A most tragical party

At the beginning of July we had to say goodbye to some of our very good friends, the Passeys.  While we’re sad to see them go, we’re so excited for the opportunities they have.  We drove out to Corrales to a party in their honor, and tragedy struck before we even entered the door.  Paul (of course it was Paul) caught his foot on something in the van and fell face-first onto the gravel driveway.  He scraped up his lip and his nose was bleeding, but the worst was the gash in his forehead.  I’m sure we looked ghastly when we walked in: Paul was screaming and wounded, and Aaron was covered in blood from the combination of the nose and head wounds.  And of course we were late, which gave our dramatic entrance even more impact.  As we examined the injury on our friend’s parents’ kitchen counter (I’m sure they were sorry they agreed to host the party), we decided that it warranted stitches.  After hurried conversations and coordination with other friends who were there, we left Katie and Averi to enjoy some dinner and games and rushed with Paul to Rio Rancho, with hopes of returning in time to enjoy some of the party.  We drove to both urgent cares in Rio Rancho, only to find that they both closed at SEVEN.  Useful.  Then we had to decided if the injury was worth taking to an emergency room for stitches (and the resulting wait time and co-pay).  And the cheapness in us won out. We drove back to the party and performed surgery there in the kitchen.  Luckily we had a pretty well-stocked car first aid kit, and Rachael’s mom was able to supply some butterfly bandages.  Aaron took on the duty of surgeon (his brother’s in medical school, so it must be genetic).  I took on the duty of fretting mother, which came quite easily.  Paul was extremely stoic the entire time.  We were all impressed.     Poor kid.  After we finished the operation, we were quite glad we saved ourselves the $100.  It looked quite professional.  And 4 weeks later, it’s looking pretty good.  Perhaps Aaron missed his calling as a doctor? We did get a chance to eat some food and hang out for a bit…eventually. Check out Aaron’s D.A.R.E. t-shirt.  That’s the replacement he had to wear since his was blood-soaked. And on a side note—I bet you never knew that greyhounds had a thing for smoothies.  They do.  Check out that long tongue!