Gimp Tales

It has been a whole week since I fell and broke my leg. This is the longest time I have gone without a pair of boots -- or even one boot for that matter -- on my feet. It also is the longest period of time I have gone without wearing a pair of leather jeans. I'm livin' in sweats and comfy flannel shirts.

I am still resting with my right leg elevated. My partner puts ice on it every few hours. I have not had to take prescription pain medication except when I first go to bed for the night -- that's when the pain is worst. Otherwise, the pain is manageable with regular aspirin.

My partner has been heating the casseroles that were prepared for us, and preparing other meals. My appetite is good, but I am being careful about not eating too much because I am not getting any exercise (except if you call hopping to the bathroom on crutches exercise!) I have been drinking my milk, too! The doctor recommended making sure I get lots of calcium in my diet. Since I can't eat leafy green vegetables, I have been drinking milk and taking a calcium supplement.

Yesterday morning, as my partner and I were waking, snuggling closer together, and watching the sun begin to rise and make the trees glow a bright orange, we heard this strange sound. It sounded like scraping. It was not a snow plow, but the noise persisted.

My partner got up, put a robe on, and looked out the front window. He saw four friends of mine -- all cops -- who were shoveling the remaining snow and ice from our drive and walks. I have participated in helping these guys with some motorcycle training, and rent a house to one of them. It was so nice of them to come over and do the rest of the snow cleanup for us. While they were there, the county snowplow came. They cleaned up the snow and ice that the plow pushed across the front of our drive.

By then, I had hopped into the kitchen and brewed a big pot of coffee. My partner heated up some sweet rolls that one of my elder pals made for us. I invited my friends inside to warm up. They graciously accepted, though my partner wasn't all that happy to have visitors when the house was such a mess.

Overall, I think my partner truly appreciated the "hunky help" -- as did I! My partner was awfully sore from the work on Saturday afternoon with the manual shoveling that he did. And don't let me mislead you -- my friends were not in motor boots and uniforms. They were off duty, and came over to help us out of the kindness of their hearts.

Sunday afternoon, the doorbell rang. My partner exclaimed, "now what?" One of my friends had gone around to see some of my older pals for whom I do "that time of year" volunteer work. Yep, it's tax-time! My friend brought me ten envelopes with information that I need to begin to prepare income tax returns for my senior pals. That sure kept me busy the remainder of the afternoon and evening! I even filed my own personal income tax returns and anticipate enough of a refund to get a certain pair of boots that I've been thinking about. (Even though my leg is broken, I am still a Bootman at heart!)

As I was writing this post on Sunday night, the doorbell rang again. It was our next-door neighbor, who baked me some brownies. My partner is growing more and more irritated with that doorbell and visitors, but he just has to accept that my life is closely intertwined with so many others. After all, my community is my life, and our home.

I go tomorrow (Tuesday) to get a cast on the leg... and a prognosis for how I will be able to be more mobile and how long I'll have to reorganize my life in order to fully recover. Wish me well!

Life is short: remember to smile. I have lots to smile about, as my heart is warmed with each email I receive, each telephone call, each visit, ... sniffle, sniffle. And thank you, loyal blog readers, for your caring concern, comments, and emails. I appreciate it very much.