Bone Bruise Update

My leg hurts where I banged it during my sleepwalking fall, so I did some investigation into bone bruise. Basically, it's the injury where the bone doesn't break, but it's damaged enough to bleed and hurt like hell. The bruise is currently from the wound site to the bottom of my foot, which, according to  my research, is from internal bleeding. I've iced, elevated, and massaged, but it really hurts to touch the site, so the massage is some very gentle touching.

As long as I put ice on it, it feels better, but then starts hurting again when I take the ice off.  According to my research I have 8-10 weeks before it begins to be better and less painful.  I've broken both of my legs during my lifetime, and it was 8-10 weeks before the cast came off!  This is "just a bruise," so I'm not sure why it takes so long to heal.

Whatever.

Dejavu All Over Again

I finally got up the courage to go get my hair cut.  It had grown out to shoulder length, all one length, no layers, so I had a blank canvas as far as style went. When we went to the tea room, the lady who owns the shop had the haircut I wanted, so I asked her who her stylist was and called to make an appointment. Then, wanting to be sure about the style, I went online and found a picture of exactly how I wanted my shoulder-length hair cut and styled.

There would be no screw-ups this time as I had done my homework and even had a picture so there would be no questions: this is how I want my hair cut.

Yeah, not so much.

First, she colored it.  I’ve always been a blonde, so imagine me with brown hair with high-lights. Y likes the color but I’d rather be blonde as God intended me to be. Then, she began cutting. I refreshed her on the picture and remarked about how much I really liked the sides of the style in the picture: layered and brushed forward and really cute. She assured me she knew exactly what I wanted and kept cutting.

Well, I don’t like the color and I don’t like the cut, which looks nothing at all like the picture I brought with me or the lady whose haircut I wanted. It’s really short in the back, but long and “swoopy” in the front, which looks odd to say the least. The picture I used as my go-to do it this way tool had lots of layers that added interest to the cut. The long, swoopy pieces just make my hair look like a helmet with ear covers.

This time, it cost me $150 (yes, that’s correct) to get hair color and a cut I don’t like. I couldn’t complain when I went to the $15 haircut place as I got my money’s worth when the stylist cut it like Ellen Degeneres’s hair!  It’s taken me a year to grow that out so I could get a new cut, and now? A helmet with swoopy sides.

I’m not sure why this happens to me. I do the research, I articulate the style I want when I sit down in the chair, and I show the picture, and it still gets cut the way the stylist wants, rather than what I tell her I want. I thought using the stylist for the woman whose hair I admired and having a picture to back it up would do the trick, but I was wrong—again.

My mother was fond of saying, "It'll grow back," but in the meantime … .

UPDATE:  I went back today and told her I really did not like the haircut.  The back is fine, but the front/sides just aren't what I wanted.  We went through the whole picture, layered, cute front talk -- and I ended up with the length correct, but bangs. Bangs! Who the hell wants bangs when they are 73 years old?????  The good news is that the long swoopy pieces are gone, so I'll just have to wait out growing out bangs again.

Thunk!!

It wasn't until I heard and felt my head smack hard and loud against something that I "woke up" and realized I was on the floor between my bed and the dresser. Y heard my head hit too, from the next room with the door shut in the middle of the night. Y came running, asking me what had happened, for which I had no answer as I still couldn't process that I was not in my bed, sleeping.

My leg felt like I had broken it, but I had no idea how that could have happened, but judging from the bruise and swelling I still have, I hit the dresser--hard--with my right leg. As Y helped me up so I was sitting on my bed, I was still befuddled, but realized that I had somehow left my bed and fallen down. I remember pulling the sheet up over me, or that's what I think I remember, but as to being out of bed and walking, the only reason I can find is that I was sleep-walking, which is not something I know I have ever done in my past. Sure, I wake up at least once a night and go potty, but I had not gone potty this night and I was not awake.

The injuries turned out to be minor, the hit to my head bruising my scalp and the hit to my leg leaving two nasty bruises (called "bone" bruises) and swelling. I went to urgent care just in case, but I guess falling is simply part of the aging process and we just have to be happy when it's "nothing," rather than something that takes us down another road we don't want to travel.

Now, what's interesting is that I met my two friends for lunch/movie this week and told them about my fall and how scary it is not to know what happened. Believe it or not, both of them had also taken a fall in the past few days, one slipping on some loose gravel and the other getting caught up in a chair she was trying to exit. We all 3 were a bit bruised, but nothing serious, leaving us shaking our heads at this darned aging process we are all sharing.

We're all three thankful that there was "nothing" to our injuries and that we will all be healing from the minor wounds we received. I'm also really thankful for Y, as he got me settled until it was morning and then drove me to the urgent care just in case. The doctor there told me I had a hard head that was now decorated in a nice big bruise, and that my leg wound would respond well to icing, elevation and some Aleve.

Another catastrophe averted.

Raise the Pinky

There's a new business that opened its doors to the desert crowd, and we had to visit. It's called Amanda's Shabby Chic Tea Room and Boutique, and it's décor is beautiful. There is such a tranquility to the floral patterns, the muted colors, and the sure and steady table service that keeps the noise level to a minimum.

Upon entering there is a separate girls' room, featuring princess dresses, tiaras, and other little princess touches that so entrance little girls. They have their own tea table, so they can giggle and play princess as loud as they want and don't disturb the grown-up tearoom. If I still had a little girl, I would take her to the tea room just so she could have the experience.

The menu is a bit pricey, but it's such a fun eat! There are little tea sandwiches, which we knew to eat with a knife and fork ala Meghan Markel's recent tea with the Queen of England. There is a scone with raspberry jam, lemon curd, and clotted cream, and a biscuit (cookie). On the top of the triple server is a selection of hand-made desserts, which featured a delicious deep dark chocolate candy, a strawberry fancy, and a carrot cake bite.

My friends and I will definitely make a return visit just to share the experience again, which starts with selecting a garden hat or fascinator, which the guest keeps on for the entire tea. The tea menu features about 30 different kinds of tea, many of which are natural "herbal" teas, and the tea can be served hot or over ice.

I bought a t-shirt before walking out the door just so I could have a keepsake to remember what a fun experience I shared with my friends.

If you'd like to take a virtual look at the space, it's www.amandastearoom.com.