How Did That Happen?

Around lunchtime Tuesday, I was making spaghetti noodles for Tink. That's the one thing I try to keep handy, just in case I can't get her to eat anything else. She will usually always eat "Yoodles" with butter and garlic. Was using my regular, two handled pot. Now I've been making noodles for years. Spaghetti is a regular meal in this house. It's simple and cheap... just like me. I can't count the number of times I've made it. Never in a millions years, could I imagine what happened, actually happening.

I always break my spaghetti into two inch pieces. Saves tons of time when you get down to the eating. Got it boiled, no problem. Now comes the time to drain it. All this should have involved was lifting the pot and rotating just a little, to the sink. That's when the strangest thing happened. I grabbed the two handles with pot-holders, went to lift and... the pot came up a little... met with some clanging resistance... boiling pasta water came pouring over my left wrist and onto the stove, cabinet door and floor, spattering at my feet. I screeched, did a quick assessment, noting how extremely lucky it was that Tink wasn't standing there with me, like she usually is. Thank you, "Caillou" for diverting her attention. Had she been standing there, it could have been tragic!


You know the loop on the edge of a pot-holder? I think they are for hanging, but mine are so well used, they aren't hung for display. Somehow, that stupid loop got around the cast iron burner on the stove. When I went to lift the pot, the burner lifted, at least until the two refused to move together. That's went the water took the path of least resistance.





Ok, that water was boiling hot and it had just poured over my wrist. I'm amazed I'm not writhing in pain and feeling quite lucky this hasn't been more of a disaster. Turned on the cold water, which in Texas isn't even remotely cold, but still drastically cooler than the boiling water. Still doing good and feeling lucky. On to the clean-up and relighting of the drowned out pilot.

About five minutes into this process, my wrist starts to hurt. I'm not talking a little discomfort, I'm talking pain. I've given birth to four kids. I'm a tough cookie. One of my kids was over 9 pounds and I gave birth with no pain medication, whatsoever. This has me in "crap the pants, throw-up" pain! What now, I've got a child to care for, I can't be in this kind of pain! I reached for the first thing available, right there in plain sight on the kitchen counter... the Hydrocortisone cream! This stuff stays on the counter because Tink is a skeeter magnet. I applied this gingerly to my very red wrist and the pain was immediately GONE! OMG! This stuff is amazing! It even took the red out. Just a few minutes before, it looked like a raw piece of meat and now it's just a light shade of pink.

Two days later and all that's left is a very small, pink area. It never blistered. The only problems I've had since, are minor, like when hot water got on it and when I was drying my hands and the towel got it.

Pretty good luck for a person that doesn't usually consider herself lucky. Need to remember to get more, next time I'm out. (Hydrocortisone that is, not luck... you can't buy that!)