OK, here's the scene

I am starting up the stairs. The baby blanket I am embroidering for the new baby is about half completed. The land line rings. I am on about the 6th step - right after making the turn from the landing.

I am pondering which way I should go - down and then which phone or continue my climb up the stairs. That phone is in the corner - past all the tables and almost behind the sewing machines. We all know calls on our land lines are of terrible importance. Is it Daughter? I doubt it because she changed cell phone plans and companies, and she only gets a limited number of minutes to and from land lines - hence the cell phone in my pocket.

I decide it is better to turn back and head down the stairs. All was well until I reached the "killer step." This step is notorious around here. It has more of a history than all the rest of the staircase. The rest of the stairs were only trying to kill daughter when she lived here. When she would be going up, you would hear a terribly bit thump - followed by "I'm OK!" Or she would be coming down to meet her date in the den. There would be that thump follower by the "I'm OK!" Surprisingly - she always was OK.

But the killer" step. It lays in wait for those who are foolish enough to be distracted by something. At that point, it will seem to disappear - making the poor soul navigating the steps FALL.

The fall can then manifest itself in many ways. If you are the victim of the step - it's just your pride that's damaged, and you hope no one is around. One of my falls caused my elbow to plow through the wall across the hall. That should stand there proudly as a warning to concentrate on your last steps.

Two weeks ago, Son was coming down carrying Wiggle Worm. He was distracted - and you guessed it. The "killer' step pulled itself away - out of sight. Down went Son. He tried to catch himself with his left foot. It gave way with an audible pop. G heard it. But WW was OK - just wondering why he was seeing his daddy crying.

His daddy was writhing in pain - thinking about the vacation they were leaving on the next day. That required driving about 5 hours down to South Padre.

We iced it, and gave him instructions to seek medical help if it got worse. To make that story short - he went to McMed (G's name for after hours stand alone clinics that seem to pop up like the Golden Arches). He went. Fortunately it wasn't broken.

So, back to me and the step. As I reached that step, by golly - it disappeared. This time, there was no elbow through the wall. I was on the ground completely. My first reaction was that I surely had broken my shoulder. My arm was extended above my head and the shoulder was at the baseboard. Nothing really hurt - but when I broke my ankle in '92, it didn't hurt either. I walked on it. A lot.

As the afternoon went on, the pains began. My side hurt a lot. I thought I surely must have broken several ribs. It hurt to touch and it hurt to breathe. I iced it immediately. I never thought about the newest knee. It was on "that" side. There was a little rug burn and that's it.

I am waiting until this afternoon to call the ortho doc. It hurts when I push back like in a chair, and it hurts to rotate it. We'll see how it goes.

Oh, I missed the call. I was lying there on the floor as the phone rang and rang. It stopped. After just a few minutes, my cell that was in my pocket rang. It was the pain management office calling to change my appointment for next week. Yeah.

Wouldn't you know - this is a long weekend too!

Peace be with you.