"The A and B list"
There is an ongoing joke in the McAfee family about being on the A or B list!
Those boys tease their mom to no end about a few sentences she spoke some years back! It wouldn't be love if there were no teasing! Because of Matt's profession he'd be considered an 'A' lister!!!
Well these past 4 days he has dwelt on the 'B' side of things as he has been endlessly handy doing home improvements. We bought the wood flooring for our kitchen and it is currently acclimating. Wish we would've known about the acclimating sooner so we could've spent this big break installing that new floor! Instead we have been priming and painting and building. We'll see when that floor ends up going in!
Matt bought an air compressor and a nail gun along with a table saw. Both will be so hand to have as we continue working on this house. Recently we watched the documentary 'Sicko' and the opening scene was a man who, working on his table saw, cut off a few of his fingers. We of course had a conversation about that, since Matt just bought his new saw...
So, back to home improving... Priming and painting first, we tackled the trim around our kitchen window next. After patching some matters on the ceiling and walls we sanded and painted the areas on the bulkhead that got damaged while installing cabinets. Matt next tackled the banister and railing issue, we have none. After some priming, painting, tearing steps out, all seemed to be going well. Ballister is set. Drilling next and getting the spindles set, some measuring, some drilling, some swearing, more drilling, more swearing... and then a deep breath, we need a break! That is actually quite a tricky job we have discovered! So we moved on to new shelves in my pantry. Oh, I worked on painting trim and door jams as well as priming the basement and painting the walls down to the basement, while the stair work was being done.
Matt and I cut shelves for the pantry and he worked on putting them up. He was on the second to last shelf and needed to slice off just a hair. I went upstairs to shower! Before I got in I heard 'Carolyn, Carolyn'. My spouse does NOT call me Carolyn, nor have I heard that tone in his voice before. I came out and his hand was in his armpit... "I cut my fingers with the saw." WHAT? Slight panic hit our home! I called 911 because I have three kids and, well, that just doesn't move as fast! Oh, I was afraid to look. Are your fingers still attached? Yes, but I don't know how deep it is.
The fire department was called and an ambulance came to our home. They checked it out and bandaged him up. They asked if we wanted them to take him or if we wanted to drive to the ER. They made it sound like he just needed stiches and a tetanus shot. We chose to drive. I called a few people and Nancy let me drop the kids at her house. We knew the wait at the ER was around 3 hours (at least that is what the EMT's said). There is an emergent care place near us (sort of an insta care) and we decided to head there first. After all if we just need stitches they should be fine right? I dropped Matt off, fortunately there weren't many people. I went and dropped the kids off, got a diaper bag and headed back to my man.
They did let me in the room and I saw his hand. Yah, much worse than the EMT's had known. AND, had the PA who specialized in hands not been there we would've been shipped to ECMC. Ross did a great job. Matt has a deep slice on his index finger and just a bit of the tip is gone. The top of his ring finger was dangling, but reattached. His middle finger got the worst of it. Sliced right through to the center. He severed 85% of his tendon, so he can straighten his finger, but is limited in bending it. Ross said he'd just basically close it up and refer us to a hand specialist to try and reattach the tendon. It looked pretty meaty and chopped up. A giant notch out of his finger. So crazy!
He got an IV and a tetanus shot and an appointment to see the specialist this morning. He was told to keep it immobilized and he did. Ross wrapped him so good he couldn't move! I got to hear what I missed while the IV was dripping. Shots in the web of his hands (base of knuckles), sticking hand in ice water to stop bleeding (worst pain he's ever felt), the Dr coming in looking completely clueless (not something any patient wants to see), relief when the one person who was familiar with what to do took over, a retracing of how the crap it happened.
It was a big day! Silver lining? Matt still has fingers! The person who could help us was in the place we chose to go. Someone was available to take my kids. We are all ok.
I heard Matt talking to his boss yesterday, telling him what happened, and he mentioned, 'There is a reason I went into banking!' He has been great at so many updates we have done on our home. This journey, however, to the B list, didn't end so well! His talents truly lie somewhere on the A list!
