More Home Improvement (Not Thumb Improvement)

So, the latest steps in our home improvement process are almost complete. Here's a look at what we've done so far with paint, etc.

New kitchen look with "Merlot" on the east wall and "Oregon Coast" everywhere else (yes, we're considering renaming the house "Le Chateau de Paint Names We Liked.")


New dining room curtains and hardware. (The cat is Reggie. He's not new.)


New accent wall in the "dining room." We blatantly stole this look from the wall at our favorite Ames restaurant, the Cafe. We did not, however, steal the pre-chewed ottoman - Jack gave us that one for free.

As to the title of this post: on Friday afternoon I was going to finish up the painting in the kitchen while Beloved and the girls were at the gym. I got home around 4:00, started pulling the oven away from the wall so I could paint behind it, and promptly pulled the oven door off. While trying to put the door back on, one of the hinges popped out of its receptacle and closed on the end of my thumb with horrifying speed and power. The blood flow was immediate, and the amount would have been impressive if it wasn't, you know, MY OWN BLOOD. After about thirty seconds of rinsing it off in the bathroom sink, I realized this was a bit more than an owie, and I also realized the next fifteen minutes were not going to be fun because a) I was home alone with only my Volkswagen to drive to the hospital (my beloved manual transmission Volkswagen, and b) to get to the hospital, I would either have to brave the idiotic four way flashing red lights at 13th and Stange or take a chance on getting green on all the stoplights on Lincoln Way. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to deeply lacerate my non-shifting hand, so I wrapped it up in a washcloth and set off for the emergency room.

I actually got to the hospital with no problems except for cursing the stop and go traffic at 13th and Stange (apparently the alternating pattern of 4-way stops is too cognitively taxing for many Iowa drivers). Once I arrived, it was pretty obvious why I was there. The admitting nurse even looked at me and said, "Laceration?" But they made me wait while the girl in front of me got to see the doctor first. I almost wished I was bleeding more profusely just so I could get somebody to DO something about it. Finally, after triage (seriously? You couldn't ask me if I'm taking drugs while the doctor's looking at my mangled thumb?) and twenty minutes waiting in a room, I got to see the doctor.

In the end I got three stitches and a lot of laughs out of the deal. The actual medical staff were very nice and profusely apologetic about how long it took to actually get me sewed up and on my way home. Apparently 4:30 Friday afternoon is not the best time to slice your thumb in half, as they were very busy with many patients at the time. Once I figured out how to work the TV it wasn't so bad: ESPN Classic was replaying the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and I got to watch Boise State beat Oklahoma again - always a good time. I even felt good enough to drive down to Target and pick up my painkiller prescription before going home.

It was an interesting experience - I haven't been hurt bad enough for an immediate trip to the ER since I seriously sprained my ankle over ten years ago playing church league volleyball. Calling Beloved from the hospital wasn't a lot of fun, but thankfully she took it in stride, found someone to cover her shift, and came to see if I needed her to get me home or whatever. The girls understood that Daddy hurt his thumb, but the doctor was taking care of me, so there weren't any tears or anything. When I got home they didn't understand why I didn't just have a band-aid on it, but the only comment since then has been Ainsley not wanting me to touch her with my owie (frankly, I wouldn't want to be touched with it, either, as you'll see). I even managed to run the 10K I was entered in on Saturday night, and still broke 60 minutes which, considering the last two days, I thought was a victory. Today it doesn't even hurt much - I have only taken two doses of the Vicodin, and good old vitamin I has done the trick since yesterday morning.

It was the crazy start of a good weekend - more on that later. Now, if you don't really care to look at stitches, this would be a good time to head over to Facebook or something.




Okay, we good? Here's some pictures from this morning:



I like how in this last one you can really see how I split the nail pretty good. I said earlier this wouldn't be "Thumb Improvement," but I might be wrong - after all, Keanu Reeves once said "chicks dig scars." I'll have to ask Beloved about that in a few weeks.

Grace & peace,
Scott

Leader of the Pack

We have apparently reached the "for the love of God, just HOLD ON!!!" point of parenting two children under the age of three. I wish I could say it's all wonderful, but what sucks is that we're exhausted at the end of the day, the house is a disaster, AND we're gaining weight because there's not enough time in the day to exercise properly. And this is fair how?

Along with the eternal craziness that is parenting, we of course have the menagerie of pets we've adopted to add a delightful nutty edge to our insanity. Our Sunday/Monday night went something like this:

• 8:00 PM - both girls in bed, Ainsley crying but eventually falling asleep. Directly behind the door, with a poopy diaper, but asleep nonetheless.
  
• 9:00 PM - Beloved hits the sack.
• 11:00ish - I follow suit.
• 1:00 AM - while rolling over and sticking my foot out of the covers, I discover that the dog has vomited on the bed. Much muttering and grumbling ensues from Beloved. Strip the duvet cover and put it in the wash, stuff the stained duvet in the hall closet, grab some quilts from downstairs and go back to sleep.
• 6:30 AM - while dressing, Beloved discovers that one of the cats has peed on the clean laundry stacked inside the closet. Grumbling gives way to outright profanity.
  
• 6:45 AM - I discover I'm out of coffee. This is about where the wailing and gnashing of teeth started...

My seminary buddy Nate said, "Remember when you wondered why you hadn't gotten a dog before? This seems to be a good reason here." He's most likely right. But for all the craziness, we're happy and content, if a bit dazed by the end of the day most of the time.

I've made some time for household projects this week. Here are some shots of the fence I've been renovating in the backyard so we can trust Jack to stay put:

Disassembling the gate from the old fence.

New fence pickets on the old posts with reconfigured crosspieces.

The old fence - I removed the pickets, moved the top crosspiece to the top of the post and attached new pickets, pictured at the right end of the old fence.

A comparison of the old and new fences. Other than the gate, it was a really easy project.

As we've gotten to know our Jack over the last few weeks, it's become apparent that we needed help when it came to properly training him. He's not a bad dog at all - just rambunctious and easily distracted, and it was getting very difficult to keep him in line. Kristin found a local branch of a national training chain who does on-site training, which includes looking around the house from the dog's point of view and hands-on help getting started with proper commands, correction and rewarding. The trainer came this afternoon, and after he left, we felt a whole lot better about our life with Jack - especially the 'out in public' parts where we need him to understand who's in charge.

I've tried to do a theological bent on the whole thing, but it just doesn't compute without the pastor winding up the dominant person in the pack, and I'm not sure I want to go there. So, no big theology tonight - just the thought that, sometimes, it's nice to be the one issuing commands. Even if, just as in real life, sometimes those commands go unheeded. And you still have to deal with someone else's crap.

Good Monday Project

One item I neglected to mention in the previous post is my latest project in the shop: I'm building an Adirondack chair from scratch, using lumber I selected at our local Big Hardware Store and cut for myself from a pattern. This week I finished assembling the seat and I cut, sanded and started to assemble the back before realizing I need shorter screws. I had Beloved come out to the shop to get some 'action' shots:

Sanding the pieces for the seat

Screwing the crosspieces onto the legs

The Not-Quite-Finished Product:

Hopefully, it'll be warm enough Monday that I can shape the arms with my belt sander and finish assembling the back. I also need to replace the rear speakers in Beloved's car, so it could be a long day in the shop. Yeah, I know - twist my arm. But, hey, at least I'm using that tool belt once in a while!