The Tragi-Comedic Life of Jenny O (Emphasis on Comedic)

Maybe this ought to be two posts, but since I'd already been working on writing up the First Event when the Second One occurred, you get a(n exceptionally long) Twofer.  I actually have a third one that's been bouncing around in  my head for a few weeks, but it may never actually make it to the page... we'll see...

Sunday was an odd day for me.  In spite of my glorious mood from the night before, I woke up... not wanting to wake up.  And certainly not wanting to get out of bed.  And double certainly not wanting to leave the house for church and to deal with people, of all hideous things.  But I did all of these things, and even comported myself in a manner which I do not believe belied my Mopey Funk- although on the drive home Nathan asked if I was okay, since I was so quiet.  I said that maybe sometimes I was just quiet, and he straight up called me on that BS.

We'd been talking all week about doing a hike Sunday afternoon, and although I dearly wanted to just lay in bed and Be Depressed, two things kept me from that course of action: the first was the memory of Nathan dancing with me the night before.  The second was my determination not to be That Girl anymore.  I've said it before, and I'll likely say it again- depression is like a comfortable old sweater to me.  It's cozy.  It's familiar.  But giving into the fuzzy sweater is just Lazy- and I will not be lazy.  Especially because I knew that hiking would eventually put me in a better mood.  So I changed clothes and we headed out and started our hike and I was quiet but not sulky, and sure enough- eventually we reached a good spot for photography and I lay on my back and stared up through the trees while Nathan worked and I started to Feel Better.  Then we scrambled up a waterfall and I started to feel a lot better.  Happy, even.  See?

Happy Campers.  Er, hikers.

Anyway it was about then that tragedy struck- or maybe I should say I struck.  A branch.  With my naked toe.  And it hurt, but I scolded myself for reacting so strongly, saying, "O you are just being a big baby- it didn't hurt that badly.  You're reacting to the shock, not the pain."  So I stuck my feet in the glacier-cold water and felt better.  Eventually we got out and dried our feet and started the 2.5 hike back, and at first it was a little painful, but then the pain sort of eased and I thought, "See, you're fine."

Oh but then.  Then I turned my foot a little, and put pressure on said injured toe from the side- and I was not fine.  I was not even remotely fine, as the pain exploded through my foot and up into my leg, and my stomach dropped out.  I kept moving (there may, perhaps, have been some obscenities) and soon enough it was fine again.  Walking normally was not at all a problem, and now that I knew that side pressure was, I was very careful about my foot placement.  I only screwed up twice more, and both times swiftly corrected.

We got back to the car and, out of curiosity, I took my shoe and sock off:

An instance wherein purple is NOT my favorite color.

"That may be a broken toe," I said to Nathan (although what I meant was "fractured" since obviously it wasn't broken broken).  I was all for just taping it to the next toe and calling it good, but at my wise mother's insistence I did end up going to the doctor this morning.  Here's what my toe looked like by then:

You can't tell, but the discoloration goes up into the foot...

The doctor was great (I do have something of a fondness for podiatrists- they never talk down to me or make me do pointless tests or try to force pills on me).  I expressed my fear that I was just being a baby and it was nothing more than a bruise, but he took one look at it and said that usually when it looks like that there actually is something wrong with it.  A few x-rays later we had our answer- not fractured, but definitely torn.  Oh so torn.  He commended me for listening to my mother, and then gave me a freaking sweet laser treatment.  With this machine:

It was like Star Trek. With fewer catsuits.

Anyway, he told me to keep doing what I've been doing (mostly elevation and not-doing-the-painful-thing, as it will impede the healing process) and that I was not a baby.  He also said I could do the buddy-tape thing to help stabilize, but after wearing the tape for about five minutes I realized it was hurting, so I've decided to forgo that for the time being.

So that was that adventure.  And now we come to part two,

You may or may not remember, but a while back I submitted some stuff to a magazine.  And they accepted.  Well today I went to the mailbox, and what should I find but a package!  And what was in that package?  Why, two copies of a magazine!

As you might imagine, Elation ensued.  I immediately flipped to the contents page:...

Click to Embiggen

...and immediately burst into laughter.  Why?  Take a closer look:

(My tablet isn't working right now, so forgive the funky touchpad-writing)

Ah well, I thought.  Published is published, right?  And it wouldn't be the first time my name had been published incorrectly (the first time was in college- and they not only credited the wrong artist, they didn't even get the title of my piece correct- or bother to get permission before using it.)  So I flipped to the story....

...and started laughing even harder:

Because seriously, you guys?  This:

Yes, that is the author-photo I submitted.  With my name in the photo.

::sigh::

 But I maintain that I can still call myself a published author, inconsistently spelled name or not.  (Although Nathan definitely had fun saying, "I don't know who you are," and the like...)

I sent them a gentle email to point out the oversights, but really- I'm not upset.  I've worked as an editor, I know how hard it is to catch every little thing (especially because these women also work day jobs), and quite frankly, it makes for a better story this way.

And really, that's all I ask from life- good stories.

EDIT: I got a very sweet response from the editor!  She apologized profusely, and said she'd fix the online version ASAP- before it goes live tomorrow!  (She also promised to get the spelling right for any future submissions I might make...  tee hee!)  See, mistakes happen to the best of us- but if you're willing to take responsibility and make it right, it's really not that big of a deal.  ^_^