A Nutty Few Days... but then What's New!

We had a nice Labor Day weekend.  I even bought some suits (work ones, not tri ones), or so I thought.  I did 5 miles with a friend too.  YAY! 

Tuesday morning I went to do some routine bloodwork - checking to see if my cholesterol went back to happy bouncy cholesterol instead of the crunchy kind thanks to my thyroid.  I decided I would stop by the tailor with my new suits.  Turns out my lovely suits could not be altered.  I'm not sure if I ever told you all that I'm built like a swimmer - or a line backer depending on your perspective - and always have been.  I have very broad shoulders.  Even back before the twins when I was a size 4/6, I always had to get at least an 8 in the suit jacket and then have it tailored in.  Many times what fits in my body does NOT fit in the shoulders - the end of my shoulder usually ends up 1 inch past the seam where the sleeve begins.  Well, to get the suit jacket to fit, I had to have a certain size which also made it 1 size too big in the waist, etc.  But they were pieced in such a way that you couldn't shorten the sleeves OR take in the back, waist or chest.  Okay, well, you could but it would cost almost as much as the jacket did to begin with.  So I found out I had no suits after all and would have to take them back.

So I hatched the plan to work the day and then use my lunch at the end of the day to have a little more time to shop.  Mr. Darcy would pick up the ladies.  I discovered that a scaly patch of skin I had found 2 months ago was still there, and got an appointment with a determatologist for today (yay for whoever cancelled)!  My Mom had basal cell carcinoma when I was younger, so I don't play games with these things.  Then  I set about my business and around 11:30, I get a call from daycare.

Angelfish fell while playing on the playground equipment (there's a bridge that connects two parts of the play area - she was running, tripped and fell) and split her chin right open.  Two years ago she did something similar while running on tile at daycare.  But this time, when I got there and saw it, I was pretty sure she split it right down to the fat layer.  I rushed her to the urgent care center only to be told that I could "have an appointment for 3 pm" that day.  When I asked why they were trying to make an appointment because wasn't it an urgent care center? They told me that they did appointments now.  I told them that was crazy because if I wanted to wait for an appointment or for 3 hours to have my daughter who was bleeding seen, I'd go to the ER or call her pediatrician. I'm still perplexed as to how it's an urgent care center if they're giving out appointments.  It would have been one thing if they had told me that there was an estimated 3 hour wait (which I asked and they said not necessarily but this is how they're doing things), but to give me an appointment? 

Anyway.  So I called her pediatrician and found out that they could squeeze us in at 12:20.  It was 11:47.  I was a woman on a mission, and we got there by 12:15.  The pediatrician's office is across town.  Angelfish  is a complete trouper.  She told me she cried at first when her boo boo happened, but the school told me that she stopped after a minute or so and asked if she could have a bandaid so she could keep playing!  She didn't cry when I looked at it, and only when I asked if she was doing okay while we were in the car did she say that her chin hurt - it was throbbing.  The only time she wimpered was when the doctor was looking at it and she thought she might get a shot!  The kid is tough.  Her pain tolerance is a little scary, actually.

Mr. Darcy took his lunch hour to bring us some lunch because Angelfish hadn't gotten to eat because she was hurt.  He hung out with us and then went back to work after the appointment was over.  Then due to Angelfish's incessant interest in her newly glued chin and the seri strips on top, I took the rest of the day off.

Angelfish and I played ball for a little and then went shopping.  Along the way we were talking and singing and having a grand ol' time when all of a sudden I see a police car with flashing lights behind me.  I glance down and low and behold I am driving 60 in a 45.  I had no clue I was driving so fast and there was no one around us for miles on the road.  I pull over with that feeling like you just want to vomit.  But I was driving that fast, and I believe in the consequences of our actions so I was ready for the ticket.  The police officer was a very nice man.  I apologized to him and told him that I had been talking and singing with my daughter and did not even realize I was speeding until I saw his lights and then looked down at my spedometer.  And he asked me, "So m'am.  When you glanced down at your dash, how fast were you going?"  I told him that I wasn't going to lie to him, I was doing 60.  He said that was exactly what he clocked me at.  Told me that the fines for speeding recently went up in our county and that my ticket would be $404.  I almost burst into tears, but I didn't.  I don't believe in the boo hooing.  But I could tell that he realized that I was exasperated by the price and overwhelmed.  He asked me how my driving record was.  I told him it was good, but was honest and said that I had a warning for speeding several months ago because my aunt had died, I wasn't paying attention to my speed and didn't realize that the speed wasn't 65 anymore but was 55 in the spot I was at, and while I realized that didn't really substantiate my statement that I don't speed regularly I wasn't going to lie to him either.  He took my driver's license and disappeared into his car.  For what seemed like an eternity later, he came back.  He asked me how old my daughter was - I told him she was 4 and we weren't having a very good day because she split her chin open earlier and we were off to walk around the mall since I had taken the rest of the day off of work to be with her.  He then did a very, very nice thing and told me that he was going to make my day better because he was not going to give me a ticket.  He told me I really needed to pay attention to my speed, and sent me on my way.  I really wanted to throw up about the whole thing, that his kindness was astounding to me.

We made it to the shops, where Angelfish exclaimed at how beautiful the mall was.  It really is, if you stop to look at it.  She was amazing - she colored and talked to me, and even told me what she thought of what I tried on.  We rode every escalator, elevator and took all the stairs we came to in the mall, but it was fun to shop with her.  I ended up returning my suits and not finding anything else - the other things I liked on also had issues with being able to be tailored.  So I'm without a skirt suit for the Law Alumni Council meetings, but I'll wear a pant suit and survive I'm sure.  I've been reading how pant suits are a no-no for female attorneys so, I really didn't want to wear one but it was that or a suit dress, and I think the pant suit will work out better - don't want to be taken for the secretary instead (which is what the book I'm reading says happens when you don't wear a jacket over a dress). But I will survive.

We made it home in time for dinner with Mr. Darcy and Ladybug.  Turns out that Holland was so worried about Angelfish that he knocked on Mr. Darcy's window as they were leaving daycare to find out how she was. Very cute!  After all of that excitement I was a bit tired, so once we got the girls in bed, I fell asleep too.

This morning I headed off to the dermatologist... I had a head to toe skin inspection, and the doctor asked me "With your fair skin and light eyes, you stay out of the sun right?" To which I answered, well I'm a triathlete so no... but I use a lot of sunscreen.  To which I got the response - I'm surprised you don't have a lot more skin damage.  And that scaly spot? They think it's a patch of extra dry skin and gave me a cream to use on it.  If it goes away, all is well.  If after a month it is still there and still scaly, I go in for a biopsy.  So I'm voting for the cream to make things go away. Evidently as "we age" spots like this can occur.  I loved how it was related to age, and was extra glad that I made sure to do my strength work this morning so that didn't stress me out as much as it would have otherwise.

I've got a 45 minute run on tap for tomorrow, which I am looking forward to.  The stress of the past few days seems to make that run all the more desirable.  Along with a margarita.  But I'm resisting the margarita and placing all my hopes into the run instead.  Much healthier option.  Plus, I won't have to clean the blender.