Some Things Come In Threes

1. About two weeks ago, I tripped over my dog. Now, I trip over her on a pretty regular basis (she's black, and follows me everywhere), but this one took the cake. Her favorite spot while I'm on the computer is up against the recliner to my left (which sits about a foot from the desk chair -- yes, I have a small house). My typical move is to spin to the right, and get out of the chair. For some reason, my brain wasn't functioning properly (my brothers should be familiar with this concept), and I decided to spin to the left, instead. So, I spun to the left, stood up, and proceeded to fall into a stack of large Rubbermaid containers filled with clothing (I had just gotten done going through them and reorganizing; they are my daughter's too-big clothes). One of my artificial nails popped off (ow) and I fell to my knees (major ow). I lay there for a good couple minutes while my husband took my coffee mug & cell phone off the floor & set them on the table.

I then decided it would be a good idea to just sit down, so with my husband's help, I got settled on the couch and he brought me some ice packs. There I stayed for two hours or so. By the next day, my knees were both swollen to the point where there were no indents at the knee cap and I was purple & green. Over the next few days, I turned more colorful, and realized I had lost feeling in my left knee. I have since gained most of the feeling back, I am no longer swollen, and the bruising is all gone. As bad as it all sounds, it could have been worse. On the other side of the Rubbermaid containers is our CD rack. It's one of the types that are tall, have four sides, and rotate. Had the containers not been where they were, I would have fallen right into that rack, and probably would've whacked my eye to the point that those who didn't know better would think my husband beat me...

2. About a week ago, I was switching out our sheets (flannels for summer whites). We have a nice cedar chest in the closet in our bedroom (remember I said we have a small house?). I pulled it out just a little; enough to open the lid (it's on hinges and has a nice decorative latch in the front) partway. I lost my grip on the latch while my hand was still partway inside and scratched up my inner left wrist. A scratch wouldn't have been a big deal, except I happened to also catch one of my veins on the latch, too, so it was bleeding a lot. I got it all cleaned & bandaged up, but had to change the bandages because I bled through. After that, I made sure it was cleaned & I put Neosporin on it twice a day. I will probably have a scar from that one...

3. Finally, I stabbed myself in the wrist (right side this time) with a nail from my very-old-&-needs-to-be-replaced deck. Our other dog (the blonde one) likes to crawl under the deck on occasion. She gets muddy under there, though, so we try to keep it blocked off (yes, the deck will get ripped out soon, and replaced with something else -- smaller deck and flagstone perhaps). The husband & I were out there discussing tentative plans for the yard (small raised produce area, outdoor seating, bbq area, etc), and I noticed one of the boards he had put against the underside of the deck had come undone & was just laying there. I turned it upright and pounded it into place with my hand... and got stabbed in the wrist. Hmmm, perhaps I should check these things first, huh?

I had to work that day, but only for an hour, so I called my doctor's office. I couldn't remember the last tetanus shot I had had, so thought I may need one again. She called me back and said my last one was in 2005, so since I got hurt, I should come in to get another one. For the record, the doc said if you have no issues (ie: don't get stabbed with a possibly rusty nail), you can go 7-10 years in between shots. If you do have an issue come up, they recommend 3-5 years; therefore, I was due. She asked me to come in when I was done with my client, which I did. The nurse has been my nurse for 5 years (Melissa), so when I got in the room, she goes, "What in the heck did you do?!?!" I told her the story, and she couldn't stop laughing.

I really do hope bad things happen in threes, 'cuz I'm done being hurt for a while!