My Excuse

By C. LaRene Hall

I know you’ve all heard the expression, I bit the dust, but in reality, I actually bit the sidewalk a couple weeks ago. I don't ever remember the dog walking past dogs that were barking and not at least try to get to them. But this time while I was concentrating on lots of bleeding, the dog obediently walked home without pulling me all over the place.

By some miracle, I was okay, and except for having to have four stitches in my bottom lip, I haven’t had any trouble. After a few days, the swelling and bruising started to fade. I looked worse than I felt, but still had a big ugly scab on my lip. The week following the incident, I even attended the afternoon session of general conference. Things were almost back to normal.

I’m not telling you this to get sympathy, but I do have a reason. The biggest problem is eating. Yeah, I can afford to skip a few meals, but the lack of solid foods is really starting to be a concern. I guess you never miss something until it’s gone. I never thought I would say that I’m sick of yummy chocolate shakes. I’m also tired of soup, pudding, jell-o and applesauce. If I cut things in extra small pieces, I can get it past my lip to chew, but what I really want to do is bite into something like a hamburger or sandwich. I’m exhausted when I take the time to chew these small pieces and it’s easier to eat the soft stuff.

The main difficulty is writing. My brain isn’t working, and I’m not getting any stories done. I would rather curl up on the couch and read a book or watch television. This is not like me. I don’t hurt that much, so why don’t I want to sit at the computer? This blog is about all that’s coming out of me this week. I guess this just shows that a writer’s brain is definitely connected to their physical well-being. We can’t get all banged up, or eat junk food constantly, or go without needed sleep, and not have it affect our desire to write. At least that’s my excuse this week.