ER, Veterans Day and Random Stuff...

I am not a daily blogger. I do not think that people, need to know or want to know, what my family does on a daily basis. But ever so often, I will create a post about some events that have occurred in our lives over the past few days or past couple of weeks.

1. First Emergency Room Visit: Saturday started out so perfect. We slept in on Saturday morning, went to the Quad with friends before the Bama-LSU Game, I attended the game while Sarah and Brynn hung out with her parents, I tailgated with Jeff, April, Jonathan and the Newmans after the game, and finally returned home to watch free MMA on CBS while holding my sleepy daughter. This was the culmination of the Perfect Day!

Boy, things can change quickly. As I get done seeing Fedor destroy Brett Rogers with one punch, Brynn begins to cough in her sleep. I turn on the DVR of the Bama game, so I can see up-close the controversial calls. The cough begins to get worse. Brynn is having trouble catching her breath. Sarah is dead asleep in our bed at this time, but I decide to take a chance that she will not verbally abuse me for waking her up. I tap her on the shoulder and tell her I think Brynn is sick. She lets out some form of a sentence that I am going to pretend was "Matt you are so great!" After a second and third tap, I get her awake and listening to Brynn's breathing struggles. We phone the on-call nurse and she listens to Brynn over the phone and says it sound like Croup. We are sent to the DCH-ER. Not a fun place to be after the Bama-LSU game.

The first person we see is a drunken, LSU fan with a smashed right cheek. According to his side of the story, he was minding his own business as he walked down the street and an Alabama fan did not like the way he looked, so he was slugged in the face. This guy got drilled. His face was messed up and I am pretty sure he was not Mr. Innocent. He did not shut up the entire time and eventually had the cops called on him.

Luckily having a young child, we are carried back into the ER quicker than everyone else. I do my best to name drop Tara Anders' name to the other nurses in search of preferential treatment. I think it might have worked a little! The staff at the ER was incredible. Everyone was super nice and friendly. They all took their time to entertain Brynn and make sure we were comfortable. Brynn was perfect through the entire ordeal. She let the nurses and doctor poke and prod all over her. She lay perfectly during an X-Ray. She took her breathing treatment like it was a game. The steroid shot at the end did result in a few tears, but quickly dried up as she fell asleep on the way home. In all, we were at the ER for about 3 hours. I was able to finish Twilight for about the 20th time, so it was a productive trip.

In the end, Brynn had the Croup and a sinus infection. She ended up with 3 shots, all in her thighs and taking medicine for her infection.

2. Veterans Day: Being a teacher has many perks. One of those was receiving an off day for Veterans' Day. My morning began early, as Scott and I had a tee time at 8 AM. It was the perfect morning for golf. The sun was out, the temperature was perfect with a slight breeze and no one played in front or behind us. We both played extremely well and had a blast.

Following golf, the wives and children joined us at Wings for lunch. We had a great Hot Lips Platter for $5 which is their Wednesday special. The kids were well behaved, except when Spencer tried to show Brynn how to properly use a steak knife.

After lunch, we went shopping at Old Navy and got Brynn three outfits and daddy one long-sleeve polo shirt. We then went home and took a nap as a family, before heading to the park so Brynn could swing. That night, we spend plenty of time playing with Brynn and watching TV. In all, it was the best holiday I have had in a long time.

3. Update to List of Top TV Shows: For some reason, I forgot to include one of my favorite shows to my list on last week's blog. This show would definitely be in my Top-3. The show comes on ABC on Monday nights at 9 PM. What is this wonderful show, you may be asking. CASTLE!! That is right; it is thrilling and hilarious, all-in-one.

4. Basketball Update: The Hillcrest Lady Middle School Patriots are off to a rough start on the season. We are currently 2-4 with victories over Riverside and Bottenfield. We have lost to Westlawn on three occasions (2, 6, and 7 point differences) and Eastwood in a blowout. We are the most talented team in the city/county, but we are having trouble playing together, listening to coaches and staying out of foul trouble. I predict a City/County title, but we have a long way to go!

5. Brynn Update: Brynn is growing up everyday. She has now progressed to crawling in the correct position on a permanent basis. She does not resort to military crawls anymore. She can pull up on anything. She is attempting to be Spiderman on a daily basis by crawling up flat surfaces like the wall or our front-glass door. She also has a new toy. It is a baby grocery cart. She is able to pull up on the toy and then walk behind it. The girl can scoot across the floor with her cart. I predict walking by Thanksgiving (9 months), but Sarah says Christmans (10 months). I started teaching her to throw left-handed this week. She has not shown a strong distinction towards either hand. She uses whichever hand is closer to the object she wants in her mouth. But the process of creating a deadly left-handed volleyball server and softball pitcher has begun!

6. Upcoming Events: The Perdue's Calendar is full over the next few weeks. This Saturday, I will be going with the boys to Starkville for Day Out 2. We will be watching Bama continue their perfect season at the expense of Dan Mullen's puppy dogs. I will be sure to update my blog next week with a recap of this, wait for it... legendary trip!

During Thanksgiving, the Perdues and Storms will go to Orange Beach for 5 days. Both families have decided to enjoy the holidays beachside. It will be a week full of tennis, indoor swimming and seafood. We also plan to hit some stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

I am still in the process of finding a way to get to the SEC Championship on December 5. Jeff is my best bet, but if anyone else wants to take me, I fit into most trunks.

On December 18-20, Sarah and I will celebrate our 3rd Anniversary at Joe Wheeler State Park in North Alabama. Her father is so proud! We plan to hike, play golf and sleep without being woken up by Brynn.