or more to heal. (she had done the same think and did not let it heal – so she was speaking from personal experience).  Unfortunately the orthopedic surgeon – Dr. Pederson – is off island until next Thursday.  So it’s going to be a long week. 

Here are my glamor shots.  These are the pictures that Gerald takes...he always takes them when I look my best...

 (see my booboo!)

(I have a kankle now!)

She put a soft cast (splint) on my leg and then pushed my foot up to form the cast properly so I would not freeze my Achilles tendon. Which hurt like crazy and turned me into a cry baby again.  Then she had Gerald hold and push my foot until the soft cast formed.  Now I can blame him. She was going to give me some vicadin for pain, but I can’t take that stuff or I’ll ralph. Besides…I brought my own (you know I did).  She then instructed me on the ways of using crutches, told me of the sores and scars I will have if I don’t use them properly and again expounded the consequences if I walk on the foot at all before it heals. I GET IT!  Here is the problem…our condo is on the 3^rd floor…and there is no elevator. I told Gerald he is going to have to carry me up the 3 flights of stairs, and he blankly said…I have crutches and can walk myself! =)       

Being treated and then released, we called Kirby to see if she could come pick us up.  It was 11:30 pm and we know about taxi service this late.  She thankfully agreed and she and Andy came to deliver us home.  The tricky part was the stairs.  It was something out of a comedy. There was no way I could negotiate those stairs with crutches – I’ve never even used them before.  And there is no way Gerald could heave my hog butt up all those stairs! So we compromised.  I held on to the handrail and Gerald took my other side and one step at a time, we negotiated the 3 flights.  That alone wore us out! And while Gerald was holding on to my waist lifting me up the stairs, my shirt was riding up, my shorts were falling down and poor Kirby and Andy were behind us being traumatized by the view! Oh gawd!

After all that hard work getting up here…I don’t know if I want to even leave the condo again! It would have been better to sit on my butt and scoot up the stairs that way.  As a matter of fact…I think that is exactly how I will do it! Otherwise, I’m going to take a tumble, and instead of tearing ligaments, I’ll be plummeting down the stairs!

Finally in the condo, I just head straight for the bed.  Going to the bathroom is tricky though.  It’s hard not to put pressure on my foot so balance is key. Plus it’s difficult to negotiate shorts on one leg.  I had to go before we left the hospital.  That was hilarious. Both of us in a small hospital bathroom with my purse, crutches and a wheelchair. My life is just full of funny isn’t it?! =)

The good thing is, no more cleaning and organizing for me.  I’ll just have to nervously watch Gerald do it. I better make sure I have enough Xanex. I can’t walk, so I get waited on. That’s good too. At least I have both my hands and Gerald doesn’t have to fix my hair (looking at the bright side Judy! =)  

But I’ll be ok. I’ll be healed up in a few weeks, shopping like crazy…I’ll have lots of catching up to do you know! =)

But this is  what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks! =)