ER Visit #4

It could be #5, but I am going to give M the benefit of the doubt here. (And who's counting anyway?)

As planned, today was going to be a busy day for us.

1. First thing this morning I needed to return the minivan I rented for our team build yesterday. I drove to Boulder for the team build and my boss asked me to rent a minivan so we could carpool in two cars.
2. Next on the list was to go to the forest and cut some firewood. M has been wanting to do this and now that we have a firepit outside he had an excuse. He made a special trip to a hardware store this week to buy a new chainsaw for the adventure.
3. If time allowed, we were going to go to the tree nursery with our neighbors to see about buying some trees for our front yard. We have both been considering going and the delivery fee is by truck so we thought we could split that. The trees that were planted in our front yard last summer appear to be dead. So we would like to replace them soon.
4. I needed to get caught up on laundry and some other housework.
5. I needed to make brownies for the Sunday school bbq we were going to tonight.
6. Then we would pick up some friends and carpool to the party.

Those were our plans (or at least MY plans). Instead, we had a very crazy and partly terrifying day.

The beginning of the day went according to plan. We had a nice breakfast at home, I started a load of laundry, and then returned my rental car (after making a quick trip to PetSmart to replace a leash that Max destroyed this week). Next we loaded up everything to go to the forest. I was going to play with Max while M got his firewood. Neither of us wanted him to go alone since he is accident prone. He hates for people to label him this way, but it is entirely true. He will hate reading that sentence (if he does in fact read it). Believe me, I wish this was not the truth. We (as well as our good friends) could relate story after story that might be hard for you to believe that prove the truth to that statement. But I digress.

Things went well for the first part of our trip in the forest. I played with Max and he played some in the water again. M would chop some wood with his new chainsaw and load up the car. Then he would drive to another spot for more wood. We stayed close to him playing so we would be ready to go when he was ready to go.

After a while, I heard a yell. Then M yelled that he had cut his foot and I needed to take him to the hospital. He did not know how bad it was, but blood was squirting forcefully out of his workboot. This is when I flipped out. I did not handle this well at all. We were on a tiny jeep trail in this forest. I tried to back out, but I am terrible at backing out a long distance. So I tried to turn the car around. That was not going to happen so M made me switch seats with him so he could get us out of there. Before I go any further, I would like to clarify a couple of things. (A) You cannot get cell phone reception in the forest. That is why M did not want to be alone out there with his chainsaw. (B) He hurt his left foot so he could still drive with this right foot.

So M drove himself to the hospital while I sat next to him terrified and repeating "God, help us." All he told me was that he had cut his foot. It was wrapped in a towel that was getting more and more saturated with blood. I did not know (and later found out neither did he) how serious this was. Had something been cut completely off? Was he losing too much blood? We made record time to the hospital doing all kinds of illegal driving (passing on the shoulder, driving in the wrong lane, running a red light, etc).

This ER experience was unlike any other in several ways. First, we had to go through a metal detector before we could go in the ER. Then when M got to the desk, the man told him he would be with him in just a moment and then walked away. M then got his attention and asked, "Is there a particular place I should be for a chainsaw injury?" After that, he was taken back rather quickly.

He was cleaned up and x-rayed. He cut through several tendons and cut into the bone. He did not cut all the way through his big toe. The ER doctor sewed up the wound (which was amazing because at least half an inch of flesh was missing from his toe) and we will be visiting a surgeon early this week to see if he requires surgery. As they were cleaning up his wound, I had to leave the room because I was so squeamish.

I learned a couple of things today.

• While I was freaking out about the worst thing happening, M kept reminding me that it could have been worse. He did not lose any limbs. He was still breathing. And he said he wanted some new workboots anyway. I told him that was NOT funny!
• Even though I understand some of the rules that have to be followed at the hospital, I can get aggressive and confrontational when I think something that is necessary is not getting done.
• We should have driven to the close-by firestation instead of driving to the hospital. Even though we may have gotten to the hospital later, M would have had immediate medical care and the drive to the hospital would have been safer for both us and other drivers.
• I am thankful for those who are able to deal with other people's blood and guts because apparently I cannot do so.

Believe it or not, M still wanted to go to the Sunday school party tonight. He's a real trooper in my book. It was still a really busy day, but it was not busy how I had planned it. I would have rather stayed with my plan, but the day is ending the same way with us home together.

Here's a picture of M's boot. I didn't dare take one of his injury.

And here's a picture of the firewood we got before the accident.

M is worried about his foot healing well. The ER doctor said it will be a slow process because of the cut tendons and because part of the bone is missing. Please pray that it will heal correctly. Please also pray that the surgeon we meet with this week will know the best course of action and that we can get started on that soon. Also pray for me. I recognize after this accident that I want to lock M inside and not let him go out. Because he is accident prone, this just makes me worry about future incidents. However, he cannot live in my little box. And if he did, knowing him the ceiling fan would probably fall on him or something weird like that. I know this sounds silly, but I just need to trust that God is God and is in control of all things. In the large scheme, today was not life-altering or life ending for either of us. Even though it was really scary and painful, we are still hopeful for better days ahead.

