AWOL: Code Green

*posted May 13*

So, I haven't blogged in awhile. I swear I have a good excuse: Life got in the way.

The birthday party went well, despite being up until 2 a.m. the morning of; painting the bathroom. Ah, isn't it nice how you can accomplish so much under pressure?

Let me backtrack just a bit... Friday night, May 2, we went to Lowe's to get the remainder of the supplies needed to finish the privacy fence around the backyard. We found two stacks of fence panels, and Michael asked an employee, who was a mere 5 feet from us, something about the fence. And in true Lowe's fashion, he answered with as few words as possibly, which was vaguely an answer at all, which led us to believe that Lowe's will hire half-wits without a second thought. So we made the decision of which type of fence to get on our own, and walked across the aisle to the gate kits.

A little something about these kits... the box weighs about 40 pounds, and, wouldn't you know; every one of the boxes was split or busted open at the end that was on the ground. In other words, you try to lift a box, and the contents spill onto the ground. Aforementioned employee, as well as a SECOND EMPLOYEE, were less than 20 feet from us as we very clearly struggled to load these boxes onto our cart. Did they offer assistance? Hell no. God forbid they should do anything outside of the most basic of their job descriptions. We finally got three of the boxes loaded up and went inside to look at lawnmowers.

Now THIS is something I am excited about. First of all, huge KUDOS to the guy that came up immediately to assist us once inside the store. (even though he was misinformed about the product we were looking at) We were looking for an electric lawnmower. It's no secret that I have opened up to my inner green-ness, and since our old lawnmower bit the dust, I figured this would be a fantastic time to implement some of what I have learned! (and just as an FYI: A well-maintained gasoline powered lawnmower emits as much carbon into the atmosphere as 11 automobiles. A mower that is not well-maintained is equivalent to the emissions of 30 cars.) So anyway, we were looking at the only electric mower they had in stock, and asked the guy if it used a cord or had a rechargeable battery. He told us it had a battery. (if we had any sense, we would have looked at the opposite side of the box which clearly stated that it used a cord)

So, we get up to the register to check-out, spend 15 minutes trying to explain the size of fence panels we wanted to the cashier. (Because, of course, there were no tags on anything outside, and I'd rather have an appendectomy without anesthesia than try to get help out there!) She finally figured it out, and told us they would be delivered Tuesday. That kind of pissed us off because they had what we wanted in stock, and we were hoping to have the fence done before the party. Just goes to show you that you can't always get what you want.

We managed to get home with everything... the lawnmower box was crammed into the trunk, and I had the pleasure of having all 3 gate assembly sets on me the whole way home. We arrived home, unpacked everything from the car, and Michael took the mower out of the box. That's when we discovered that it has to be plugged in... which was actually great, because that is the type I wanted to have anyway. (Two extension cords can reach in to the depths of my backyard.)

Saturday, Michael woke up anxious to use the new toy... I mean, lawnmower. Of course, I had to disappoint him by saying he had to wait til the dew evaporated. Something about electricity and water... *shrug* When it was finally dry enough, we went out and he plugged it in. All I can say is, "OMG." You start it by pushing a lever and holding it to the handle. No more pulled shoulders from those damned pull-string mowers. When running, it is only a little louder than a vacuum cleaner! And it is lightweight enough that Michael mowed the ditch one-handed! The only thing is, you can't run over the cord. So it takes a little bit of maneuvering to keep that sucker out of the way, but otherwise... whoa... we were literally fighting over who got to mow! It was actually fun! So we spent the rest of the day (and until about 8:30 p.m.) working in the yard. Afterward, we went inside and started on the bathroom.

So party day arrived, and it was hot as hell out there. We brought out fans to help alleviate the heat some, but it was still pretty toasty. Everyone seemed to have a good time though. I was thrilled that Kobey took the time to read each and every one of his birthday cards. It irritates me to see a kid toss a card aside without more than a glance to see if there is money inside.

We survived the day, and then I had to start thinking about our upcoming camping trip. As the week progressed, I had pretty much decided we should just go to Schlitterbahn instead, but Wednesday night Michael told me we were camping. Soooo, I started working on it again. Thursday night we went shopping for camping gear and groceries, and Friday morning I picked CJ up from school and we got packed up and headed to Martin Dies Jr State Park. It was a one-and-a-half hour drive there, with no AC in the car, and the dogs in the back seat with the kids. Everyone was bitching and complaining... not unlike any other excursion we embark on as a family unit. We arrived at the park a little after 2 p.m., sign in, pay, and find our site. The area we were in was empty except for the park host, so it was nice and serene. We were at the edge of a slough, so there was no shortage of nature sounds. It made a gorgeous backdrop to our site. We set up the tent and got the dogs tied down (they have to remain on a leash at all times in a State Park). The kids and Michael wandered around a bit, then Michael started a campfire, which I would be cooking on. We planned on having bratwurst, German potato salad, and corn on the cob. I got everything prepped and put on the fire and was in the middle of moving things around on the grill when I hear an awful scream.
Kobey had tripped and hit his face on the concrete picnic bench. I ran over to him and got him up on the table. His nose was covered in blood and he was crying so hard and shaking... scary stuff there. Michael was tripping out because he just knew Kobey's nose was split in two (it looked like it at first). I cleaned up the wounds, which turned out to be mostly scrapes and scratches, but the bridge of his nose was grossly swollen and turning bluer by the second. We put an ice pack on his nose and got him to calm down enough for me to make sure that he didn't have a nosebleed or any blood in his saliva. I gave him a few Children's Tylenol, and he settled down a bit. He decided he wanted to go home, so we packed up everything, ate our half-cooked dinner, and headed home. He slept a little on the way home, and I kept a close eye on him.
Any time we mentioned the word "hospital" he would burst into tears, so we monitored him and decided that his nose wasn't broken or anything. He was very emotional all night though, and I was worried that he would be in a lot of pain on Saturday, so I gave him a half-dose of Children's Motrin before putting him to bed. He slept with me so I could keep an eye on him. Poor dear had nightmares all night, but he woke up Saturday morning in no pain at all. He said it only hurt if he touched the bruised part of his nose. He spent Saturday playing as though nothing had happened.
By Sunday, which was Mother's Day, his bruising has spread to his left eye a little, but he still wasn't hurting. It was still blue and purple, but, thanks to some prescription antibiotic creme from my mom, his scratches were healing quickly. Then yesterday, his bruising was already turning yellow and beginning to fade!

So, our weekend was interesting, to say the least. I wonder if we can claim credit for history's shortest camping trip?