Mixer 1, Aubrey 0

Well, we have had an interesting few days! With my sweetie in London, I approached my second vein surgery with a little more trepidation than the first. It all turned out alright, but the vein in my left leg was (according to the doctor--and I believe him, mostly based on a sharp intake of breath during the ultrasound he performed as he began the procedure) was 3-4 times larger than the one in my right leg, which was already significantly larger than veins should ever be. So instead of one incision point like I had on my right leg, I came out of surgery the proud owner of seven incision points and "discomfort" to match. Let's just say that the recovery is proving to also be a little more difficult and leave it at that... I AM supremely grateful to wonderful family and friends who have helped me through the last few days, modern medicine, priesthood blessings, and my Savior. And I miss my wonderful Kyle.

So, that surgery was Friday. Saturday Nelly and David very kindly took Aubrey, Laurel, and Eryn to their house for a change of scenery, and while they were there Aubrey ended up falling off the trampoline onto her head and then being kicked in the head accidentally by Eryn for good measure. She reported that is wasn't her most fun day ever.

Then last night, the pièce de résistance--Aubrey somehow got her hair in the stand mixer while she was making a cake. Oh how we have learned from this experience! These are the things we learned: how quickly a girl's hair gets wound up onto the beaters, how even when it is completely wound up and you wouldn't think it could wind any more it keeps winding, how girls panic when things like this happen and forget to do simple things like turn OFF the mixer so the problem stops getting worse, how bald patches happen, what burning hair and skin smell like...

Here's the painful result:

Sweet Aubrey also went into full shock during the experience, going completely white, breathing irregularly, shaking uncontrollably, etc. We were able to stabilize her with standard first aid (elevating her feet, warming her body up, etc.), but it was pretty scary there for a few minutes. (Just so you know, all of that first aid training at girl's camp and scouts actually does pay off in a stressful situation. Go camp!)

I have to say, though, that I am most grateful for what we did NOT learn! Even with the mixer attached to Aubrey's head and all of the girls freaking out, we did not learn what it is like for anyone to lose any fingers or for someone to be scalped... Even though she has a very large (about six inches across) lump on her head and is sporting that lovely new bald spot, Aubrey actually feels quite grateful, too. It could have been MUCH worse!

There was a funny moment, too, as there always is...

Between my hobbling over to the kitchen to find out what all the screaming was and getting the mixer turned off/beginning to detangle my child from the evil small appliance, in her panic Aubrey started screaming, "Just cut it off me, please, just cut my hair off and get it off me--it's hurting so bad!" She was convincing enough that Laurel went for the kitchen shears and was inches away from Aubrey's head when I stopped her, asking her to hold off on giving her sister a mohawk and give me a chance to actually get the mixer off Aubrey's head without losing all of her hair. As most of the hair on the right side of her head was wound around the beaters and up inside of the mixer AND it was right next to her scalp, this would have left Aubrey with literally no hair on that side of her head. When it was all said and done, Aubrey thanked me repeatedly for NOT cutting all her hair off. Apparently, twelve year old girls don't like the idea of being completely bald on one side. Go figure!

Needless to say, the days of the kids being allowed to use the stand mixer are now officially over!