Back-to-School Date

Good Thursday morning!

I have put a few oldies in the Gallery (again) today. I am feeling rather nostalgic this week as we get ready to go back to school, so anything and everything that makes me feel weepy and/or sad and/or bitter (pics, movies, Facebook comments, etc.) will probably make it on the blog this week and next. Beware!

RANDOMNESS #1 - I have never read The Help, but I'm hearing some good buzz about the movie. Let me know if you have seen it, and your thoughts, please.

RANDOMNESS #2 - In keeping with my nostalgic mood, I am going to post an old story about how well I react in an emergency situation. Just so you know, I haven't gotten better with age.

I had met my sister, niece and nephews at the ice skating rink at Oak Mountain. While most of the kids were enjoying the ice, my nephew, Zac, was not. He tried, but ice skating was not his thing at the time. He preferred playing at the top of the stadium with a little girl he had met there who was around his age (6 or 7). Beverly and I sat below watching the other kids skate and looked up to see Zac and his little friend standing on the bottom rung of the railing. It was a perfectly normal thing for kids to do, but in this situation it was dangerous because of the height and the cement floor beneath them. Beverly told both of the children to get down, which they immediately did.

Seconds later, we heard the awful thud or pop or thud-pop of a child's head hitting cement. (You've probably heard it before at Wal-Mart. I know I have.) It is a sickening sound. Whirling around, we immediately saw Zac standing looking down. By process of elimination, we knew it was the little girl he had been playing with who had fallen.

We took the steps two at a time and we found her face down on the cement crying. When we lifted her to her feet, blood started pouring from her mouth... pouring, gushing. You get the picture. "Oooh, oooh. That looks bad," I said.

Beverly put her hand under the little girl's chin catching the majority of blood. "Zac, what is her name?" we asked him.

"I don't know. We were just playing together. She got back up on the railing after you told her to get down," he told us... but we had already figured that one out.

We started walking to the entrance of the ice skating rink, Beverly holding her hand under the little girl's chin, Zac walking a few steps behind us, and me trying to think of the best way to help.

That's when my extensive CPR training came into play once again. "MOTHER OF A LITTLE GIRL WEARING A PINK SHIRT AND BLEEDING! MOTHER OF A LITTLE GIRL WEARING A PINK SHIRT AND BLEEDING!" I started yelling at the top of my lungs.

"What are you doing?" my sister asked.

"We have to find her mother so she can take her to the hospital," I replied.

"Am I going to have to go to the hospital?" the little girl asked.

"No, no. You're going to be just fine. It's just a little cut," my sister replied.

"Are you kidding me? She's going to need stitches and from the looks of things, a blood transfusion, too," I said, stating what I thought was the obvious.

Beverly glared at me. Since I wasn't getting a good response from my first announcement, I quickly fell back to my old tried and true way of getting help quickly.

"PARAMEDIC! PARAMEDIC!" I started bellowing.

"Now what are you doing?" Beverly asked. She was getting a little exasperated by now.

"This really works. I've had to do this before in a CPR situation," I told her.

"What's a paramedic?" the little girl asked.

"It's like a doctor," Beverly replied.

"Do I need a doctor?" she asked, sounding a little panicky.

"No. You're going to be fine," Beverly again reassured her.

"She needs an ambulance driver," I mumbled. Again, glaring from Beverly. And again, I used my CPR training until finally her mother appeared.

Surprisingly, her mother was much like Beverly... although unlike Beverly who was just trying to keep the child calm, the mother really didn't think she needed to go to the hospital, or the doctor, or the plastic surgeon, or the dentist or the blood bank.

I disagreed, so I went up to someone who worked at the rink and pointed out the little bloody girl, and guess what? They called the paramedics... but they used the phone. And I was right. They said she needed a stitch. And guess what else? You bleed more with a head or mouth injury than other places on your body, so she didn't end up needing that blood transfusion after all.

Yep. I was a hero, all right. I think I missed my calling. I definitely should have gone into the medical field doing something. My "bedside manner" is second to none!

Blog Linkage - I only have a couple, but they are good ones.

1. Go to eighteen25 under My Blog List. Read today's post entitled "(Past Projects) Back-to-School" for some really cute ideas for your child AND teacher.

2. STAY at eighteen25 and click on the box (at the bottom) entitled "Back-to-School Printables" dated August 8 for even MORE great ideas.

3. Go to Confessions of a Pioneer Woman under My Blog List and click on Photography at the top of her page. She is having another contest for Black and White Photos. Beautiful... and nostalgic.

Back-to-School Date

I found this idea on a blog called The Dating Divas (www.thedatingdivas.com). This blog is written by 11 beautiful friends. Each week one of the 11 posts an inexpensive, fun, imaginative date to have with your spouse. I LOVE this website.

This date isn't for you and child, but for you and your hubby. Check it out!

It’s the time of year that most kids dread... time to go back to school from summer break! Aaaahhhh! So, when planning my date I decided to focus on all the FUN parts of school (lunch, recess, and PE)!

Remember when you used to write notes to friends and fold them in a cute way? Well, the morning of my date I gave my husband a note. I had so much fun remembering all the cool ways my friends and I used to fold our notes.

So, my poem/note was the actual invite to the date. It was really cute.

Here’s the poem:

Roses are red, violets are blue,
I have something special for you.
The Fates have decided that you’re the one for me,
So, will you come on the date I planned for free?

When? You may ask... tonight at seven.
You’ll have so much fun, you’ll be in heaven.

When 7:00 p.m. came around, we left for our date with our backpacks filled and our bikes ready to ride to school. I had previously packed our packs with sack lunches (which included Lunchables and pudding snacks), a big bouncy ball (so we could play 4 square), a jump rope, a soccer ball (for base soccer) and I knew the school already had swings and playground equipment to play on. I was SO excited!

My sister (who came with her fiance) decided it would be fun to dress up like we were in the 6th grade. We did our best, and had so much fun!

When we left, it was a blast from the past! My sister and I used to ride our bikes to school all the time, so we were laughing so hard the whole way there! After arriving at the school, we sat on the grass and ate our delicious sack lunches. Our lunches included a bagel sandwich, Lunchables, pudding snack, Capri Sun, chips and fruit snacks. Pretty much all the good stuff! While eating we decided to tell stories/memories of things we remembered about elementary school. We talked about our favorite teachers, crushes, snow ball fights (and subsequent suspensions), classes, tests, etc. It was hilarious! I couldn’t believe how one story would remind someone else of a similar story and go on and on.

After dinner the competition began. Four square followed and it was a tough competition. Yeah, right! We were all laughing so hard we had a hard time keeping the ball in the squares.

We ended up playing on the jungle gym and swings from the playground. It was a ton of fun climbing around and swinging next to my hubby. I kept singing, “Cami and Joseph sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes baby in the baby carriage!” Oh, the good times from elementary school.

After riding home, we decided to watch a movie. We picked Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It was a perfect way to end the night. I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a LONG time.

I totally thought of some alternatives to the date:

ALTERNATIVE #1 - Make it a 2-person date. Instead of playing 4 square, you could have a jump rope contest (jump ropes are at the Dollar store), play hopscotch, have a swinging competition, a monkey bar contest (see who can go the fastest across or skip the most bars), etc. It would be a fun, laid back competition.

ALTERNATIVE #2 - Finish the night off with a run to McDonald’s for an ice cream cone.

Have an unbelievably lovely Thursday! I'll be back tomorrow with more Randomness, pics (old and new) and Weekend Happenings for this, our last weekend BEFORE school starts back. Heavy, heavy sigh.

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda