Those Who Can't Run..... Register!

Pass the tissues, pass the cold medicine.  I have the plague.  I started to feel it on Tuesday, and tried to beat it into submission with a running workout in the nice warm gym (instead of outside in the freezing cold as originally planned).  No dice.  So yesterday and today I've done my best to rest.  Which, for a working mom, means pulling a 10 hour workday online from home while simultaneously juggling the kids, making dinner, and staying up until past 11 just to enjoy some peace and quiet and put off having to wake up and do it all again.

I wish I could say this to everyone....

To me feel that much more like Parent of the Year, we forgot to take our daughter to dance class.  Just completely escaped our minds.  Now she doesn't have it again for 2 weeks because of the holiday.  Parent.  Fail.

So today, as I am still working (and attending my son's preschool Thanksgiving celebration, picking up daughter at school, making dinner, and working on Christmas card), I decided that since I'm not up for anything athletic, and since my credit card is already smoking from all the online Christmas shopping I've done, that I would go ahead and plan/register for my 2014 race season.

First up is the Sterling Freezer 5 Road Race on New Year's Day.  Jedi and I have a tradition going back even to before we had kids where we go to bed early on New Years Eve, and then get up early on January 1st to do something that reflects how we want to coming year to be.  We've done hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, and on years where I was 9 months pregnant or had small kids, smaller outings like lunch and a museum or similar.  So I after this fall's injury, I really want to start 2014 with a race.  I will likely still be walking parts, having not quite finished my Cast25K program by then, but at least I'll be out there.Several friends are doing it as well, and the Jedi has kindly agreed to come scrape me off the pavement if needed, since it is close by.

Next on my dance ticket is the Raleigh Rock -n- Roll Half Marathon with Rio in April 2014, but that is already booked.

My first triathlon of the season is the brand new Greendale Triathlon, hosted by my home gym and in the very lake that I learned to open water swim.  Seems appropriate.  It's also four weeks before my first Oly, the New England Trifest up in Fairlee VT which I'll be doing with or in the company of my brother and sister-in-law.  This one fills up early, so I registered for it as well.

I plan on my last Oly in the year being SunMultisports Cranberry Trifest, but registration isn't open on that one yet.  Thank goodness.  I might be running out of credit card space.....

With all these races, I also stepped up and bought an annual USAT membership.  Boo yeah.  I feel official now....

How do you get over colds quickly?

Have you ever forgotten to deliver/pick up your kid somewhere?

What's on your 2014 race schedule?

Reflecting on the Good Stuff

Reflecting.... get it??  Because it's getting dark SO early (and getting light SO late), it's time for a chat on safe running practices.  Today I went for Week 2 Day 2 of my Cast 25K program after work.  I left right at 4:00, after explaining to my team in a meeting earlier that, despite the fact that we had a vendor flown up from North Carolina in all day meetings, I really needed to leave in time to run before it got dark.  The response was blank stares - tough room.  But I think the organization problem-solving awesomeness that I had laid out for everyone in the morning session more than made up for that.  So anyway, my slavish devotion to my job landed me on the streets in running gear about about 30 minutes before sundown.

Home sweet office

I had with me a reflective slap bracelet I got for free at a running store (this photo is deceptively dark).  I finished just as the sun was going down, after waving that sucker for all I was worth at all the passing cars on my route.  As I was wearing a green tied-dyed running hoody and grey pants, with the exception of that bracelet I was probably about as eye-catching as a pinecone.  Very bad.

So this is the heart rate graph for my workout, which consisted of three minute walking and one minute running intervals.  The blue is where my HR was supposed to be.  The line is what I actually did.  2% compliance.  Now, it has been said that I am a headstrong idiot set to self destruct mode have stubborn-ness issues.  I prefer to think of it as determination.  But I cannot deny that I ran those one minute intervals at increasingly high paces until my last one was just over a 7:00 minute mile pace.  Oops.  You might also notice that I ran a bit longer and/or earlier than strictly necessary on some of them.  So much for perfectly sticking to the recovery C25K plan.  In my defense, I have no pain in my foot for the first time since before Labor Day, so I was a little excited.  Plus, it was getting dark....

Before anyone starts yelling, I have more reflective gear on order from Amazon, plus I stopped at Dick's on the way home and got a strobe clip for future runs.  While I was there drooling over gear, this also happened:

This from the man who also told Gypsy and I that if we just rode our bikes fast enough we wouldn't ever get wet in the rain.  Hmm.  Thanks Jedi.

Earlier in the morning (before the organizational awesomeness meeting), Boss Scarecrow and I were chatting about what we like to do - really like to do - with our time to unwind.  He and his wife are all about the massages (who knew?).  I do like massages, pedicures and other typical girly stuff well enough, but honestly I decided my best "pampering" treatment is time alone in my own house with no kids and nothing to do.  Cat in lap, fireplace going, a good book, and maybe a glass of wine.  Or tea.  Whatever.

That conversation, the amazing blog No Cigarettes No Bologna's most recent post about guilty pleasures, and people incessantly daily posting of what they are grateful for on Facebook during the month of November has me thinking of what I most enjoy and am grateful for.  I'm finally figuring out that the "secret to life" is not having a deeply meaningful job, checking goals off a list, material possessions, or any other self-help style crap, but rather the continual pursuit of pasttimes that make you feel really really good.  As NCNB says "Kids dance like no one is watching, because they don't don't give a shit.  They just dance."  Amen, kids!

So in no particular order, these are my guilty and not-so-guilty pleasures. (I'll leave you to decide which I should be guilty about....)

• My cats.  You may have noticed this already.  I have two, and on any given day I would rather spend time in their company than just about anyone else on the planet.  I'm also convinced that they are the only creatures that love me unconditionally.  Even the white one, who pooped in my closet as a "welcome home Mom" present for me tonight.  I live every day with the assurance that when I am an old woman, when my children have grown up and moved out, and Jedi has left me for a 20-something with perky boobs at the ability to run a sub-2 hour half marathon, that I will be warm and comforted with the love of the many shelter cats I will have adopted.

• Really bad, trendy workout music.  Like that idiot song about crashing your car into a bridge on a summer day that plays at every race possible.  I become a thirteen year old girl while exercising.  I also have let this bleed over into my actual work, where I listen to Pandora turned to the "Cups Radio" Station all afternoon to stay awake.  A coworker once caught me humming a line from a Taylor Swift song - I didn't stop hearing about it for weeks.  Newest love is Lady Gaga.  Oh Gaga......
  

• Dancing in my car.  To music from #2.  To the point that people look at me strangely at stop lights.  To the point I take my hands off the wheel to clap during the chorus of Black Eyed Peas "Pump It".  (I only do this while alone, however.  That's not true - I totally car dance with the kids too.  With hands on wheel).  I also like to sing as loudly and as out of tune as possible while performing this action, even though I do have a decent singing voice.  I just like to scream in my car.  

• Fantasy novels.  No not that kind - my goodness.  You've got a smutty mind!  I couldn't even get past the first few chapters of 50 Shades for crissake.  I'm talking about anything involving dragons, lost orphans discovering they actually have magic powers, crystal anything... I'm set.  From Games of Thrones to Tolkien to all the lesser wannabe geek authors... this is my beach reading.  I remember being genuinely upset to turn 13 because I realized I was too old to get into Narnia.  Still am upset, actually....

• Wearing my husband's hoodies.  Especially when I'm sick.  Not the gross one that he wears every day (why??) with the zipper, but the pullover type with the Patriots logo on the front that I got him for Fathers Day five years ago and he never wears.  Even though they are way too big and I would never leave the house in them.  Maybe.....

• Glee.  I love reliving every adolescent moment of dramatic angst I had while being my high school's Queen Band Geek and theater diva.  You might remember that my tri coach Sheriff and friend Maid Marion also hail from this time.  I make no apologies and cried like a baby while watching the episode memorializing Cory Monteith.  So sad.

