Lemons

Maybe I'm a little bit accident prone.

I got a blister while furiously trying to twist off the apple juice lid, I burned a finger on the stove top and another finger on the heating element in the dishwasher.

Maybe I hit a streak of bad luck.

After having a raspy voice and sore throats for nearly three months with no solutions from my doctor, a specialist told me I should be using a notepad and a pencil to communicate outside of work. She put a camera down my nose and into my throat and took pictures of my larynx. She deduced that I was guilty of "vocal abuse," and I was developing a nodule on my vocal cords. Luckily, after cutting down my "talk time" for a period (a.k.a. reducing my social life to nil so I could practice being quiet in my room), I was able to prevent a biopsy in my larynx.

Maybe I'm just out of luck.

One month after purchase, my new external hard drive failed. Of course, I had already copied the 250 gigabytes of precious data onto the device, including my entire and only collection of electronic music, imovie files, and journals. Prices for this kind of data recovery begin at $2,000. Bum-mer.

I injured my knee while snowboarding at work with a client. I had to give up weeks of request private lessons and tips, and do modified duties instead. I also began using a day planner to keep track of all of my physical therapy and doctors appointments. When my employer's insurance company decided to deny the entire claim just before my MRI, suggesting I appeal this decision in court, I had to wonder, why does God hate me?

After stressing about footing a $2,400 dollar bill for a knee MRI--paying a whopping $550 out of pocket even with insurance--I was relieved to hear a few days later my company had decided to approve the test after all. Ok, God doesn't hate me.

In perfect timing, a girls night out and a hilarious romantic comedy like Forgetting Sarah Marshall sure upped my spirits. It was a welcomed escape to laugh at people with more problems than I do. "When life hands you lemons, I say fuck the lemons and bail!" said Chuck, the stoner surfie. I chuckled at his hilarious point of view.

I'd rather make lemonade. And, I have plenty of sugar to make it sweet.

With time, my throat will heal, the hard drive, still fucked, but my knee is feeling better! It turned out that what my physical therapists and doctors thought was a meniscus tear, turned out to be a sprained ACL. That's great news, really; No surgery, and I can go snowboarding as soon as it feels pain-free! ;) Time to celebrate over a tall glass of lemonade.