September 28, 2010

And now for something completely different.

OK, not really. Actually I do this fairly often....or did this very often & am trying to get back in the habit. Enough rambling. It's time for FarmWife to answer your most pressing queries.

Vic (who asked for another installment of Ask FarmWife Day) sent me her question on FaceBook. Is there a certain age young girls should shave their legs? Is their a magic number or just when you need it. Do little girls even care?

Ahhh, growing up. It's tricky. I'm constantly asking myself these kinds of questions. When I found out my oldest niece was starting to shave I was shocked. She seemed really young to me...until I thought back to how old I was when I took up a razor. She was going into seventh grade (I think) so that would make her 12 years old. To me just seeing the number 12 means you should still be playing Barbies & dress up & riding bikes & watching Disney cartoons. But such is not the case.

I was in sixth or seventh grade the first time I snuck out my mom's razor & took a swipe down my shin. That's it. Just one pass of the razor about 6 inches long right down the middle of my shin. Then I panicked and put it away. A day or two later, QM noticed the bald spot on my leg & decided it was time to get me my own razor & shaving gel before I made a mess of things.

Being a brunette, my leg hair was pretty obvious even before it started growing as puberty set in. In middle school we had to change into shorts for gym class. That's when I started getting a little self conscious about it. It's about the only category in which I was not a late bloomer.

I'm hoping my girls won't get on the bandwagon too soon. I don't think there's a magic number but I do think girls pay more attention to that kind of stuff than we think they do. My biggest hope in that area is that my girls will broach the subject with me before they take it up with Lady Bic....but I'm also hoping they'll wait until they're at least out of grade school. I don't want them growing up & feeling that kind of pressure too soon.

Next, Penny asks about my meal planning & canning. Do you plan menus for your week? Since you have 4 kids and a hubby who works a not normal daily schedule...how do you plan meals? I know Kork does lots of canning and preserving, do you?

I would love to say that I plan out our weekly menu before ever leaving for the grocery. But sadly that is not normally the case. I try to have an idea of what I want to cook for the week, but I often find myself at the grocery with 1/4 of a list & no clue what I need. I try to plan for at least one major meal every day all week long & the rest is left overs or small stuff.

I can tell you that our "big meal" of the day is lunch. With Husband working nights & the kids gone, I normally make a full meal at lunch time so he can have enough to eat before he leaves & left overs to take with him. At dinner time the kids & I eat smaller, simpler meals. Often sandwiches or mac & cheese or even breakfast for dinner (that's their favorite).

As for canning & preserving, I really love to do that but haven't had a good run with our garden the past 2 years. In fact, I didn't put anything up this year. We only had enough corn to eat with a few meals & my green beans withered & died without producing enough to fool with. There's nothing I love more than to look in my freezer & see bags & bags of corn that we grew & put up...but lately that hasn't worked for us.

I hope I've helped & haven't rambled on too much. And now for something really & truly different...and if you're weak of stomach or cannot handle the thought of blood, you might want to stop reading right now.

Last night I shut the back door over top of my big toe. To say it did not feel good would be an understatement. When it happened I felt something give way. I looked down in horror thinking I'd ripped the skin off my toe or broken it. Instead everything looked normal...except for the blood seeping out from around three sides of my toe nail. That's when I realized I had just ripped off my toe nail. This entire though process took about 3/4 of a second. The reason it took that long is because the nail didn't actually come off...it just detached from the nail bed entirely.

I hobbled into the bathroom where the 3 youngest were supposed to be bathing, wrapped my toe in a cold wet cloth & called Busha. I was pretty sure there was little to be done about it, but though I should ask someone, anyone, and try to fend off going into shock by talking to a grown up.

Busha told me she didn't think they'd do anything at the ER if I went & asked if I needed her to come over. I told her no & realized I should have called Rachie since she's an RN & might know something about it. Busha thought that was a good idea. I called Rachie & told her what was up & she gave me her expert medical opinion.

If I could get the nail off, that would be the best thing. Then clean it, put on some triple antibiotic ointment & ice it down. I was OK with everything but the clipping. That though made my stomach roll. After a few minutes I realized there wasn't much feeling left in my toe & that might be the best time to tackle a nail removal.

15 minutes later I was down to about 1/4 inch of toe nail left just at the base. It's not actually attached but I couldn't get it cut down that far. I smeared some Neosporin on some gauze, wrapped it up, and spent the rest of the night with my foot elevated & my toe on ice. At bedtime I took a vicodin left over from having my wisdom teeth taken out.

That helped until Bitsy decided she was done sleeping at 2:30 this morning. That's when we headed to the living room to sleep on the couches & that's also when the nausea hit like a freight train. I spent the next 30 minutes hugging the porcelain god & praying to the Real One that I could just vomit or fall asleep (which I'm pretty sure I did a few times while hanging my head over the toilet bowl...that's a rather precarious position to be in).

This morning my toe is very tender & walking is a bit of a task. The thought of putting on shoes makes me sick to my stomach (as does the thought of vicodin). This could be a long couple of months before my nail grows back. Bitsy is sporting matching gauze on her index & middle fingers of her left hand. She has sucked them so much she's broken down the skin. They're a mess. I've greased her up with Aquaphor & put on a mitten or sock, but that doesn't last long. So I've moved on to Neosporin & gauze taped on. I'm hoping they'll heal & she'll give up the finger sucking.

This week can end now.

5 comments:

Kork said...

Feel better Farmie! I can tell you from experience - it is better with the nail gone completely instead of hanging on for dear life...

Keep it up as much as is possible, and take some OTC stuff like aspirin for the pain...make the kids wait on you for little things like filling your glass or brining you cookies.

Hugs!

Sarah @ Ordinary Days said...

OH MY GOLLY! You just made my toe hurt and now I'm nauseous too! Thanks.

Hope you heal up quickly!

Staci said...

I got nauseous the second I read that the door had gone over your toe. I knew it wasn't going to end well. Hope it doesn't require another vicodin any time soon.

needlefingers said...

Ow. Ow-ow. Ow-o-wow-ow-ow-ow-ow.

ow.

That is all.

And hope you heal quickly. Ow.

Okay, now I'm done.

Penny said...

oh gosh! I am sitting at my office thinking I was going to go get some lunch, but maybe not!!! I sure hope you get better soon!!