Well well well... Yeah, so I haven�t written for a while... deal with it.

I figured it would be a point of wisdom to NOT write when I was pissed as all hell. And, then I simply slid into a massive depression... *rolls her eyes* So much for having a nasty confrontation, emotional outburst, fight with my Mother AND being �that time of the month�. *shakes her head* They all seemed to amass into one huge boot which kicked my ass.

Repeatedly.

I love being a source of support for those people I care about... even, sometimes, for those people I don�t know... but sometimes it gets to be too much, all in one concentrated space of time. I don�t like that part.

A friend of mine is going through a sort of roller-coaster heart break thing. That�s just rotten. And then, me with my empathy... *rolls her eyes* I really have to work a bit on controling my �I feel your pain� reflex.

Aaaaaaaaaanyway... I left off just before telling you about the actual event. *chuckles* And that simply can not be tollerated. *smirks*

Soooooooo, to pick up somewhere near the place I left off.... Charles and I got there Monday evening, about half an hour before dark. We had a tent to set up and a double dining canopy. Well, okay... correction... Charles had a tent and dining canopy and such to set up. I was there to go, �You want me to do what? Oh, just hold that piece? Okay. Oh.... you want me to put that little peg thing in that little hole thing? Uh... If the tent falls down, let�s pretend it�s not my fault, k?�

*chuckles*

Okay, so that�s not exactly how it went, but it�s close enough. *smirks*

Charles does this every year, almost. He KNOWS how to set up a tent. I was kinda just.... Well hell, the last time I went camping at all was about 15 years ago. I didn�t have to set up the tent then either. Come to think of it... that time I�d also twisted my ankle. Hmmmmmm, a precedent? Perhaps.

Regardless... With the absolute minimum of help from me, Charles set up the tent and got the �rain fly� (I think that�s how to spell it) set up and buckled down. It was a little muggy... *chuckles* Yeah, so it was Mississippi. I think Mississippi and muggy go hand in hand. At least, that was Charles� take on it. But, to me, the weather felt like it was gonna rain. And, with all the horror stories Charles had told me about the rain, I was concerned that our clothes and such might get rained on.

Now, for some of you, you might think that we had actually registered before hand. *laughs* uh uh. I didn�t think about it, and Charles had just forgotten to do it.

erm... have I already said all this?

Anyway... we found our camping spot, got the tent up, then Charles had to take the car to the parking area. *shakes her head* We were about 20 miles from the actual hub of activity. The parking area was almost 20 miles the other side of the hub of activity.

Okay, so maybe that�s an exageration. But not by too terribly much. *smirks*

Anyway, he had to take the car to parking, so I put all the stuff I thought might get damaged in the rain, into the tent. And what a nice tent it was. Man, he�s got good taste. The damned tent was biiiiiiiig. For two people... I already talked about that, didn�t I? Gah, I have to start reading my own entries.

So... I felt kinda... well... kinda like I didn�t know jack about camping or tenting or dining canopies, so instead of trying to �help� by setting something else up... since it was already dark, I tried organizing the interior of our tent as best I could. I put my stuff on one side and his on the other. Woohoo... I�m talented. *laughs*

I set up one of the camp tables and one of the camp chairs inside the tent, then tried doing a little more organization. *grins* I took my air matress out of the box. You know... it�s amazing how small a square they can get those deflated, single-bed air matresses into. I was shocked. Regardless... I wasn�t exactly sure how to use the pump, so I wasn�t gonna try it and ruin something... I simply sat there for about five minutes, muttering to myself about how much of a pain in the ass I was going to be to Charles. *laughs*

I was damned sure that I was gonna be a massive downer to him. Hell, here comes the gimpy fat chick... and I hadn�t even sprained my ankle yet. And hell, the closest port-a-potty was about 150 miles away.

Well, okay... so it was only about two blocks, but still... when you�ve REALLY gotta go and you don�t have the equipment to just duck behind a tree, you tend to see each step as a million miles. Trust me. I�m intimately aquainted with that �gotta go pee right now� walk. *smirks* And that�s up hill.

So, Charles got back about five minutes into my self-doubt, damn-it-he�s-gonna-hate-me session, thus aborting it. By then it was pretty damned dark. Granted, that�s something I�m very used to, what with living in a town where �down town� is 8 blocks long, two sides of the street. *smirks*

I would catch myself staring up at the sky... it was so, so very beautiful.

He got back and decided that putting the dining canopies up in the dark was just not a good idea. This was a concept with which I agreed heartily. Charles started the air pump on his matress and I watched, cause, ya know... asking questions is something ya just don�t do. *laughs* Of course, when it came time for me to have a go, I swallowed that pesky pride and asked how to do it.

