That right there is the result of Noah tryign to cut his fingernail with kid scissors.  That was the drama on Tuesday.  It bled for 20 minutes unless I put pressure on his finger so everytime I'd let go to look at it he'd start wailing again and I'd panic because I couldn't see how much of his finger was actually gone.  It turns out it's not too bad at all but with all of the blood I thought it had to be really bad.  I panicked because I didn't know how I was going to get him to the med center AND hold his finger while he was in the back seat.  I called my mom and she was very helpful   It stopped bleeding so much right before we left for the doctor so I was able to at least wash my hair before we left (believe me, it was necessary).  Dr. A took one look at it and said "Oh that's going to be fine" and he put a big goofy white bandage on it (Noah loved it) and sent us on our way.  So that was $25.  Blech.  That's life I guess. 

The night before this finger thing happened the toilet upstairs overflowed (because my kids have a tendency to use too much toilet paper and they don't always flush so it builds up) and it leaked into the basement.  The night before that I was making lemonade and dropped the entire pitcher on the kitchen floor.  PLUS I've been scrambling trying to get enough people to go to Frederik Meijer Gardens on Saturday so that we could get the group rate.  I spent the past week trying to make it work but I just couldn't get enough people to commit to going so I had to cancel it.  I'm going to take Nicole anyway I decided.  I can't miss it because they're going to have 1000 pound pumpkins.  How could I miss THAT???  It's going to be part of her birthday present.  I'll give her the new camera tomorrow also.  Hopefully she'll be excited.

So, this weekend is WELCOME.  I am so relieved to have this week behind me.  Oh yeah, karen's dad died last weekend too.  I found out when I was looking in the obituaries.  They didn't have the best relationship so it was kind of a wierd thing.  They didn't have a funeral or a memorial or anything.  I don't like that and that's what they did with Grandpa & Grandma Butler, too (Karen's grandparents) and I would have liked that closure.  In case I never mentioned Grandma Butler I have to let you know that I LOVED her.  Out of all of Karen's family, Grandpa & Grandma Butler were the only ones that ever made me feel welcome in their family.  They never treated me as a "step-grandchild".  They had me over for weekends and spoiled me rotten.  Grandpa was quiet and had a great sense of humor.  He'd be so quiet and taking everything in and then he'd just say the funniest things.  He was a horrible driver, too.    I loved him and I miss him.  Grandma though, we just had such a great relationship.  She was probably about 70-ish when we first met and she'd have me over alot just to hang out.  I'd go there and draw her pictures and she ALWAYS said I was the best artist (even though I never thought so) or we'd just sit and watch Nickelodeon together.  At night we'd have cookies in her bed and read the comics and the kids' page of the newspaper and just talk and talk until late at night.  She's the grandma that went out with me at about 2 in the morning to look at the lunar eclipse.  And she NEVER NEVER made me feel ashamed of the stupid things I did in my life.  She never put me down and always built me up.  SHe'd come to our band concerts and even when I was in 5th and 6th grade she'd say we were better than the High School band.  Unfortunately as she got older she became more "homebound" (more by choice than necessity) and I saw her less and less.  When grandma Butler died it was so hard on Karen because she was the ONLY one who took care of her grandma.  Even her own son (karen's dad) couldn't be bothered most of the time.  Karen actually found Grandma after she passed away and I'll never forget that phone call.  When they decided not to have a funeral or a memorial service I just felt as if there was no "closure".  We all met at the cemetery to see where her ashes were but it's just not the same.  She was so loved and it just seemed so wrong not to publicly profess that.  I hope someday I'm the kind of grandma she was.  I hope when I'm 75 I can play football at 2am in the morning (with paper footballs) and crawl under the bed to get it even though my 12 year old grandkid is perfectly capable.  And I hope I give the great advice of "always eat a treat before bed" and "TWO icecream cones is better than one!".  She was awesome.  The perfect grandma.  I miss her. 

Anywho, I had better go now that I'm feeling all nostalgic and missing people.  I have to get Ben some pj's to wear to school (it's pajama day).

Take care