February 2008 Archives

I hit myself in the head with a hammer.

Yes, you read that correctly. As if the past few weeks of illness weren't enough, last week I went and cut a small, but very deep, gash in the side of my nose. I'm incredibly lucky that I didn't get my eye.

How did I do it? Well, this takes extreme talent. I was removing a nail from the wall. A nail that was about 3 feet above my head. A nail stuck not only in drywall, but also a little in the brick behind it. A nail that required extreme strength and pressure on the hammer to remove. Well, of course the nail finally came out, and so did the hammer... with a lot of force. The hammer hit me, I fell backwards off the futon (which I was using as my ladder - brilliant idea) and things went black for about 3 seconds. Then I sat up, grabbed my nose (which hurt like hell) and checked to see that it wasn't broken. It wasn't, but I pulled my hands away and saw blood everywhere. This little gash in my nose took a lot of effort to stop bleeding. It's pretty deep, too, but eventually I got the bleeding to stop so I assume I didn't need stitches.

It's been almost two weeks now and I still have a cut there. I'm pretty sure there's going to be a scar. Luckily, and oddly, it didn't bruise at all. I fully expected to have a black eye or bruised nose a couple of days later. Instead, the bridge of my nose is just still really sore.

Yep, I'm a genius. Any wonderfully dumb injury stories you want to share?

In the spirit of Loralee's Diet Coke abstinence, I have to remark that I have almost completely dropped my Coke (-a-Cola) habit of many years. I haven't had one since I first got sick a few weeks ago. At that time I couldn't keep anything down, much less soda, so I didn't have a choice there. After that, it just seemed like I was on a roll and should keep it up. I'd think about having one, about that swoosh fizz sound when you first open a can, the burning carbonation of that first sip... anyway, I just didn't want to start up again. Being forced to quit for a while got me started and since I have no willpower anyway, it seemed like a good idea to use that as my starting point.

Okay, I did break down earlier this week. I'd had a really really really stressful day and suddenly Coke popped into my mind and I could not get it out. So I made an emergency stop at the gas station and got one. Swoosh. Fizz. Gulp.

And nothing. First sip was kind of nice, with the carbonation and all, but every subsequent sip was just too icky sweet. I can't believe I'm writing this, but I ended up putting the thing in my fridge (just in case I would want it later) and haven't really bothered it. Today I threw it out. I can't believe it, but I think I may have just lost my taste for Coke. Okay, I'm not going that far, but at least it won't be my breakfast and lunch anymore. Also, and this is another reason I'm happy to be rid of it, I feel less bloated. My pants are fitting a little bit better. And my 4pm headaches are all but gone. (Though, oddly enough, I did get a horrible one right after drinking those sips the other day.)

So, Loralee, if you're reading this, I'll do my best to stay on the wagon if you will.