I spy with my big black eye...

So everyone gets one of these at least once in their life, right? I've thought a lot about whether I should post on this, but I guess it's part of my life that I should remember and laugh about sometime. So it was the craziest day in a long time (8 strangers were in our house doing random fix-up projects, including blowing in new insulation in our attic--problem was I didn't know they were going to show up and do that that day so I wasn't prepared. No shower, not really even dressed yet...you know one of those days where you get nothing done but chase your toddler around who has no place to take a nap all day, all while trying to keep them away from all the cool tools) and in the afternoon we'd had freezing rain that day. I was walking from our garage to the elementary school across the street to get Bekah, holding James in his winter coat and wrapped in a blanket, and slipped and fell on my tailbone. It scared James a lot! Totally embarrassing as all the parents waiting to pick up their kids from school park right in front of our driveway...anyway, no black eye yet. That was fall #1.

Finally the workers left about an hour later and I could try to make sense of the mess that was left, with insulation dust and window replacement debris (but all the time loving that our house was finally winter ready! it has made such a HUGE difference already). I raced around trying to dust the whole house, straighten it up, and then get the kids and me fed because my friend was coming to get us soon (I didn't have a car again that day) to take Bekah to a babysitters house, and me and James to a women's church gathering where I was supposed to be singing (the plan was to put James to bed when I got there since he doesn't do well with new babysitters) so 20 minutes before she showed up I jumped in the shower (fastest shower of my life). Then we finished getting ready (also while trying to help Bekah finish her homework since as it is we were going to be late for bed times once we got home). We lug both car seats to my friend's car (which of course don't go in as easily as you thought they would), drive over to the babysitters, I say goodbye and step off the cement stair to the driveway and....

next thing I know I'm on the ground and my friends are saying "I'll go call 911."

I was aware enough to know I didn't need an ambulance. I wasn't bleeding anywhere. But I had fallen on my head and face. My first thought after I fell was "oh no...I hope my glasses didn't break" (isn't it funny how when adrenaline is pumping you ignore yourself and think of other things...like glasses). Since it was really cold outside, my friends took me inside to make sure I was okay. Poor James was crying in the car worried I was going to leave him with someone else. I told them we should keep going to the gathering and then I would lay down there. I really wanted to get James to bed so then I could focus on what I needed to do. So we did that, all the while I wasn't feeling hardly any pain (what a miracle--I happened to already be on prescription anti-inflammatory ib profen for something else I was dealing with so I'm sure that helped). James fell asleep in their guest room as planned and then I could think about me. After the amount of people coming to check on me telling me "ooo, wow. that's bad." I was expecting it to look worse. So I didn't get to sing or participate. I rested for a while and talked to Jason soon after (who was riding the train home from night class). I listened to my friends who told me not to be alone so I waited for Jason to get home and then he gathered up the pieces and took us home and tucked us all in and made it all better, and did all the kid-fun stuff, the cooking, the cleaning, etc. for the weekend. What a wonderful husband and father he is. I am so lucky. It's just too bad that the bruising has moved all to my eye so people's first thoughts are about domestic violence...in our house it would be more likely that James would give me a black eye from all his head-butting exuberance! Instead I get to tell people I'm a klutz. Oh well. Like I said, everyone gets at least one of these in their life, right? I hope that means I'm done with that experience.

I did end up with a small cheekbone fracture so I have gotten to meet some new doctors to make sure all is fine, and so far it is. I am very lucky. Today I covered it up with makeup and you almost can't tell if you didn't know. Today was the first day I don't have people staring at me. I think I'll keep doing the makeup. Without it I have very large patches of that putrid green from my forehead down to my cheek. I honestly thought last night I could pass for one of those weird people on Dr. Who or Star Trek who are half human and half alien. My sister requested a picture...it was taken four days after so it's not the full effect and it looks more weird in person, but here you go Angela.