Any Similar Revival

WARNING! THIS POST IS KIND OF GROSS, INCLUDING THE PHOTOS. BUT DON’T LET THAT STOP YOU!

So I’m making dinner tonight. I have my ingredients out, I have things lined up, I’m starting to really look forward to my french onion salisbury steak. And I’m chopping up my green onion quite finely and quickly with my big ole sharp chef’s knife. And then I hit my finger. I can tell from the pressure from the knife that it’s bad, that it’s probably bleeding, and I’m afraid to look. So I stick it immediately in my mouth and start panicking. What to do, what to do? I find my cell phone, because my landline is down today, and call Chad. He’s not there. I call Heidi and say, "I think I might have an emergency. I just cut off part of my finger." She says, "That is definitely an emergency." Now something you need to know about me is that I get very lightheaded and stupid when I hurt myself, especially if it’s gross and absolutely if it’s bleeding. I know I can’t drive myself to the ER, so I call Hannah and ask for a ride. Of course she agrees, because she is a True Friend. I call Chad in the meantime, tell him in a weepy voice that I just cut up my finger and wait for Hannie.

So Hannah and I arrive at the ER, and I go to the triage nurse. She sees my bloody paper-towelled hand and says, "Cut your finger?" I nod. "Do you have it?" Uh, no. I did pick it up off the cutting board, but I dropped it on the floor and really, who has the right frame of mind to get on her hands and knees and look for a sliver of nail and skin? Not me, I was busy sucking my finger and running around panicking.

We sit down to wait. Heidi arrives in a breathless blur. "I just had to see that you’re all right!" I show her my wound. "It’s not as bad as I thought it would be," she says.  Good thing, that. Then Billy and Julie show up. Turns out that Chad is calling in all the troops. "Dude, we’ll totally go to your house and find your finger," Billy volunteers, Julie nodding vigorously in agreement. My friends are seriously going beyond the call of duty now. Chad rushes in, pale, anxious. I show him my finger. "It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, " he says. He thought I’d cut it off at the first knuckle or something. "I called Jim," he says. I’m like, "What do you mean you called Jim? Now it’s going to be all over the prayer chain, and it’s ‘not as bad’ as everyone thinks!"  Linda arrives. Now I’m laughing. I’m the star of the emergency room. All these parents are there with little kids, and then there’s me, with the bloody finger and all my groupies. Jim arrives.

They finally call me back, clean me up, tell me it’s not that bad, and give me a tetanus shot. Chad and I have been amusing ourselves with the "Universal Pain Assessment Tool" chart on the wall (you know 1 being no pain and 10 being the worst possible pain.) We are acting out the different levels and making the other guess which number.

I felt kind of dumb. My cut really wasn’t that bad, and I felt like maybe I’d been a weenie. But Chad said, "NO, this was the right decision. It was a chance to all get together and show us how much we’re loved." And he’s right. I have wonderful people in my life, and I have a piece of my finger in a plastic baggie that Julie found on my kitchen floor to prove it. Thanks guys! I love you and you are the best!

I enjoy watching TLC’s What Not to Wear. But I always have a slightly sinking feeling when it’s on. I look down at my too-big jeans with the frayed cuffs, my stripy socks that don’t quite go, my ubiquitous long-sleeved t-shirt in a "drab" color (as my Gramma would say. Of course, she used to tell me that I dressed like a bag-lady.), and the thrift store wool sweater I bought last winter because it was cheaper than turning up the heat. I wonder what I could do in New York City with $5000 just to spend on clothes. Because I think I do like nice clothes, I just don’t buy them. When I have money to spend, I don’t spend it on clothing. I spend it on art supplies, books, kitchen stuff, cycling gear. And then I have this weakness for the startlingly ugly. I was at Marshalls the other night, because I wanted boots to wear when I take the dog out in the snow. I looked at the extrememly practical rubber-toed, lace-up, warm to -40 degrees boots and sighed. So useful. So boring. And then I saw these:

And I melted. INstant love! PINK boots! How could I resist! But I have a sneaking suspicion that these are like pugs. So ugly they’re cute. ( I also bought a pair of powder-blue fuzzy slippers at Target because they were only $5. They’re super-warm but kind of treacherous. I slid down the basement stairs the first time I wore them and bruised my bucket and my elbow. But I’m still wearing them. They are also ugly.)

It is snowing like crazy today. Myles and I just completed a short walk around the block–it’s all my cheeks could take! Those of you who know me well know exactly what color they are right now. Pink. Myles still hasn’t quite gotten on a normal eating-drinking-pottying schedule yet. Just a few laps here, a mouthful there, a dribble in the morning. . .it’s kind of worrying. We’re hoping he’s still just adjusting, though. He seems very happy, and he smiled the whole time we were outside. He has to go in his crate all afternoon while I’m at work, so I’m hoping the walk tired him out enough to nap.

