HELP... I'm hooked!

Do you know what that is???

No, I've not fallen victim to the latest piercing craze, at least not voluntarily... that's a fish hook.

Today, Jimmy and I took my two friends, Lynda and Penny, that I taught with for years at Woodmore, out fishing. I am not a fisher(woman), but they enjoy it and of course, fishing is Jimmy's greatest love (besides me, of course, ha!), so we decided to go while they were still on summer break.

I can't imagine why 2 teachers, with 25+ years in an inner city school, find mindlessly floating in the serene, quiet lake bobbing for fish that can't talk back, relaxing, but they do! ha! We were actually joking before the "incident" that the title of this blog was going to be, "A bad day fishing is still better than a good day at school."


The weather was perfect, the wind was pleasant, and the fish were plentiful until... the hook.

It was really my fault, I changed seats midway through the trip and poor Penny snagged me with her rod. I am just thankful I screamed loud enough for her to realize what had happened before she cast the reel!!! Ohhhh, the thought of that makes my stomach hurt!

We made a beeline back to the dock to get some pliers, so Jimmy (my hero) could cut the barbs and pull it back through my ear. (Yes, it went in one side and out the other.) Needless to say, I was trying to "put my big girl panties on" as they say, but I was silently praying not to tinkle in my panties or cry like a baby. I managed to avoid both, God is good!

With all the talk about barbs and spikes, the anticipation of actually pulling it out of my ear was much more horrific than the procedure itself. However, anyone who has ever said, "Ohhh, there are no nerves in the top of your earlobe, so it doesn't hurt," has obviously never had a fish hook caught in theirs!

After Jimmy performed his minor surgery (with only ice for numbing, I might add!) he looked at me like a proud papa and said, "Welcome to the club, you are now officially a Cofer". Hum... after 5 1/2 years of marriage, a shared mortgage, and my carrying and birthing his only son, who knew getting stabbed in the ear with a fish hook would make it official... thanks honey.

Trace did pretty good other than one minor meltdown about not being allowed to get back in the water. He managed to eat every morsel of food I had packed in the first 30 minutes of the trip, but really, what else is there for a little boy to do on a boat after you've throw every toy you brought into the lake to see if it will sink or float?

F.Y.I.- Thomas the Tank Engines sink (quickly).
So after much persuasion, I went to the Minute Clinic for a tetanus shot. You know my fondness for lake water, and the fact that the hook had been laying in a tackle box for years or worse, possibly in a fish's nasty mouth was enough to err on the side of caution.

On the bright side (always looking for that silver lining), I told the nurse that I couldn't remember when my last tetanus shot was and she sweetly asked how old I was. When I said, "34", she said "oh, you don't look that old, I was going to say tetanus shots last for 10 years and you had to have one in middle school, but..."

Bless her little heart, does that mean she actually thought I was in my early twenties!?! I think so! My night cream may be working after all!

She probably just thought anyone stupid enough to be that sunburned with a fishhook caught in her ear can't be that old.

Oh, but yes you can!

I really enjoyed spending the day with them and am so thankful to call them my friends. They have been there through thick and thin and I know they always will be. This will be just one more memory we have to laugh about... that is when the hole closes up in my ear and my right arms stops aching from the shot, just kidding Penny :)

Lynda surpassed Penny in the number of fish caught today, but Penny takes the prize for the weight... I'm the biggest bass that lake's ever seen!

All in all, it was a really fun day and I can't wait to do it again. Next time, I think I'll wear a helmet... and some sunscreen! ha!