And hopefully, ankles straight and steady.
Please send good thoughts my way tomorrow morning from about 8 until just after 10 as I’m going to make another go at a 10-miler. I’ve run a couple of times on the treadmill since last week’s incident but this is my first time outside in the world of wet pine straw and uneven streets, so I’m a bit anxious.
I know I can do it, it remains to be seen if I will do it…
Scene: Tuesday morning in the Connolly household. Matt is preparing to leave for work and Shannon is trying to eat breakfast with Liam (who was generally unhappy with the world until he was picked up) in her lap.
Matt: What’s the weather going to be like today?
Shannon: Hold on, let me check. (opens up laptop to search for the forecast)
Liam: AHHHHHHHHHH.
Shannon: Here (hands Liam container of puffs and continues searching for the weather report).
Matt: I’ve gotta go, do you know what the weather’s going to be like yet?
Shannon: No–it’s taking me a minute. I’m trying to get the page to load and there’s a child in my lap swiping at the keyboard. (motions head towards Liam and looks down)
Shannon: Liam!
Liam: (has opened the container of puffs and is now literally elbow deep in it).
Matt: What’s going on?
Shannon: (motions towards Liam)
Liam: (has now taken an entire handful of puffs and is trying to stuff them all in his mouth at once).
Shannon: Ah, that’s my boy.
End scene.
So we cut Liam’s hair today.
Here’s what my sweet, precious boy looked like before:
During:
And (regretfully) afterwards:
There’s a reason why there are hairdressers in the world (and even better reasons why I’m not one)…
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
-Robert Louis Stevenson (and recited to me by my mother just about every time I was on a swing as a child…)
This time, however, it wasn’t Liam’s blood–this time it was mine.
I went out this morning for my long run, which was to be 10 miles. It was a great temperature, the humidity was relatively low, and there was enough cloudcover to make for a perfect running day. I got through the new twists and turns I’d added to the beginning of my route just fine and was feeling good as I crested the longest hill of the route. Unfortunately as I crested this hill I was so immersed with my inner dialogue (“I just finished the hardest part, it’s all (figuratively) downhill from here, I feel great!”) that I either didn’t see something on the ground or my ankle simply gave way with no warning or explanation. I’m still not sure what happened, to be honest. I was running and feeling good and then all of a sudden I was crumpled on the ground. When my left ankle gave way, my right knee took the brunt of the impact and I went down hard without catching myself with my hands–I suspect that this was mainly due to the fact that it was a total surprise and my body didn’t have any time to react. Luckily I was on a sidewalk off to the side of a fairly busy street so people saw what happened. A woman in a car going the opposite direction slowed down to ask if I was okay, but I told her that I thought I was (because I did think I was–at that point I was too stunned to know what was going on). At the same time a group of guys were driving by on my side of the road and they pulled over on the sidestreet that I was approaching to ask if they could help. They were very nice and although I didn’t feel comfortable getting a ride home from three men I didn’t know they let me use a cell phone to call Matt and waited with me until he got there. I skinned my right knee through my pants (I think that’s the first time I’ve done that in 20 years or so) and my left ankle swelled up immediately so I’ve been icing it all day. Matt took these pictures right after we got home and just before everything was wrapped in ice:
It’s hard to see here (partly because of the distance but also due to my unfortunate cankle issue), but my left ankle was beginning to swell to about the size of one half of a golf ball:
Side view (there used to be an ankle bone sticking out in front as well as what you can still see in back here):
The knee:
At least next week our long run is also 10 miles (we increase mileage during the week this time) so I’ll get another shot at it if everything heals well.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
I think that my favorite part of the day is the few minutes before each of Liam’s naps when we’re sitting in the rocking chair in his room, everything is quiet and still, and he nuzzles into me while falling asleep…
Liam had his 9 month (and some change) check up today. His official stats are as follows:
Weight: 20lbs. 15oz (50th percentile)
Height: 29.5in. (90th percentile)
Head: 10.25in. (75th percentile)
He’s basically following the same track he’s been on since birth quite nicely (despite the fact that everyone who sees him comments on how big he is..). Everything else checked out well and although we’re going back for a flu booster next month, beyond that it doesn’t look like we will have to go back until the end of the year (fingers crossed).
As many of you know–I’ve been playing The Grocery Game over the last several months. I shop at both Kroger and Publix since both are about 2 minutes from our house and each seems to have better prices on particular items that we use on a regular basis. What I’ve found is that basically Kroger has slightly better everyday prices on most of the things we use but that Publix has much better sales when things are on sale. The biggest gap between the two (at least the two stores near my home) is that shopping at Publix is generally a pleasant experience and Kroger has almost non-existant customer service. Today’s example of this is exasperating because I have to go back out in the rain with my nine month old after his nap to correct someone else’s mistake. I checked out at Kroger and used several coupons, all of which were scanned by the cashier (who said nothing to me at the time to indicate that anything didn’t scan and kept all the coupons I handed him, which also generally means that they were successfully used), and then we ran out into the rain trying to get in the car as quickly as possible. I usually stick the receipt in my pocket so I can look at in the car (because of previous issues with it being charged too much), but today I stuffed it in a bag as I was loading everything. When I got home I realized that three of my coupons were not honored–totalling $4.10. Now this is not a lot of money, but when you consider it as a percentage of my total bill and the fact that I only bought the items I did because they were on sale and I had a coupon in addition, you’re talking about a fair amount of money. I guess it’s partly my fault for not checking the receipt when I got in the car (there’s just no way anymore to check things as they’re being run through because with Liam around I’m generally loading everything slower than the cashier is ringing it up)–but when I called I got a fair amount of attitude from the “customer service” person who answered the phone and my guess is that I’m going to get it again when I go back this afternoon. My gut reaction is to say that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back and that I’m done with Kroger–but that feels a bit like cutting off my nose to spite my face–on the other hand I don’t like to give my money to a store that has such a sorry excuse for customer service.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
ETA: I just got back from the Kroger (where I was given $4.10 in cash, thanks very much!) and I learned several things:
1: There is at least one nice person working at the customer service desk in the Kroger near our house.
2: You do, in fact (and contrary to the belief of some people I know…), catch more flies with honey…
3: Liam apparently thinks that pouring rain is hilarious. Now this could be due to the fact that in his 9 months of living he’s never seen it rain beyond a sprinkle, but still–it was pretty entertaining to watch.
If you are:
A) Feeding your child in a seat that’s attached to the table
and
B) The table is covered with plastic bags
and
C) Your child enjoys the crinkling sound that plastic bags make when they move
and
D) Your child is currently mastering cause and effect
and (possibly most important)
E) Your child is Liam
The only conceivable result is a child who is bobbing and weaving at such a frantic pace as to ensure yogurt up his nose. Which brings me to Parenting Lesson #858: Yogurt Sneezes are no fun for anyone involved.
Today we’ve had poop, blood, and vomit. Nothing like a bodily fluid triple play to make a great Saturday!