Roller Coaster Ride and Tripping Over Tile

It's been a heck of a week and, as I write this, I am ready to turn in and tune out.  But I promised myself (and whoever follows me on FB), that I would add a post to my blog soon.  So here it is.

My roller coaster ride has not been fun and I have not yet been to the County Fair.  Rather, for a few weeks, I have been up and down inside and out.  And we have been having our two bathrooms updated, including switching out a fall-prone deep tub for a walk in shower in our master bath. 

My primary doctor actually coined the "roller coaster" phrase for me last week and it fits.  Right now I am on a plateau and hope that's where I will stay for awhile.  I don't care for sharing all the grisly details so I won't and, heck, who wants to read that anyway.  But here is a funny (after the fact) story that has come out of it that I will call "Tripping Over Tile."

So, on Tuesday, the tile crew (great guys from Arizona Restoration Experts), left a box of the 1 inch floor tile on the floor by the new shower.  It's important to note that we had Italian tile installed--super heavy and durable.  My husband was preoccupied all evening with the floor and drain.  He had asked (and they complied) to have the drain and part of the floor redone after the first layout had too much of a slope to suit him.  He's a safety professional and tough project manager which is important to the story.

So he's looked at the floor and drain multiple times.  We go to bed.  I am exhausted from two days of stomach pain, the doctor's visit and referral to GI specialist.  (The ending of that episode is pending, but with samples of a medication, I am feeling better).  About 1 a.m., I wake up to go to the bathroom.  To get to it, I have to walk past the shower and then turn into the toilet room which has a separate door.  The door is often closed.  But, on this night, it is open.  Another important detail.

Half asleep, I am walking.  Yes.  And I trip over the tile box.  I am heading headlong forward, on my way to hit our concrete floors when I instinctively grab the toilet room door handle  Good news: it stops me from falling.  Bad news: the force of my falling pulls the handle toward me and into my cheekbone.  The four letter word that starts with an F cascades out of my mouth and I scream in pain and regret, calling out to my husband, "the safety professional".  One hour later, I am nursing my face and around my eye--which barely avoided the impact of the door knob.  Next morning, a bruise (but little swelling) appeared and it's been that kind of a week.

I share this with the post script that, the next day, we went out and bought auto night lights for both bathrooms.  We have lived in this house since 1997 and it's the first time we added night lights.  So, we have the "safer" walk in shower (which we love), the tile box has been removed, and we have more light in the dark.

Here's a question for readers:  when have you ever "tripped on the tiles"?  Did you adjust to the darkness or add more light?  In the spirit of the coming Passover and Easter Season, let's agree to not accept living in the dimmer light and take whatever "steps" we need to take to avoid disasters that are right in front of us...even if they are on the floor.

Return to 3 words to help you do happy today

Healthy--Exercise for me is an everyday challenge.  But I'm lucky to live in a walkable neighborhood and evening/sunset walks on north Mountain Avenue can be a spectacular experience.  Last night we also were invited to say "hello" to a puppy, and were glad to see a new herd of cows in the UA Campus Farm field.  We've enjoyed the flock of sheep who mysteriously appear and disappear each day this past month.

Music--If I were near Atlanta, I would go to hear Dave Mathews, Bruce Springsteen and others at the "Many Rivers to Cross" music festival that Harry Belafonte is bringing together.  My dad loved Harry Belafonte's music and I am still inspired by his thoughtful, consistent political activism.  There's a super article about him in today's New York Times, on the Arts page.  www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Celebrating--Tomorrow is the first night for the Jewish High Holy Days.  We're doing our Rosh Hashanah dinner early tonight because our son has a rare Saturday off from his chef job.  Mark and I are making two dishes from a previous NYTimes Food article on the food from Umbria, Italy.  I am adding a midwestern apple crisp recipe from a friend, topped off with Haagan Daas ice cream--my Jewish mother-in-law's favorite brand.  I love the Jewish holidays of Passover and New year and am grateful to have had many years at Lila's table with her friends (most of them also gone) and family who now are stretched across the continent.  So, we celebrate today, in its unique beauty and
start tomorrow anew.

Wednesday's Win

[the next three "happiest words"]

Joy--gladness, delight, glee, cheer, sunshine, cheefulness (Roget's Thesaurus)

Successful--Last night we watched the movie "The Finest Hours". According to Disney who lost 75 million on the movie, it was not a success.  But we would argue that is was successful to us: it lifted our spirits into the cloudy night, amazed our eyes with its technical beauty, stirred our sense of hope in human perserverance through able acting, and distracted us (successfully) from the political noise on television.

Win--At what age do we learn that to win is better than to lose?  Does it happen before we start school, grades and ranking?  Do we learn it at home from our families, friends?  I am trying to recall when I first sensed that I would not always win (and that winning was happier than losing)--.  My memory goes back to playing jacks with my older cousin, Sarah.

Being older, her fingers and hands were more adept at throwing the ball and scooping the metal pieces into her hands.  I learned that "more" (jacks in hand) were better than fewer and the higher the ball bounced, chances to grab more jacks increased--to a point. But if the ball went too high or too far, all was lost.  I think I was four or five when I learned this.

And I guess I am still learning what it means to win....  Today it means a clean mammogram, results from blood work that need only modest tweaks in medication, and, of course a major win is waking up each morning and being able to breath, move, swim, write.