• Cuddling my son to sleep every night.  This one might sound like a cliche, but really - he is the best cuddler in the world.  I know that you're supposed to let children fall asleep on their own lest they grow up with severe mommy issues and an inability to self-regulate. And he can.  But he falls asleep within 5 minutes of laying down - ALWAYS.  He is warm and non-wiggly and his bed is comfy and he tells me that he will still need cuddles every night until he is fifty.  I wonder what his wife will think about that?  Oh well... she'll share....

What are your guilty pleasures?  How do you unwind?  What embarrassing things can you secretly not live without?

And how do you stay safe on the roads in the dark?  What should be on my Christmas list in this category?

Best Pecan Pie Ever

I've gotten a bit behind in this blog.  It's been that crazy combination of super busy leading to total sluggishness in the evening.  You know, where all you want to do is watch reruns of How I Met Your Mother and drink tea under a blanket.  I just finished up a busy season at work, paired with some organizational changes that felt like speedbumps.  Plus we've had family stuff on our minds.  We are redoing the kids' playroom from "Toddler" to "Little Kid".  Forget Swim Bike Run - yesterday was Paint Build Sew.  More of that today.  But with their toys and art supplies accessible, a great big new craft table, and reading tent I think it's a win.

Anyhoo, as penance I offer up this recipe - the best pie I have ever, EVER had.  We are practicing for Thanksgiving you see, so after my son made us pumpkin pie, my daughter stepped up to the plate for pecan.  Yes, I did mention it in my last blog post, but man that pie was so good and I've been thinking about it ever since, so it should be shared.

 Chocolate Caramel Pecan Pie

Start with a pie crust - you can make your own or use commercial.  Then follow the directions on the Karo syrup bottle:

• 1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans
• 1 cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips (if using). Pour filling into pie crust.
3. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.

I love chocolate, so the addition of the chocolate chips was my idea.  It's important to use the mini chips as opposed to regular sized - I have used those before and they don't melt into the rest of the filling - the chocolate sinks and becomes a hard lumpy layer right on top of the crust.

While the pie is cooling, make the caramel sauce.  Caramel is easy - trust me.  We make it all the time for our cupcake business.  All you need is sugar, butter, cream, and a block of uninterrupted time (I know - the last one is the hardest.  But I urge you to pop in a cartoon for this, because I speak from experience that caramel will turn from clear to black in the time it takes to run downstairs to help someone with the bathroom).  We use the caramel recipe from TheKitchn (would recommend halving this recipe for the pie, unless you like extras:

Caramel Sauce

makes approximately 3 cups
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups cream

Warm the cream in a small saucepan over low to medium heat. Don't let it boil; just keep it warm.

Stir the sugar and water together in a large, heavy, high-sided pan over high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and allow it to boil until it reaches a deep amber color. This will take anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on your pan and your stove. You will see pale yellow streaks, then darker ones appear in the center of the bubbling sugar. When you see these, swirl the pan carefully by the handles and be attentive. At the very first sign of smoke from your caramel, turn off the heat. By now it should be very dark amber. (You are looking for a dark caramel here, because you will be adding cream, so don't flinch and take it off the heat when it's still just pale gold!)

Immediately pour in the cream. Use a long-handled whisk to whisk it vigorously. Be very careful — the caramel is going to steam and bubble up violently! Add the butter and salt and whisk smooth. Return to medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly reduced.

Let cool then pour into a jar and refrigerate. This will keep in the fridge for at least two weeks.

Pour the finished sauce over the cooled pie and let cool as well.  Heaven.....

_____________________________________________

When not wolfing down 500 calorie slices of pie, I have been picking away at getting back to my triathlon training.  My podiatrist made me some nifty orthotics out of PowerStep insoles to wear with my running shoes, and they seem to help.  I took a few days in between Days 3 and 4 of Cast25K due to some impressive soreness, but I did squeeze in a quick run after work on Friday.

