Split Lip

Have you ever gotten chapped lips so badly that your lip split right down the middle and bled?   It's happened to me before and I always make sure to put lots of chap stick-type stuff on whenever I get even the hint that there's some sort of dermal-based instability in one of my lips.  I really, really, really don't want to have my lip split open and bleed, and that's because it happened to me once...a long time ago...when I was a child.

I'm not sure how old I was, but I'd guess somewhere between eight and eleven.  I don't know why I'm guessing that age, but I'm synthesizing many things from my brain that's telling me how high I was in relation to counter tops (indicating how tall I was), who my friends were (giving insight into what grade I was in) and how my parents treated me (showing how mature I was).

This lip crack was not minor.  It was big.  It was on my lower lip and it was so large that it would bleed.  It was puffy on either side and try as it might, it just couldn't heal.  I'm not sure how long it lasted, but from what I remember, it was a fixture on my face for quire some time.

I don't know what caused this particular lip split to be so bad, but it went on and on and on.  Were there no good healing medications at that time that I could have put on it to help in the repairing process?  Did I pick at it and make it worse?  Did I go around smiling great big lip-stretching smiles at babies and puppies, re-cracking the healed part again and again?  Or did I just not care?  I don't know.  I don't remember.

I know it was bad and it lasted for some time, but I only have one specific memory of that time.  I was at McDonalds waiting in line with my father to order some food.  The person behind the counter asked me if I knew my lip was split open or something equally obvious like, "did you know your lip looks terrible?"  I told him I knew and then he continued to take our order, looking a bit embarrassed about the whole thing.

Wait, wait, wait...hold on.  I think I remember what he said now.  I think my lip had just cracked back open again and it was bleeding.  He must have said something along the lines of, "did you know your lip is bleeding?"  That makes more sense.  Anyway, I assured him I did and we went on to enjoy our meal, mine somewhat more bloody than my father's.

The Big Boy Update:  "I like doing the burpees."   My son said this while he was working on the iPad.  I said, "do you mean you like doing the Barbie app?"   Ah, yes, that's what he meant.  Am I upset that "burpee" (a type of pushup) is a more common term in our house than Barbie?  No, not really. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter spent the afternoon at Mimi's.  They spent three hours together doing all sorts of fun things only a grandmother and granddaughter can do.  When I arrived to pick her up, she came to me, grabbed my hand and told me she wanted to take me to see Mimi.  Mom sent me an email of all the "blog worthy" things she said today.   Hooray for Mimi.  I'm always looking for blog-worthy items.   Here's one of the blog updates from Mimi:  She ate some cheese, followed by drinking a small glass of orange juice. She ate some more cheese and reached for the glass. She looked inside and said ”there’s no nothing in here.”

Fitness Update:  An hour in the gym this morning and then an hour in the fitness room with Uncle Jonathan this afternoon.  I hope I'm going to be sore tomorrow, because if I'm not, it means I didn't work hard enough.