Team Build

Yesterday my team at work had our annual team build. This year we decided to spend part of our day at a goat farm. I work for a natural food store (on the accounting team) and our stores purchase goat cheese from this farm.

Not only were the goats precious, but I also learned a bit about goats and goat cheese. This particular farm started about 16 years ago with 5 goats. They now have over 130 goats. We got to see a bunch of babies which was really fun. We saw one that was less than two weeks old. I wish I had a recording of their baa-ing. It really sounded cute.

• This particular farm has seen three sets of quintuplets born. This year was the first in which all five babies and the mother survived.
• Some of the mother goats after giving birth do not even look at their offspring.
• The kids are taken from their moms after they're cleaned so they can be fed pasteurized milk so they won't get a disease that can come from the mother's raw milk.
• There were two male goats that impregnate 60 or so female goats.
• Goats are very social creatures and do not do well alone. This farm will not sell just a single goat. Buyers have to purchase at least two goats.
• This particular farm cuts off the horns of the kids so they will not fight with each other.

Washing machine on the fritz

Monday evening after returning from taking our friends to the airport, I started on my gynormous pile of laundry. I discovered during my first load that something was amiss with the washer. The washer filled up and then would not drain or spin. So I made an appointment to have someone take a look at it. M and I talked about what we would be willing to pay for a repair.

I have had this washing machine for quite a while. I think I've had it either 7 or 8 years. I bought my washer and dryer the weekend I graduated from college. It was seriously my most proud and practical purchase at the time. I was so happy to have my own washer and dryer in my own little apartment. I felt quite grown up.

• While still under warranty, the motor went out in my washer two different times. After the second time, they decided to replace my washer rather than replace the motor. Of course, the model was no longer available so I had to pay $80 or something like that for the closest model.
• When we lived in the trailer in Austin, I had to call for a repair. I was so embarrassed to find out the washer wasn't working because the dial was between settings.
• After moving into our house about a year and a half ago, I had to call for a repair again. Our washer and dryer had been sitting in a garage for a year and a half while we rented a townhouse. Once we moved it into the house, the washer did not work. The washer would fill up but would not spin. The problem was the little doo-dad on the lid was broken and the washer did not think the lid was closed. That repair cost a little more than $300.

So I had no idea what to expect today. The guy showed up around 1 pm today (after giving me a time frame of 8 am to 5 pm) to check out the washer. He asked me a few questions because he couldn't get it to do anything at all. After checking out all the usual stuff, he found that the GFI outlet just needed to be reset.

Embarrassing? It was not as embarrassing as the situation above when it was my own error that caused the problem. Frustrating? Definitely. Neither M nor I had even considered checking the outlet. That will be my first course of defense next time around. That cost me $118 today. Yikes. While I am upset about spending $118 for something so silly, I am thankful that the washer lives on for now.

So here's my free advice to you...check the outlet before calling for service on any appliance.

9 months

Max turned 9 months old over the weekend. With everything else going on, I completely forgot about it. Our friend M had a paparazzi moment on Sunday night and took gobs of pictures of Max. This is one of my favorites.

Happy 9 months Max!

Other than his love for water, the newest thing we have learned about Max is that he is more afraid of the hair dryer and vacuum cleaner than the lawn mower. Hmmm...

"It's the altitude"

We had a really good weekend with our friends N and M. I am sure to leave something out, but I hope I will capture all the fun here.

Friday = Day One
M picked N and M up from the Denver airport. This gave me some extra time to finish preparing for our weekend of fun. M and I had gone over everything I needed to do, and as you will soon find out, I forgot a lot of what we had talked about. This is why making a list is a very good idea for me.

Once the three of them got to the house. They unloaded a bag from the car and we loaded our bags, cooler, firewood, water, and Max. We had lunch at Scholtzsky's (funny name, serious sandwich) and then headed into the mountains. This is when I revealed the roadtrip cds I had made for our trip. I have no idea what caused me to revert to my high school/college days, but we enjoyed listening to various tunes on the 3 cds that I made.

The plan was to car camp Friday night and then hike Saturday. We were not able to get into the area where M wanted to camp (due to the road being closed), but we got close to that area. We set up camp next to a creek. It sounded lovely. I couldn't tell you how many times Max crossed that creek. Every once in a while, he would try to jump all the way across it but I don't think he was ever successful. As we started to set up the tents (and by "we" I really mean everyone but me), the snow started to fall. I am not kidding. I had no idea it was going to be that cold. I would like to blame this on M since he told me "the weather won't be that bad", but I should have known better and looked for myself. Once it started snowing, I made my first discovery of items I hadn't packed - gloves, wool socks, and a hat. The guys made a nice fire and M cooked hamburgers. I then made my second discovery of items I forgot to pack - mustard, mayo, pickles, and dish soap. After we ate, we went for a short walk around the area. It was a beautiful place. We decided to get to bed since our friends had been up so early for their flight.

