An apple a day...

Thank you for awaiting my next post! I have been meaning to post earlier, but you know how that goes. Time is flying by! Last week (or was it the week before?) our theme for story hour was on Apples. I have an interesting story for you... This happened the Saturday before last (not Saturday, October 9). An apple a day They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away...not in my case. After I worked at the library and closed up at 2:00p.m., I drove the half-hour trek to my parents' house on Lincolnway to visit. They are remodeling a home to sell and are doing a terrific job. When I arrive, Mom and Dad take a break from painting. Dad is gimping around upstairs since he twisted his ankle, so we make sure he is still breathing before Mom and I go outside to chat. I notice the three apple trees on the side yard have beautiful red apples. I suggest to Mom to get a garbage bag and gather some of these apples to make pies. (Of course, she would be baking them... we all know my momentous experiences in the kitchen...) So when Mom returns with the bag, we start shaking the trees. The bees are rather obnoxious (I'm sure that's what they're thinking, too) and lots of beautiful apples fall from the trees. Plunk, plunk, plunkety-plunk plunk. I even get a little closer into the middle tree and shake it like crazy!Plunk plunk clunk. A large apple drops down, hits my thick head, and splits. I now have chunks of fresh apple stuck to my head. Ouch. Of course, ouch is not what I said. Admittedly, I went into Krusty the Clown mode and said the, um, first thing on my mind. And admittedly, it isn't blog-appropriate. In front of my Mother, nevertheless. Oh my. Mercy. And I may have remembered that she may have used my first and middle name together "Lori Lynne!" (Resembles a country singer,hmm?) Oops. I apologized profusely for my faux paus and she got over it pretty quickly. Actually, she was cool about it (My sister and I taught Mom some spicy curse words after coming home from college--their hard-earned money put to good use). After I came in from the apple incident with a slight headache, she noticed I was itching around my middle. She asked me my symptoms and I told her I had hives or a rash. She peered at my side and informed me that my Dad had the same symptoms and he ended up having a nasty case of Shingles (Shingles is pretty serious, especially if you're older). She went into uber mom mode and instructed me to go to the doctor right away! I promised her I would and when I arrived home to my poor, unsuspecting husband Steve, I told him,too. I would never visit the ER again unless I was dying. A clunk on the head from an apple and suspicious hives did not warrant striking a pose in one of those slinky putrid gowns, so we opted to go to Med Point. The Med Point was located in the same building as my torture chamber sessions (physical therapy with a WONDERFUL therapist). It was a little crowded, but we made it in and out within two hours. Pretty quickly. No one laughed when I explained my apple injury and my hives. After filling out paperwork, we sat down next to this neat aquarium. My cats would love this--live fish and all--until I glanced at a cute gold and white fish who turned belly up and the others started nibbling at it. Gross. This is turning into another gross fish tail. (Yes, I spelled "tale" incorrectly on purpose.) (A previous fish story happened in my garden this year--it turned out to be fish MURDER in my fish pond. But that's another story). So I see the kindly doctor. He looks into my eyes and there's no concussion. He looks at my head and picks apple remanents out of my hair. He looks at my abdomen with my lovely hives and the one curly hair I forgot to clip before I left! (You'll sleep better tonight knowing that.) Anyway, it's just an allergic reaction to bug bites. Wonderful. At least I don't have shingles. So Steve and I left for home. And that ends my apple adventure. Here's a song to end with... "Apple on a stick, makes me sick! Makes my tummy go ick ick ick!" Have a good week! xo Lolo