The Hip Housewife hurt herself. Ow.

I'm still taking my exercise classes (when I first typed the word 'exercise' I actually typed 'sexercise', wonder what Dr. F would make of that?)  and I am exercising on the days I don't attend class.

Thursday I took the dogs out for a walk.  I like to walk after the kids go to bed since it's cooler.  We're tromping along the sidewalk, I even ran some of it. 


We took a left  and about half way down that block there was a seam in the sidewalk that was uneven by about half an inch.  I didn't see it.  It wasn't in my favor.  I caught the toe of my right, black and pink Nike Shox shoe on the higher patch of concrete and I went DOWN.

It happened slow enough that I was able to have the thought "I'm going to hit on my knee!"  Then. BuuuuuuuuuHAM!

I sat up and took a look at the damage.  I had a big scrape, maybe medium sized, about the size of a matchbook.  I'd caught myself on the heel of my right hand and it hurt too.  The dogs were worried and crowded me, licking my face and looking concerned. 

And I was half a mile from home.  Dammit.

I walked home with blood running down my leg and making a face.  After I walked in the door I showed The Hip Husband who paused his video game to examine my wound.  He was mostly thinking that I needed to get it clean so I wouldn't get an infection.  I got a wet washcloth while he and I quoted the movie "The Four Seasons" at each other.

It's a film about a group of friends who travel together, written and directed by Alan Alda.  At one point, he's gotten a big scrape on his knee after tackling a friend of his during a soccer game.  His wife, played by Carol Burnett, is unsympathetic.  In their hotel room he examines his knee. 

"Oh God.  Oh.  God. Really took off a lot of skin."  he glances up to see Carol applying lotion to her face.  "What are you doing?"

"I've been out in the cold all day and my skin is dry."  she tells him without looking away from the mirror. 

"I wonder if they have any ice down the hall?"

"Gee.  I don't know.  Why don't you go see?"  says Carol.

"Are you mad at me?"  he asks.

"You got it."

Then they have a big fight.  Scott and I quote the fight to each other a lot because it's funny. 

I got my boo-boo cleaned off a little then got in the bathtub to make sure all the dirt was gone. 

Yesterday, it felt okay so I went to my bootcamp class and carefully moved around with my trainer keeping a close eye on me to help with the modifications.  It was the last day of school and Zoe had her usual sleep over.  Parents brought their kids over, stayed for dinner and retreated to homes empty of kids.  I'd tried to be careful but by the end of the night I couldn't bend my left knee to go upstairs.  I really couldn't bend it much at all.  And it hurt.

I was really frustrated.  I'd booked a nanny job for Monday which would have paid over $100.  And I would have spent the day with some kids I know from my church nursery gig.  If I couldn't easily walk there was no way I could keep an eye on them all day in the way I needed to.  I emailed my boss to tell her I couldn't work either job. 

This morning, my knee was swelled up to double it's usual size.  Crap.

Scott's been very clear that I need to make sure I really take care of myself because if I don't let it heal correctly it can turn into something that will bother me regularly.  Part of me wants to say "Oh please."  But another part of my brain is telling me that if I have permanently messed up my knee I can kiss culinary school good-bye. 

Not taking these two work days to sit on my shrinking bum on the sofa and rest my knee over the long weekend is a small price to pay if I can preserve my ability to stand at the stove and the chopping board.  This is going to sound dramatic but $200 isn't enough for my future. 

I've minimized my movements today.  I'm drinking lots of water.  I'm icing every 3-4 hours.  I'm using ibuprofen for the ache, which has gone down quite a bit.  I took a long nap, which I thanked the family for.  These things combined have improved my mood considerably. 

If you need me, I'm the one on the sofa watching Netflix on my laptop.

Amanda's beauty tip of the day: If your scalp is itchy and you are near the beach, take a handful of fine sand and rub it in!  Rinse with the hose/beach shower outside before going in to wash and condition.