Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Adventure

First of all, I hope each and every one of you had a Merry Christmas. I also hope that you remember the true meaning of Christmas and the real reason we should be celebrating the season.

My number 2 son wasn't able to join us this year as he's in the army and wasn't able to come home. The rest of the family was there and we had a good time. When you have a large family like I do and everyone gets everyone else a gift, opening the presents can take awhile. But it's always fun and I love seeing the other's faces when they open a gift.

I resisted for a long time about getting my wife a wish list as there really wasn't anything I needed or wanted but I finally gave in after much pestering and made one up. I told her socks, a hoodie, a new basketball, a 10 pound medicine ball, and a hot air popcorn popper. Between her and the kids, I got each of those items. The popcorn popper works great, it was unseasonably warm, so we went out and shot some hoops with the new basketball, and I just got done with my workout in which I used the medicine ball. I also got a few tools.

We made the six block trek to my mother-in-law's house for Christmas dinner. We had a good meal and a good time. After dinner they got together a a game of Mexican Train dominos. My youngest daughter wanted to go home so I took her home while the rest stayed and played. They're still there.

I titled this "Christmas Adventure" and here's where the adventure started. When we got home, there was a man sitting in a chair that I had next to the door outside. He was completely unresponsive and I had no idea what was wrong with him. I assumed he was just drunk but didn't know for sure. I called our local police department and the officer had trouble rousing the guy but it turns out that he was drunk and for some reason left the home of the relative he was spending Christmas with. He must have saw the chair and figured it was a good place to rest. The officer took him away, I assume back to the relatives house. He never came back to talk to me so I'm not sure.

Once that was over, I went into my bedroom and tried to cut the plastic holding a pair of needle nose pliers to the package that my 10 year old son got me. You guessed it. I cut my finger, the left index finger to be precise. And yes, it needed stitches. It turns out about 10 or 12 years ago, I bought a suture kit at a preparedness expo I attended. I always take some when I go camping just in case and just before I bought it, I had to make several trips to the emergency room with various children for cuts that needed stitches. After I bought the kit, I told them that I would just do it myself next time. There hasn't been a next time.

Well, I decided to just do it myself. I found the smallest needle and proceeded to sew myself up. Tying the knots was a little difficult but otherwise it wasn't that bad. My wife and the rest of the kids are still gone so they don't know yet. It doesn't look professional but it closed up the cut and stopped the bleeding.

After that I went outside and did my workout. I like the medicine ball and I think I will be using it quite often. I do mostly body weight circuits but there are many ways I can incorporate it into my circuits. As most of you probably know, I prefer to workout outside. The hoodie I requested was specifically for extra warmth when it's cold out. I didn't need it today but it will get a lot of use this winter.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Charles,

    I didn't know you knew how to sew. I'm looking you up the next time I have a hole in my socks.

    How about 100 wall ball shots for time to break in that 10 lb. medicine ball?

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete

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