Jim's refiners' fire!

One of our all-time favorite bits of family lore illustrates one of the pivotal moments in Jim's life, one he has really never recovered from.  When Kasey was probably two months old I actually left her for the first time to go to homemaking night (that's what it was called then).  I was beyond excited to get out of the house and go to talk to grown-ups and to regain some sanity.  (Kasey was a screamer!)  I left her with Jim and detailed instructions, hoping that all would go well.  Alas, it was not to be.  After a very fun night that I still remember clearly, a great meal and lots of fun that only a night at homemaking can provide, I returned home.  As I walked in the door Jim was sitting on the couch, he was paler than usual and his eyes were kind of bugged out, big and round.  My heart plummeted.  The evening had gone awry.  I braced myself for the worst and quickly scanned our apartment looking for Kasey.  "She's in bed."  Jim spoke softly and stared straight ahead, like he was in some kind of shell shock.  I quickly asked him what happened and he finally recounted his evening, though he showed little emotion, it would take a while to actually recover.  After I had left, the crying had begun.  He could do nothing to comfort her, so he began giving her bottles.  After a bottle she would still cry, so after the second bottle he had her on his shoulder and was patting her back, trying to comfort her.  At that point she lifted her little head, turned it towards her father, and projectile vomited right into the side of his head, mostly into the ear, but also liberally covering his glasses, hair, and just generally the whole side of his face.    He cleaned himself up as good as he could with baby wipes, but could not get in the shower until Kasey finally cried herself to sleep.  At the end of his narrative, he simply kept saying "It was awful, hon, just awful!"  From that point on Jim could not stand the smell of formula, and the mere mention of vomit still makes him physically ill.  Incidentally, Kasey was a champion barf bag until she was way past two years old.  Guess who got to clean up the vast majority of it.  You guessed it, yours truly!!