Catching up...

Alright... so on Sunday, May 24th, we drove almost 60 miles out to Patuxent River Naval Air Base to enjoy the Air Show. The Golden Knights US Army Parachute Team and the Blue Angels were performing. It was a long drive but the kids were great. Kaylin slept but Zach just enjoyed the scenery.

A whole lotta people had the same idea we did though... boy was there a crowd! They had a lot of cool stuff. It was like a carnival (Zach's words, actually).

It was pretty windy so the Golden Knights couldn't do any really good tricks but it was fun to watch anyway.

They had food booths, vendor booths, and inflatable bounce houses and slides. Since the bounce houses and slides costed, at the very least, $2 for one ride, Zach only got 3 rides and then we just hung out and waited for the Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels did not disappoint!
And then came getting out of the parking lot - in a little drizzle of rain .... and 45 minutes later, we were on the road! Somewhere in the walk to the car, Brad started to feel sick, freezing and achy. Not good....

Since we had been pretty frugal about eating at the Air Show ($7.00 mini pizza, $4 ice cream and all) we were hungry. We made a detour and stopped at a Mexican restaurant along the way since I can usually get Zach and Kaylin both to eat beans and rice but that was a no-go. Zach's throat hurt and Kaylin was just whiny. And Brad was definitely sick. He ate maybe two bites and couldn't eat anymore. But hey... my carnitas were gooood!


The next day.....
Brad had to fall out for the Memorial Day Wreath Laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns at 5:00 am but he hadn't had a very good sleep since he was sick. He got up at 4:00 am, ate some cereal and left.

The kids and I watched the Wreath Laying on MSNBC to see if we could see Brad but we didn't. Then I laid down to nap with the kids since I didn't know when Brad would be home. At about 3 pm, I heard my phone vibrate. I didn't get to the call before it was gone but I listened to the message - and panicked. It was Brad's Commander. He said Brad had had a "little accident" at the ceremony and they were taking him to the hospital. He said not to panick, Brad was coherant and wanted to talk to me. I called right back but got a voice mail. There must have been a delay between the time that the call was made and the time I got it.

The Commander called me back just after 3 pm and told me that Brad had passed out at the ceremony and fell on his rifle. He told me he cut his chin and they had taken him to the hospital to get it looked at and asked me not to let Brad come to work if he felt sick again.

Brad finally got home from the hospital around 6 pm, swollen lip and stitches. He showed me what happened but didn't really remember it all. All he knew was that when he woke up, he heard the President's voice say "Is he alright?" Way to get noticed.....

Once we pieced things together, through his injuries and his fellow Guard's accounts, what we determined happened is this: Brad knew he might pass out and had taken a step forward but put himself right back in check and stood at attention again. When he did pass out, he fell straight forward. The bayonet went thru the bottom of his chin and came out the lip line on his lower lip. His two top teeth have a visual crack line but they aren't broken off and the hospital was unsure whether his nose was fractured or not but Brad doesn't think so.

The thing that annoys me is that Brad has a high metabolism and needs to eat. He had eaten before he left the house - so about 4 am - but then they hadn't been offered the opportunity to eat breakfast, or lunch for that matter, prior to the event. The ceremony finally ended about noon. Eight hours without food isn't healthy for anyone but really bad for Brad - obviously. Scares me to think how much worse it could have been....


This top picture shows the cut on his chin where the bayonet went in and the one on his lower lip where it came out.

This one shows the swelling on his lip and the stitches on his lower lip.

He won't be participating in any ceremonies for a couple of weeks because he can't shave. He is due to have his sutures taken out next Wednesday.

And that, I think, gets us pretty much up to date...

OH!!! Except that I appealed the unemployment insurance denial and the appeals judge decided in my favor - with back pay! I got all of it in my account yesterday. What a load off our minds!!

Write more soon!