A Rather Detailed Ten on Tuesday

1.  I have had a little writers block and have had a hard time focusing on writing. I have been reading blogs waiting for the inspiration to hit, and at last it has!

2.  Where to start... I guess the bad stuff first :(. My friend and co-worker's 6 month old son died suddenly on August 30. He stopped breathing during his nap on August 29, and made it about 24 hours before they unplugged the ventilator and watched him pass away peacefully by his mother's side. It was a very sad and rough few days at work, and not much work was done, as we pulled together as a work family and cried and talked and cried some more to grasp this heartbreaking situation. There really are no words when you lose someone, just lots and lots of prayers.

3. August 31 was Cody's 8th birthday. I feel bad for Cody as it was hard to for me to celebrate while having such a heavy heart, but I forged on with celebration. We had a cookout and Gina made an awesome LEGO cake. Thanks Gina!

4. September 1 started off with such promise,  a quick trip to Covington and Enid for errands and then to Perry for a gender reveal for a family friend that is having a baby in February (and road trip with my sisters). We came home for a cookout with family and friends at Gina's. I was home less than 30 minutes when Cody came running in and told us that Kyle was hurt. Scotty and I with Cole in tow went out to assess the situation. Apparently all the kiddos were going for a ride in a Kawasaki Mule, Kyle was not sitting down yet when they took off and fell out of the back. He complained his arm was hurting so Scotty took him into the house to look him over better. Scotty then informed me that Kyle was hurt because he could barely touch or move his arm with out him screaming out in pain. We left Cody & Cole with my mom and sisters and loaded up and headed to the ER (Oh joy!) Kyle broke his left humerus about 3 inches down from his shoulder and was put in a sling. He has adapted well to the one armed life and amazes me at how resilient children are.

5.  September 2 was pretty uneventful. I was nurse maid to Kyle as he was learning how to go to the potty and get up from the recliner without hurting his arm. I think he enjoyed having water brought to him and his pillows fluffed.

6. September 3 we were going to have Scotty and I's parents over for some rotisserie chicken that evening. My dad was out in the field putting on anhydrous and my in-laws had just come out when my mom called me frantic and wanted me to send Scotty to the field. The only parts of the short conversation was: dad, switching anahydrous tanks, send Scotty. I flew out the back door and relayed the brief phone call details to Scotty and he jumped in his pickup and peeled out of the yard (the marks are still in my grass) to help my dad. Gina and Jeremy were loading up there kiddos for trip to Enid, when she heard me yell to Scotty, so they loaded up and flew over to the field. I ran inside and got Scotty's medical bag that was still in the house from Kyle's episode on Saturday. I jumped in with my father in law to take the medical bag to him and about halfway to the field we met Scotty, Mom, Dad, and Gina making there way to the ER. Long story short: my dad was switching tanks and they believe there was a kink in the hose, so some vapor flew up into my dad's mouth and nose, causing him to not be able to breathe and cough alot. At the ER he was given oxygen and sent home, with no major issues. Praise the Lord!!

7. September 4 I had to report for my first ever jury duty. Can my luck get any better? After arriving a little before 8 am we got to go through the metal detector, read our oath as a juror, get signed and checked in, then proceed to the courtroom. We had to stand and raise our right hand a agree to the oath we had read prior, then we were informed that the trial was for a rape case and it was expected to last 2 or 3 days. The jury selection began by them using one of those turny boxes like they use for raffle drawings. Well, I was the number 4 juror selected. After about 45 minutes of questioning from the judge, Assistant DA, and defender, we went for a break. After returning from the break they started letting jurors go that did not make the cut, and after 5 other jurors were dismissed and the qualifying of other jurors (this is a tedious process) I was finally dismissed. I have to admit that I was a little bummed because I was interested in how the whole process works and was prepared to do my civic duty and wondering if it was something I said that got me dismissed. My theory on my dismissal was that I have young children at home to care for.

8. September 5 was the baby's funeral. It was a nice service but so very sad to see an infant casket.

9.  September 7 started out to be a wonderful day, but ended not so great. For those of you that may not remember there was a cold front that hit around 1 or 2 pm that day and with it came extremely high winds. Well, our neighbor in all his wisdom (NOT) decided to do a control burn on the quarter right north of our quarter. I got a call from Scotty saying he had left work and was headed to a hay bale fire, when I asked where it was he informed me that is was my parents hay bales north of our houses. When I came home there were tankers and grass rigs out in the fields and in our charred pasture checking for hot spots. My parents lost around 20 hay bales, most of the fence, and about half of the pasture was burned. The fire was about 100 yards from my sister and I's house, so we were very lucky. We had to pen up the cattle by the barn so that temporary fence could be built.

10. September 8... finally some good news! Cole was baptized that afternoon and we had a nice family cookout.

I am hoping that this is all the excitement for a long time. I realize that things could be worse, and am very grateful to have a happy and healthy family and an unscathed home. Give your loved ones an extra hug and kiss when you see them because you just never know!