Llamas on the run.....

I'm up to the point in the program where you have to run intervals for a minute.  A minute seems to have become really long to run!  I feel like it's actually harder, because every runner I know, even die-hard marathoners, admit that the first few minutes of every run are the worst.  You never get to get over "the hump" and into "the zone".  Or I'm just a wuss.  Either way....

We've also had our first snow here, which is discouraging for outdoor activities.  But true to New England form, a few days after this picture was taken we had temps in the 60s.  Go figure.  The dark mornings and chill in the air definitely make it harder to get up and out the door to the gym at dark o'clock.  In fact, that has happened only once.  But again, I'm working on it.....

Brrrrr.... no way I'd getting out of bed

This morning Gypsy came and got me for my first bike ride since The Injury.  It's a cold, wet morning, and I was irrationally nervous to get back out on my wheels.  Much better to go with my tri bestie than solo.  Bless her for dragging my sorry balking blerching butt out of the house.  We did a slow (very slow - sucking wind on the hills!) ten miles just in time for the skies to open up and the rain to start.  Chilly, bone-soaking cold rain.  I'm still cold.  Whine.  BUT my foot held up ok, and we're going to try again next weekend.  

I'm getting back to the playroom triathlon for the rest of the day, working on crocheting the kiddo's leg warmers for dance, and generally trying to stay dry and warm.  I think I'll spark up the fireplace.  Yes.  Good idea.

Life at My Daughter's Speed

It's been a quiet weekend.  I don't think I've had a quiet weekend.... possibly ever in recent memory.  And I LIKE IT.  I thought about entitling this post "Rocking It" or something similar, in homage to this weekend's cake, but the reality is that once I got past the crazy ups and down and business of work, doctor's visits, and other stuff, the weekend has been slow.  Much more classical music in your pjs than rock 'n' roll.

Guitar cake - this weekend's project

Today the little guy was sick (actually, we are all sick, but he was really sick), so my Sunday morning swim with the kids turned into a solo outing with my little girl.  I should spend more time with this kid - because of all of her amazing, stubborn, lovable, and infuriating characteristics, one of her biggest is that she cannot be rushed.  She will spend a full hour in the morning to eat a bowl of cereal.  Putting on her shoes takes a good three minutes (even with Velcro - OMG).  While this drives me and Jedi to pull our hair out and bite the back of our fists on a regular basis during busy school mornings, it is actually a perfect weekend training pace.

Buddy's hat

Did I say training?  Yes, I am in training to relax more.  Cool, huh?  I have taken up crocheting - a skill that my grandmother and mother taught me when I was young, and that I've totally neglected since because it involves sitting still for so long.  Another skill I let lapse around age ten.  But after five weeks of enforced sitting, it turns out that I like just chilling out with a cat in my lap.  If they wouldn't try to bat the yarn so much that would help, but life's not perfect.  I've logged some serious hours playing video games with the kids and reading this weekend.  It is great.  Now that we've cleared our baking schedule for the rest of the year, I fully intend to spend as much time as possible mimicking my daughter's pace - taking my time.

So anyway, today for our impromptu girls date we first headed to the gym for a swim workout for me and kid gym for her.  We got out of the car and she asked "Mommy, can you run with me?"  So we ran giggling all the way up the parking lot and into the gym.  She said, "Wow Mommy you're a good runner!!!"  After my time off (really, any time) hearing my best little running buddy say that was worth more than any sub-3:00 marathon ever.  (Which is good, because let's just be realistic....)

I stashed her in kid watch, and headed to the pool, where I knocked off 1350 meters in just under an hour.  I have a new toy - a waterproof case for my IPod Shuffle that clips to the back of my goggles.  I had a Best Buy gift card lying around from about 2011 and used it to grab this baby while I was laid up, in preparation for a lot more swimming.  Let me tell you - swimming with my tunes is a revolutionary experience.  Love love love.  Just don't try to sing underwater...

