Gone Fishing

Between the pain in my stump and my elevated stress level, sleep was practically impossible on Wednesday night. Apparently I was grinding my teeth and flexing my biceps because I had trouble talking and unbending my arms. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant way to wake up!

There was no denying it--I was tired and irritable. I'm afraid to admit that I was not a very good Mommy for the first half of the day. I knew that I was short tempered with Robby and he had done nothing wrong. Knowing that I was not being a good Mom made my mood sour even more!

In order to try to heal my residual limb before my Philadelphia trip, I had promised that I wouldn't ride my bike. I also knew that if I didn't find a way to relieve my stress I was going to implode. I broke my promise, hopped onto the saddle and attempted to pedal my worries away.

I dismounted nearly 90 minutes later. I was covered in sweat and physically exhausted. My leg was a little worse for wear, but riding wasn't as detrimental as I feared. I was happy that I was able to bear full weight through my prosthetic. Walking still hurt, but it wasn't enough for me to keep my leg off.

During my time pedaling I was able to work through a lot of my frustrations. I find something cathartic about the repetition of pedaling. I was a much better Mom in the afternoon!

After I showered and fixed lunch, Robby and I decided to go on an adventure. He made a sign that he swears says "Gone Fishing." I'm fairly sure it is just a bunch of happy faces and his name written a few times. In any case, we hung our "Gone Fishing" sign, grabbed his pole and a jar of maggots (yes, maggots) and headed to the stream.

Robby declared that he was "going to catch a fish if it is the last thing I do." I was warned that he wasn't returning back to the house until he "reeled that sucker in." Considering that the fish in our stream are the size of small goldfish, I knew that we were going to be there for awhile.


Two hours into our fishing trip we received a visitor. Mr. Bill, our neighbor, came down to visit and brought Robby a present. He built Robby a boat. Robby handed me his pole and immediately began to splash around with his "pirate ship." I have the world's best neighbor. Not only did he build Robby a boat, but he actually managed to help Robby catch a fish. My little guy was delighted as he reeled in an anchovy sized fish!

I continued to feel guilty about being snappy with Robby in the morning. I guess moms always feel guilty! Robby, however, seemed to have forgotten the rocky start to the morning. After all, he had a boat and caught a "ginormous fish."

We spent the evening cuddled up on the couch, and I began to count my blessings. I have a wonderful little boy and a husband who, as soon as we unpacked our groceries, willingly drove back to the store because I kept talking about how good the blueberry pie ice cream looked! By the time I tucked Robby into bed he continued to talk about his catching "a fishy as big as a whale." I thoroughly enjoyed my ice cream surprise, and my outlook was improving. Through my stress and worries, I've realized how very lucky and blessed I am.