Do NOT invite me over
It's been a bit of a whirlwind month with lots of work and activities, with Ali home for almost a full week during her spring break. We didn't go anywhere as we've been to Orlando and Sacramento with her recently looking at potential grad schools, with a trip to Miami in the offing for the last one.
But I didn't think I was too overbooked for a euchre night with Jeff's beer friends.
I wasn't even drinking when I went inside Dan and Carrie Ann Harper's house to sample the mac-n-cheese I'd been promised. I took a reasonable portion, even though I could have had the whole dish it looked so good, and then spied some beautiful strawberries. I stepped over to add a couple to my plate.
The next thing I knew, the mac-n-cheese was flying in one direction, the strawberries in another and I was flat on my back. I might have conked out for a bit. I really couldn't say. What I do know is it sent me right back to that time years ago along the Broad Ripple canal when I was looking for a turtle Ali had said was there and drove my bike right down a deep embankment on the other side of the water.
Jeff and Ali were oblivious to my crashing through the small trees and underbrush and kept pedaling and calling out new turtle sightings as I got caught in the underbrush. I yelped. I know I yelped. And I made a massive racket as I slid, but those guys didn't notice I wasn't with them until they'd hit the endpoint of the trail and were riding back wondering where I was.
I dragged myself back up from the ditch and was cleaning weeds and dirt and twigs out of my hair and wheels when they came up and said, "What in the world happened to you?"
This time, I could hear Jeff talking to Carrie Ann. I pick myself up, spy the mount of mac-n-cheese sinking into the carpet and shake my head to get my senses back.
Turns out, there's a step down into the living room off the kitchen. I had not just fallen, I'd apparently fallen against their couch. And broke its front leg right off. I had narrowly missed cracking my skull against a big wooden table.
I hadn't even had one drink! I'm just a super klutz. Jeff came in to see me scraping wasted cheesy goodness out of the carpet. For a second, I told myself the couch was already broken and it couldn't have been me, but yeah. It was me.
"Baby, what are you doing?" he asked.
It was not an auspicious start to the night. Dan and Carrie Ann were gracious about it, but man, I was embarrassed and sore. I'm afraid to look at what should be a pretty bruise.
I've been harping on Jeff for months to replace our couch. I think I'm going to be stuck with my old one while the Harpers will get a new one. I've invited Dan over to break ours, but I don't know that he's going to take me up on it.
I had a nightmare last night that my fall had dented my bionic hip and I had to have it ripped out and replaced because, of course, that was the side of me that took the brunt of my couch encounter. So far, I'm just sore but not limping.
And let's be honest: there's some padding that protected the hip even as it destroyed the couch.
I'm going to stay home for a while. And check out my flooring situation before I flit around the next buffet.
****
I mentioned Alison's grad school search. She's nearing a decision. For sure California is out of the running but two schools in Florida are vying for her presence in the fall. We're waiting on Florida International University to schedule a visit. The University of Central Florida is pretty tempting, but she wants to make an informed decision, so we await the Miami visit. She should know by mid-month which one is her choice.
So I'm hoping to start wintering in better weather.
Because of Governor Frank O'Bannon and his then Lt. Governor Kernan, I met some of the finest people I'll ever know. Some of them are in the photo below. Others were at the event. It was wonderful to see them again and honor a truly great man.
My time in state government led to me to friends who became family. FOB and JEK made me a better person through their examples and actions. I'll be forever grateful to them both - and I'll continue to do the things so many of us still do because they inspired us to leave the world a better place than we found it.
Jeff has just a couple weeks of weeks before he retires. If I stop destroying our friends' furniture, we may still be able to afford it. Wish us luck.
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