LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

Screaming Banshee, from Hallmark

I had a great Memorial Day weekend. I took Friday off and Mom & I went to Ocean City. I was off Monday anyway, but upon return to work Tuesday, I was immediately behind the 8-ball with stuff to do.

The weirdness started out on Wednesday night when a friend of the family passed out at her job. She was put on life support, but was brain dead. At only 50 years old. It’s sobering and sad and I feel heavy pangs of sadness for her survivors.

Then on Thursday, I got a phone call that Mom was in an ambulance heading to a hospital.

Wha?

She stumbled during a field trip and broke her ankle. She’s in a partial cast and using crutches. Her orthopedic follow-up is Tuesday afternoon. I’m pleased, because the doctor we’ll be seeing is associated with the Rothman Institute, known around here for skillfully reassembling South Jerseyans. But no matter what the doctor says, she’ll be off her foot for a bit. John and I and Kristen and WM and Mom’s friends are all pitching in and helping out, but it’s still chaotic. Tomorrow, I’ll swing by there before work to feed Chip, let him out, and get her settled for the morning. My brain is on hyperdrive trying to come up with crutch-friendly ways for her to go through her daily life without having to depend too much on other people showing up.

Work is a hot mess because I’m super-HYPER behind from missing most of Thursday, on top of the Monday & Friday before. And I’ll be off Tuesday afternoon, too. Yikes! I pre-emptively worked 2 hours on something today so I’d be set for a meeting tomorrow morning. (And so I can count the 2 hrs toward leaving early Tuesday & any other time I might need to leave to take care of something for her.)

And I have something else cooking too. Just can’t blog about it. No, it’s not a baby.

Oh, and everyone at work seems to think we’ll be having layoffs again before the month is out. Whatever. At least it’s summer.

But none of this is BAD, just chaotic. I used to pirouette gracefully when everything around me was up in the air but as I move more toward the “get off my lawn” stage of life, unpredictability leaves me cranky and short-tempered.

Anyway, dear CookieCrumbs, if you have tips on how to make crutching around any easier for a lovely lady, leave them below.

Guess what I learned today? When I’m stressed out, I clench my jaw and grind my teeth in my sleep. Awesome. Found out because for the last few days I’ve woken up feeling like I’ve been punched in the jaw.

Dream:
I meet Karina Smirnoff from Dancing with the Stars and admire the new short-short hairdo she’s sporting. I admire it so much that I get my hair chopped in the same style, and end up looking like Ellen DeGeneres. (Lovely funny woman, not the hair for me.)

This is very bad. Family and friends are literally YELLING at me because of my stupid hair. I meet Karina in the street again, and notice her hair is long and curly.

“Hey…what happened to that haircut?” I asked. “It looked so good on you that I had THIS done.”

Karina looks at me in disgust and replies, “It was a wig.”

Fail.

1) I weighed myself at lunch. It’s not bad at all. Just a few lbs up – easily knocked off in a week.
2) Went to yoga and kicked myself for waiting so long to go back. Tomorrow I’ll most likely not be able to lift my arms above shoulder level, but tonight I’m happy.
3) Still behind in Facebook and email. Maybe tomorrow night.
4) Didn’t touch the skirt tonight either.
5) Great day at work. Got some excellent news about the future of online at our paper. Still no pill I can swallow for instant mastery of PHP, though.

And that’s all. Just wanted to let you know I tamed the crazy. At least for now.