Monday, July 11, 2011

Stuff Like That Only Happens in Storybooks

I'm back from California, tanned, tired, sad to leave my family though I had a blast being with them, and amazed at the truly crazy (and sometimes horrific) things that continuously happen to my family :) I'm writing a book, seriously, because stuff like this just doesn't happen anywhere else.

First off, I do want to point out that I had a great time out there. I LOVE seeing my family. My brother has a gorgeous pool that I spent tons of time in, a beautiful home that was awesome to hang out in, and there is nothing I love more than being around my family. I loved being there and I really can't wait to go again.

But...yeah, some stuff happened that I could have lived without LOL Here's a brief run-down of what this "vacation" looked like:

Day 1 - my niece was bitten by my grandmother's dog...in the face.

Day 2 - my nephew sort of broke his nose. No worries...it's slightly crooked but my doctor uncle said he can fix it, no problem.

Day 3 - (4th of July). We sort of misplaced my sweet grandfather for a few minutes. We found him up the street at a neighbor's house so it was all good. Then we went to the lake for an all day picnic and the firework show. My other nephew just about broke his foot getting out of the boat (he ended up with a hole in his foot and some major bruising...painful, but could have been worse). Then we lost Grandpa again. This time it was terrifying. We found him 3 miles away, 2 hours later. Luckily he doesn't remember being lost and he wasn't injured.

Day 4 - We got home around 1:30 am from the fireworks. At about 2:30, Grandma fell down the stairs. She cracked 3 ribs, reinjured (though thankfully did not rebreak) the arm she had broken 5 months previously, and had a compound break of both bones in her leg. This was a night I never want to relive.

Day 5 - Miracle! No injuries or misplaced people.

Day 6 - My son made up for Day 5 by cracking his head on the rock ledge by the pool and getting his finger stuck in a bike tire. He now has a goose egg on his noggin and is missing a chunk out of his middle finger...which he loves to show people...which, being the finger it is, is always interesting :D

Day 7 - Grandma gets transferred to the rehab center. My mother decided to sit on a rolling suitcase...and ended up flying head over heels and landing on the floor. By this time this week had been so crazy everyone was laughing too hard to get her off the ground...including my mom :D She is a bit bruised and sore, but luckily she didn't need the bed next to Grandma.

Day 8 - we made it home in one piece - though by this time I fully expected the plane to go down on the way there :)

I don't know what it is about my family, but stuff like this happens ALL the time. And really, except for the truly horrible situations, we've learned to laugh at a lot of our mishaps. :) If we didn't laugh, I think we'd all be certifiable by now (and we probably are) ;-)

I've got a rough draft outline drawn up for the book, which includes a lot of other strange stuff my family does...like my dad's habit of picking up furniture and other objects off the side of the road or his talent for quirky fix-ups (like the time he strapped a second radiator to his car with bungy cords because it kept overheating - it actually worked too though his mechanic about had a stroke laughing when he saw it)...I'll let you know when I finish the first draft :D

How did everyone else's holiday go?

9 comments:

Christine Fonseca said...

What a week...so sad we didn't get to see each other. One day...

storyqueen said...

Oh, your poor Grandma! (I mean, all of the rest of the stuff is bad, too, but all of the bone breaking in Grandma just sounds horrible.)

Maybe you need a vacation from your vacation...

Shelley

Shari said...

I am now grateful for the uneventful week we had pulling weeds and preparing for trek.

Unknown said...

Good LORD, Michelle.

Mark said...

Condolences regarding the mishaps...although How I lost my Grandpa sounds like a great book title:) At least you're getting some great experiences/inspiration into your summer:)

Matthew MacNish said...

Wow. That's sounds incredibly stressful, Michelle! I'm glad no one was seriously injured.

I had to work both Friday and Monday around the fourth, so that sucked, but I'll be making lots of money.

Cole Gibsen said...

Ohmigosh you poor thing!!!

Jemi Fraser said...

Yikes!!! We have stretches like that in our family too - thankfully not too often. You're right - the only way to deal with it is laugh... and keep emergency numbers handy. :)

Katrina L. Lantz said...

This week sounds crazy! I'm glad you'll be writing it into fiction. Things like this must be memorialized for future generations. :)