When we say Break A Leg-

–We don't mean it literally… But Thursday, my dad did! Or rather, he broke his kneecap.

My dad is the Plant Operator at the largest elementary school in our county. The Plant Operator is basically the chief custodian. He makes sure everything works and everything's clean. The school was just constructed a couple of years ago and just finished its firs full school year, but they somehow got the flooring done wrong, so this summer the custodial staff had been going through and stripping the floor, cleaning, and re-waxing it. As you may know, the stripper is a chemical that can be very dangerous to the skin. So my dad was laying this stuff down with a heavy duty power mop, and he accidentally stepped out from behind it, slipped on the stripper, and fell forward, onto his left knee. The cap split into two pieces, and the top piece shattered into smaller pieces. He was quickly rushed to the closest hospital's emergency room where he was examined.

While all this was happening, I had been visiting my grandmother's house. My mom called me up on my cell phone and told me that my dad had been injured at work. At the time, I had no clue as to what that meant exactly, but I didn't get a chance to ask. My mom told me to "borrow" my grandma's Jeep and head back home (I had rode a bike there) and watch my brothers so that she could go up to the hospital.

To make a long story short, my dad was operated on last night and got a wire put through all the pieces to hold it together. His left leg is in a cast from his thigh down to his ankle, and apparently he's going to be like that for a while. He now sits in his room fiddling on his computer, and whenever he needs anything, he rings this annoying bell over and over ntil someone goes to help him out. Thankfully, since the injury happened at work, my dad gets Workman's Comp, which completely covers the hospital bill and also pays 80% of his normal work paycheck. This is great, because my mom does not have a summer job (She's a paraprofessional at another elementary school). We have already lost one of our vehicles and we're on food stamps, because even though my dad's new job is great, it doesn't pay nearly as much as his old desk job did. His current job is like 50% of what he used to get, so he's basically making 40% of what he used to while he's recovering. I sure hope this economy turns around soon *~*

This whole situation sucks, because my birthday is this Wednesday. Normally, I don't care about a big shebang for my birthday, but I'm turning 18, and that is kind of special. However, we're not doing anything special this time, thanks to Dad's fall…

He just HAD to fall on the Stripper! XP