Making your own amusements

Ben decided two days ago (probably quite rightly but I'm not at the stage to admit it) that now is the perfect time to varnish all the floors in the house. 


Phone call between us as I drove home from work yesterday (hands free, mum):


Me: Hey, which door am I allowed to go through to get into the house so I don't step on something I'm not supposed to?
Ben: Ah, the front one. And then you'll have to squeeze past the lounge.
Me, knowing the lounge is on it's end taking up the whole corridor space: Ok. Can do. And then where can I go?
Ben: That's it.
Me: What do you mean?
Ben: I mean I've done all the rooms. You are only allowed in the hallway.
Me: Ben?
Ben: Yes.
Me: Why would I come home just to stand in the hallway?


But stand in the hallway I did. Or rather, I made a nest out of our upright mattress, all the sofa cushions and all our bedding. 


Ben was ever so proud of himself for thinking of leaving the computer and our books in an accessible spot, you know, so we didn't go without luxuries.


He had also thought through dinner. Earlier in the day he had put all the ingredients for one of his nearly-famous stews in a pot. Then at 5 o'clock, all he had to do was put it in the oven:

After this manoeuvre, he went back outside to finish some jobs. I'm going to admit it, by this stage, I was craving a cup of tea. And having seen Ben climb onto the kitchen bench from the hallway I figured I could do it too. 


I stretched myself from the hallway to the bench top so I could get a good handhold on the kitchen top. This meant me being at about a 45 degree angle. Not drastic but definitely committed.


Next step, in my mind, was to engage core and upper body strength and lift weight onto arms/kitchen bench.


What actually happened is that when I lifted my legs, I pendulummed into the end of the kitchen bench, left knee forward, taking the full hit.


The next bit is predictable if you know me. If you don't, you should know that: 


1. I get the giggles when I hurt myself
2. I get the giggles if I think Ben is going to get mad at me 


The result was that I was a mess. I just hung off the end of kitchen bench racked with nervous, manic waves of laughter and a throbbing left knee for probably a full minute. I don't know how I didn't collapse and the whole thing end in divorce.


It was a good cuppa though.