It’s that time of year again. Hanukkah has arrived and Christmas is just a few days away.  Schools are out for the next couple of weeks which is known as ” Winter Break.”  As a Teacher’s Assistant at an elementary school, I , along with the rest of my coworkers welcome this time off . It’s a well-deserved break for us all.  Two days into this time of relaxation, family,  and friends, I got another kind of break, the kind nobody wants. While on the way to dinner with friends Sunday evening, I fell and broke my left foot.  Walking out of my friend’s home my foot twisted on some loose gravel, and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Once I got my breath back, my friend Carmen helped me up and into the backseat of our friend Maribeth’s car( Maribeth had come to pick us up for dinner).  I insisted on going to the restaurant( despite the pain I was in). Hey ya gotta eat!  At the restaurant I put my foot up on a chair and asked a waitress for ice to put on it.  Dinner was delicious, and I finally relaxed( could it have had something to do with the plum wine my friends kept sharing with me? lol), and the pain seemed to lessen a bit. After dinner , Maribeth drove us back to Carmen’s and they helped me into my car. Once home I continued icing my foot until I went to bed.

I awoke Monday morning to find that not only was my foot still swollen, but it was now also a lovely shade of blue , and I could not move the little toe. Taking my mother’s advice, I saved myself the E.R. fee and made an appointment to have my podiatrist check my foot out.  Two x-rays confirmed that I had indeed broken a bone in my foot( the 5th metatarsal, to be exact).  My podiatrist said that they don’t like to use casts anymore , so he gave me a prescription for a ” low-profile cast boot.” It’s one of those nifty black boots you see on people all the time. Another girlfriend of mine has one of those boots, but hers goes up to her knee, whereas mine only reaches mid-shin.  I have to wear this fashion accessory for three weeks,and then go back to the podiatrist for follow-up. 

I’m moving a little slower these days, and extra-strength Tylenol has become my best friend. Nonetheless, I am enjoying my time off and intend to keep enjoying all the festivities of the season. I won’t be “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree,” or decking the halls, but I haven’t lost my holiday spirit!

Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas!, Happy Kwaanza!, Happy New Year!!  and don’t take “Winter break,” as literally as I did!