Fri. Night Lights Survival & Being A Swamp Ogre

10/28/’07

On Friday my oldest son had injured his ankle on the football field. He was so upset about not being able to play the rest of the game, this bothered him more than the pain of his injury. Saturday morning he went to the ER for an x-ray which luckily revealed no fracture. He insisted on going on his own & being 18 now, I’m trying to let him make some of his own decisions. The ortho doc who had been on-site at the game happened to be at the ER while Z was there & called me right away & told me there is no fracture, he also spoke with Z & the athletic trainer. I love the rapid follow-through & kindness of this new doctor our small town is abuzz with thankfulness for receiving, he has a fantastic rep & is from Stanford University. We live in a house with many stairs & it is not conducive to crutches or any sort of mobility problems but he managed it well. I had put an ice-chest in his room for him to ice his foot & we all tried to help carry things for him up & down the stairs. He had gone with his sister to a costumed Halloween party Saturday night. For the costumes our daughter went as “white trash” complete with massive blue eye-shadow, torn white t-shirt & cut-offs & a Coors beer trucker hat. Z modeled an outfit, going as his sister, in a miniskirt & spaghetti strap girly shirt. He didn’t wear it out of the house but he did at least show us & pose for a picture with his sister, he hates having his picture taken so that was a big deal. We got such a laugh too!! It was great!!
Unfortunately fell backwards down a short flight of stairs at the party, trying to get out of the way of others going the opposite direction. After that a friend brought him back home. He was pretty disappointed about not being able to do much but is doing pretty well otherwise. His poor foot was more swollen & bluish colored today. He’s managed the fine art of driving left footed which I don’t want to promote but, is pretty impressive none the less.
Saturday night was also the local university’s 14th annual haunted house. All that was required to attend was a willingness to go & a canned food donation for the local food bank. My anxiety got the best of me, as usual & the thought of a crowd in a confined area made me not want to attend, yet I wanted my boys to be able to go. Gumby decided he didn’t want to go but Boog & Crash were quite excited about it. Thankfully my niece came to the rescue once again, taking the boys for me & stopping at the local mini-mart to fulfill a craving I’d had for Diet Coke! God Bless Her!!!! They had fun & came home with some candy in a trick or treat bag.
I awoke this morning with the usual alarm-clock-child coming through the door asking for something, this morning it was cereal, prior to the crack of dawn. It is no use trying to get him to go back to sleep, this is something I have learned after many attempts. He excitedly jabbers to me about things then turns his bedroom light on to retrieve some item to show me. This wouldn’t be such a bad thing if his other 2 brothers weren’t in there trying to still sleep. Now comes out the next boy, complaining about being awoken, then with his conversations & needs. Not long after the last boy comes out still in a half-sleep daze. I attend to all their needs, interact in their conversations happily & make coffee. I’m told by my boys they are lucky I am not so cranky today. I have to agree, I was horribly cranky yesterday. Noises & stress got the best of me, if it wasn’t the birds, boys or television it was the phone or the dogs, always something. I told the boys if they needed anything else to let me know now; nothing was needed thankfully & I told them I was going back to bed. This is something I never do, but by golly, today I needed to.
The shooting pain in my hip had interrupted my sleep, as had my teeth clenching from some bizarre yet stressful dream. I was actually able to get comfortable & go back to sleep for a bit. When I entered the living room hubby had made blueberry muffins & everyone was happy. He had Loca out playing with her & I got Sunny out to love on him as well. Coffee didn’t work for me with us being out of creamer I couldn’t foo-foo it up enough. So I poured some diet coke & used it to down my handful of medicine. When choosing a glass from the cupboard I automatically chose the one from McDonalds with the Shrek pictures on it. I seemed to identify with the swamp ogre way too well. I am not heroic nor a princess. I do feel unaccepted by most & live in a mess, though it is not a swamp.
Then came the cross discussion with hubby. He wanted to tear into another project in the house today. I, however, wanted him to please finish any of the ½ dozen or more other projects he’d already started & not finished. He does not stick to the subject matter when we discuss things, he turns vindictive & mean & plays me with guilt turning the crux of the matter into something else entirely unrecognizable. We both give up on the conversation & focus our attention on television as if it will teleport us away into a more perfect world. At least it offers a bit of escapism from current tensions. I may have silently won because he is now working on some of the unfinished things surrounding us instead of ripping out a closet to create more wall space. A silent victory deserves a silent celebration so, shhh, “hooray & yippy-skippy do-dah-day!!”
This ogre is going to attempt to be less ogre-ish, maybe even get dressed & go to the store. I will try not to stress out, try to fit in & survive outside of my home-“swampland”. Today, Dear Readers, I wish you success in stretching your boundaries of your comfort zones. I wish you a good laugh & plenty of foo-foo for your coffee; good dreams & restful sleep & a snooze button for any alarm-clock children of your own. Be Blessed!