Oops.

Me: "Remember when [blah, blah, blah, blah]?"

Shawn: "No. I really don't remember that. Like, I don't even have the slightest recollection of that.

Me: "Really?"

Shawn: "Are you sure that wasn't one of your other boyfriends?"

Me: "Oh my gosh. It really might have been [name of former boyfriend]!"

Shawn: "That's awesome."

People! I have never done that. But, it's nice to know that after being together seventeen years, I can still surprise Shawn.

Oops.

Image of "Regret" from here.

Guess Who's FIVE?!

Lulu's FIVE! That's who!

The celebration began yesterday with lunch at... Burger King. And, she wore this "Birthday Crown" that she got on one of the last days of school when she received her summer birthday blessing.

Did I mention that she's never been to Burger King? But, evidently, if you're the "Birthday Queen," you need to eat at "Burger King." Who can argue with that logic?

For dinner, she took us to one of her favorite Italian restaurants.

She brought this goofy guy:

And some of her other favorite peeps:

And, she promptly added one more soul to her list of admirers.

He sang "Happy Birthday" to her in Italian and English.

Commence Operation: Birthday Cake Eating

Cake #1

Birthday Cake #2

And, of course... presents. Here's just one of them that she opened. But, I have a feeling she'll be having this reaction to money for the rest of her life. I know I still do...

All in all, a pretty good day.

Oh, my darling birthday princess!

Who is my very favorite little girl in this whole wide world?

Medical Update(s)

My in-laws brought dinner last night. Holla! I made Lulu show Shawn and my mother-in-law the "bite" on her knee. The way they both reacted (neither of them being prone to over-reaction... EVER) made me want to flip out just a little bit. Instead. We ate dinner. :-O

But, then Shawn took Lulu to the walk-in clinic. (Can I tell you how happy Shawn is that he's the only healthy member of the family, so he gets to take care of the rest of us?) *Grossness Alert* When they got back to the exam room, the P.A. took the band-aid off of Lulu's bite. It was so swollen that her skin ruptured - like two inch-long tears. Shawn said pus just poured out of it.

Give me a minute. I have to go vomit.

Okay. I'm back. Diagnosis? She got a bug bite that got bacteria in it (aka, cellulitis). The P.A. said it's always worse on kids around their joints because they move so much and there is so much blood flow to the area to help it spread. I don't care how you describe it. I'm just gonna need you to fix it!

She's gave us some antibiotic. Lulu came home with a circle drawn around the swelling. If the swelling got bigger than the circle, we had to go back to the doc. But, this morning, it's already drastically diminished in size. Praise God!

And, here's the other awesome part. Shawn said Lulu... absolutely unfazed by any of it. That's my tough girl! He said she just wanted to hurry through it all so she could have the cookies out of the vending machine he promised her when they were done. Sweetest father/daughter team ev-ah.

                                                                                   

Now the update on me... me me me me me me me...

We have an amazing friend. A-maz-ing. (I won't call you out by name, friend, because I don't think you would like that. You're welcome.) But, people? A.maz.ing. Above and beyond. And, conveniently... a doctor. He's shown my films to I-don't-know-how-many-doctors, and talked to his friend - the ankle surgeon. The prevailing opinion...

Let it heal three weeks and see where we stand. (bu-dum-cha! Thank you, folks. I'll be here all week.) We'll see if maybe, just maybe, this little ol' tendon of mine might heal itself. (Heal, tendon! *said in my best Southern Revival Preacher voice while flat-hand-smacking my ankle - well, no... not smacking... that would hurt... how about... waving vigorously*)

Three weeks? Um. That's when the ankle doctor up here gets back from vacation. I already have an appointment scheduled with him.

Sometimes coincidences like that freak me out just a little bit.

So. That's where we are. I'm off to figure out how to live life on crutches... with a smile... because, remember? It could always be worse.