Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I think the stairs won

(Note: that's a stock photo...not a staircase in any house I've ever been in.) :)
Okay...I have a slight problem. I'm normally not a clumsy person at all, I'd say I have very good balance in fact and am fairly graceful...but...I have issues with stairs. I just...really have trouble with stairs sometimes. I guess it's because I've never lived in a house with stairs. Well, we may have had an upstairs apartment, but I was probably either not walking or an age where I was either being helped up the steps, or at least taking them very slowly, and that's not the same as running up and down them all day.

I know I've always had problems because I remember going up stairs at friends' houses and finding myself putting my hands on the steps in front of me...so, sort of climbing up the stairs like a cat or something. Yes, this is really sad. And anyone who knows me well and knows my fondness for hiking and mountain climbing sort of stuff, and my propensity for scaring my mom and grandma by climbing dangerous things, would probably be surprised to hear this. Except, that is....for my cousins, who have witnessed a few of my stair incidents. :P

So anyway, I've gotten over the climbing up the stairs, I'm quite capable (and have been for several years, thank you) of going up stairs. Going up quite quickly in fact. Unfortunately, I generally forget that I do not have quite the same skill in going down stairs...and I'll usually take them down just as quickly. And that is what has led to problems, and I've had a quite a few spectacular slips. I generally have more trouble on carpeted stairs...in fact I can't remember ever having slipped on hard stairs...I mean, not carpeted. Most of the stairs have been hard, VERY hard, as I've slipped/bumped down them. :p I also sprained my ankle once from jumping down stairs.

And now that I've said all that...guess what happened today? I slid down some stairs? How'd you guess?! :D

Yeah, I was at work today, and while going downstairs (in sock feet...darn it, I need to get some slippers) I slipped...in slow motion it felt like. I had plenty of time to realize I was falling, and that I needed to do something about it, but that most of all, I needed to make sure the baby didn't get hurt. Yes, I was carrying the baby when this happened. *everyone gasps* But don't worry, she's fine! :)

I was able to get her out in front of me so that she didn't bump her head on anything, or end up underneath me when I landed. She started crying of course, because the fall scared her, but then she looked up at me and I probably had some agonized look on my face and that scared her more! :D Thankfully she's a pretty calm baby, so I got her calmed down quickly and checked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. I'm just really glad nothing happened to her...I didn't fair fare (oops!!) so well, but I'm bigger and I've also done this before....ha.

Somehow in the middle of all that, I managed to move or something so that I didn't hit so hard, and of course right away I had to make sure the baby was okay, and the adrenaline kind of kept me moving...wonderful the way that works! And I've kept moving most of the day, so I thought I was pretty much okay...but as I'm sitting here, I can feel that my spine feels jarred, my shoulder blades ache, my arms ache, my neck's sore, and since it's all along my spine, of course my head hurts. Oh, and I'm also glad this chair I'm sitting in is padded. ;)

So, yeah...stairs and I don't get along...at all.

Oh, and when the dad got home this evening, I was telling him what happened and he pointed out that the stairs I slipped on are all different heights. (!!!!) And he said that if you look underneath they don't look like they're stabilized very well either...ah, that's reassuring. As he said, anyone who watches "This Old House" would know how to install better stairs! lol! So I think they're going to get the stairs redone sometime....in the meantime I'm going to be super-careful going down them, especially when I'm carrying the baby.

In the more present meantime...as in, tonight and tomorrow...I think I'll go take some Tylenol! There was a possibility I might go dancing tonight...I'm thinking maybe it's good that didn't work out. Oww.....

14 comments:

Amanda A Gordon said...

Wow! I'm glad you are alright, and it sounds like you are already an expert babysitter, thinking about the well-being of the baby even when tumbling down stairs!

Jessica said...

Oh, Natalie...I'm glad you're alright. Nick didn't fare so well one time when HE went down the stairs too fast...I'm not one to give you the whole story because it was a long time ago, but Anna or Nick could probably tell you.

But it's nice to know that maybe it wasn't just you and it was the stairs' fault. :)

Anonymous said...

Ouch!

I still climb stairs on all fours! :D We don't have carpeted stairs, so it's really fun to run on all fours slapping them with your palms as you go. It makes alot of noise. LOL

I went contra dancing last Saturday! I loved it. The guys didn't do the spin very well, most of them just kinda hopped in a circle, but it was still alot of fun.

Lizzie said...

Oh, wow, I sympathize. I have a lot of trouble with stairs. Ever since I fell down them when I was 2 and scared my parents to death, I've been falling down available stairs. Usually with an audience. I've had to carry babies down stairs a very few times and I'm always terrified that I'm going to slip with them! I'm glad the baby was okay, and I hope you feel better soon.

Jonathan David Page said...

"slippery narrow crooked spiral staircases". Those five words strike fear into my toes.

Sock feet are not good on any kind of stairs. Every time I've fallen down stairs, I've been wearing socks.

Glad to hear that both you and the baby survived though.

N said...

Hmm, that's instinct mostly, Amanda. :)

Yeah, if the stairs are wonky, maybe it's not all my fault, Jessica! :P

Oh good, I'm glad you had fun, Abigail! Yeah, I saw you in some pictures on Facebook...I also saw that your sister has the same pink skirt like I wore to the square dance! lol

Aw, that's too bad that you didn't get a really great partner...the swings are a lot of fun either way, but much better with a good partner. :) So did you like it better than square dancing?

Okay, so other people still fall down stairs....you all made me feel a lot better about that. ;)

Yeah, it seems like I usually have an audience too, Lizzie. Or at least someone who shows up to find out what all the crashing noise was! :P

So did the spiral staircase picture freak you out, Jos? :D Have you ever read the mystery "Murder Must Advertise" by Dorothy Sayers? The person gets killed by "falling" down the huge spiral staircase in an ad agency. :P

Anonymous said...

Haha, I saw your title and thought "Oh no, not again!" :P

The stairs in this house have slippery carpet on them...and then we got the floor at the bottom of them changed from dark ugly green to stair-carpet-color. The bottom of the stairs is really dark at night and for a while I kept always missing the last step. I think I've gotten over that though :)

Didn't the staircase in Murder Must Advertise have big pointy posts to fall on at the bottom, too?

Anonymous said...

Yes, it was decidedly more fun than square dancing! Square dancing seems rather primative after contra. But I bet there could be more to square dancing, I expect the caller was just giving us the basics and that there is a higher level of square dancing; you reckon so?

N said...

*cough* Yeah, I knew you knew about my stair difficulties, Rebecca. ;)

Hmm...I haven't read it for a while...it probably did though...or a cement floor or something. :P It was pretty dangerous. :D

Yeah, I think that maybe square dancing could be more complicated, Abigail. I guess since there were so many beginners, the caller decided to just stick to the basics. :D

Leah said...

That sounds very painful! I hope that it goes away soon! :) But thank you for posting about it. It was really fun to read. :)

N said...

Thanks, Leah! :)

I'm glad I was able to be amusing at the same time. ;) lol

Anonymous said...

oh gosh! OUCH!! my problem is tripping UP the stairs not down!! glad you and the baby were ok!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the edit clarifying that you used a stock photo of a staircase.

I was trying to figure out what you meant about the stair treads being at different heights... they all look so perfectly-aligned in the picture! :)

Your mention of them being carpeted should have woken my tired brain. Coffee! My kingdom (such as it is) for some coffee!

N said...

No, their house isn't that fancy! :D