Sometimes I forget I have things to do. This is especially true when these things are
not clearly visible and in my face.
I went for a mammogram Tuesday. (I know, TMI.) It would've been fine except Floyd the
Uterine Fibroid was giving me more grief (talk about unexpected surprises, as
if a surprise is ever expected), so
my chest felt like a really badly broken nose -- you know, it hurt even when
people looked at it. The last thing I
wanted was to be woman-handled and put into a medical vise. Too make it worse, the tech claimed she
needed more pictures with "more muscle." Not quite sure where this "muscle"
was going to come from since she had already inserted part of my rib cage along
with my breasts into the crepe-squishing machine. (Way TMI, right?)
After that lovely experience, I did what any normal person
would do at 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday after having a mammogram -- I went grocery
shopping. I bought tons of stuff since I
hadn't done a decent shopping trip in a couple of weeks, so I had bag piled on
top of bag piled on top of bag. As I
went to load the groceries into the back of my car, I realized there were still
plastic bags full of clothes in there.
Remember I cleaned out my closet last week? Yeah, don't worry about it; neither did
I. I had been meaning to toss those bags
in the nearest Goodwill or Planet Aid box, and then I totally spaced. I crammed all the bags of groceries into the
back seat, instead.
My daughter and her fiancé invited me over for a BBQ, and we
had a fun time. We ate chicken sausages
(which were remarkably delicious, especially the Asiago cheese ones), sat
outside, chatted, and dueled with Google videos for a while. Something bit me on the right knee, so I
figured it must be time to head home.
There are at least a half-dozen ways to get from Point D (Daughter)
to Point H (Home), but I decided to use the main roads. As I turned a corner from one busy street to
another, I spotted IT. IT was a big
yellow box that said "Planet Aid" on it, and it was sitting all alone
behind the church in the back parking lot.
Crap, I just missed it, I
thought, glancing in my rearview mirror.
Miraculously, no one was behind me.
No one. No one was coming the
other way, either. I applied the brakes
with a bit too much enthusiasm, threw the car into reverse, and made a backward
beeline to the lot. A few minutes later,
multi-bags dropped into the big yellow IT, I waited and waited and waited to
merge into the sudden traffic that was everywhere.
When I got home last night, I applied anti-itch medicine to
my bug-bitten knee and decided to start clicking things off my To-Do List. I figured if I could remember to drop off the
clothes, then I probably could write the check to the university that I owed on
my balance due for my fall class, and take care of my youngest's college
medical waiver, and put away my laundry, and file some more paperwork … By the time I went to bed, my knee was itchy
and uncomfy but relatively fine.
When I awoke this morning, though, the knee was not
fine. I ran errands and walked the mall
and drove through the same construction site four times. By the time I got home at 3:00, my knee was
swollen, red-hot, and hurt like a sonofabitch.
On closer inspection, I either had a nasty bee sting or Cellulitis. Again, I did what any normal person would
do. I disinfected a needle, grabbed some
hydrogen peroxide and some alcohol, and mixed up a baking soda paste, then I
jabbed at the spot on my knee that was the reddest and poured every medication
I had near me onto the hottest spot. It
felt like I pulled a stinger out, and the area became less tender, less
scarlet, and less swollen. I really hoped
I fixed this sucker because I do not want to spend tomorrow at the doctor's
office.
I have things to do, places to go, people to see. Sometimes I forget what they are because
they're not right in front of me (filling out that passport information,
cleaning up the spare room, emptying the basement, studying for my Spanish
fluency exam, trying to find a mentor for my thesis/capstone project). Unless these things are in my face, I'll
spend time doing more important things, like reading a book or digging my feet
into the beach sand or going on spontaneous road trips. After a mammo, grocery shopping, BBQ, dumping
old clothes, and beating the pus out of my own knee, I think tomorrow might
just be a "stay home" day.
I think I earned it.
Even if I didn't, I'm going to humor myself before something else
ridiculous happens or my right leg needs to be amputated from my self-denial of
gangrene.
