A collection of firsts

Well, the flight went well and the kids were wonderful. Our final decent was marked by a rapid dive the sent our stomach into our chests, lasting much longer than normal. Oh, and while in Atlanta we saw unending reports of the female Muslim suicide bombers, then boarding the plane my seatmate was covered by a blanket for 5.5 hours, and when she finally emerged, she was a middle-eastern woman - probably not Muslim, though (no burka or bomb bag).

Traffic was amazingly light for Seattle.

Good to see Dad and his dog. I was in the garage with him, moments after getting there, and Charli comes out and said she had pushed Ben, and his head hit the table and he was bleeding. I'm thinking a little scrape so I was in no hurry to go in. When I do, Ben is leaning over the kitchen sink, his hand is scarlet with blood and he's breathing heavily. I look at the back of his skull and it looks like a baby's open mouth. It wasn't gushing blood, but it stained a wet paper towel quickly.

So, 15 minutes after reaching our destination we were in the emergency room. To Ben's credit, he was hurting, breathing hard, and praying without ceasing on the ride there. At reception he puts his head on the counter and the receptionist starts hauling out forms. "He probably needs a bucket or something, pretty quick, I'm guessing," I say. "Just a few forms..."

Then Ben threw up. A lot.

We got some quick attention after that. Twenty minutes later he was getting 6 staples to seal the wound. He was great through the whole thing. This is not the kid who feints at the sight of cartoon blood. That and I'm sure he knew he could milk this against Charli for months to come.

Going good so far, but already the lack of time to see the people I want/need to see is rearing it's head. We'll see how it goes...