For those interested, that swim set reads:

Warm-up:  1x100 swim, 1x100 pull.  Annnd reading this I just realized I did this twice.  Make that a 1550 workout.  Score!

Drills: 8x50 single arm free, alternating right and left every 25.  30 second rest.

Main Set: 400 m.  I timed it and did it in just over 10 minutes.  Considering this is faster than both of my sprint times for the same distance, I am calling myself happy.

Cool down: 1x50 swim, 1x50 pull, 1x50 swim.

I spent some time in the sauna, which I had never used before and now wondered why the heck ever not? Oh right.  I never felt like I had time to. Grabbed the girl, and we headed off for some early Christmas craft shopping and lunch at her favorite burrito joint. She was ridiculously happy to have the entire side of the booth to herself, and spread her lunch over her whole side of the table.  A lesson in spreading yourself out and making yourself comfy.  When I finished my lunch before her (of course), she convinced me to go back and buy myself some ice cream.  Who am I to argue with my teacher for the day?

Ice cream, soda, chips - oh yeah!

She takes her time...

We did eventually come home to check on poor sick little dude, to relax on the couch (she took a nap), and to finish her hat. Can't be all work!  She and Daddy took a break to make us a chocolate pecan pie, which I'm hoping is the sole element of our dinner.

Still wearing her pumpkin hat from her Halloween costume.
Five year olds rock. A friend suggested I do more of these and make a book
"Baking and Tri-ing with Your Kids" - what do you think?

I'm still chugging away at Cast25K.  I chose swimming today over running because after my last "run" on Friday my foot was super sore.  Ditto after swimming, so I think I'm making the right choice.  Will lace up again tomorrow.  Or not.  I'll see how I feel.  

I've got time.....

The Road Ahead

Today is my last doctor's visit about my foot.  The doctor yesterday reinforced that there are no broken or bruised bones, no damage of any kind.  The cyst is so small that there isn't any treatment for it, nor should it be causing me any discomfort.  Any remaining pain should be treatable by physical therapy and strengthening.  I expect that today's doctor will tell me much the same. 

Which is all very good, but it does leave me with a lot of questions.  What the heck happening in the first place?  Did I make it all up?  Could I have avoided the last 5 weeks in crutches if I just ignored the pain? Was I really doing too much?  Jedi and Gypsy have both told me that no matter what, my body was telling me I needed rest.  Ok.  I guess I just have to let it go and think about how to move forward from this point.

Only it's not just my foot that I've rested in the last month.  This time out of the flow of regular life has really put spotlights on areas that I'm not happy with.  I feel tired - the kind of tired that still hasn't gone away even after five weeks of video games.  (Actually it turns out that being a mom and working full time from home isn't actually that restful, but I digress).  I've always struggled with how to "do it all".  Driven myself crazy trying to make holidays perfect.  Remembering everything for school.  Having organic nutritious meals every night.  Having my daughter in kindergarten has been a big adjustment for the family - one that I haven't really absorbed yet.  I have to let some things go.

Similarly, our cake business was started at a time when my employment (yes I work full time besides the bakery) was shaky and not very demanding. I was looking for a creative outlet that I felt I needed at the time.  That has changed - what was once fun is now feeling like an obligation.  I don't want to use my vacation days from my full time job to make cakes anymore.  Maybe if I got to see more deliveries and see people happy with my work I'd feel differently, but the sad reality is that most of my customer interactions leave me feeling drained, not happier.

A friend posted this on Facebook last night - the Briggs-Myers personality test - which Star Wars character are you??  Geek jokes aside - I fell into the INFJ category  (Obi-Wan Kenobi - score!).  Introvert (yes, you read that right), Intuitive, Feeling, Judging.  I took this test at a job 10 years ago and scored almost the complete opposite. Something extroverted. Not so now. Under Obi-Wan it describes "Seeks meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions".  That sounds about right - I want my life to be meaningful.  I have a lot of frustration feeling that both of my jobs just aren't.  And I want to understand the WHY of everything... what to learn from my experiences.

