When Cook-Outs Go Bad!

I had a cookout. It was planned to be a nice, lovely, relaxing, outdoor cookout on a beautiful Saturday evening. It started great....

The guests started to arrive as we finished prepping the burgers and sides. We conned our friend into grilling the hamburgers because we didn't want to risk burning or ruining them. So, once we stepped outside to light up the grill, we realized it was way to windy to grill on the deck. The boys decided it was best to move the grill to a less-windy location- by a large dumpster. Yum.

They decided to light up the grill and let it heat up a bit while they played a little game of catch with a football. Of course, us girls went inside while they played around like toddlers. When we decided to emerge from the house and join the boys outside, here is what we saw:

John darting to his truck and flinging the passenger door open and Lucas hobbling around the truck to get in the passenger's side. Then Josh comes around the corner with the football and a pair of white flip-flops in his hands. He proceeds to tell us "They're going to the hospital."

At that sentence, I look across the yard to see why Lucas is jumping around instead of walking normally....and there it was in all its glory, his left big toe hanging off of his foot!

My first reaction was to grab a towel and make sure he was okay. The boys' first reaction was to just jump in the truck and speed off. (If that doesn't prove that men and women are vastly different, I don't know what will.)

After they were down the highway, Josh decided to fill us in on what happened. He said that he was throwing a pass to John and Lucas and somehow, Lucas' toe got jammed or trapped under or near John's foot. Keep in mind that John is wearing tennis shoes and Lucas is wearing nothing since he kicked off his flip-flops. After the incident, Lucas calmly states "Johnny, I think I broke my toe." I'm a little sketchy on the details but I think it was played off like Lucas was joking and to prove to John and Josh that he was serious, he stuck his toe up in the air to show them what had happened. From there, they bolted to the truck to make a quick trip to the ER.

So, there we were, watching the tail lights of John's truck as 2 of our 5 guests left. I told Josh he could go home but he wanted to stay, saying "They'll be back....it won't take that long." I'm so glad he had that confidence in their return.

More of our guests began to arrive and as they did, we told them the gruesome details. Some were grossed out, others were aggravated that they missed out on all the action. And, for those suckers that didn't come to my cookout, I rubbed it in their faces that they missed a free dinner AND a show.

After a few hours of waiting, the news comes in that Lucas' toe wasn't broken, but it was just a compound dislocation. It was the sickest dislocation I've ever seen. The doctor's popped it all back into place and stitched it all up. From there, he hobbled on home.

Take a peek at the pictures if you dare! It's pretty wicked looking. Lucas' dad snapped these photos in the ER.

Like with every blog, I have to add a moral to this story- Don't play outdoors without shoes on. Next time I recommend steel-toed boots. (That means you, Lucas).

So many questions, so little time.

Do you know people who ask a lot of questions? I sure do. I have a friend that just plain wears me out because she asks so many questions. She's worse than the box that pops up and asks you if you want to save your work, and even worse than an interrogation officer trying to get the facts out of a criminal. Don't get me wrong, I love her...but, she asks way too many questions.

Questions like: Do you like the color pink? Do you like the singer Pink? Are you trying to lose weight? Do you get to wear jeans to work? Where are we at? Where are we going? Are you for real? Which purse looks like I'd carry it? What's that smell? Are the people that live in this town okay with that smell? Does this look cheap? Does this look expensive?

Even if she doesn't have a real question to ask, she turns a statement into a question with two little words: "you know." No joke, she can take a plain statement of fact or opinion and make it a question with those two words combined. An example:

I can't stand people who are rude to other people, you know?
Cue the nods of agreement to the poor soul conversing with her.

I need a large water, a large root beer, and a large Sprite, okay?
Silence.

I'm not rich but I like to buy things, you know?
Another nod and a muffled laugh. And finally,

Dear Lord, I love you, you know that?

People who constantly ask questions are either really curious or thrive on other people's opinions. I've learned this just be spending a weekend with my friend. Not only did I catch myself asking stupid and pointless questions after she left, but I was exhausted too. I've never had to answer that many questions in my life before.

So, what do I do about repeat offenders of over-questioning? First off, I stop asking so many questions myself. Secondly, I could stop answering. Or I could just answer her question with a question. Then, we'd never accomplish anything except asking redundant questions. Either way, we're using way to much energy and vocal ability talking to one another. I long for the days when we can just look at someone and speak without opening our mouths. Wait, I think that's called sign language. Shoot....

Well, that's all I've got for this post. I know it wasn't all that intriguing....but, what can you do, right? Ahh, crud! How many questions am I going to put in this one post? It's a downward spiral, I tell you. Once you're aware, you can't stop!

I'll leave you with the first BoredBot to ease your mind:

Click on image to enlarge.

Thanks for reading. Have a Happy Easter, you know?