things are getting better. my full blown cold has downgraded itself to an annoyance. i'm still coughing up phlegm and blowing snot out of my nose in buckets, but i'm not getting a chill one minute and burning up the next.

but jesus, my mom had to go and one up me yesterday. big time. she was at work* and a soccer ball got away from some kids and rolled up to where she was standing on the blacktop. it happens often enough, so my mom thought nothing of it and went to kick the ball back. since she's not the most perfectly coordinated human being in the world** her foot went over the ball - actually it went on top of it - and she ended up face first on the blacktop. so now my mom has a pretty big knot on her forehead and another one on her chin, along with some hefty scrapes and some cuts from where her glasses jammed into her face.

of course i get to see this when i walk in the door last night, and i'm just floored by the whole ordeal. my only reaction was what could probably be considered the wrong one... "jesus christ. so... uh... can i take a picture?" now if you know my mom at all, she hates pictures of herself and very rarely allows them to be taken. so of course, i'd asked this jokingly and i was bound for a reply that i wasn't expecting... from behind her swolen eye, bruises and quiet voice came a small grin and a very quick "sure." so i have a jpeg on my digital camera and i'm wondering if i should post it here. my mom said she didn't mind because she couldn't possibly look any worse, but i still don't know...

the great thing though is after all that happened to her today - the fall, the ambulance ride to the hospital, the general pain of two huge knots making her face tight - she still kept her sense of humor. we ordered pizza for dinner and i joked with her that she should answer the door, give the pizza guy the money and if he asked what happened to her face she should just tersely reply "kitchen accident" and slam the door. she thought that was completely hilarious and almost did it until about five minutes til the pizza guy showed up and walked in my room with the money and said "you pay the pizza guy, i can't. i'll start laughing." that was a bummer, but she'd been thru enough so i let her sit back down and rest with a bag of frozen peas on her face to reduce the swelling.

* = my mum works at a public middle school as a break/lunch supervisor.
** = she carries a card from the dmv that says she can't pass a roadside sobriety test, but she's okay to drive.