Living Social Dates

Good Thursday morning!

The Gallery pic is borrowed from Belinda's Project Life. It's the only picture I took yesterday, and I decided to tell some of that story today. See below.

RANDOMNESS #1 - Roxie's finger is still healing. What was supposed to be a six- to eight-week "thing" has turned into a three month "thing," and the chick is not pleased. However, we did find out when the high school volleyball and basketball tryouts were being held... May 16 and May 19, respectively.

Roxie will have a little surgery to remove the pins from the finger May 2, and according to the surgeon she can start practicing with that hand the next day.

I hope for his sake, he's right.

RANDOMNESS #2 - After church last night, Roxie and I claimed the den and settled down to watch Tangled. Roxie had already seen this movie with some friends, but she was nice enough to watch it with me one more time.

I LOVE a good Disney movie... and this is such a good Disney movie.

Did you know out of the Top Ten Biggest Grossing Movies of 2010, SIX of them were family/kid movies? SIX. (Seven if you count Iron Man 2.) I think that should be a huge indicator of what America wants to watch with their families. HUGE!

RANDOMNESS #3 - I'll finish yesterday's "stitch" story this morning, and tomorrow I'll be sharing a new one with you regarding my inadequacies in the "nursing back to health" department.

With Austin settled in the car holding a clean dressing to his still bleeding eyelid and Roxie buckled in her car seat, we headed to the Emergency Room. I called the doctor, Mikie and the grandparents... in that order. We headed to Montclair Hospital. (It has a new name now, but I can't keep up with all the changes.)

When we pulled into the parking lot, Mikie and the grandparents were waiting. We walked into the EMPTY waiting room with my bloody little boy, and we were told to sit down. So we sat. And we sat. And we sat some more.

We sat so long, the bleeding finally stopped. We looked around. We were still the only ones in the waiting room.

Since Austin was calm and no longer losing massive amounts of blood, the grandparents left to pick up Josh from preschool and take Roxie and Josh home with them for lunch and a nap... and Mikie and I sat with The Boy some more.

After a while, we questioned the medical professionals about stitching Austin up so we could make it home before bedtime. After this line of questioning, they put us in a room. Out of sight, out of mind.

Lunch came and went (peanut butter crackers for everyone), Mikie slipped out to attend a board meeting and planned on coming back in time for the stitches. It was just me and The Boy.

"When are they going to see me?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied looking out the window at the nurses and doctors. "Soon, I think."

"I'm tired of being here," my wiggly little boy said.

"Me, too. But it's almost over," I reassured him.

What happened next caused me to jump a couple of feet off the floor... and run to the nearest bathroom. With my back turned to him, my hand on the doorknob, I was about to walk to the nurse's station to see if there was a problem.

"DOCTOR! DOCTOR! I NEED A DOCTOR IN HERE STAT! IT'S AN EMERGENCY! CALL 911!"

The Boy had some lungs on him. I spun around to see him sitting on the table grinning. "I saw that on a TV show. What does 'stat' mean?"

"If you don't know what it means, do NOT yell it at the top of your lungs," I retorted.

I hate to say it, but it worked. We had a nurse and doctor run in to check on us, and they decided to stitch him up and get him out of the hospital then and there.

"Where should I be?" I asked. You know... first time with stitches and everything.

"Oh. You'll need to hold his hand and talk to him. He can't jerk or move his head."

Great. I grabbed his little six year-old hand as they numbed the area. It was very unpleasant (for him, too, I am sure), but he didn't move.

They then put a covering over his face with just a hole open over his injured eyelid. I told him to close his eyes.

And then, with my face ever so close to Austin's little ear as I murmured comforting words to him, they started stitching him up. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Sewing on my first-born!

"Do you have another one of those 'face covering' things?" I asked.

"He just needs the one," the nurse told me.

"No. I think I need one," I replied.

"You'll be fine. Just close your eyes. We're almost finished."

"Pass out, Belinda. Pass out. This would be a great time to just pass out," I thought to myself. But as I've stated before, I do not possess the "pass out" gift.

"Are you okay, Momma?" Austin asked.

"Yes, Babe. Momma's just trying not to throw up on the nice nurse and doctor." That worked pretty well. They finished up in record time and told us we could finally leave. (I have found that threatening to throw up on people usually does get some quick results. I don't use it often, but it has helped me on several occasions.)

And as a mother of three small children, I quickly learned to use whatever tools were at my disposal. A good gag reflex is just one of my many little tricks.

Tomorrow I'll share an experience I had at a drive-thru pharmacy. I found out it wasn't like going through the McDonald's drive-thru. There are RULES! Go figure.

Blog Linkage - Oh, my. You really don't have time to read A Simple Life today. I've got too many other sites for you to visit. And you really MUST visit them!

1. Click on eighteen25 under My Blog List. Scroll down to the post entitled "Past Teacher Appreciation Projects" for some great, creative, inexpensive ideas for teacher gifts.

2. Click on Nesting Place under My Blog List. Scroll ALL the way down, down, down to the post entitled "Lived in Chic: It's Beautiful" and look at the pictures of these homes which have small children. They are not perfect, but they are beautiful. They also have some "messiness" tips to share along the way. I liked it! (I really admire this woman because she has small children, a large black dog AND white sofas. I don't think I could ever do that. EVER!)

3. Go to Confessions of a Pioneer Woman under My Blog List. Click on "Photography" at the top of her page and scroll down to see the finalists and winner of the "Brothers" photography contest dated April 17. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these pictures. I don't think I could have picked a winner.

4. Go the www.andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com. Read everything on the page... especially the post entitled "Adoption Questions." The pictures are beautiful of this little family and their new addition, Elsa.

5. Go to Nitty.Gritty. under my Blog List and read the post entitled "Not just a box..." dated April 19. That's the lesson this blog always leaves me with... Tell people you love them TODAY. Enjoy the little moments TODAY. Don't miss TODAY by thinking about yesterday, tomorrow or next week. "TODAY is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

It's the only April 21, 2011 we'll ever, ever have.

Get busy. You've got a lot of reading to do!

Living Social Dates

Okay. This is not one specific date, but it is a good way to stretch your dating dollars.

If you go to the website www.livingsocial.com, you will come to a page with a "deal." For example, this week's deal is for Smith's Variety Toy and Gift Shoppe in Mountain Brook. You will have to sign in if you are interested in buying this coupon.

After you sign in, you will be able to purchase a $10 coupon to this store. However, when you shop there, you will be able to buy $20 worth of products from the store. (Perfect for Easter shopping.)

This would not be a date, but it is what you will find on the website today as well as a deal for Johnny Ray's Barbecue (kid or spouse date for half the price), Vestavia Bowl (family date which includes shoe rentals for six, two hours of bowling, pizza and soda for $36... that's dinner AND entertainment, folks) and Pelham Civic Complex (another family date which includes skates and two hours of ice skating for four for $15, and it usually would cost $36).

Once you are signed in, you will receive e-mails when new deals appear.

Last week's special deal was a $20 coupon for Yolo's Dessert Bar, but you only had to pay $10. That would be a GREAT kid date. The expiration date is several months away, so if you purchase the coupon in April, you can still plan the date in the summer months. No pressure.

I am sitting on a $20 coupon I purchased for $10 for O'Carr's Deli in Homewood for a Saturday lunch date with Mikie. Ten dollars for a meal and some window shopping in Homewood is a cheap, but fun date.

Check it out. It really works, and the different coupons they offer each week may give you some new date ideas.

Have a lovely Thursday. Friday will be full of Weekend Happenings, Randomness and pics from tonight's festivities... something I haven't talked about yet on A Simple Life.

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda