My broken foot….week 1

Wow. It’s been a long time since I wrote on here, so I guess that means I’ve been busy! It has been a whirlwind year and everything in mylife has changed, but I’ll get  back to that later. The reason I have time to blog? I broke my fifth metatarsal on my right foot last Thursday attempting a dance off at the office Christmas party. I wouldn’t have minded, except it’s a new job and not one of the 105 employees knew who I was before (see the video below)….

It is safe to say they ALL know who I am now, cringe! Anyway, I thought I’d write about my experiences for other people as it’s a confusing new world having a broken bone, particularly when you’re normally an active person. So….after my epic dance moves ended with a foot twist accompanied by agonising pain (which i hid well i think – see video above) a lovely colleague of mine promptly headed to the bar for an ice pack and a tequila shot. Despite the tequila shot I was still in pain and was promptly taken home in a taxi to put my feet up in bed. The next morning i got up for work and got ready as normal, but i was in a lot of pain and had to walk on the heel of my foot. How I got my boots on and made it to the bus stop i do not know. A lovely gentleman noticed me limping and offered me his seat. When I got to work I sat down, took my boot off (very slowly and painfully – my foot had doubled in size) and was promptly told to go to hospital.

‘break’ dancing- ha ha

So within 15 minutes of registering at A and E at LGI Hospital I’d been sent off to X-ray and told the bad news, I had a broken metatarsal ‘jones fracture’, and was sent to have a temporary cast put on. I was given crutches, given a brief demonstration on how to use them and told to keep my foot elevated as much as possible. I was booked in to the fracture clinic, 3 days later.

I can tell you now, that crutches are hard work! By the end of day one my good leg and foot hurt, my sides, stomach muscles, back, underarm muscles and palms hurt and I was exhausted. A friend advised sellotaping ‘gel party feet’ to the handles of my crutches to help with the bruised palms – genius. Anyway, a trip shopping proved too much for my aching body, so I opted for a wheelchair. The shopmobility service at the white rose shopping centre was a godsend, and my friend had a great time wheeling me round, using me as a shopping trolley and generally making fun of my vulnerability! It’s very interesting how people treat you when in a wheelchair. Some people are really nice, some people stare at you, some people assume there’s something wrong with your mind as opposed to your body and some completely ignore you/bang into you and don’t acknowledge they’ve done it. It was quite an experience that will make me view things differently in future.

So, after a 3 hour wait on Monday at the fracture clinic, a consultant cut my cast off, commented on the fact my foot was still swollen and bruised, and prescribed a walker boot. He said I needed to keep the weight off my foot (which is really difficult considering the sheer weight of the boot, coupled with the fact I have to go to work every day) and use my crutches for at least the next 4 weeks, at which point I’ll return to the hospital for another X Ray to see how the bone is healing.

Today is day 3 of wearing the boot and it’s not going well. I’m exhausted, aching all over and my foot is more swollen and bruised than ever. I have a cankle! Update coming soon, I promise….

Emma xx

Soya Bean Elena

Bought these seeds at Homebase 2 weeks back. They are doing really well it seems. I will be planting them out in the next couple of weeks. I am struggling to find record of anybody else who has successfully grown these in the UK. Anybody out there?

Soya bean elena – grown in modules of all purpose compost on my windowsill

angry, un-sent letter to nasty ex boss with little man syndrome

Dear (ex) Employer (thank the lord),

Here is what I think of you……

You seem to suffer from a disease of the brain. Stupidity and hotheadedness doesn’t cover it. You are a little man with delusions that you are some sort of God, clever and powerful and respected by all. How wrong you are. This is characteristic of your syndrome, ‘little man syndrome’. 

Firstly, you are not clever. All of your letters have to be rewritten before sending, and everyone who reads your pathetic attempts laughs at you behind your back. Our favourite example of your illiteracy and inability to talk properly is your constant use of the word Pacific, when you mean specific. Also, there is no such thing as a learning circle, and your inappropriate overuse of the word ‘organic’ in every sentence because you think it makes you sound clever is just laughable. 

Secondly you are not powerful. You confuse this term with ‘wealthy’. Having money that has derived from you conning vulnerable young adults out of extortionate amounts of money to live in leaky, mouldy hovels your dad acquired with a few pennies before you were born, does not make you powerful. People see that you have money, and perhaps conduct business with you because of this fact, but not because you have any power or control over them. These same people laugh at you behind your back and comment on your incompetence at the simplest tasks, and speak of your aggressive outbursts as though you were merely an irritating fly. You think you are the most important person in Leeds, that your empire will expand and you will become even more highly respected than you already think you are. I wish you luck with that. You may have the resources, but this also requires a brain, contacts, luck and popularity. Left to your own devices you would run your own business into the ground, and I sincerely hope this happens one day. 

All you are is a nasty, bitter little man. You paid everybody else the week before Christmas. You paid inexperienced staff 50% more than you said you’d pay me despite my 7 years of experience, because the inexperienced one has fake boobs. Shallow.

But here’s where karma comes into play. I have acted above board throughout, doing my job really well, being punctual, working overtime, acquiring business, giving you notice even though you never gave me a contract, and leaving graciously without a bitter word. You on the other hand, have not paid me yet, despite your handwriting being all over the payslip you sent me, saying you would pay me on 27th December. That’s nasty in itself, when everybody else gets paid before Christmas, but then not paying me AT ALL, despite this evidence, that’s just sloppy. You think you’ve won, sat on that beach in Dubai with your family, but you haven’t, yet. I have enough to take you to court and sue the pants off you. And I intend to.

Karma is a bitch, and I love her for it.

Happy New Year, arsehole.  

Sober October is over – what did I learn?

After a month of sobriety, I managed to raise £155 for Macmillan Cancer Support, a good achievement I think. But more importantly, are the lessons I learned as a result of this challenge. Whilst I know I will never be teetotal, I have learnt that it is far better to enjoy an expensive, good quality bottle of wine on a weekend and look forwards to it and the social situation in which it is drunk, than to buy cheaper wines and consume throughout the week. Spending my weeks with a clear head has, and will continue to be a blessing. This month I have saved a tonne of money in my ISA for a holiday this December, I have embarked on two new hobbies – blogging and art, and I have kept on top of my busy working life, successfully fitting in two jobs and keeping on top of my uni work. Before this experience, I’d have procrastinated from doing anything I considered a challenge, preferring to whittle away my evenings watching mind-numbing television or reading a trashy novel whilst drinking cheap plonk. So, as my new life is thanks to the charity fundraising challenge I undertook in October, I’d like this opportunity to say Thank you to Macmillan for their genius. Whilst Macmillan raised over £1.5million from their campaign, what they have actually done is inadvertently change the lives of those who welcomed the challenge. Next year, I will welcome the challenge with open arms, and encourage as many other people as possible to do the same.

Emma x