La Vida Loca De Flores

For Mike's birthday this year I finally was able to get him a present that he really liked and that was a surprise!

It is very rare that I, on my own, can choose something that he really enjoys and even more rare that I could actually surprise him with it! Mike really loves the UFC and it just so happened that on the night before his birthday there was going to be a pay-per-view event. I was so excited...finally....here was my chance to do something really great for him for his birthday. So, I ordered the event and invited some family/friends over, arranged for food, cake, and the works! My nephew even brought over his flat screen TV for a perfect picture. We had Mike's favorite, nachos, for dinner and had plenty of snacks on hand for lots of live, brutal, bloody action on the screen....or so we thought!

As we all know, with any "family style" event, there is the "kid factor"...everybody brings their kids...and added to mine, there were probably at least 10 little kids running around. And, with a $50 pay-per-view UFC fight on the television, and a kitchen full of food and people to entertain, dishes to wash, etc...they were pretty much left (told) to entertain themselves "outside" or anywhere else where they were not bothering/interrupting the viewing of UFC Action! So they all decided to enjoy the nice evening and go outside and ride their bikes/scooters on the sidewalk in front of the house. All was going well until I was beckoned from the sidewalk with a nonchalant wave from Mike's cousin Judee. I calmly began to walk outside onto the side walk when I see coming up the sidewalk is Judee's husband Derek carrying Kolt...looking like he was the star of Friday the 13th Part XXXIII! He was screaming and had blood streaming all down his face (from both his head and nose), dripping all the way down to his feet. I grabbed him and rushed to the bathroom to see what was going on...telling myself the whole time.."head wounds bleed even if they're not bad"...but it was bad and I had no hopes of pinching it closed and praying it would seal itself shut! He literally had a hole in his head about a half inch wide, all the way to the bone! I could actually see his skull! So, off we went (Mike, me, Kolt, and Jett...to support his brother) to the hospital...shouting behind us to everyone to please stay and enjoy the fight and we'll call with an update soon!

So at the hospital, we finally had time to get the full sequence of events from Jett. Apparently the boys had been riding...at full speed of course right towards each other...up and down the sidewalk, Kolt on his scooter and Jett on his bike. Kolt turned around to look behind him and when he turned back around, there was Jett and his bike. Jett didn't react in time to move or brake and Kolt's forehead met up with the brake on the handlebar of Jett's bike!

The nurse put a cotton ball with lidocaine directly on the "hole" which started the numbing process and eased his pain. The poor little guy was so exhausted that he fell asleep for a good 30 minutes or so before we had to wake him up for the doctor to do the stitches. We were a little concerned that he may have broken his nose too, but doctor checked that out and it seemed that it was just swelling from the impact.

When we got home, everyone was waiting anxiously to see if Kolt was okay and Mike actually made it back in time to see the Main Event! With the anesthesia still in effect and a second wind from his nap at the hospital, when we got home, Kolt didn't miss a beat and started running around with all the kids again...with me anxiously chasing after him, begging him to slow down!

By Sunday afternoon, he was feeling good enough to give me a smile and show off his bright blue stitches, although pretty sore and still a little swollen around the nose. I'm sure it will be a birthday event that Mike...or Kolt...will never forget!