M, Max, and I did not get a wink of sleep Friday night. Poor Max was shivering so much. I was afraid he might freeze to death. My feet were so cold, I kept picturing getting out of the tent the next morning and having blue feet. I started praying for daylight so I could go get in the car and turn on the heat. At one point I told M it was the most miserable night of my life.

Saturday = Day Two
M (of N and M) came over to our tent Saturday morning to let us know that N had gotten sick (altitude sickness). It was about 4:40 am when she let us know. We soon found out that none of us had slept all night. We started packing up and left around 5 am. Even though I think everyone was disappointed about missing the hike, we were all ready to get home since we didn't sleep. About half an hour to an hour after we pulled out of our camping spot, I looked at the temperature gauge in the car which said it was 27 degrees outside. I have no idea how cold it got, but we will not go camping in winter weather again (hopefully) in a three season tent.

Once we got back to the house around 8 am, everyone showered and I made breakfast. Then the girls both ended up taking naps for a couple of hours while the guys watched movies. Max lounged around all day...he was completely pooped. After we had rested for a bit, we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. The guys had high expectations and were sorely disappointed by the movie. I didn't really have any expectations so I was entertained. Afterwards, we went to my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant here for dinner. It was delicious. We came back home and played a few games and then turned in for the night.

Sunday = Day Three
Sunday was a beautiful and sunny day. Sometime after a late breakfast, the guys went shooting while the girls stayed home and played with Max. We later went shopping. The guys came home from shooting and took Max on a hike up the road a bit to "the forest." There is a pond/lake there and M wanted to see how Max would react to the water. He said after their walk he was looking for something to throw into the water so Max would jump in. Before he could find anything, Max went right in the water. He apparently loved it! We spent the rest of the evening playing games, eating dinner, and answering questions out of this book I have for getting to know anyone. We ate dinner on the back porch with our new fire pit. I was a little freaked out by having fire in our backyard in the wind, but it was quite enjoyable to sit around the fire and chat. It was a fun and relaxing day.

Monday = Day Four
Monday went by so quickly (as did the rest of the weekend). The guys took us back to the lake so we could watch Max in the water. He really did look like he was having a great time. We had to leave in the afternoon to take N and M back to the airport. The rest of our day was quiet because we were both sad to see them go.



M and I learned soon after moving to Colorado that almost anything could be attributed to the altitude. Have a headache? It's the altitude. Tired? It's the altitude. Car running funny? It's the altitude. So our running joke all weekend to whatever happened was "it's the altitude."

It was so WONDERFUL to have our friends here for the weekend. I wish we could get together more often.

Incredible News

Yesterday I heard the incredibly sad story about Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old daughter passing away. I was having trouble thinking about rejoicing in my own life knowing that someone else was going through such a hard time.

Then today we found out that M's mom had an appointment yesterday where she received incredible news. Her doctor told her that her body is responding really well to the treatment she has been receiving since January. The doctor gave her the following prognosis. Two years is almost a given. Five years is possible. And ten years is not out of the question.

In January, she was told by a previous doctor that she had only weeks to live. This same doctor thought the treatment she is now undergoing would kill her.

And now, we are celebrating the possibility of years left to spend time together and to make new memories.

Praise the Lord! From what I hear, everyone is celebrating with brownies and ice cream.

How does your garden grow?

I spent most of Saturday outside planting in the front and back flower beds. This was really my first time to plant like this so I am anxious to see what happens in the next couple of months. We have a really short growing season here - I just planted this weekend and we could have snow as early as October.

I took before and after pictures of both flower beds. It is hard to see all the flowers in the after shot, but I expect (or am hoping) they will grow a lot and fill in the empty spaces.

In the front, I planted carnations and jethro tull coreopsis in pots near the front door and on both sides of the driveway. In the bed, I planted the following.

• spenger asparagus
• pincushion flowers
• foxgloves
• African daisies
• regal geraniums

In the back bed, I planted the following.

• salvia
• dahlias
• petunias

Almost everything in the front ended up being a shade of purple. I really like all the colors, but I saw so many purple flowers that I liked. Since I have never had a flower bed before, I was afraid of having too much color and it all looking chaotic.

While I was working in the flower beds, M worked on our fence. Unfortunately for us, the guy who built our fence did not do a good job or use good materials. So M spent just as long as I did in the flower beds working on the fence. He did a great job fixing it, but thinks other parts of it need to be replaced as well. So we may be working outside quite a bit this summer.

Max behaved very well while I was working in the flower beds. I played with him some, but mostly he just sat near the flower beds holding his Chuck-it toy. He did a great job of staying in the front yard. I tried to get his picture with the flowers, but that didn't work out like I hoped.

Saturday evening we had our neighbors over for burgers and to watch "The Prestige." All day I was thinking about grilling out since the weather was so nice. It was delicious!!

Here's to Spring/Summer!!