St. Patrick's Day

This post isn't really going to be about St. Patrick's Day, it just happens to be St. Patrick's Day, so it seemed like a no-brainer title. No, instead I am going to offer up a funny story about my mom. When I tell you the story, you may think I am mean for thinking it funny, but she thinks it's funny, so I'm allowed to, too.

Valentine's Day weekend my parents had gone over to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner. Because this winter has been so brutal, pretty much anyone who does not have the NHDOT salting their private residence was going to have sheer ice for a driveway. Mom is typically quite careful when walking on ice, but apparently this was just too much for her, as she managed to take a nasty spill when she got out of the car. I saw her I think two days after it had happened and she was very noticeably limping, and I suggested maybe she should go have someone look at it. She figured she just had to give it some time, so I didn't press the issue.

In the following weeks, sometimes when I'd see her she'd be limping, sometimes she'd be fine. I'd suggest again maybe she should go to a doctor, but she said that every time she would think maybe it was time to go get it checked out, she'd wake up one morning and it'd feel a whole lot better. Mom's version of exercise is very different from mine, but she does go to the gym and walk around the track on occasion, and she had done that a few times, only to wake up the day after and once again find herself hardly able to walk. So finally yesterday she went in to see a podiatrist. Diagnosis: she broke her foot. She has to wear one of those boot things for 4-6 weeks. The doctor was quite impressed that she had not been taking anything for the pain. But the best part of the whole thing is that a week from tomorrow she and my father are going down to St. Martin for their annual trip, and had she gone to see a doctor right away, the boot would be off by then. Although she did say that now she'll probably be able to get on the plane first. She has a strange obsession with being one of the first ones on the plane. Me? I'll wait. They give you a seat assignment for a reason, and who wants to be on a plane any longer than necessary?

So anyway, she just thinks it's kind of funny that her foot has been broken for a month and she's just been walking around on it like it's going to magically heal itself. It's her first broken bone. So if something doesn't feel quite right and it's not getting better on its own, maybe you should go see a doctor, say, sooner than a month after you injure yourself. And be incredibly careful walking on ice. The aunt's house she was going to actually just last winter broke her ankle the same way.

In other, silly news about my family, I find it kind of funny that I have so many adult relatives on facebook. But apparently that is not all they are doing. Another one of my aunts had a birthday yesterday, and my uncle got her a Wii. My aunt is in her 50's, so that seems like an odd gift. But apparently she loves it and even had my grandmother playing it. Then my mother tried it and she decided she loves it so much she's going to get one. Who would've thought?

By the way, I know I'm part Irish and I know that everyone eats corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, but I won't be. First of all, I hate it. And second of all, they do not eat that in Ireland! We need to stop this madness!