My broccolini has bolted. In true Skinflint Sunday style, I pulled up two of them today and fed them to both sets of chooks. Waste not, want not!
Friday, midnight. Evan17 walks into my room with my mobile, saying, “Here she is”, before handing it over. I was totally asleep until that moment, and as I reached for the phone I’m going through the list of boys in my head, remembering who was home and who was out that night.
It was one of Tom22’s friends.
“Tom22 has tripped and hurt himself quite badly at Ormond station. Are you able to come and get him?”
I threw my duck down coat over my pyjamas, popped my ipad in my bag in case we’d have to wait in a hospital ER and raced down. There was Tom22 with head injuries, covered in blood.
It was a freezing cold night in Melbourne that night and he and some mates had gone down to Chapel st. On the way home, he was walking up the steps at the station, hands in the pockets of his jacket, when he tripped on a step. He couldn’t put out his hands to save himself, so he landed on the corner of the steps, face first. He had a massive gash on his forehead, the bridge of his nose had no skin left on it and there was a jagged wound less than a centimetre directly under his left eye. Clearly, he was lucky not to have lost his eye.
I bundled him in the car, feeling grateful that I’d accepted the offer of a loan car from the mechanic (my car isn’t well) and off we went to Monash Medical Centre. We got there just before 12.30AM.
At 5AM we were seen by a doctor. She said she’d sew up the cuts and all will be well. Now, call me crazy, but I’m thinking that facial cuts on my son aren’t really the sort of practise I want a medical student to be having. I ask for a plastic surgeon, all the while thanking the gods of all things financial that we have Medicare in this country.
Apparently they don’t do plastic surgery at Monash any more. We have to go to Dandenong hospital. But we have to wait another 3.5 hours before we can be released from Monash. Argh!
We schlep over to Dandenong. Tom22’s face hasn’t been touched in all that time. He’s still bleeding but it’s slowed down. He watches tv. I have books on my ipad so I start “The Millionaire Next Door.” By the time the battery fails, I’ve read 70% of the book. We were waiting a long time. By that time Tom22 was in theatre.
So glad I asked for the plastics people. The cut on his forehead is covered by bandages, but the cut under his eye has the most delicate stitching you can imagine. He’ll be scarred, but I’m hoping over time it won’t be noticeable.
We leave the hospital just before 5PM. Just a short spin down Centre Rd to get home.
We have a car accident.
No, I’m not kidding.
A P-plater backed into the car and punctured the back tyre. We weren’t going anywhere. And it wasn’t even my car!!!
Remember how I said it was a cold day? Remember how I said I was still in my pyjamas? We had to stand on the corner of Warrigal and Centre roads for 90 minutes in the icy fresh-from-Antartica wind, waiting for the RACV to come and change the tyre. By that stage, Tom22 hadn’t eaten for 25 hours. He stayed in the car and drifted in and out of sleep. The P plater was distressed and verging on being hysterical, so I calmed her down and then we waited…. Her Mum came and we worked out all the details.
Tom22 and I ended up getting home just before 7PM, after going to the machanic’s and letting him know what had happened.
We were greeted by Evan17 telling us that the toaster had died. I was so happy. The bad luck streak had ended. That was the third thing!
On Saturday afternoon I grabbed Ryan19 and we went to Harvey Norman’s to buy a $30 toaster. We came back with one. Also a jaffle maker, a dog kennel, a dog collar for Poppy and a new mattress for me. Only the jaffle maker was purchased at Harvey Norman. We just kept driving past shops that made me think of things we needed.
The old kennel we had is less than waterproof, as I discovered the other day. This new kennel allows the puppers to sleep around the corner from the door and be out of any wind. They love it, though I’m hoping Poppy and Jeff don’t chew the clear door. It was 20% off, so I saved a few shekels. I primarily wanted this for Bertie. He’s getting old and I know this will make a difference to his quality of life.
The thing I’m REALLY excited about is the mattress. I’ve had my current mattress for 19 years. I’m waking up with a bad back some mornings and I’m sure it’s because the mattress is old and needs replacing. Get this!!!!