Ya know what? Charles didn�t laugh at me. Well, not on the outside, anyway. *smirks*

So, fast forward. We put up the �privacy curtains� which seperated the tent into three rooms, then crashed out for the night.

And morning doth come. And this is the good part. *smirks* I got out of my sleeping bag, unzipped my �door�, snaked my arm around for my shoes, which were outside, stumbled into them without even thinking about checking for little wildlife critters and did the �I REEEEEEEEEEALLY gotta pee� dance all the way up to the port-a-potty, where going to the bathroom had never, ever, ever been such a relief. *smirks*

Then, I�m making my bleary I-can�t-believe-I�m-actually-awake-at-this-hour stumble back to camp. me, in my infinite lack of wisdom... I come shuffling through the non-path toward the tent... shoes untied, black pants wrinkled and rumpled sweatshirt proclaiming for all that I have absolutely no idea how to �camp� in period attire. (costume)

I find the one... the only... hole in our entire camp site. And ya know how I found it?

I found it by shuffling toward my side of the tent, thinking that Charles was still asleep. I�m shuffling, shuffling, shuffling, then I hear two loud and excruciatingly painful snaps in my right ankle and find myself lying on my left side on the ground, my right ankle screaming so loud that I can barely hear the breath rasping through my throat.

See... I didn�t just twist my ankle... oh no, I did much better than that. I actually re-injured myself. Three years ago I had that whole head-on-with-a-Ken-Worth-semi-truck thing. The year before that, I�d fallen through a rotten step and ripped both ligaments and tendons in that same damned right ankle. With the ripped tendon, I was in a cast for two months and manditory bedrest for six weeks. The whole wreck thing... because of which, my right foot was completely paralyzed for nearly three months... these things did not put pleasent images in my head.

Now, all of that thinking, the above paragraph, went by in about two seconds as I turn my head to look at my ankle. I swear I could not have been more surprised if Charles had popped up all SEAL-esque from the ground itself and leveled some sweet H&K at me. (don�t ask me what kind... that�s irrelivant for this part of the tale).

For about two minutes solid, I couldn�t feel anything but sharp pinwheels of pain spinning outward from the outside of my right ankle, down toward my toes and up toward my calf. I was pretty much frozen in place, laying there on the ground, forcing myself to breathe.

Did I scream? Nope. Did I swear? Yup. Out loud? Nope. See... in all this, the only thing I could actually think of coherently was this... �I hope I didn�t wake up Charles... or anyone else, for that matter. I wonder if I broke it? Oh well.. at least I didn�t wake up Charles.� After that first two minutes, I was able to remind myself that I was lying on the ground and I sorta half sat up. It was then that the humor hit me... With this precious gem of a thought... �Well, at least I�ve already gone to the bathroom... That would be hell to explain to someone else...� And then I had this little interplay going on in my head... remember, this is all in my head.

Charles: Hey Jen, where are you?

Me: Uh, just outside... uh... enjoying the scenerey? *a note of embarrassed confusion*

Charles: Are you okay? *a slight note of concern entering his voice*

Me: Uh... yeah... sorta... um... Did you happen to bring any Depends with you?�

*shakes her head*

And this is what happens inside my head in times of crisis. *smirks*

So, I don�t remember if I actually tried standing up within the first five minutes or what. I think I just laid there for a while, then finally started to move, probably to my hands and knees. I don�t remember of Charles called out to me then, or ..... yeah, I think it was then. He said that if I were on the way up to the bathroom, he�d walk with me. Shit... my memory sucks.

That may have been another morning... Hell... it doesn�t matter. Anyway... I�d gotten to my feet, tested my ankle and found that it hurt like a bitch. Imagine that. Two snaps up, baby. *winks*

As time moved on, I actually got dressed in my period garb. I wore the light blue under tunic (dress/night gown lookin thing) and the dark blue, vest-like over tunic... okay, so it wasn�t really an over tunic. It was full length, to the ground and split up the middle in the front. The parts met and were tied together with a length of leather �thong�, but it was sleeveless with gathers at the shoulders.

I was sitting outside, looking at my ankle. It was really, really bad. It was swollen to about three times it�s normal size, but it hadn�t started to turn pretty colors yet. I told Charles that I was just gonna sit around the camp, cause it hurt and I didn�t want to walk all the way to �town�. Charles... ever the gentleman, stated that if I wanted to stay in camp, then he�d stay with me. That he wasn�t gonna leave me there on the first full day of the event.

*shakes her head* I tried telling him that he should just go, explore, enjoy himself. He remained gently adamant that he was not going to leave me alone. That is was not my fault that I�d twisted my ankle. And, he asked me if I needed a doc. (I think the spelling is Churirgeon... but I just can�t remember exactly)

SO, I said that I was gonna rest it for a little while, while I did my bible study and all... and then we�d head out after that. *chuckles* I just couldn�t handle watching him miss this wonderful event because I had been stupid enough to wrench my ankle.

