[You will notice I have taken a bit of a hiatus from my latest blogging style.  To be quite frank, it was a bit boring for me.  I was merely giving a factual look into my day-to-day events, and, well, that's just not me.  So I have transitioned back to what I had before...only write when I have something to say.  Well, that day has come.  I hope you enjoy.].

She told us that she would be working Thursday evening.  Her comment was more than obvious that she wanted us to be there.  I told Jeremiah that I just hate this stuff!  He was a bit confused, so I had to explain myself...

"She's cute, man.  She's fun.  And I just know that I will be there.  I already know it.  I hate that.  I'm stronger than this, I know I am!"  But we both knew that we really weren't stronger than that.  Sometimes women just have power (that we readily give them, of course) that just makes us alter our plans...

That was Tuesday.

Well, here it is Thursday evening.  And there I am, in Wal-Mart, buying some beef jerky for my waitress.  It's a long story.  Ok, so it's really not.  An old man comes in and gives her gifts.  On Tuesday, he came in and gave her an apple.  A green one.  She then told us that he sometimes goes dumpster diving and gives her items that he finds...like bubble gum.  Out of a dumpster.

I was quite taken aback by that comment and was waiting for her disfavor to shine through.  But that never came.  "I just think that is so cute!  He dives in a dumpster for me!"

Hmm.  Not what I had expected at all.  NOTE TO SELF:  Chicks like dumpster diving.  Remember that.  Ok.

Back to the story.  So there I was, buyin' some beef jerky for her.  She had dropped a comment that that would be the perfect gift.  Boy, was I on that.

So I drive over to the restaurant and order myself a root beer float.  Mmm mmm, I love those!  She is actually not my waitress, but she comes over anyway and asks where the beef jerky is.  I tell her she's quite demanding (and, of course, don't let her know that a bag is stuffed underneath my shirt!).  But I did end up givin' it to her later.  Awwwwwww....

Yeah, Andy worked some mojo.  Mark it down.

Ok, ok, but that's not even the part of the story that's fun yet!  Where was I?  Ok, ok, so Jeremiah calls me, asks what I'm doin', and I tell him...so he swings by, too.  He orders his root beer float, and happiness was all around.

Well, we couldn't stay there all night, so he asked if I would like to go out for a little adventure.  Um, sign me up.

So here's the deal.  Jeremiah has Siberian Huskies.  He breeds 'em and sells 'em.  A pretty good gig if ya ask me...makes about $500 for each puppy.  Five or six to a litter.  Do the math.  I think I shall take up dog breeding!

Well, as the story goes, Siberian Huskies are known for one thing.  (And no, it's not breeding).  It's mushing!!!  These dogs love to run, they love to pull, they love to trek across the Alaskan wilderness.

But seeing as we were in Chanute, two out of three would have to work.  So there we are at his house, gettin' Deek and Nala out for a little run.  We didn't have a sled, and we didn't have any snow.  So we went with the next best thing:

Skateboards!!!

No lie.  Turns out that it's a pretty impressive set-up.  I had seen a video of Jeremiah doing it before, and these dogs just pull him all over Chanute on his skateboard!  Rather impressive!  I can get used to that!

Now for the other side of the coin.  I haven't stepped foot onto a skateboard in at least 15 years.  My brother used to have a red one (Wal-Mart bought???) back in the early 90's.  And I can remember NEVER having any skills on it.  I simply couldn't skateboard.  I just didn't have it.  I could stand on it just fine.  I could maybe even go five feet on it just fine.  But I couldn't pump and kick and get goin'.  And I sure couldn't turn.  Or stay balanced while moving.  Just not my thing.

So with all those things considered, I told Jeremiah I was ready to go!

"You nervous"?

"Absolutely!"

But we were off.  We grabbed the boards and headed down to a street a 1/2 block away.  Jeremiah gave me one of the leashes, which was conveniently connected to a body harness around Nala.  He took the other one, and Deek took off running!  The sound of the wheels on the pavement was pretty loud...but Jeremiah was off!  This is pretty sweet!

And, of course, Nala was ready to go!!!  She saw Deek take off and couldn't wait!  So I hopped up on my board, and she took off...pulled me right off the board!  ha!  So I pulled back on her, hopped back on the board, and Nala now had some catching up to do!

And boy did she take off!  Like a bat out of hell!

The wheels were a'spinnin' now!  Louder and louder, faster and faster!

