Pain in the Whatever

I had a scary moment or two yesterday after what I considered some fairly routine work. The really modest snowfall of yesterday was followed by a day long ice storm which coated everything in sight. I left work early enough that I thought I could push everything off the very short driveway (YES!!) before the sun set and everything froze in place. I got home in time and found the next door Mafioso had already made a pass through our driveway with his snow blower which left just a little bit of work for me (or so I thought). I have crowed in the past just how great our next door neighbors are – just another sterling example. I couldn’t find my gloves because I hadn’t needed them yet this winter and they were caught up in the move and placed somewhere out of useful location. They were located later in the evening when I found them folded and conveniently placed in one of my wife’s dry docked purses in the basement. She blamed me which I would have believed if they weren’t folded – a sure sign of wifely involvement.

I started out without gloves until the cold convinced me this was a very bad idea so I put on some work gloves that were partially rubber (bad idea). While the elbow has improved minimally each day it still wasn’t up to the challenge of chopping the ice and moving the slush out of the way so I was reduced to left handed shoveling, a novel experience. I eventually got everything I could chopped up and moved out of the driveway as well as the front door walk. I then noticed that my fingers and the now frozen gloves were not moving a whole lot. I came inside to endure the thawing of the fingers which is always a fun experience, as any veteran New Englander will tell you. What I hadn’t counted on was an almost immediate and virulent headache consigned to the entire back of my head. It was a novel experience and one I hope not to repeat. I know it scared the hell out of my wife as she rushed around trying to help. I’d obviously overdone it and missing lunch hadn’t helped. Once she was assured I wasn’t going to drop dead she began her usual lecture, hitting the high points that I’m not as young as I used to be (like I didn’t know that) and how I should be more careful. She’s about to abandon me once again for her winter sojourn in Panama and worries how I will survive without her vigil.

These Are Allegedly the Proper Techniques or Middle Aged Snow Shoveling
I Went 1 for 8 Which Probably Explains a Lot

After my fingers thawed out and the Motrin kicked in I felt a lot better; just in time to see the city plow come by and pile up a mound of slush and ice at the bottom of the driveway. I normally would have suited back up and moved it out of the way before it froze overnight. My favorite Panamanian would not hear of it. The fact that I let her persuade me to let it go is a good indicator of just how out of sorts I was feeling.

The Morale Boost

A huge morale boost was delivered just at that moment with the late arrival of a Christmas gift from my daughter and Wingman. My wife gave me a mini IPad as a Christmas gift and I knew I was going to need a carrying case/protective cover if the device was going to survive life with me. I hadn’t gotten around to procuring one when I opened the aforementioned gift after my driveway adventures. I’m now the proud possessor of what was needed with the added benefit of having it feature my favorite picture of the First Blog Reader. So friggin cool!

Legs in Band Aides

My granddaughter didn’t have the best of days out on the wrong coast as she received her first set of inoculations. I think it was tougher on her mom and her grandmother was downright miserable when she saw pictures of the poor tike with Band-Aids on her legs. She emerged a little fussy but was pronounced completely healthy and is pushing across the twelve pound barrier while maintaining her utterly devastating photogenic qualities (see below). I congratulated Wingman on winning the family fantasy football league and he reported he also won in three other leagues (he’s kind of a ringer) which, unlike ours, were cash leagues. He won enough to pay off a large percentage of the recently arrived hospital bill.

So mom - Where Exactly Are We Going and Why are You So Nervous?