It's Winter, not FALL!

but you couldn't prove it by me!

First, it "iced" on OKC about 3 weeks ago and I had the (dubious) honor of being the first employee to slip on the ice outside the building and fall. Two more staff and 4 customers fell after I did and before they got the salt down but still... I landed hard on my tailbone and it still hurts.

Last weekend I was invited to go on a trip to St. Louis to eat, visit yarn shops, Trader Joe's, World Market and other places we could think of to go. There were 6 of us. We left Thursday morning and took a lovely meandering route to get there. Then Friday, we visited our first stop, The Loopy Ewe, a wonderful shop and really fun place to be, then headed to an Italian Deli to meet some of Emily's friends for lunch. Well, I got a phone call (that I was afraid was about Richard for whom I had to make quite complicated plans to get him taken care of) and headed out the door. The steps were round and uneven in height, the sun was in my eyes, I was worried but probably-truth be it known-I wasn't paying close attention and I fell. I felt my ankle twist and I landed on my left side. Marjie saw me go down and she was out the door at my side almost before I quit bouncing. Terri (I think) was right behind her. They tried to help me up but my left foot wouldn't cooperate, it just sort of hung there. They finally got me in a chair and back inside with my leg resting on another chair and a bag of ice on it. They ask did I want to go to the ER but I wanted to have lunch. I had a fabulous pulled pork sandwich with a brocolli salad that I remember was really good but not much else about it and a canoli (yum!) THEN I was ready to go to the ER.

I was transported by Teresa who also stayed with me until the group came to get me and was told I had broken my fibula. They put a plaster splint on it with an ace bandage wrap and told me to stay off of it like in a wheelchair.

We visited the Walgreen's, got my perscription filled and some crutches for me to use. (I should have re-thought that decision) picked up supper went back to the hotel and had a picnic in the lobby. Used the hotel wheelchair to get me upstairs, but it wouldn't fit through the door. So Emily called her friends and borrowed one.

I woke in the night hurting and took a pain pill about 4:00 and when I next woke up about 6:30 to visit the facilities I decided to try the crutches (on which I practiced the night before and was doing acceptable well) which was another mistake. I instantly went down backwards onto the still hurting tailbone. I sort of remember getting up and getting the crutches again and promptly fell over sideways smashing my face in the carpet and causing a run-a-way nosebleed. Poor Emily was in shock. She got kleenex for me, said No More Crutches for you, put me in the wheelchair and wheeled me to the bathroom. (She also informed me that I wasn't very good at accepting help was I) Then, God love her, she cleaned up the blood from the carpet. (I'm sure it was the pain pills that made me so clumsy--never mind any of my other posts about falling)

Getting me in an out of the van on the way home was an adventure with people on either side of me and behind me (my reputation preceded me I guess) to prevent falling also shouting words of encouragment not to put weight on my broken leg and other stuff. This group of women were wonderful! They could easily have decided I ruined the trip but they were more kind and helpful than I deserved. A thousand thank you's to Marjie, Emily,Terri, Kay and Karen. I had a really wonderful time in spite of the break.

So Monday morning bright and not-so-early I went to the orthopedist that my daughter-in-law (the nurse) works for -- that's handy don't you think?-- and they affirmed the diagnosis of the ER. And now I'm in a cast from toes to knee. I'm currently waiting on the arrival of a scooter thingee to rest the broken leg on and propel with the good leg. Right now I hurt all over, leg, tailbone, hands and arms from the crutches, nose for obvious reasons, and I'm PO'ed!! I don't need this, I've had enough character-building experiences the last few years to last a lifetime. And I really thought I was going to make it all the way through my life without ever breaking anything-ha! So much for thinking. I had a kind of meltdown earlier but I'm feeling better now. Nothing like a good cry to wipe away the cobwebs or something like that. I'm sure there's an old saying that fits somewhere. Now for a picture. So the good news is it gave me something to blog about!

Below is a short row scarf of Silk Garden Sock Yarn and a Firebird Faroese style shawl by SimpleKnits pattern on Ravelry. Shawl is from Fiesta Boomerang, Alaska colorway. All yarns purchased at Gourmet Yarn Co. in OKC.