Sunday, July 24, 2011

The fake broken legs

I came home a little late last night after going to a friends open house.  Their new grandchild was being shown off to family and friends.  I wanted to get out and visit a few friends just in case I had to leave for work.  My normal work hours are Monday through Friday during the day but there are times that work calls and I have to drop everything and go. immediately.  I have some really excellent people under me who can handle most everything except sometimes they do need extra help.  I talked to the employee who's working this incident and so far he's able to take care of it all and doesn't need my assistance.  The kids are chomping at the bit for me to leave.  I bring them home all the snacks that I don't eat from my lunches.  Since I rarely buy candy or cookies they get their fill from my leftovers.  For me, this is my only opportunity for overtime, and while it's not a regular time and a half set up, it's still extra money.  Unfortunately, when I do leave something in the garden usually dies or gets wasted.  As a just in case measure boy is picking all the peaches off the tree and I'll put the fruit into the freezer.  I can can it at a later date.  
 
When I came home last night I didn't notice what groceries Army daughter bought.  Making breakfast this morning I rolled my eyes and actually called them idiots.  What was on the counter?  Tomatoes, potatoes, apples, and plums.  I asked her why she bought this stuff since it's all in the garden.  She didn't want to get any potatoes out of the garden because they have dirt on them.  Oh, the potatoes you bought at the store never had dirt on them?   You brush off the dirt then you rinse the potatoes.  How does she think they do it with the store bought potatoes or are they just grown in the air?  And the tomatoes?  She likes to buy them on the vine and ours aren't on the vine!   Ours are vineless?  I pick them off the vine when I bring them into the house.  Where did Army daughter come from????  What happened to the girl I raised?  And the stories on why they bought what they bought just continued.  As I said...idiots.
 
The grandkids both wanted to play with my set of crutches.  They are on the top floor of the barn, don't break a leg getting them down.  They both decided they wanted to pretend breaking their leg so they can use the crutches.  I told girl her day could be yesterday and boy's could be today.  They were both very excited.  I said they'd have to have "broken legs" for at least two hours.  Ten minutes may be fun, two hours will be torture.  We spoke about improvising and how you have to think quickly and not get flustered if you have to do something and the way it's done isn't exactly the way it should be done.  Remember, in most things it's the outcome that's important.  There is usually a best process for everything but if the process has to change due to circumstances just go with it.  Most people freak out if their routine is messed up.  I can be one of those people until I remind myself that there is always more than one way to get the end result. 
 
Home Depot has long stir sticks (about two feet) and last time I was there I picked four up.  I probably should have picked up more.  Yesterday morning I had girl lay down on her bedroom floor.  I wrapped some gauze at her thigh and also by her ankle.  I then placed a stir stick on each side of her leg then taped the top and bottom with duct tape.  Using the gauze meant I didn't tape her skin.  Then I wrapped two ace bandages up and down her leg over the sticks.  Her leg was straight.  She was so happy, at least until I got up off the floor and walked out of her room.  Wait!  Aren't you going to help me up?  No.  Get up yourself.  So she had to figure how to get up with one leg straight.  She walked around a bit with the crutches and in less than five minutes wanted the thing off her leg.  Sorry, at least two hours.  Then her friend called to see if she could go swimming.  Sorry she has a fake broken leg.  Girl was not a happy girl.  Two hours exactly and the stuff was off her leg.
 
This morning boy came begging it was his turn.  You sister didn't like it, are you sure you want it on?  Absolutely.  His leg was going to be needing a different splint position.  I had to cut the inside of the leg stick anyway because it was too long.  He was going to have a bent leg which meant triangulating the brace.  I took some cardboard and the broken stir sticks and strapped it to his leg with duct tape.  Since girl lost the gauze when she took the bandages off yesterday, and I didn't want to use more gauze, I took one paper towel and cut it into strips.  I used these on his leg so the tape wouldn't stick.  He loves his braced "broken leg."  With his leg at an angle it's harder for him to hobble without the crutches.  He's out in the garden picking peaches while leaning on one of the crutches. 
 
The kids wanted to know if they would be knocked out if they really had broken legs.  I told them no.  They aren't thinking that breaking a leg would be so much fun anymore.  Good practice for me setting a leg while they aren't screaming in pain.  Hope I never have to set their legs for real. 
 
They just came in with three buckets of peaches.  I think we will make some quick peach sauce and then dehydrate some rolled fruit. There are several ways to do this.  My favorite is to split the peaches, take out the seeds, put the peaches and a little water into the blender.  Add a little sugar.  Line the dehydrator trays (or baking sheets if you are drying in the oven or outside) with plastic wrap - not waxed paper.  Dry.  I either make them the size of pancakes and then they are individual pieces or I smear it over the entire tray and then once dry I roll it up and cut into inch wide pieces.  Either way works but drying one full sheet is trickier since the outside edges dry before the inside.  Just make the inside a little thinner.  Yum. Better than store-bought...unless you are Army daughter. 
 
 
 
   

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