Those boys tease their mom to no end about a few sentences she spoke some years back! It wouldn't be love if there were no teasing! Because of Matt's profession he'd be considered an 'A' lister!!!
Well these past 4 days he has dwelt on the 'B' side of things as he has been endlessly handy doing home improvements. We bought the wood flooring for our kitchen and it is currently acclimating. Wish we would've known about the acclimating sooner so we could've spent this big break installing that new floor! Instead we have been priming and painting and building. We'll see when that floor ends up going in!
Matt bought an air compressor and a nail gun along with a table saw. Both will be so hand to have as we continue working on this house. Recently we watched the documentary 'Sicko' and the opening scene was a man who, working on his table saw, cut off a few of his fingers. We of course had a conversation about that, since Matt just bought his new saw...
So, back to home improving... Priming and painting first, we tackled the trim around our kitchen window next. After patching some matters on the ceiling and walls we sanded and painted the areas on the bulkhead that got damaged while installing cabinets. Matt next tackled the banister and railing issue, we have none. After some priming, painting, tearing steps out, all seemed to be going well. Ballister is set. Drilling next and getting the spindles set, some measuring, some drilling, some swearing, more drilling, more swearing... and then a deep breath, we need a break! That is actually quite a tricky job we have discovered! So we moved on to new shelves in my pantry. Oh, I worked on painting trim and door jams as well as priming the basement and painting the walls down to the basement, while the stair work was being done.
Matt and I cut shelves for the pantry and he worked on putting them up. He was on the second to last shelf and needed to slice off just a hair. I went upstairs to shower! Before I got in I heard 'Carolyn, Carolyn'. My spouse does NOT call me Carolyn, nor have I heard that tone in his voice before. I came out and his hand was in his armpit... "I cut my fingers with the saw." WHAT? Slight panic hit our home! I called 911 because I have three kids and, well, that just doesn't move as fast! Oh, I was afraid to look. Are your fingers still attached? Yes, but I don't know how deep it is.
The fire department was called and an ambulance came to our home. They checked it out and bandaged him up. They asked if we wanted them to take him or if we wanted to drive to the ER. They made it sound like he just needed stiches and a tetanus shot. We chose to drive. I called a few people and Nancy let me drop the kids at her house. We knew the wait at the ER was around 3 hours (at least that is what the EMT's said). There is an emergent care place near us (sort of an insta care) and we decided to head there first. After all if we just need stitches they should be fine right? I dropped Matt off, fortunately there weren't many people. I went and dropped the kids off, got a diaper bag and headed back to my man.
They did let me in the room and I saw his hand. Yah, much worse than the EMT's had known. AND, had the PA who specialized in hands not been there we would've been shipped to ECMC. Ross did a great job. Matt has a deep slice on his index finger and just a bit of the tip is gone. The top of his ring finger was dangling, but reattached. His middle finger got the worst of it. Sliced right through to the center. He severed 85% of his tendon, so he can straighten his finger, but is limited in bending it. Ross said he'd just basically close it up and refer us to a hand specialist to try and reattach the tendon. It looked pretty meaty and chopped up. A giant notch out of his finger. So crazy!
He got an IV and a tetanus shot and an appointment to see the specialist this morning. He was told to keep it immobilized and he did. Ross wrapped him so good he couldn't move! I got to hear what I missed while the IV was dripping. Shots in the web of his hands (base of knuckles), sticking hand in ice water to stop bleeding (worst pain he's ever felt), the Dr coming in looking completely clueless (not something any patient wants to see), relief when the one person who was familiar with what to do took over, a retracing of how the crap it happened.
It was a big day! Silver lining? Matt still has fingers! The person who could help us was in the place we chose to go. Someone was available to take my kids. We are all ok.
I heard Matt talking to his boss yesterday, telling him what happened, and he mentioned, 'There is a reason I went into banking!' He has been great at so many updates we have done on our home. This journey, however, to the B list, didn't end so well! His talents truly lie somewhere on the A list!