guess what i did today?

i have been remiss, dear reader, to not update after the sturm und drang of my last post… yes, i indeed went to my surgeon (i LOVE him!!!!!!) and… duh duh DUH!!!! i am cleared to return to work! yay and huzzah! my bone is fusing appropriately and my MRI was much improved. he thinks the discomfort i still have (which has been improving over the last 3 weeks) is muscle spasm related and will subside with appropriate activity increase, PT and continued use of muscle relaxers.  i am going back to work monday (YIKES!!!), but no more 16 hour shifts for me. and i am going to try to aim for certain case specialties and nurse anesthesia resident cases to minimize my lifting etc.. unfortunately, my first PT appt isn’t for another 2 weeks, but i hope i get a good therapist who can give me some real and practical strength building exercises and guidance to resume activities. i can even resume erging (thats the rowing machine) on LOW resistance for SHORT times. WOOT!

i have resumed my “running” program. theoretically, it is the physical therapist who will assess and clear me for normal activities, but i am doing the infamous walk/jog (WOG) deal, and honestly, given my time off, i ain’t running long distances, but i am committed to getting my mileage in to complete that damned 1/2 marathon i am doing in early january. so this week started off with a bang – 2 4mile “runs” and the long run supposedly 7 miles this week. today i completed my second ~3.55 mile wog at a combined pace of ~13:40. now, thats slow, but i was surprised that i even did that distance in that time given a)no real cardio since mid july and b) the first 5K i ever did, that i trained for, took me 50 minutes of honest jog time, so, though not the jock hottie i want to be, i think it is a more than respectable start. the distance is what it is due to the fact that i am back outside and trying to develop running routes i can do straight out the door. i haven’t even figured out what i am going to do saturday as the thought of just doing the current route twice makes me think i will hurl from boredom.

i feel pretty good actually, relieved. although, at the moment, i belieive i am having what is called a muscle spasm, probably from the running maybe, the fact that i didn’t, until about an hour ago, take any pain meds/muscle relaxers today and that i sat out by the pool and ended up having an hour long chat with s dude, not too much older then myself – a dentist actually – in the building who had his hip replaced. we compared recovery stories and i was twisting around to talk  quite a bit. god i am old.

i feel happy this week because i am indeed officially in crush hood (my pessimistic nature insists i follow that statement with the declaration that y’all need to prepare for more crash and burn heartbreak blogging in the near future therefore) and i am feeling happy over podcasting efforts and an upcoming disney online community event of which my podcasting power duo blog partner and i are taking part in as sponsors! i still have tons to do to get ready to go back to work, but i feel happy!!! (side note – i was indeed on the rag when i posted the last couple posts of doom – i feel the need to share that as i haven’t posted on the period periodicals lately and, with my birthday coming up quick, i realize i probably won’t have old auntie flo to kick around for much longer).

oh, and i VOTED today!!!!!!!!

  

i know on which side my brad is battered

funny how things come to you, you know? i’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows at home in the last two weeks. and of course, there has been a lot of disney talk and thus thinking about food and the various restaurants there.

its sort of an ongoing thing with me, the “foodie” thing… i believe i posted, way back when, a prized dinner bill from the french laundry back in the day, and i grew up in marin county, north of san francisco, so, i have to remind myself, even as the foodie tidal wave continues to rise, that not everyone has the same expectations or mental images of, say, salad or an entree presentation. in fact, i am foodie enough to be judgemental of the new ruby tuesdays commercials on the tube (i mentioned i’ve been seeing ALOT of tv lately, right?) and to know that sauce squiggled on a plate from a ketchup squeezer is sooooo 1987… and yet, i also judge those foodier than thou individuals who – like every chef on top chef – who refer to “flavor profiles” and “protein combinations” – it drives me iNSANE!!!!

i ventured out of the house a bit today and was listening to an interview with stephanie, winner of the most recent top chef, listening to her talk of the aforementioned flavor profiles (and cringing – though getting hungry), and thinking about sitting down and writing a really good post about that whole dichotomy – i’m waaaayyyyy “foodier” than probably most of the population, but not sooo cuckoo that i am not only growing my own herbs, but feeding them to my own free range goats from which i make cheese and chops. no, i would write a blog post that was pithy, insightful, cogent,  snappy! hell – i may capitalize! and, if i title it appropriately, it could get read by somebody… important. maybe linked to! maybe commented on by mario or nancy and, oh! what a chuckle we shall share!

and then i found this in my inbox: 

 

 

nuff said. enjoy!

