Holy Podiatry, Batman!

I ask you, What is the most exciting thing about 5th grade?


I'll answer for you. Mechanical Pencils. Oh, yes. Hooray.
...

Up until 5th grade, students at our elementary school are not allowed to use mechanical pencils in class. So, when these post-4th graders gained the great privilege and honor of using said wonders, they joined their voices and sang the Hallelujah Chorus. Really. Well, almost. It was quite the hub-bub, anyhow.


Generally, in our home, we are kitchen table homework doers. On Wednesday afternoons while I am hosting the Cub Scout Bears in my downstairs, however, we are at-the-desk-in-your-bedroom-and-keep-outta-Mom's-hair-while-she-tries-very-hard-to-understand-scouting homework doers.


Saturday night as I was leaning over to give Nevan his goodnight kiss, right beside his desk, I stepped on something. It felt like I had stepped on a straight pin. I got down on the floor to find the source of my pain and found... have you guessed yet? Mechanical pencil lead.
...

Lots of it.
...

In little inch-long pieces.
...

Laying on the floor.
...

Like someone had click, click, clicked it way out and then started to write and broke it off and repeated the fun little activity over and over again.

...
Someone who was just killing time instead of doing homework at their desk.

...
And there it was.

...
Waiting to attack an unsuspecting foot.

...
I tried to exercise some self-control and not make Nevan feel too guilty about it, and to not wake up Mayzie whose job it was to vacuum that area that morning, a chore she obviously skipped.

The thin, straight-pin-like lead had gone straight up into the ball of my foot. I was no longer hearing the Hallelujah Chorus.
...
It was quite sore Saturday night, but hey, I had just been skewered by pencil parts. It's all good. So, Sunday morning I woke up, and couldn't walk on it because it was so painful. By the middle of the day after having walked on it a little, it was swollen and red. I put one of those little round callous cushions on it to alleviate a little pressure. By bedtime last night, I was near tears.
So, this morning I called trusty Dr. Allen, our awesome foot doctor. He's great. I explained what happened and they fit me into their schedule for this morning. I commented to a friend on the phone that the rest of my day was bound to be great, because it would surely offset this morning in which I gave myself a bloody nose (even little noses can get in the way of clumsy hands reaching to open a cabinet), and found that Meeka had written on the piano keys (but with pencil this time instead of a blue glue stick).
...

As I walked in, I was greeted by a friendly face. My friend Janae was working there. I had no idea. She's so awesome. We laughed a little together and chatted while Dr. Allen took a gander at my injury.
...

Doc Allen dug around a little, but decided that he needed to go deeper to make sure he had gotten all of the lead out. So, he gave me a shot from the top of my foot to the bottom, and then one from the bottom of the foot to the center. DID I MAKE THAT CLEAR? Ow. And I am a tough cookie. But, OW!! Yes, two shots, one from top, one from bottom. But it's all good. That allowed my foot to numb up and it slowed bleeding so that he could dig deeper. Meeka kept her ears plugged with her fingers the whole time, sure that I would start screaming at any moment. I didn't.
...
After a few minutes of mining, he determined that I was lead-free. And I was from the beginning. Apparently, no lead had broken off inside of my foot to begin with. It just looked like it, because it "wrote" on the flesh that it punctured and left a lead-colored, lead-shaped, lead-lined cavity. But, hey, better safe than sorry, right?! So, I had minor foot surgery today for nothing more than peace of mind. But Janae, Dr. Allen, and I had a great time joking around anyhow! It was fun, albeit with a price.

...
So, here I am, a little gimpy girl. Sore as all get-out, but I gained a bloggable adventure, so I think it ended in my favor. Don't you?

...
I think I will make the kids do homework with ordinary pencils on at-the-desk-in-your-bedroom-and-keep-outta-Mom's-hair-while-she-tries-very-hard-to-understand-scouting homework days from now on.