What I've learned from the last few weeks is that I need more quiet time.  Down time.  ALONE time (sorry kids).  For the first time in years I can truly say I want my plate emptied.  I always whine about being too busy, but until now I've felt like it was the only way.  Now I want less.  We've stopped taking orders (except one last one tomorrow we couldn't cancel) for the rest of the year and shut down parts of our business like on-site parties and our Etsy shop.  I'm practicing say no to people - something that I am usually terrible at, but am determined to learn.  After learning to say no comes the learning to not feel guilty about it.  Baby steps.

In terms of training, I've also sketched out some goals for 2014 that I think are more appropriate and meaningful (there's that word again) that my previous plan of tackling the Half Ironman distance in June.  In the immediate weeks, I started a Couch(cast!) 2 5K program to get my running back.  The first day was yesterday - it was a gorgeous fall day.  I went straight from the doctor's office to my favorite section of the local rail trail.  30 minutes - 5 walking warm-up, then alternating 30 seconds of jogging with 3 minutes of walking.  It felt very weird to have only the lower half of my right leg be tired - the rest of me wanted to GO!  Today I am so sore!  A slow journey, indeed, but one I am committed to.  I would like to do the local Turkey Trot on Thankgiving with my family, but at my daughter's pace.  With luck that will be doable, and my only "race" left in this year.

So my tentative line-up for 2014 is:

• Raleigh Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon with Rio.  April 19th.  Since Rio just became a mom, this one will be a walk/run event
• Season Opener Sprint Triathlon, Hopkinton May 11th.  Same course as Title 9 - fun to compare times.
• New England Trifest Olympic Distance Triathlon, Fairlee VT June 29th.  With my sister-in-law.  Family + my first Oly
• Tour de Cure 150 mile ride for Diabetes.  July 12th & 13th
• Cranberry Trifest Olympic Triathlon August 24th.  Second Oly of the year
• American Lung Association's 160 mile ride.  September 26th-28th

Moving my goals back to the Olympic distance is a decision I feel so good about.  Having the HIM hanging over me was causing a lot of un-needed stress.  I also really enjoyed this year's ALA ride - two long distance charity rides, especially one for diabetes which runs in our family, and the ALA ride sponsored by my work has a lot of meaning for me.  Both as an athletic challenge in my favorite sport (biking) and as fundraiser for diseases close to my heart.

My goals for the rest of the year are to scale back as much as I can.  Make slow, steady, healthy progress toward regaining my fitness through my Cast25K program and swimming.  Enjoy the holidays without making myself crazy.  Rekindle some friendships I've let falter in the bustle of everyday life.  Spend more time alone recharging my batteries.  And since it is the month to be grateful, practice gratitude for my wonderful family and all the good things I am lucky to have in my life.  Like tiny pie chefs!

Little guy made Mommy a pumpkin pie.  How awesome is that???

Bible Smashing

No, this post is not about dissing the Catholic church or similar.  Yesterday I got the results of the MRI on my foot.  Delivered by the nurse at my general practitioner's office, who had zero other pertinent information (Like what now?  How do we fix it?  When can I walk again? etc.  eye roll).  Equally helpful was my podiatrist's office, who flat out refused to talk to me, look at me or my charts, whatsoever until my appointment tomorrow.  Thanks, medical science.

I know I know.  The suspense is killing you.  It just about near killed me too, because after five weeks in a cast and on crutches, I have absolutely no broken, stressed, or otherwise harmed bones anywhere.  In other words, there was never any need for me to be in a walking boot or crutches in the first place.  You've got to be kidding me.  I've wasted the last 5 weeks, my life, my work, my physical fitness, and all the strength in my lower leg for NOTHING.  The first thing I did after I hung up was march down to my car (I was in the office) and throw my crutches and boot in the trunk and slam the door.  Then stalked back into the building looking really pissed.  The receptionist was very confused, bless her heart.

See that tiny black dot near the arrow?  It shouldn't be there.