odds and ends

• getting a good list going, i think, of things needed to prepare for the upcoming surgery and the following 6 weeks off work and probably 4 weeks on NO DRIVING. things like: get cash from ATM, stock up on non-perishables (diet pepsi, toilet paper, dog food, laundry detergent), get all my prescriptions for post op ahead of time, library books, etc…
• re: the weekend before last and the cute poolboy/vomit covered crime scene – OK. riddle me this batman – this guy has been calling me for 2 weeks. all the time. i have actually barely talked with him as he never leaves a message and i am a screener. and he always shows as “private number”. and there is somewhat of a language barrier issue i guess as i asked him his #, wrote down what i thought he said, but it wasn’t a working #. i since had HIM write it down, and none of the numbers he wrote remotely coincided with what i had thought he said. ok. so he has come by the apartment a couple times and has been asking me out. actually, it’s been kind of cute and not scary stalky. i mentioned he is BEYOND hot, right? so yesterday, i slunk to the gym – i am still feeling like a bloated tomato, to get on the elliptical. he poked his head in as he was at the pool and apparently has an eagle eye for unshowered bloated tomato girls. i said i’d be out there later. he knocked on my door in a bit to see when i was coming out there. when i came out, he came and sat by me – and – thinks i am very cute, even in my bloated tomato state! ok! it’s all good! so we hang. we chat and flirt. he invites me out last night, but i demur, explaining (for the 11th time) that i am a big tomato, not feeling really great right now, what about next weekend. mostly, i just want to go out with him and the fabulous euro people when i feel foxy, my neck is not hurting and i am physically and emotionally prepared to party all night. he walks my dog with me. gives me a kiss so long. calls me (which i answered) on the road to meet his friends. calls me on the way back from meeting his friends. wants to come over. just for a few minutes. i say fine. answer the door in ugly pjs and a blanket. he is cute! wants to neck, i again am like, its not a good time. then he wants to ask me something I HATE THIS PART

 he wants to ask if i am dating anyone. i say, not really right now. he says he is. ok i say. and sit there. he asks 17 times if this is ok. i say sure, yeah whatever. THEN he says that he and i can never MARRY because i am not jewish. and he apparently keeps kosher. i mention that my dinner was a delicious filet with gorgonzola on top. he says this is gross ( i hope that wasn’t weirdly antagonistic of me!!). he is weirdly hesitant. i say…..um, are you married??? he says no, but he has a fiance. um yeah. ok, well, if you have a fiancee, i think we probably should not be talking and flirting in such a way! he sort of nods and then he left and wanted to kiss me goodbye.

so – donna and i are taking bets on how long till he knocks on my door again….

• lots of blogging and computer stuff to do today. feeling ok. unbelievably to me, i actually have taken all of the 8,000,000 pain pills my doctor gave me two weeks ago. still taking these muscle relaxers three times a day. steroids did nothing (but the 10 pounds) to relievediscomfort. hopefully they will refill said pain medicine and not insist i bump up my surgery date. i figure, as long as i am not losing function, i am just going to treat discomfort with drugs as much as possible to just make it for 2 more weeks
• i have some new crushes and i think i might be driven to make a list…

don’t page me, bro

i’m on call again. at home. only 18 more hours left of call!! woo woo! i’m lazing back on the couch bed, streaming “a prairie home companion” over the internets, and perusing the internet whilst crazy maggie is intently waiting for someone anywhere to make a noise so she can bark spastically. 

it’s a little gray and kind of chilly outside. side note: how can the weather site at the lower right corner of my msn homepage (yeah, keep yer comments to yourself) state: virginia beach- current temperature: 45, high/low: 58/56. cannot they see that this doesn’t make sense? it irritates me. – in any event, on call days like this i just kind of lie low, i will lay around a while, take mags out again, then do some cleaning projects around the house. i am planning both bathrooms (they are small) and scrubbing down the kitchen tile )also small area).

i want to get back on a better eating program and am perusing recipes towards that end. i know i have whined alot about wanting to lose weight, but really in my head at least, i want the goal of eating healthfully. ideally, i would like to be vegetarian, perhaps vegan, i personally love the taste of meat however but i have problems with the industrial complex that is meat production. i don’t have a problem per se with the fact that is the food chain and that some animals eat meat. it’s just that the whole thing is so wasteful, cruel and disrespectful. although, what do i personally do, really, in my life to stand against all the facets of society that are like that? i mean, i shop at walmart from time to time. is target really better? i don’t know.

i feel like maybe the spring really is brewing because there is a stirring for me inside. a tiny hint of light to motivate me towards some of the personal goals i harbor. getting finances in order – really sticking to a budget is what i need and i just don’t do it and then about every two years i spiral into a little debt whole of panic and it’s just stupid. i see more personal growth, relationships (i hope!!!), working with miss maggie, exercising, lots of good stuff.

as long as they don’t page me, bro.