Ouch

I'm in a little bit of pain today. Yesterday afternoon, in an effort to be a good "Japanese" housewife I attempted to sweep the road gutters outside our house. The one tricky thing  is that I have to shift the heavy concrete blocks. The ones that make it less of a bump to drive into the carport. I usually try to do as much of the shifting as I can with a spade or my foot, but in my hurry I picked up the edge of one with my left hand and pushed it further away from the gutter. Unfortunately it fell flush with its neighbour and my middle finger was between the blocks. Ouch. 

Hardly any blood, but my fingernail changed colour instantly. I spent a lot of yesterday afternoon and evening caressing an ice pack.

It reminded me of the time I had a sleep over in grade six or seven. My first sleep-over . . . and my last, I think. We had only a few hours sleep and in the morning there was a rush to use the facilities. A line formed and while I waited I used the door frame to hold my weary frame up. Pity it was the same place where the door hinges were placed and when the girl in front of me when to shut the door, she couldn't. I still remember her saying, "I can't shut the door, I can't shut the door!" I couldn't catch my breathe enough to say, "My fingers are in the door!" before my friend did some serious damage to two of the fingers on my dominant hand. That injury took a long time to heal . . . but you don't want the gory details.

I just hope this one isn't so bad. It all hinges (sorry, bad pun) on how damaged the nail bed is. I'd rather not lose the nail, but what choice do I have?

I do have to choice to go back out and finish off the sweeping, but I might put that off a little bit longer. I'll stay here and keep editing magazine article, typing with my nine good fingers.