A Comedy of Accidents

I haven't posted in a while and you might be wondering if a stack of 5 gallon buckets of wheat fell on me or if I got stuck in my bunker. Surely you didn't think my silence meant I fell off the prepping bandwagon? Never! :)

What happened is a comedy of accidents due to my inherent klutziness.

The scene of the crime

One morning, I was working in the kitchen while my four children played in the living/play room. The gruesome twosome - a.k.a. Baby Dear and Sweetie Pie - decided that Momma had spent more than enough time away from them and so they gathered at the gate that separates the living room from the dining room. Have you ever heard two, mostly non-verbal, toddlers throw a simultaneous tantrum? No? You're missing out. It sounds something like the combination of a cat in heat, nails on a chalkboard, and an approaching freight train.

Motivated by their dulcet voices, I decided to cross over the gate - usually a simple maneuver - to end the screaming as soon as possible. What happened next is kind of a blur. I tripped on either one of the babies or a toy and fell to the ground with a thud similar to the felling of a redwood tree. I half expected one of my older children to shout "Timber!", but no, they ignored my slow motion descent to the floor. I ended up with my head in a toy chest, my ribs cradled on top of a toy dog kennel, and my left knee jammed onto Baby Dear's miniature John Deere tractor. I still have the tire imprints on my patella to prove it. I got the wind knocked out of me and it shook me up a bit, but I was otherwise fine. The toddlers bounced upon my inert frame while I recovered and all was well in their baby kingdom.

That evening, I started having pain in both wrists. The pain became searing over the next couple of days and my hands remain sore two weeks later. Hubby Dear diagnosed me with sprained wrists and possibly some fractures in my metacarpals due to a FOOSH (fall on outstretched hand). Whatever. All I know is it hurts.

I decided to forgo the recommended x-ray and take the wait-and-see approach. Wait-and-see doesn't require a co-pay, radiation, or spending time in a waiting room with four restless kids. In the meantime, I had some canning to do. Salsa, spaghetti sauce, you name it. It had to get done. I don't like peeling tomatoes in the best of times, but with two sprained wrists?? Fun times.

So I decided to add to the excitement by slicing through the nail on my index finger with my chefs' knife. Twice.

I'm still avoiding the x-ray, but I had to go in for a tetanus shot to be prudent. On my way to get the tetanus shot, I jacked up my right shoulder when I slid on some wet pavement.

I think I should just stay in bed for a few days, don't you?

More garden and prep updates to come, assuming I maintain the use of my hands and my sanity.