Going Under (Pinky Part Deux)

I had surgery on my pinky (see previous post) on Wednesday Dec 19th and it was my first opportunity to "go under". I've never had the pleasure of missing set moments of my life by a thoughtful choice (pause for the cough....ehem). Anyway last thing I remember was the OR and sliding my fanny over to the operating table then....PWOIP I'm drinking a Sprite in the recovery room.....Amazing.

So far the recovery has been tolerable apart from the nagging itching from the cast that ran down to my elbow. I've only had to pop the narcotics now and then mainly for ease of sleep.

I have come to find out over the course of these past few days that your pinky, an often overlooked digit in life, is actually very useful in the whole hand scheme of things.

Santa

On Saturday we went to the Asheville Track Club's Holiday Party. There was great food, beer and wine, an excellent band AND.... Santa Claus! Lexie was so excited, she got to dance with Santa and later, sat on his lap and told him she wanted "a Darby doll" and "a dollhouse." So Cute! Immediately after that party we stopped by the Asheville High School Science Department party at a teacher's home. This party was a bit more subdued but a nice way to end the evening. Unfortunately, there were no celebrity sitings (last year, one of the science teachers was dating Hollywood actress/model Andie McDowell and she actually came to the party!)

Broken Pinky

I suffered my third serious injury playing Ultimate this weekend when he went to block a throw. The thrower released the disc and in his follow-through got my finger and bent it away from the hand. At first I thought it was dislocated as my pinky was bent awkwardly out from the hand...so I had someone pop it back in, taped it up and finished playing the game. We lost so were done playing. That night the finger swelled to twice its size and turned whitish-purple. Pam suggested I get it looked at so today after church I went to the "Sister's of Mercy" Urgent Care center. After the X-ray I overheard a few docs oohing and aahing over my broken finger. I guess after numerous sick people...something broken on an x-ray is exciting (kinda like a traffic chase for the cops!) I overheard "..that's messed up pretty bad..." Anyway as you can see by the photo - double compound fracture and a trip to the hand specialist!!

So tallying it up over 17 years of Ultimate: 1 broken collar-bone, 1 separated shoulder, 1 broken pinky finger.....not too bad I'd say

Jim

Singing a Solo

On December 12 Lexie's pre-school class at West Asheville Baptist Church had it's Christmas Program where the 3-4 year olds rang bells and sang several songs at the Wednesday night service. Lexie was chosen to sing a solo! She stood in front, with the microphone and did it perfectly! In-tune and on key, too! (yes, we are PROUD parents!) She sang a song about the star of David called: Twinkle, Twinkle. It was such a joy to hear the children singing songs about Christ's coming and Christmas time, and for Lexie to do a solo!

Biltmore

Pam and I decided to give each other a unique gift this Christmas in the form of a Biltmore "membership". Yes, you can actually join the tourist mecca that is the Biltmore Estate!!
While many would automatically think that the house could only be interesting once or twice (they would be right by the way), the Estate has so much more to offer the more than casual visitor. Locals can join with a one year pass and have access to hiking trails, concerts, the winery, a farm and the house. While other visitors are forking out the $59.00 a pop to enter the estate, members can ride in free any day and have a picnic on the lawn, check out the new seasonal gardens or stroll the countless acres.

Pam scored a deal through AAA to get our initial tickets for $34.00 a piece (they are going for $59.00 right now during the holidays) and with a $20.00 upgrade we got full membership.....not a bad deal for unlimited access to what is one of the local treasures.

On Veteran's day we dropped Lexie off at school and went to check out the estate. We took a self-guided tour of the house, hit the winery for a tasting and took a long hike around the country-side.

Halloween

The Sunday prior to Halloween we held our annual Halloween block party, complete with costume awards, movies and good eating. We had about 5 or 6 families show along with 12-14 kids of various ages. "Jim Bob" the redneck cooked hot dogs and the "Wicked Witch" (Pam)organized prizes and did the pre-party fliers.

On Halloween the "Sharp-Toothed Dinosaur" (Lexie) made an appearance on our street as we visited neighbors to Trick-or-Treat. Lexie came back with a boat-load of candy and even a stuffed Scooby-doo halloween toy!!

"Colonel Sanders" (Jim) recycled his costume for the 4th or 5th year and went to play an Ultimate pick-up game in costume. On the way to the fields the Colonel swung by the local KFC to "check on business" and score a bucket of chicken for the costume. The Drive-Thru clerk took a picture of the colonel on his cell-phone because he thought it was so cool! The good colonel scored a 2nd place finish in the costume contest! (This after winning three parties in prior years).

We are already looking forward to NEXT Halloween.

Yurtin'

Last weekend, Pam and I traveled for an overnight trip to the Nantahala River Gorge area SE of Bryson City for a night away from Lexie for a belated 9th Anniversary celebration. We originally thought of either staying at a bed-n-breakfast or camping but instead I found an Adventure Camp called "Falling Waters" run by Whitewater Rafting Company that had a "Yurt Village". If you have never heard of a Yurt, it is a circular Mongolian tent that is built onto a wooden platform. The yurt we stayed in had a mini-fridge, heater and four-poster bed! On the premises was a hot tub and clean bathrooms and showers. So we kinda ended up in the middle of the hotel-camping experience. The Yurt was very nice so I highly recommend it to any looking to stay in the Outdoors mecca that is Nantahala. We will probably go back to enjoy some white-water rafting, horse-back riding and train-riding through the Smokies.

Pam and I took a hike to a finger at the Eastern end of Lake Fontana and were amazed by how low the lake was! We are in a drought in N.C. (about 11 inches below normal) and I swear the Lake was down 15-25 feet. So much so that we ended up hiking in the lake-bed and found old coke bottles and other interesting lake-bottom things like fish-bones.

Lexie had a nice stay with her Mima and Papa (Jim's parents).