Today I'm thankful for

the ER at Austin Heart Hospital.

This morning at about 11:00, I was up front marshalling the girls into their Thanksgiving clothes when B came out of the back of the house holding a screaming baby. Campbell had fallen and hit his head on the corner of my dresser. There was a huge lump on his forehead with a thin red line of blood. I'm normally pretty calm about the kids' injuries, but this one really upset me. I got a boo-bunny from the freezer and tried to put it on Campbell's head, but he kept screaming and pushing my hand away. Meanwhile the lump continued to swell and the red line got wider and bloodier. My across-the-street neighbors were outside, and they, unfortunately, have had experience with a child's head injury, so I went out in tears, holding Campbell, who was still wailing. They both advised that I go to the hospital just to be on the safe side.

Ages ago, I read an article in the paper about the Heart Hospital's ER, which was practically begging for people to go there instead of the other hospitals. The article talked about how they have a level 4 trauma unit and can handle any emergency that might come through the door, with no waiting because no one ever goes there unless they're having a heart attack.

Since it's the closest hospital to our house, I headed there with Campbell. We were taken back immediately, and we had three nurses tending to Campbell. Actually, it was one nurse doing the tending and two singing and dancing to make Campbell smile; I don't think they get a lot of kids in there. The doctor was in right after the nurses finished their routines. The verdict - no concussion and no stitches. The nurse put something similar to superglue on Campbell's cut to seal it closed and sent us on our way. We were home less than an hour after we left.

Campbell seems to have recovered. He was cranky for a few hours, but then he took a two-hour nap and woke up to be the life of the party. The bruise is going to look awful tomorrow, though. I'm sure it's going to turn lots of different colors.

The rest of the day was good. We hosted all of B's family, and everyone behaved themselves. We had old and new friends join us. There was lots of laughter and telling of stories and lots of good food - including B's Beef Wellington. It was too cold to sit outside, so we all crammed inside, but no one seemed to mind. It was a happy event - just what Thanksgiving should be.

Happy thanksgiving to everyone reading this.