A lesson learned..... for Mom...

So a couple of weeks ago we came across in T's" schoolwork a picture of a coconut.  "T" wanted to know what it was.  So I explained it to him and he said he'd love to try one.  He's had the shaved coconut before but he wanted to see a whole one.   So the next time we were at the grocery store we saw one and he begged to buy one because he wanted to see it opened up.  So seeing as it was on sale and I thought it was a good lesson for him, we bought one.

Fast forward to last monday night.  It was Sabbath week (every seven weeks, our church takes a week break so all lifegroups are cancelled) and it was also March break which meant that "T" didn't have karate. (it's held in a school) So we had our night all planned out.  We had supper, we were going to open our coconut and taste it and since it was beautiful out, we were going to go on a family walk.  Fun stuff.   So since Hubby and I had never opened a coconut before we were sure to look up a few you-tube videos so that we knew the correct way to do it.  Because of course these days, you tube videos know everything.

First we dug a hole into it with scissors to drain the water out.  Next we had to crack it open.After a few whacks with the back of a knife, with no result, we moved onto a hammer.  That did the trick.  It cracked right in half.  The next part was removing the coconut meat from the shell.  Now this is where things began to go wrong.. And I do have to admit.  My husband was right.  Shh don't tell him.  You see the you-tube videos said to use a knife that bent easily so that it would conform to the curved shape of the shell.  Well, I don't have a bendy knife.  I just have regular knives.  Since I can be stubborn, I figured I could just do it with a regular knife if I was careful.  And I was trying to be careful.  So I stood over the sink and began to dig the coconut out.  This was going to take some time.  I gave the kids all an initial taste test and as they began to lose interest, they slowly began to leave the room.  (In hindsight, maybe a God thing?)   Hubby started to leave the room and I jokingly say to him, "you know I'm gonna end up cutting myself right?"  He said something about using a bendy knife and to that I just said "yah yah"  (see? stubborn I tell ya!)

2 minutes later?  You guessed it.  Coconut shell slipped from my hand, knife slipped into my hand.  I had accidentally stabbed myself.  Wow that hurt.  I yelled and Hubby and the kids came running.  My head started to get cloudy.  Hubby is talking to me but I'm not quite sure what he is saying.  I leaned against the sink as he gave me a cloth and suddenly things became clear.  I asked Hubby to get some gauze and let me think.  It was 6:30 at night...almost bedtime... I knew I would probably need some stitches. Hubby came back asking if we needed to go to the hospital and yelling to the kids to get their boots on.  Then it came to me!  Call Dad!  So Hubby got on the phone and soon my dad came and got me.

After a 2.5 hour wait in the waiting room, I was seen.  3 Stitches and a tetanus shot later I was sent on my way.  I gotta say.. getting need stuck into a nice stab wound was not pleasant but the freezing that came with it was such a relief.    I'm so thankful to my dad who took the time and stayed with me the whole time. He really is the best!

My lesson learned.. listen to youtube videos (and your husband) hehe.  no seriously.... I wrote a little list of things I needed to buy at the store yesterday, then had J add a few other things.  When I got the list back, there was a heart drawn on it and inside the heart was written "Don't play with knives please mom"  Thank you "J".. I'll try to remember that.

So here I am, typing mostly one handed (I've gotten really good at using my pinky, ring and middle fingers) my story.  I can tell you right now.. I'll probably buy my coconut in the bag variety from now on.  I have a wicked bruise on my hand.  It extends from my palm, around my thumb to the knuckle and between my thumb and index finger.  It's really fascinating.  I'll spare you a picture of the actual stitches but I thought the bruise was kind of cool.   That's all for now!  And just to amuse you, there's a picture of Sweet Pea down at the bottom.

That reddish bruise just appeared today.

See how purple the bottom of my thumb is?

I found this pic today when I emptied my camera card.  It was taken at breakfast a week or so ago. Somehow she flipped her bowl of cereal right into her face.  Of course we had to take a picture!