I Have Never

There are a few things I always used in the game I Have Never:

I have never had a bloody nose

I have never been snow skiing

I have never cracked my own knuckles

I have never had stitches

Well, after last week I’ll be limited to the first three. I have now had stitches! Don’t ask me why I used an exclamation point there because it wasn’t a fun or exciting experience. I was running in Central Park and just as I was coming by the fountain on my way home I totally ate it. And I mean totally. I fell and slid. When I looked back to see what on earth had the audacity to get in my way and trip me I didn’t see a thing! Yup, I’m a klutz. My knee was pretty badly banged up with some cuts, but my arm was a complete disaster! One man came over to me with a napkin and said “I promise it’s clean”. I wouldn’t have cared if it weren’t – I needed something besides my shirt (already covered in blood) to put on it. (And, may I just interject here – as I was walking home, dripping blood – mind you, crying my eyes out, only a couple people asked if I was okay…what’s wrong with people?!!)

I don’t know what I was, or wasn’t, thinking when I decided it was okay to go into work after cleaning the wound. It was bad. But, I went to work. After having to change the gauze for a third time I decided I’d better have it looked at. So I called my insurance company and asked for the location of an urgent care clinic. The first two (yes, that’s right, TWO) turned out NOT to be able to do sutures…as you can imagine I was on the verge of a breakdown when I called for the third time. I didn’t care that I was standing in the middle of the street crying on the phone. I finally found a clinic and they were able to help me – after they made me wait 2 hours, that is. Showing the woman the wound didn’t help. And, don’t worry, I had to change the gauze again while I was there because it was still bleeding. According to the doctor, the cut was down to my bone (I hadn’t really wanted to look at it) and everyone kept saying they couldn’t believe I didn’t come in sooner. I can’t believe I didn’t either – I think I was in denial that I’d need stitches. Or in shock (which the doctor said). Or just plain crazy. Take your pick.

But, I’m stitched up now and healing very well. I didn’t actually feel a thing during the stitching, which I appreciated.

I’ve debated putting the photo up or not, because it’s really kind of gross, but I’ve decided to anyway – Maren & Amber (and any other nursing friends) – I figured you’d enjoy it.

Fireflies!

I love fireflies. I love the magical, whimsical sensation they evoke. Like you've stepped into a world where fairies exist, where wishes come true and where meadows of wildflowers abound.
To me, fireflies are synonymous with summer: With days spent by the pool and experiencing the joy of the hot pavement beneath my feet. With adventures past the fields and into the woods behind our house where we would build forts and tree houses and imagine all sorts of things. With sitting on our porch swing long after the sun had set, listening to the crickets and inhaling deeply to smell the fresh corn scent carried on the soft breeze that danced through the air.
I used to run around barefoot in my yard with a Mason jar and catch them. Not to brag, but I became an expert firefly catcher.
Last night Maria, Liz, Ali and I went for a walk in Riverside Park and I got to see (at catch!) my first firefly of the season! Needless to say, I will be making as many trips to the park as possible to delight in the wonder that fireflies bring!

Bird Watching

So - do you remember what it was like in First Grade? I thought I did...then I went to my sister's first grade class (she's the teacher) to help with a field trip. My goodness! I had a lot of respect for my sister's job prior to visiting her class - but now I think she's an absolute saint/hero/superwoman! Almost 30 kids with just one teacher? I swear, I've never heard the phrase "teacher! teacher! teacher!" more in my life than I did there - and that was just the 10 minutes BEFORE the bell rang for class to start. Every child wanted to be the center of attention. And they were all so adorable! And of course, she assigned me the most interesting ones to look after during the field trip to the aviary. Here are just a few highlights from the day:

- Telling Andrew to stop chasing the poor peacock
- Telling Andrew to stop climbing the fences
- Basically telling Andrew to stop doing whatever he was doing because it would more than likely result in an injury to himself/others/the birds
- Laughing hysterically at anything Brendan said. For example: One of the girls forgot her lunch at home and started crying. Since she lived nearby, she asked if she could run home and get it. Brendan's response to this was: "What's the big deal? Why is every body worried? It's not like there's no food left in the world. Jeez. She can get food here. Would everybody just calm down?" And he has the cutest voice too.
- Trying to find all the kids' shoes after they set them down on the playground and had no recollection of where
- One girl having blisters and crying and then suddenly watching all the girls develop blisters
- Watching the video of their class musical performance
- Remembering what First Grade was like

The next day we built boats in class and made them float in bins of water - I'll let your imagination run with how messy the place become. Chances are, it's not wild enough to picture how messy it really was!

Here are some pictures...the close-up of the little blond boy is Andrew...

Andrew chasing the peacock