Long-ass story a tiny bit shorter... we eventually made the hike up to the main �town�. I did not have to wear those ugly-ass shoes I�d purchased for this event... so that was a bonus in my book. I just tied my high-top hiking boots up real tight. Yeah, it hurt, but hell, I had ibuprofen. And I took almost 1000 milligrams.

Charles was so very nice to me. Man, I really, really, really pray that he gets some huge, gigantic blessing for having had to deal with me in my most pissy moods. He really did remain the gentleman.

Ya know... that�s something that just completely and totally amazes me. And tho I�ve talked with him about it and he takes the road of modesty... all real and genuine, I assure you... he�s still an incredibly unique individual in my world.

I know many men who would have been thoughtful and consciensious of my pain and all... but they would have just gone on and done their thing. It really, really amazes me that Charles would not leave me to fend for myself. I�m SO not used to that.

so that brings me to thoughts of the men I�ve known in my life.... I already put up a list of most of those folks...

But lets see... Butch. Nice guy. When I was hangin out with the group... he was a good friend. He was a little on the funny side. His mind worked in strange ways.... But he was fun. If Charles were replaced with Butch? The second I�d stated that he should go on and go play... that I�d stay and do some writing and rest my ankle... He�d have said �Okay� and gone off to play.

Lovell? *laughs* Lovell would have looked at me, nodded then turned and walked off without a word.

Ben? Ben would have asked if I were sure. He�d have offered to stay with me, but then he would have gone off and played too.

My Father? *laughs hard* My father would have looked at me and said, �Huh?� Then would have gone about his business, wandering off without having actually heard anything I�d said. he might not even have realized I was sitting there with a wounded ankle.

My Mom? *laughs harder* She would have worried and fretted and been ultra concerned to the point where I asked her to PLEASE go away. Then she would have gone far enough to get an ambulance so that I could go to emergency and get it exrayed and then would have arranged for a flight home because there�s no way I should have been out in the woods sleeping on an air matress when I�d probably broken my ankle, honey. *laughs, grinning*

My sperm donar? *chuckles* He�d offer to go get the car, take me to get some coffee, then forget I was there and go off and do his thing.

My Grandfather (Maternal)... *smiles softly* Grampa would have sat in a chair beside me, picked my ankle up and rested it on his knee. He would have looked at it and then told me a story about something... anything... just something to get my mind off of it. All the while he�d be lightly, very lightly, massaging my ankle. He�d then sing me a song or some such. After a few hours of just sitting, talking, singing, he would ask me how I felt. *chuckles quietly* Damn I miss my grampa.

Stuart? *laughs* He�d look at the ankle, then me, then scrounge around the camp site. He�d come back with a couple sticks and duct tape, then splint my ankle. *laughs* THEN, he�d nod, tell me to tie the shoe tight and that we were goin. *laughs* Yeah.... that�s probably what Stuart would have done. Duct tape and sticks and you�re healed. *laughs softly*

Duncan? (He�s the ex for those of you who don�t know) *smirks* He�d be worrying constantly. And by constantly, I mean constantly. He�d be pacing, looking at my ankle, looking at me. He would look around at the other camp sites, wondering if any of them had access to the medic. He would look at the ankle some more, then look at me and worry. And worry. And worry.

When I would try to put my shoe on and tie it, he would get alarmed, telling me not to do that... that I had to keep it up... that most likely, I shoudl be sleeping... laying flat so I didn�t do any more damage. And that I should lay down immediately. THEN, he would insist that I do just that, and he would �help� me by trying to support my entire weight with an arm around his shoulders and all that. THEN, he would pace some more, and when I finally told him to just go explore, that I�d stay right where I was put, he�d leave and be gone for a long while.

No, he wouldn�t... there wasn�t a phone... so he�d come back every couple hours to make sure I was still alive. And he�d fuss over me. And if I had gotten up from bed, he�d get nervous and irritated because I might be hurt worse. And god-forbid I had to go to the bathroom without him there to make sure I didn�t have to put any weight on my ankle.... *rolls her eyes* GAH!!!

Anyway... Charles� manner was just... quiet, gentle and soft spoken. Nothing was going to phase him. Nothing at all. *chuckles* I�m just so not used to that.

It�s so refreshing to me to have a friend who is actually calm. *laughs* I�m used to being the calm one. I�m used to being the person who is cool and collected.

And, I�m so completely drained that my own verbocity is making me ill. Well, okay, not quite ill, but it sounded effective.

So, I�ll post more in the coming days. And always remember.... it�s a wild ride with the Fatal Tiger.