My Christmas could have been better. Thursday after work J and I drove to Peoria. We got into town just in time to eat at a Chinese restaurant with her family. After the buffet we went to her uncle’s house and had some dessert. The whole family was there in preparation for Christmas. After we were done we went to J’s house for the night. The afternoon of Christmas Eve we had lunch with Jocelyn’s grandparents from her dad’s side. After that was over we went back to her house to get ready for the big Christmas dinner at her other grandparents house. We went to dinner and I must say the food was excellent. J’s uncle had made some unbelievably good, perfectly cooked, tenderloins. With that we had some twice baked potatoes and countless other goodies. After dinner we relaxed, the family exchanged a couple gifts, and we drank a little wine and enjoyed the night and the holidays. After we finished at her grandparent’s we made a stop at her dad’s house so the family could exchange gifts while Marissa was still around (she had to fly back to St. Thomas in the morning). Mr. P got me a cool mountable bottle opener and some ZipZap mini remote control cars to race, awesome. When we finished we headed home and waited for Santa.

Christmas day we woke up and J, her sister Arianne and her mom exchanged gifts. Marissa had left for her tropical home and I guess had quite the adventure in the process but still made it back. Arianne bought me a Lambeau Field glass and some “Ryan’s Bar” items. J bought me a Swiss Army card and a moosh pillow. J’s mom bought J and I a Miracle Blade knife set, more on this later. After we finished opening our gifts we headed to her grandparent’s/mom house to exchange some more gifts. J’s grandparents bought me some very cool salt and pepper mills and I got a travel kit from her aunt and uncle. After we were done exchanging gifts we took our booty and went to J’s dad’s house for Christmas dinner. We had the best store bought shrimp I’ve ever had and some dips as apps. For the main course we had the usual ham with some tater salad. When we finished eating we enjoyed the Christmas spirit with some spirits. Every beer I drank had something to do with the holidays. One was had noel in the name, one had a picture of Santa on the label and one had holiday in the name. The rest of the night we watched movies and I played with my ZipZaps.

The day after Christmas, a day that will live in infamy. We gathered up all our stuff, said our goodbyes and headed back to Milwaukee. We ended up getting back about seven at night. We unloaded the car and unpacked our suitcases. Then we started to put all our presents away. I started to unpack the knives and I got through unpacking one of the knife boxes but the second box had a knife, actually a cleaver, that wouldn’t come out of its cardboard sheath. I really don’t know what happened next but I think the cardboard gave and the knife sliced through the cardboard and into my hand. I knew it was bad so I went to the sink to run it under water but when I to there and rinsed it off I saw the gashes spurting blood and the bone of my middle finger, that’s when I started to panic. I couldn’t move or feel my fingers so I told J to call 911 because I had to go to the hospital. Then I saw all the blood and thought about my fingers I started to get light headed and go into shock. J called 911 and got a towel to wrap my hand in. Finally I started to calm down and heard the first responders so I told J to get my insurance card and we’d meet them in the lobby. We met them in the lobby and I told them I couldn’t look at it. So I turned my head and showed them and proceeded to spurt blood on the steps of our lobby. The responders told me to quickly put it back in the towel. They got my info and bandaged my hand up in a club-like state. They told me to go to Froedtert due to their good trauma unit. They asked if I needed an ambulance and I said no that J could drive me there. So the next three hours were spent bleeding and poking and prodding, ouch. They then decided that I would have surgery in the morning so I got bandaged back up and told to come back at 5:30 the next morning.

I was very nervous about my first surgery. It was supposed to take an hour but I went in at 7:30 and J didn’t see me until noon. I cut three tendons, two nerves, an artery and a partridge in a pear tree. After surgery I was groggy but they don’t let you leave until you use the bathroom. So I struggled to my feet and walked to the bathroom while trying to stay upright. I was very dizzy but hospitals suck so I sucked it up and we got out of there. The rest up the day was spent drugged up.

Tuesday I got to go to therapy and have a splint made, lucky me. Merry Christmas. The therapist was moving my fingers and she told me to quit resisting. I said, “Listen lady, I can’t feel from my elbow on. I don’t know what my hand is doing or what I’m telling it to do.” So she taught me some wonderfully painful exercises and sent me home. The rest of my week of vacation was spent on the couch. So much for practicing my guitar and other fun plans.

New Year’s Eve was fun for as crappy of a situation I was in. J and I bought a couple pounds of shrimp and we cooked them up. We ate those and had a couple dips and spent most of the night at home. We did leave for an hour to go to the New Year party where all my friends were. We brought in the New Year and then we left. It would have been fun to stay and enjoy the night but I didn’t feel so hot so home we went. Happy 2005 to everyone! May you last the year with all fingers intact!