An Accidental Contusion

Yes, I have yet another bonk on the head. This time it was self-inflicted, and very klutzy. After I dropped off Carter at school, I went to get back in the Jeep. When I opened the door to get in, I whacked myself in the head with it. So far I have a red mark and a vertical raised bump on the top left side of my forehead above my left eyebrow, rather opposite to the still-existing lump on my right eyebrow from the sippy cup incident. At least the black eye has gone away from the first injury.

Despite that I was blinded for a second, my instinct was to look around to see if anyone saw (or heard) the bonk. There was a guy parked in a van behind me a little ways back, but I'm not sure if he would have noticed. I did a quick peek in the rearview mirror to make sure my brains weren't spilling out and I went off not-so-merrily on my way back to work.

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Friday. The weekend was pretty much a blur. I had a great lunch with Ashley on Saturday (thanks again, Ashley!) On the way home I did a stop for caramel frappuccinos so Chris could sample the sweet yummy goodness too. Carter had a swim birthday party to go to, and this was the first party where Mother Nature didn't stop by with a 'present' for me, so I was able to go for a swim at the party with Carter. The weather has gotten very icy and cold, therefore rendering my lack of shaven legs quite practical and useful, but I definitely needed to shed my winter coat before hitting the pool.

Carter did great in the pool. Last time he needed to be holding onto or very near someone. This time he was venturing all over the pool, even to the deep end (with his lifejacket on). The remainder of the party was in one of the meeting rooms and the kids had the requisite hotdogs, gift opening (oh...this was really nice...Carter actually reached into the gift bag and took the present out of the bag and gave it to the birthday girl. There was so much gift opening commotion going on that she didn't even realize he had given her a gift. So once all the presents were opened, she asked Carter, ''Carter, where is the present from you???'' I made a point of going over to the gift table and showing her what he got her, so she wouldn't think he didn't bring anything! It was worthy of a giggle from a few of us parents watching from the sidelines.

Another amusing aspect of the party was the pinata. The birthday girl's dad, brave soul that he was, stood on a chair and let a gaggle of partygoers swing madly at the Dora the Explorer pinata. Amazingly, he was only hit once, and it was by his own daughter. Whew. I was imagining someone getting maimed or disfigured. Here are a few choice shots from the party, including one of Carter winding up for a swing at the pinata.

Each kid was given a few tries at using the bat to break the pinata. After that didn't work, they tried the string pulling, which didn't work either. Then it resulted in a bunch of five-year-olds tearing poor Dora apart and having a free-for-all to get all the candy. Carter didn't try to take a lot, but what he did take he promptly went to sit at the table and eat all of. I'm guessing he wanted to make sure there was none to share when he got home.

Most of the rest of the evening at home was spent playing with the loot bag toys, and the sharing was surprisingly impressive, though the short-lived lifespan of the toys inside was fully expected.

I took both boys to church on Sunday. We missed a few weeks in a row when Mom and Dad were gone. Yes, their absence is a part of my excuse for not going...I can use all the help I can get in distracting these children into sitting still for a whole hour. I dropped the kids off at home with Chris and went out for a wonderful breakfast with Mom and Dad and the aunts and uncles (Thanks again, Mom & Dad!)

Today was surprisingly quiet at the office. There were many people off today, making an extra-long weekend for themselves including Remembrance Day tomorrow. Despite the decreased influx of calls, the day still zoomed by. I was trying to clear my desk for my replacement. Starting on Wednesday, I will be reassigned temporarily to help the IT department in getting everyone's computers upgraded to the same operating systems and software, plus some maintenance. It will be an exciting project and I'll get to do some traveling, albeit during the worst weather. Glad I have my Jeep! I'll have more details once the project gets started.