Things I can't wait to do...

I am not complaining. Please understand, I know how blessed I am to be healing. Every time a wounded soldier is on tv, I am quickly humbled and reminded of my minor discomfort. But it doesn't stop me from thinking of what I'm looking forward to doing once I can use my left hand again.

Tie my shoes.
I've been wearing slip-on shoes. Or boots. At first I wished this had happened in the summer so I could wear flip flood, but I quickly realized winter is better. Pants hide my legs which were bruised and are now hairy. I can ask Bill to tie my shoes but the last time I did that we went shopping. I left him in the coffee shop and walked around by myself (he was meeting a friend), and when I went to try on clothes I realized I couldn't. If I took my shoes off, I couldn't get them back on.

Wash my hands.
Yesterday, I asked Bill to wash my right hand. It felt so good to have the back of my hand washed, I didn't realize how much I had missed it.

Put on lotion.
This goes (pun necessary) hand-in-hand with the hand-washing previously stated. This time of year, no matter how much we run humidifiers, is so dry. I can only put lotion on my finger tips, thumb, and a portion of my palm. It's not enough.

Put in my contacts.
I cannot hold the bottle of solution in my right hand and hold my contact. It won't work. Instead I've been wearing my glasses. I am glad that I replaced them just a few weeks before the accident.

Wash, exfoliate, and dry my left hand and forearm.
Whew, it's not in a cast but it sure smells like one. I took off the "arm sock" and brace and soaked my arm/hand last week. I'll soak it again tomorrow, but I'm guessing this is just the smell of dead skin cells. I really hope I'm the only one that can smell it. And if I'm not? Everyone has been very nice to ignore it. Or run out of the room gagging without me noticing.

Cut my own food.
Again, I can hold my toothbrush or a piece of paper, but anything heavier is too much for my now very weak left hand. Cutting food is out of the question. Bill (or someone sitting next to me) has to cut it for me. Fork-tender is a much appreciated form of cooked food that I am currently interested in. Or soup. Or sandwiches.

Typing.
My few years of piano lessons are coming in handy. But a keyboard on a computer is obviously different then a piano. My hand often blocks letters and I think I'm hitting one key, but I actually hit the one next to it. Which can sometimes be obvious to spell check, until it's a word like of or if. I've used the delete button quite a number of times. Or I've hit enter too quickly and shared complete nonsense.

There are plenty more but, as I just shared, typing is difficult and I'm ready for a break.

the second pair

I remember seeing a pair of shoes (they were actually flip flops), back when I was in high school, that I really liked. I did not buy them. A few days (maybe a week or two) later, I realized I really wanted this pair of flip flops so I went back to the store to purchase them.

They were no longer there.

This was before there was internet and online shopping.

That was the first pair of shoes that got away.

The second pair was more recently.

When Bill and I were visiting his parents in Vegas, the girls went to the mall. It was the outlet mall. We started at one end and worked our way to the other. I was looking for jeans and found them for a good price.

One of the last stores we went to was Ann Taylor. I found a top on clearance plus 50% off. It was a great deal.

Peggy (Bill's sister) was scouring the shoes. She tried on a couple of pairs before settling on a pair of super cute, knee-high boots. They were half off the original price and were $90. Then it was half off that price. For $45 she couldn't turn them down.

I should have paid closer attention to the shoes.

Only as she was boxing them back up did I realize how cute they were. And for that price, a fantastic deal.

But I didn't need boots.

Now that I'm back home, far from the last pair of boots, far from the amazing price; I am really wishing I had spotted them and bought them.

So with the invention of the internet, I have been looking for that pair. They don't exist. And anything close to them are three times as much money. On sale.

What made these boots so irresistible?

For one thing, I am a woman and I love shoes.

The second and really only other reason is the style. They have a zipper all the way up and they fit through the ankles.

I have two pair of boots that I wear that would be replaced by these (if I could ever find them). My one pair is old and worn. Both souls are cracked and the insides are well past worn. But I continue to wear them because I haven't replaced them and like them so much.

The other pair of boots were purchased for my Halloween costume last year. They are cute and didn't cost a lot of money, but they do not have any support in the ankle. They do not zip at all. They were made as one-size-fits-all cankles. My apologies to any of you with cankles. These boots are cute right until you get to the bulky ankle bulge.

I have now entered a search for a pair of boots similar to the ones that Peggy bought. Unless Peggy decides she doesn't want them anymore, in which case, please send them to me!