Sweet and Very Talented

Black Friday-a busy, exhausting day in which thousands of people all over America fight over slightly discounted items enthralled with a rush of adrenaline when finding themselves victorious in making a purchase.


The only thing that I wanted was a $34.99 Christmas Tree.


Which I got-after A LOT of hassle.
But that's another story.



After purchasing my Christmas Tree my sweet and very talented mother offered up her Christmas tree decorating services.


Which I readily accepted.


She drove an hour to my house and we started off by getting the tree up and fluffing branches.

Next we made a trip to walmat where we purchased ornaments and lights.

Then back to my apartment where we started decorating the tree where my sweet and very talented mother could work her magic.



Unfortunately we took a little detour.

Just as we began opening packages of bulbs and ribbon my sweet and very talented mother made a decision that for as long as I live will never make sense to me.


It involves wire, a serrated knife, and a finger.


I think you get the idea.


After nearly cutting off the top half of her pinky finger my mother calmly stood and made her way to my kitchen sink, exclaiming meekly:


"Manda, I think I'm going to need a band-aid"


Me still unaware of what exactly was going on I took my sweet time in my medicine closet looking for a band-aid.


After a short and unsuccessful search, I let my mom know that we didn't have any band aids and that she should just wrap a paper towel around it to stop the bleeding and then we could carry on with the decorating. I stopped mid sentence as I walked back into my kitchen to find my sink covered in blood and my sweet and very talented mothers face as white as a ghost.


I realized that a paper towel wouldn't cut it.


She asked me to look at the wound and help her decide whether or not it was "stitches worthy".


I kindly reminded my sweet and very talented mother that although at one point in my life I wanted to be a nurse, I no longer have the desire (due to may things, including a weak stomach).


She insisted.

I looked.

I'll spare you the details.


BUT...


My stomach did a flippy thing and then I started to sweat and then I closed my eyes and...


She needed stitches.

We got in the car and tried to made our way to an instacare in orem, a 10 minuet drive that somehow seemed more like 110 minutes. I was freaking out. My mom was breathing heavily.


Finally we made it to the instacare where a Nurse let us know that my sweet and very talented mother cut an artery and would need 6 stitches and a very painful shot.



Mom was such a trooper, she didn't even cry. And the with a numb finger and tetanus injected arm she was still willing to come home with me and finish the tree...sans serrated blades.



At the end of the day it was a memorable experience that we'll laugh about in years to come, but more importantly my decision to not be a nurse was again validated.