The knee story

Today I'm doing really well. I went to church last night and worked security for the weekly youth group event. It includes both jr. high & high school. I got to know a few of the kids a little, and I'm really looking forward to continuing. I had a lot of fun, and it was a sorely needed break from my regular routine of doing nothing.

I sold the loft bed yesterday to a nice family from Florida who didn't know what coyotes were. We explained and I thin they understood. Apparently, they're the Lone Star version of alligators, but are a little noisier at night. All I have left is the sleeper sofa and I think I'll have sold it all.

I've been using a little dorm-type mini-fridge to keep my essentials in (water, bacon, etc). I cleaned it furiously, and now when I close it I get this whiff of really clean, cold air. It's wonderful.

So, before I post the pics, here's what happened to my knee.

Sunday night was our last softball game of the season. We played at 8 PM, and it was the perfect night for playing. It was warm with a nice breeze, and the park was light with the stadium lights, making the grass greener and the rust colored earth more beautiful. When I finally stepped up to bat, I swing at a high, outside pitch and managed drive it into right field and get myself to first base before they ball. The next hitter popped a short one between first & the pitcher, so I bolted like a jackrabbit towards second. Fortunately, somebody bobbled the catch just enough for me to slide safely into second under a tremendous cloud of dust, and by the time they second baseman had realized I was safe and threw it to first, our runner was already there. I scored a run on the next pitch and hit home plate badly out of breath. Unfortunately, we would lose a four point lead in the 6th inning and never get it back. Bad defense lost that one for us, but we had fun anyway.

Well, all of that to tell you this. When I slid into second, I tore a lot of the skin off of my left knee and ground the wound full of dirt. I guess that's why the pros wear pants. Anyway, after trying futilely to clean the dirt out on Sunday night, I decided I'd give it a day or so to heal on it's own, which was a mistake. By Tuesday it was very swollen, still full of dirt, and starting to get infected. Toni cleaned it out for me (one the benefits to being engaged to a paramedic, huh?) and listened to me cuss and squall like a scalded cat during the entire time before dressing the wound with - you guessed it - a maxi-pad covered with Neosporin. It worked like a charm, and now it's healing nicely. Anyway, here's the pics. Try to imagine how bad it was 5 days ago - much larger, and stuffed full of red dirt.







God Bless Kotex, man.

Anyway, that's about it for today. I have to get back to work & pick up Diamond as soon as I can, and we have some more wedding prep to do as well. I still have to pack, and I still have to make some collection calls, and I still have to re-print some cards, and I still have to......

Well, I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow.

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