I'm thinkin' "oh wow this is really fast!"  And just about that time, maybe only 30 feet into it, I do the quick assessment in my brain that went something like this..."ok, she's still speeding up...and frankly, I have no control...I mean, I'm good right now, but I really don't have balance...I'm still up, so that's good...but this is goin' to get ugly real quick...wow, she's still running harder and harder...slow down, girl...not goin' to happen...this is probably not a good idea...there is no way I can hold this....she's still speeding up...this is not good...if I threw my feet down, I am hitting the pavement...this is so not good at all...faster and faster...hmm..."

And about that time, (and I really have NO idea exactly what happened), I remember my skateboard go out from under me.  Whether I tried to step off before I reached terminal velocity or not, I'm not sure.  Whether I just finally lost control, I'm not sure.  But I remember going parallel to the pavement, and I land straight on my chest first...

And that causes a huge force to knock my head down...and my chin nails the pavement incredibly hard.  BAM!!!

And here is what I remember...I remember looking up ahead of me and seeing Nala sprinting off down the road almost movie-esque...just gone, even passing Jeremiah and Deek.  And I have no idea how she had managed to get out of my hands...I had my hand through a loop and was holding on to the leash.  I also remember looking the other way and seeing a car in the road, and I wasn't sure if it was parked or coming my way.  And that's about it.

So I stand up and grab my board.

Hmm.

That's blood.  I am dripping blood off of my chin.  Probably not a good thing.  And not just the "oh it's just a scrape" blood.  This was more the "um you hit hard and deep" blood.

Did I mention how hard I hit the pavement with my chin?!  I mean, it was a head-knocker.  That image is pretty vivid in my head...all the way down to seeing the pavement and parked cars as I hit.  BOOM!

I hear Jeremiah yelling at Nala to come back, but I see her taking off into the distance.  But what could I do?  I was powerless.

"Are you OK"?  Jeremiah yells from down the road even as he is still moving...concerned about me but keeping an eye on sprinting Nala.

I yell back.  "Is your house unlocked?  I might need stitches...my chin."

I find out later that he hears "shin" and doesn't really think much of it.  Well, I walk back to the house and leave Jeremiah yelling at Nala who is still running away.  I just saw blood keep dripping, and I didn't know how bad it was.  But I knew that I should probably find out.

I get back to the house and check it out in the mirror.  Hmm, not as bad as I had expected.  Good.  Just a small, solid pile of thick red blood.  But as I tilted my head back, my good news turned a bit uglier.  I wiped the blood away with wet toilet paper.  Um, yeah, about that.  No butterfly strips are goin' to fix that puppy.  No superglue here.  I have a decent-sized gash/hole in my chin.  It's not bleeding much, but it's pretty gnarly.  It's too wide to just ignore.

I don't want to go to the hospital!!!  grr.

Well, I must've forgot that I was in Chanute, Kansas.  People do things differently around here.  Jeremiah eventually gets back, and I am holding the wet toilet paper over my chin.  He checks it out, and his comment makes me know that it is as I thought...not easily repairable.

So he makes a phone call.  To a doctor he knows.

"Hey, this is Jeremiah.  Hey, you remember Andy, right?  Well, he is probably going to need some stitches.  Do you have your stuff at home"?

ha!  Are you serious?!

Well, it turns out that he didn't have his goods, but we drove over to his house anyway.  Might as well get a professional opinion before heading to the hospital.  He confirmed what I seemed to already know.  The gash was just too wide.

And the next thing I know, I find myself in his vehicle on my way to the doctor's office 15 miles up the road!  I am going to have my very own private doctor's visit!  We arrive, he unlocks the door, and we head inside. 

I hop up on the doctor's table that I know all too well, and he starts gettin' his tools.  I lay on the doctor's table for the next 30 minutes, and he and Jeremiah fix me right up (no lie!).  No worries, though...he's a professional, and he went through the whole procedure...novacaine, gloves, proper tools, etc.!  It was quite an experience!  I couldn't see anything goin' on (obviously because it was my chin, but also because he put that fancy paper over my head so that he could just focus on my chin).  He had the fancy glasses, the bright lights, everything!

Turns out I needed six stitches after all was said and done!

Jeremiah kept saying how "meaty" my wound was, and the doc kept sayin' that I did a good job.

The way I see it, if you're goin' to go, go all out, right?!

Well, I've decided to hang up my skateboard career for another 15 years.  Can't wait to see what happens when I'm 40.

A dog, a skateboard, and a doctor.

Just another night in Chanute.