Falling apart at the seams

So you may remember me mentioning that I was pretty sure I had broken my toe several weeks ago. (It still really hurts--not a good sign.) As it turns out, the toe was just the beginning...

On our way to Idaho, we made a stop at Lava Hot Springs. I would LOVE to go there and raft someday, but this time we just stopped at the water park. There is a very nice outdoor pool and some water slides. There are also three diving platforms, the tallest of which is 10 meters. This may not seem very high, but believe me-- it is!



I've always been a bit of a daredevil, and these platforms looked like FUN! I also had the mindset that they had to be safe-- I mean, we are at a pool, after all-- not cliff jumping in the middle of a lake (which I used to do.) So I signed the release forms that allowed Taylor, Parker, and myself to jump. They immediately went off it-- before we were even done getting sunscreen on all the littles. I was shocked and proud!! Not many kids up there... In fact, not many adults up there!

As soon as I had the chance, I climbed up there myself. As I climbed, I realized that almost everyone was getting off at the lowest platform, and a couple at the middle. I was the only one that went to the top and stood there by myself. It looked much higher from up there!! In fact, the platform was the same height as the top of the waterslides. The lifeguard finally gave me the signal to jump. It took me a few seconds, but I did it. I thought I went straight in, but apparently I must have sat just a bit when my feet touched down. I immediately felt a very sharp pain in my tailbone. I swam to the side and just stayed there, trying to breathe through the pain. After it subsided a bit, I realized that the backs of my thighs hurt too, and I couldn't move my neck. I tried to pretend like I was fine, as the whole thing was quite embarrassing. As I held onto the side, I watched another girl jump off the high one, and she was yelping in pain after she landed.

I climbed out of the pool and back to the shallow area where my kids and Jeremy were playing. I told Jeremy the kids were no longer allowed to jump-- it was dangerous!! Taylor and Parker were not very happy with me, as I think they didn't understand the full extent of my injuries.

Before I knew it, Jeremy had taken off with Taylor. Apparently, the "man" in him decided that there was no way that he wasn't going to jump off that platform now that his wife had. I watched nervously, praying that he wouldn't get hurt. Two people are allowed to jump at the same time, and he later told me that if Taylor hadn't been standing right next to him counting down, there was no way he would have jumped. But he did. And he twisted his ankle on contact with the water. Go figure.

Afterwards, the boys were still asking to go again and Jer and I were both adamant that they not. A lady sitting mext to us in the pool spoke up and told the boys that she had worked there for three summers and had seen broken backs, necks, legs-- you name it.

THEN WHY IS IT STILL OPEN???!!!!

It took several days for my neck to calm down enough that I could turn my head without pain. The backs of my thighs were completely purple/black with huge bruises. And my tailbone is STILL hurting.

One of the days in Idaho was spent on jet skis and I missed a couple of areas when I applied sunscreen, so add to my injuries a couple of bright pink sunburns and it was almost impossible to sleep at night. No matter what position I would lay in, it hurt.

Well, now it's been a few weeks and I am feeling much better. The sunburns have peeled and gone, my neck is fine, the bruises are almost gone, and my toe is somewhat better. Is still hurts to sit, and I struggle to sleep at night because the only position that doesn't hurt my tailbone is to lay on my stomach, but that puts my toe in a painful position. Ha.

I was very excited over the weekend to be feeling so much better overall, and then Parker asked me if he could start getting up early and jogging in the mornings. I didn't want him to go by himself, so I told him I would jog with him. "Cept there's one problem here-- I haven't exercised in a year or so. AT ALL. Besides that, I'm not a runner.

Needless to say, my body is hurting all over again. What a wuss, right?!!

I must be getting OLD.