Falling

The boss repairing my Texting-While-Walking damage.

Fall number one:

I was leaving band rehearsal Monday night, walking in flip-flops several inches thick, carrying my horn on one shoulder, and texting.  It was pretty dark.  And I wiped out.  I mean it--I ate pavement pretty hard.  I must have veered off the edge of the (already uneven) pavement, because my flip-flop suddenly twisted and slid off my heel, I windmilled for a second, and the next thing I knew, I was crouched on the ground with one knee on the pavement and one in the dirt.  I started to get up and fell again, much to my embarrassment.  My flip-flops had both my feet turned in, and my arm was pinned down by the strap on my gig bag, which had hit the ground pretty hard.  My phone, sunglasses, keys, and water bottle had flown all the hell over the place.  When I finally disentangled myself and scrambled up, I looked around to see if anyone had seen that, hehe--and nobody had.  I made a texting-while-walking joke to the only person close enough to have seen, and he said, "Did you fall?!"  I think he probably saw, but was being nice. 

That night, I put a bag of frozen edamame on my left ankle and a heating pad on my right knee, and switched them every 20 minutes.  That frustrated the hell out of Lily, who wanted to cuddle with the heating pad, but every time she went to be sure the kitchen was still there, she'd come back and find an ice pack where her cozy heating pad had been a few minutes earlier.  As my body relaxed, I realized I was going to be sore in a million places. 

The total damages:
two twisted ankles, one bad enough to have me limping for two days
two twisted knees, one bad enough to balance out the limping from the ankle on the other side
one wrenched shoulder
two sore wrists from breaking the fall
one banged elbow
two scraped knees, one bloody
two scraped palms, neither very bad
one rather sore spot in my back, probably twisted wrong
100% depleted pride
one scuffed flip-flop
euphonium damages: warped bell and fourth valve slide jammed into fourth valve

Luckily, I'd planned to take a day off Wednesday, so I was free to go to work at the shop and let the boss repair the damage to my horn.  I have a gig with the symphony this weekend, starting tonight (Thursday) and I would have had a really tough time playing it without the fourth valve.  I could do it, but it would suck.

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Fall number two:
I quit the brass band board of directors.

It's been coming for a long time.  Two of my best friends have quit within the past few months, and while they said it was for personal reasons, they both admitted that they were tired of dealing with a certain obnoxious person.  I was tired of dealing with him, too, and I finally snapped.  I wrote a scathing letter of resignation reminding the board of all his power plays and ugly behavior, and clicked send.  Then I put my head between my knees and waited to catch my breath.  (It didn't take long.)  Only two of the board members responded, and one was in a private message to me.  I don't suppose the rest of the board is discussing me with one another, but I bet the asshole is dancing with glee.  I just figured I only have three more months on the board; I really wasn't going to accomplish anything significant in that time, but I was going to be miserable putting up with his shit.  By quitting, I may have added fuel to the fire that will eventually engulf him.  By the end of the day, I was comparing myself to Dumbledore.  It was a great feeling.  :)  And now I can forget about the political issues in the band and just play in it for my last few concerts.

Didn't this blog used to be about food?  Right.  I've been doing a lot of comfort eating; avoiding the mac and cheese and ice cream that I usually eat when I'm nervous, but I've had a few peanut butter cups, some pasta with parmesan, and way too many chicken tenders from Publix.  And a creme egg here and there.  Yesterday, to thank the boss for fixing my horn for me, I bought lunch at BBQ1: pulled pork, brisket, collard greens, green beans, and...yes...yesssss...the macaroni and cheese.  Ahhhhhh.  I gained a few pounds last month, but I've been sort of stable for a few weeks.  Hoping to get the weight loss back under control soon, right after my life becomes manageable.  Yeah, right.