Here is another pink.

And my frabjous paperwhites, blooming their hears out:

And one more thing about pink. It’s kind of a confession. Yesterday, I told Heidi that it’s too bad Myles is a boy, because he’d look so cute with a pink collar! She told me I’m not allowed to do that to him.

Last night, we went to the Arabica in Hartville to hear our great friend, Jill, sing with her brother and sister in their group, Grayson. They were awesome! We had a great time hanging out, waiting an hour for our order of icecream and coffee, and listening to good music.

I know, I haven’t been around lately. I’ve been taking a small break from having to be interesting enough to post about on this blog. But things have been very quiet and slow, and I’ve been grateful for that. The holidays are all go-go-go, and it was getting to be overwhelming. So what’s new? I’m listening to some great new music by The Weepies, The Duhks, and Po’ Girl. Reading lots of library books. Cleaning up after a mice-issue. (it’s actually blog-able: they somehow got into a lower pantry cupboard and ate like 20 mini Nestle crunch bars leftover from Halloween. There’s nothing left but empty wrappers and mouse-poo. We put out some traps and caught two of them yesterday. When I was feeling kind of sad about killing cute little mice, Chad sent me this via email:

Romans 5:12,14 NMV (New Mouse Version)

"12 Therefore just as (nasty eating and snitching habits) entered the world through one (mouse), and death through (those habits), and in this way death came to all (mice), because all (pooped and peed and ate and infested)–. . .14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of (the eating and pooping) to the time of (the revenge of Chad), even over those who did not sin by (eating our candy) as did (the first mouse), who was a pattern of the one(s) to come."

Which I found hysterical and slightly blasphemous(e).  Sorry, I couldn’t resist. They chewed through two rolls of paper towels and two bags of flour, so they really do deserve to die. But I ask you, why the heck do I have CATS if they don’t take care of the RODENT problem??)

I started back at my job this week. Olivia, who had been planning to give me 150,000 kisses, only gave me about 10. So she owes me. It is so GOOD to be back with those kids.

What else. . .oh, I met with my Team in Training cycling team last Saturday. I love TNT-it is such a great organization and the people are so fun and helpful. I do have a link on the sidebar to my fundraising site, which is still pretty rough, but it gets the job done. Hopefully. $4600 is a lot of money!

Anything else. . .thinking. . .thinking. . .we re-joined the gym (sore), all the fur on Ada’s belly is coming out [?], I planted paperwhites to cheer up my living room, I made really, really good potato soup yesterday, and I need a haircut.  That covers most of it.

Oh, and (this is a whine) I don’t think any of you like me anymore, except Faith, because nobody leaves me any comments. Kim is delurking over on her blog, and I’d ask my lurkers to declare themselves too, but I don’t think you will. Because, as I said, I don’t think you like me. And I KNOW you’re here. Pretty please? Comments? Please, please, please? With nestle crunch wrappers on top?

Yesterday, Meredith and I took a day trip to the Hocking Hills region of Ohio. It was quite a drive, around three hours, but we were richly rewarded for our efforts. I cannot even begin to describe how unbefreakinlievably beautiful it was, how often we were stunned to silence, how many times we said, "i can’t  believe this is in Ohio!" Wow, wow and double wow. And I’ve been there before! Photos do not do it justice. They can convey some of it, but not the immensity, not the sense of enclosure I had when I was walking through Ash Cave and Old Man’s Cave. How it felt like I was being sheltered in the earth, dwarfed and humbled by its grandeur. How the fir trees smelled, how soft and spring-like the air. Someday I’ll visit the region when there are actual leaves on the trees, but seeing it bare and stately just emphasized its other-worldliness.

So we were at Dan’s Dogs today for lunch, because Meredith just got in from Hawaii this morning. And we’re sitting there, and Heidi is fussing with the little tree they have on the table, because it really is pretty sad. Meanwhile, Jordan is eyeing the candy/junk machines by the table, thinking to himself, "I have a quarter. . .hmm." And so he tries the one marked, "Big Mix of Toys," and oddly enough, it is not, in fact, a toy, but a gold necklace with a green plastic heart charm. Heidi takes one look at the necklace and comandeers it for use as a garland for the sad little tree. Within seconds, we are all digging through our wallets and pockets for quarters, spinning that knob on the machine, and handing over rings, bracelets, necklaces and anything else we can find to Heidi. She even makes a garland out of the empty plastic containers and dental floss.  We would so survive on a desert island.

Before:

After: