I was really looking forward to this trip, a week in NYC, no business to speak of, a lot of walking through galleries and around the West Village which I love. Then the phone rang this afternoon and woke me out of a deep sleep and I leapt to my feet and snagged the bottom of my foot on a nail sticking up from the ancient floorboards here. Hurt like hell. So I hobbled into the kitchen and saw Bob dozing on the sofa bed and turned to go back to the bathroom to hunt up a bandaid and saw how much blood I’d spattered getting from the bedroom to the kitchen, which is when I sat down and looked at the bottom of my foot and it was gross and dripping blood. By then Bob was sitting up, saying, “What now?” until he looked at my foot and then he said something else. After which I washed it off and he put antibiotic stuff on it and strapped the only bandaid I had on it and then he said, “That’s deep.” Which for Bob, the original “Oh, wah” guy, is like “Have you made out your will? Am I in it?” Thank god I have a blood disease that makes me clot a lot.
And I’d had such a good lunch with Meg, too. I showed her the collages and visual outlines I’ve been doing for the books I’m working on/want to work on, and she said, “Show these to Jen,” so tomorrow I will haul my computer with me to lunch and flash my editor with Curio pages. It could be a whole new way to pitch. Or just a fun thing to do with my editor and agent at lunch. Either way, Curio is working for me once again. Unlike my foot.
But since Bob is asleep in the kitchen–yes, at eight PM at night, my writing partner is sacked out already, worn out from mopping up blood all over the apartment–and my walking days are curtailed for awhile, that gives me time to go back to the short story with the inventive ways to get rid of the body–I told Meg all about you and your ideas at lunch, probably not the best time to mention pouring Coke over a body in a bathtub, especially since we were both drinking Diet Coke at the time–and to continue on with the community paper. I still haven’t gotten my head wrapped around what I want to say yet, but your comments are clarifying things beautifully. I do think there’s some self-selection going on here, but the feedback is so rich that it’s helpful anyway. So thank you very much.
Now does anybody have a big bandaid? Because I think my foot’s still bleeding. If you don’t hear from me again, it’ll be because I bled to death in the West Village and my writing partner got rid of the body.. Thanks to all of you, he knows how.
I would think, thanks to special forces training, he already knew how! (not that I want to think that, but there it is.)
Er, dont mean to be alarmist and this could just be the nurse in me but is your tetanus up to date? A bloody foot is nothing compared to lockjaw.
And we need you fit and healthy and your snarky best downunder in August.
Not to mention that the world is a much better place with Jennifer Crusie novels on bookshelves.
So…go get jabbed. Bob? Bob! Go take her to get jabbed.
I agree with downundergal. A rusty old nail is a perfect breeding ground. Maybe call your doctor and check up on your last Tetanus shot. They’re good for ten years. You’re probably covered.
Other than that, enjoy da Big Apple. My daughter is going up Friday, my old critique partner leaves for PASIC conf. tomorrow, and my best friend is already there. Sheesh. I’m jealous. But, I was there in January which was great, so can’t complain.
Here’s a Poor Baby for you as I can’t believe that Bob has ever uttered that. Send him out for a hammer for the nail and some band-aids for your foot. He can’t get into any trouble in New York can he?????
Poor baby! I’m always catching things on splinters and things. Since you can’t walk, you might take time to check out the rest of the floor, and hammer those SOBs DOWN! Hope you are feeling better soon!
I’d load you down with home remedies to show I care, but to tell the truth, a puncture wound like that is nothing to mess with. Hope your doctor can get you fixed up.
I agree. With as much training as Bob has, he probably could tell us a few ways to dispose of a body. But then, he probably would get in trouble for spilling secrets.
Poor baby. It’s always that way isn’t it? Leap out of bed for the phone and stab yourself. Just means you should stay in bed.
Let me join the chorus of Tetanus. And if it is a puncture as opposed to a deep scratch, think cat bite versus cat scratch, it will take forever to heel. Poor baby. Yes, get Bob to hammer that nail down, unless you like the quirkiness of the nail and usually are able to navigate around it. In that case, I have to agree with Andrea(and not because she has such a lovely name), stay in bed.
Eat well in the city.
Yes, please do take care of yourself, but for heaven sake do not look up medical stuff on the internet. I about had myself convinced I was dying of the plague the last time I tried that. There is a reason the doctors and nurses go to school as long as they do.
Being the klutz that I am, I vote for taking care of that nail too. I have a permanent bruise on my knee from the cedar chest at the end of the bed. That’s what I get for finally putting up the laundry previously stacked there.
Hope you still can enjoy yourself. Any chance your injury can help you get to the front of line like at Disney World? Just a thought.
Unfortunately, I think you could bleed to death in the West Village and no one would notice.
Bleeding is good. Very good. It’s washing the icks out of the wound. Go get a tetanus booster NOW. Extra ones don’t hurt your system. The medical types seem to give one when dealing with a poke regardless of the last booster. And you probably need an antibiotic pulsing through your system, too. Injection or by mouth.
Oh, do play the damsel in distress. Let Bob play nurse/carpenter. Snort!
Oh poor jenny. Make Bob bring you chocolate. That’ll make you feel better.
Youch! Poor baby!
Jenny, now we’re going to worry about you. At least ask someone medical if you need a tetanus booster. And let us know what happens so we can stop bugging you about boosters and concentrate on the poor babies.
And definitely get some chocolate. Surely there’s someplace fabulous in New York for chocolate.
Poor baby!
Tetanus shots are only good for 5 years these days – definitely take care of yourself. Nothing but good times ahead.
I, for one, am excited about the fact that you get to pitch your story with the collages from your Curio program. What a cool way to present your ideas–and I think they will get it and love them as much as we do. Good luck on that.
I have to agree with everyone else. Puncture wound versus scratch–if it is a puncture, keep it covered with anitbiotics on it and maybe you should go to your dr. and get antibiotics to take by mouth also. It could seal up prematurely and cause an abcess, and that would be really painful and take a long time to heal…
I am glad that Bob was there to help you out–foot wounds are not fun and can be very painful and awkward to deal with on your own.
Have fun in New York. I envy you the stroll through the galleries, if you can still manage it. Never been there myself, but I always loved the galleries in Chicago and hoped to some day make it all the way to New York to see how the art differs from the MidWest…
We would never pour Coke on you and the Wonderful Meg! None of our recent research will be necessary.
Curio, huh? I really want a MAC. If this isn’t a business trip, why are you visiting your editor and agent? carting around your laptop and working on three separate pieces? :sheesh:
Let Bob carry you through the galleries if you can’t hobble.
Take care of the puncture and enjoy NY. But I’m a little confused, I thought Bob had his own suite at your place. How come he’s sleeping in the kitchen?
Ummm… Ellie? AndreaS?
Bob’s special forces training means he knows all about making bodies dead. Making dead is different than dealing with dead in a clandestine fashion.
I’ll join the “go get a tetanus shot” chorus, too. The shots last for years which is why it’s easy to forget the boosters.
So sorry you hurt your foot. Since you can’t get your shoe on your foot, you could use it to smash that nail back into the floorboard.
At least, the foot injury will be better for sympathy. Way better than getting weird look resulting from burns by pizza cheese.
I’m guessing that you guys are staying in one of those rental apartments in NYC. One explanation for the sleeping in the kitchen thing. (I’m betting that isn’t Bob’s idea of a snuggle couch!)
Feel better . . . get that booster.
I agree with Btuda, don’t go look up anything medically related on the internet, especially if its been a while since a tetanus shot. By tomorrow you’ll be swearing you have a tinge of lockjaw.
Anyway, have fun in New York and eat a cheesecake for me.
Poor baby! I agree with the previous commetns that this now means that Bob must bring you chocolate and carry you around when your foot starts to hurt.
Marcia – geez of course. The nail incident happened in NY. Makes more sense now. Probably that apartment Jenny always likes whenever she visits the city. Whew! I couldn’t figure out why she was making Bob sleep in her kitchen. Unless she was worried about the vultures. Well I would be.
Jenny, I’m so sorry you’re to be disappointed in your walking around! After all this tetanus stuff, I think I need a booster (I think it’s been nearly 10 years, so if they’re only good for 5….)
Take care, and I hope lots of fun people and things come to you while you’re incapacitated!
Poor Baby. Maybe you should rent a wheelchair and have Bob push you wherever you want to go. It would be good for him. Tell him you are his egg.
Uh, Jenny? Have you had a recent tetanus shot??? Seriously. Please watch for any sign of infection, you don’t need that in your life.
So, do we now need to put links in our queries/proposals to our Curio images online? It would be great if you knew the agent or editor was a visual person, might just be the thing that tipped the scale. ;+)
Take care of that foot!
I bet Jenny wishes she’d never told us about that injury. It’s like a fifty-headed mother wailing about Tetanus shots here.
So, got yer tetanus shot yet? No, I haven’t read the next post… I’m all about the delayed gratification.