Chris and I decided to do something out of the norm for New Year's Eve. What normally would have been spent by staying in, watching movies, and falling asleep before midnight, was instead spent partying it up at Embassy Suites on the River for their Rock the New Year bash. Our friend Lisa came up from St. Louis, and we joined eight other friends for a party at the hotel. We had a blast! There were two live bands, a DJ, and a mad game of Beer Pong going on in our hotel room. It was a lovely end to a great year.


The next morning started off with a bang. Our house has all hardwood floors on the first and second stories. For some reason, the silly previous owners decided to carpet the stairs going up to our bedroom. Chris was coming down the stairs wearing his slippers and fell down the stairs. He thought he broke his ankle, and try as I might, he couldn't be convinced that it was just a sprain. The Starostka in me wanted him to stay home and walk it off. If it were bad the next day, then he could go in. Instead we ended up here:


Mercy Medical Emergency Room. Lisa and I passed the time in the waiting room by attempting to solve a rather difficult crossword puzzle while Chris was wheeled back and forth between rooms. It took two hours of xrays, tests and more waiting for them to tell us that it was just a sprain. They proceeded to wrap his foot in an ace bandage and gel splint while I about fainted after seeing the $40 price tag for just those items alone. Not only did I have an ace bandage at home, but it also costs maybe $8 at WalMart had I not. After the $40, plus whatever ungodly amount it actually cost to go into the ER, I wasn't about to buy crutches from them either. But after not being able to borrow them from anyone, I finally had to splurge this morning and go spend yet another $40 so Chris didn't have to hop around.

Hopefully he got it all out of his system and the rest of 2009 is smooth sailing.