Pride goeth before a fall

I had Tuesday night off from work so I could go to Enrichment Night. Enrichment was cancelled because of the weather - we got a few inches of snow. Kent and I went into town in the evening so I could drop off my Secret Santa present at work, so Kent could get some groceries, and so Kent could fix Mom's computer - again. While he was working on that, I shoveled her sidewalk. And the neighbors' sidewalks. Her apartment complex is made up of four-plex buildings. They are arranged so that there's a central sidewalk and then it splits off to each apartment. So in Mom's building, there are four apartments but only two of them face the same courtyard. I shoveled the sidewalks in Mom's courtyard.

I was feeling pretty good about myself - even had Kent take a picture of me. Yeah, I knew I'd be suffering later (back spasms from the shoveling) but I was pleased.

When we got back to Otho, we picked up Amanda so she could have supper at Kent's. I decided to leave the car for him to bring her home, and I started walking.

I'm not sure why I walked in the street instead of the sidewalk. I guess I have a habit of jaywalking. But I didn't get far before I slipped and fell.

I felt a searing pain in my right thigh as I went down. I landed with my left leg bent, my right knee on the ground and my right hand outstretched as though I was at the starting block. I've got a quarter-sized scrape on my right knee. I was stunned for a moment, trying to figure out how to get up. I actually considered calling Kent to come help me, but dismissed the thought. I managed to get up and make my way home.

When I got home, I asked Cayla to help me. She said, "with what?" and I threw a fit. I threw my coat off, threw my gloves on the floor, dropped the bags I was carrying and started yelling at her. It was definitely a case of the last straw.

I need to explain the difference between "what do you need?" and "with what?" Part of the problem was the tone of voice I thought I heard. I thought I heard a tone that conveyed "Mom is always asking me for help because I'm the only one that will help and I'm tired of it." I'm not proud of how I acted. But I plead extenuating circumstances - I was in a lot of pain.

I'm still in pain. I took some ibuprofen earlier, but forgot it at Kent's place when I drove Donna to the hospital. So I had to pick it up when we got back. I've taken two - at least - so hopefully they'll kick in soon. I say "at least" because I can't remember if I already took two. I used to have a prescription for ibuprofen, and that is twice as strong as the over-the-counter version.

So, there's my last couple of days except for finals. I think my design and photoshop (raster graphics) tests went okay. I got 67 percent on the objective test for Illustrator (vector graphics). I have three tests Thursday (today, now). I was working on stuff that was due the same day as these final exams, but had to be the chauffer to the hospital. So, I didn't get those things done. I won't have any time until Friday. We'll see how it goes. Right now, I'm looking forward to going to bed.