~CURSED?!~

Ok, January is either not my month or I'm cursed!!!!!!! Putting aside the mouth pain for now (because that has NOT gone away and I'm quite sure it will only get worse before it gets better), and we'll also put aside the chronic bad back........... I had a relatively good day at work yesterday, came home, had a nice little chat with the girls about school and how everyone just LOVED their hair and how much they LOVE their hair - it was all good! So................ I decided to take my "little" Beau (8 month old, 70 lb chocolate lab "puppy") outside to play for a bit. We played, we had fun, I took him across the street to get the mail, he proved to me that he definately COULD sit, stay and walk beside me - - GOOD BOY! Here is where the curse comes in, in conjunction with my own stupidity/inattention, I turned around and came back into the yard (he most likely thought we were coming in the house, and being a puppy wanted to play more) - retractable leash in one hand, mail in the other, looking at the mail, NOT the puppy - he BOLTED jerking the leash out of my hand, my shoulder out of its socket - I hit the snow covered ICE with both knees, followed by ribs, chest, elbows and head! I laid there like an inverted snow angel, with a puppy licking snow off of my head, wondering IF I could get up off the ice, and if not how long it would take one of the kids to need something and notice I wasn't there and...... MAYBE come looking for me????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you hear it in your head? "Hey Mom" (pause) "MOM!" (pause) "hey guys, do you know where Mom is"? (no response), "oh, oh well" (child goes back to tv/homework/reading/whatever) and Mom turns into a Momcicle! In any event, after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably closer to 5 minutes, I managed to get myself completely upright and into the house. Pain doesn't cover it. Poor me? This is bad enough? OH BUT I'M NOT FINISHED YET.......... DH calls and tells me that my car is ready at the garage, we need to go and pick it up (little history here, '97 minivan, 127,000 miles, new transmission, burning oil, no heat) - ok, so I limp to his truck, manage to get myself in, we go pick up van - it now has heat, but halfway home the low coolant light comes on (I KNOW it is not low on coolant - how do I know? - because we put coolant in it) - I don't care - I come home, take a HOT shower, some advil, try to knit, shoulders and arms hurt so bad that I end up having to frog 3 rows because of horribly uneven stitches - I went to bed! Which brings us to this morning....... we won't even go into how MUCH everything hurts this morning - the chiropractor will be having a field day with me when I can get there, because as I got into the aforementioned minivan this morning to take the girls to school, the engine started to vibrate, followed quickly by the whole van, followed by the flashing check engine light ......... the girls took the bus and I limped back up here to feel sorry for myself and take some Alleve! Mondays, Friday the 13ths (I'm not naturally superstitious) - I give up - what do I have to do? hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Anyway, thanks for "listening", you guys are the greatest! I posted the Chili Soup Recipe (below), I hope you enjoy it. Also, Chris tagged me with a meme instructing me to "list 5 quirky habits about myself" ~ thinking about these "quirky" habits makes one feel as though they are quite strange and does "cursed" count as quirky? ;) Here goes..... I can only sleep on the right side of the bed (left if standing at the foot facing headboard). If made to sleep on the other side I will toss and turn all night, I also have to have it cool enough in the room to be able to use my blanket and preferrably my comforter - I love to burrow under the covers. I have to part my hair on the left side of my head (right if facing me?! lol) I guess that balances things out with #1 huh? Everything HAS TO BE EVEN, I don't do well with "offset" anything (except the part in my hair, I'm too old for the middle part now). I like even numbers, and have to have everything balanced well, whether it is pictures hanging, chairs at a table, even my kids! lol. I have never been able to eat "mushy" food - soggy cereal, oatmeal (unless it's in cookies ;)), shredded wheat in milk, rice pudding, tapioca, etc. etc. etc. you get the idea - it must be the texture - it just GAGS me! eeeeeeeeeeeew I have to do things in the same order every morning - it doesn't have to be at the same time, just in the same order.... get up brush teeth, shower, pour coffee, make bed, apply makeup, dry hair, get dressed. I suppose it could be worse, maybe it is and I just am not coming up with some GOOD quirks that I'm not aware of! I'm going to tag Bethe, Kimberly, Lisa and Amy, no one likes to feel "quirky" alone ;) I'm off to lick my wounds..... I'll leave you with these pic's of the puppy imitating the cat! How bizarre can things really get around here?!