Queen sized mattress…. floor stock. Has a stain where the glue has come through. (Who cares? No one will ever see it anyway.)
$4,000 reduced to $1,000.
On Wednesday night I’ll be sleeping like a baby.
🙂
A horrible day followed by a brilliant day. Isn’t life wonderful?
How clever is this chook feeder made from recycled materials?
Thermomix Recipes: Apple Crumble Custard
Bacon-Barley risotto Bit of a change from using rice.
Mini Italian Lamb Meatballs. I have some roast lamb left over, so I might make these tonight.
Cheese and herb Bread Twist More fun with bread.
Pizza Wheels These look FABULOUS for lunchboxes. The boys won’t know what hit them!
Wicked Good Tuna Salad Couldn’t be easier!
Pasta dough Fresh pasta, anyone?
VEGETARIAN RECIPE: Broccoli and Cannellini Bean soup
Dancing With Frogs 
What a hellish experience. No-one should be forced to stand on the corner of Warrigal & Centre in their PJ’s in freezing temps. Glad it turned out well and Tom is OK.
Oh my. You really did have a bad run there. You didn’t even get a chance to break a match to stop the third thing happening!
So here is my little tip for this one – and it goes for your regular car too.
I always keep an “emergency” bag in the boot of the car – so I can move it from car to car if necessary – with the following items –
– Umbrella
– Heavy Hoodie Jacket
– Big Foofy Scarf
– Spare Socks (big fluffy knee high length slouch socks I bought at Costco – will do a post on these)
– Spare Shoes (sneakers)
– Spare Track Pants
– Pashmina
– Qantas In-flight Rug
– Handwarmers (those ones with the copper button you activate, I got mine from Ezibuy but I saw them at the chemist recently)
– The Complete Works Of Jane Austen (Bizarre, yes? Well no, I love those books!)
In addition to this bag, there is a smaller bag inside with a dose or few of all the medications I usually keep on hand like Difflam throat lozenges, Cold & Flu tablets, Imodium, De-Gas, Paracetamol, Nurofen, etc. Plus, inside there is another bag with spare headphones in it, and hair ties.
In addition to this, there is always my large freezer bag and inside that all my other shopping bags.
When my nephew started to drive and got his own car, I spent some time with him and a list and he has an emergency bag in his boot as well. I gave him a pair of my fluffy socks cos I am nice like that and he laughed and said he would never wear them.
He recently went to uni and he called me for the list because all his friends wanted one too. They got stuck somewhere one night in his car, and shared the items out among themselves because it was cold! And he had to wear the socks because he stepped in a puddle. Sure, they were bright pink, but his feet were toasty warm, lol.
I’m gonna have to post this one on my blog as well I think, with pics. 🙂 Cos I’m back blogging now at least for a bit anyway..
I never have time to comment these days, between working and parenting and all the other things…but I thought I’d pop on at this moment to say I really, really enjoy reading your blog, and I’m glad everyone is okay after your string of calamity!
I hope your son heals well. Bravo to you for having the smarts to go to a plastic surgeon. My husband had his cheek split wide open 1 1/2 inches on the football field, a nurse happened to be watching she told us which hospital to go to and to insist on a plastic surgeon. Within twelve months the scar was invisible.Just make sure once the summer hits that he applies sunscreen to the scar and that will reduce the eventual whiteness of the scar compared to his other skin tone.
Three cheers for Warrior Queens like yourself, who take a licking and keep on ticking.
You were so right to insist on a plastic surgeon even though it made the whole process so much more drawn out. My son was bitten by a dog on the face at age 8 (not too badly but still needed 25 stitches 8in various places). Now at 25, his mum is the only one who really knows.
An excellent female plastic surgeon. At Frankston Hospital no less…
Congratulations on surviving all these experiences in one day! Good on you! And thanks for linking to my Wicked Good Tuna Salad recipe. I hope it made you smile or at least filled your tum with Thermomix yum. And sleep well on your new mattress!