Ok - it's not exactly nothing.  What I have is a small ganglion cyst sitting right next to one of the key nerve junctures in the foot.  What it is is a small pouch of fluid that forms associated with a joint, usually in the wrist but sometimes in the foot as well.  The cyst often forms as a result of repetitive trauma, which makes a lot of sense, for a runner like myself.  This is also where the "rachet" for the laces of my bike shoes is placed, so a lot of pressure on that area when I ride.  Like the 100 miles I did the weekend I got hurt.   Mine is right where the first metatarsal meets the bones of the foot - right near under that big tangle of nerves in the picture

Nerves of the foot

Until recently, the home and official remedy was to hit the cyst as hard as you possibly can with the heaviest book you own (usually the bible).  Really.  I am not making this up.  The idea is that by whacking the stuffing out of the cyst, you pop it, your body absorbs the goo, and in about 50% of the time it doesn't come back.  Great odds, eh?  Heathen that I am, I don't own a bible, so Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is gonna have to do the trick.  Any volunteers?  No?  Jedi isn't signing up, so some of my coworkers said they'd do it.  Gotta love a supportive work environment.....

Many people find comfort in religion.....

 Alternatives to crushing my foot with a large dictionary and causing further damage is to have the cyst drained or removed surgically. Or wait and see if it will go away on its own.  Now this is the part I don't know about yet and have to talk to the doc about.  The cyst is possibly too small to drain, and also in an area with a lot of nerves - in other words where it might be ill advised to have someone go after with a knife.  I have two appointments in the next two days to meet with two different podiatrists to figure all this out.  Because although I am thoroughly enjoying not being booted and walking around like a (somewhat) normal person, it still hurts like h*ll.  Knowing what it is isn't changing that.

Group stretch!!!

So in the last 2 days I've been stretching.  Practicing walking with both feet.  Frankly, how to taper off the pain meds I've been on (if I can) without going into crazy withdrawal.  That last one is something I am ashamed of, but feel like I have to mention in this blog for the sake of being honest.  Trying to integrate back into the flow of my regular life.  That last one is a problem, because I've realized my regular life is INSANE.  Work is batty.  I had three cake orders come out of the woodwork for this weekend.  The kids are not down with my new-found freedom after a month of being chained to them.  I'm trying to figure out how to exercise again.  Christmas presents.  Social calendars.  What needs to be remembered in backpacks for school.  More work.  More kids.  How did I ever do this?  And how am I going to do it again?  Totally overwhelmed.  While I'm very grateful nothing is broken, I've gotten whiplash from going from zero back into life in the space of one phone call.  God help me.  Oh right - he already wrote that nice thick Bible.....

Hold. Really. Still.

Not me.  But looked just like this.  But the other foot

Happy Day-After-Halloween.  Last night we took our little goblins over to Hummingbird's house for a great spooky shindig - this girl outdoes herself.  Kid friendly food, seriously awesome fall sangria, followed by trick or treating with a mob of kids.  True, it was raining a little bit, and true navigating her hilly neighborhood on crutches was challenging, but all in all a great time.  At least three people asked me if I was in costume.  Yes, and my costume is my foot hurts - give me candy for asking stupid questions.  Anyhoo....

Halloweenies!

So this morning we all got up at 5:45 to get the kids packed up and off to their respective schools early (a huge thank you to my neighbor for getting Boo on the bus), and my to my MRI by 7:30.  Yes, I bribed them with candy if they would eat and get dressed fast.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

To get the feeling of an MRI, put a yoga mat down on your kitchen table.  Turn the radio up as loud as possible, and have someone jackhammer your front steps.  Lie on the table perfectly still for 30+ minutes.  This is an MRI.  They wheeled me in in a wheelchair, got me situated on the table, stuck a little marker where most of the pain was on my foot, then strapped my foot in, booted over it, and stuck me into the machine to about chest level.  Thank goodness not all the way - I'm claustrophobic.  They then took scans for about 30 minutes - in increments of between 2:30 and 5 minutes where I had to stay perfectly motionless.  The tech threatened me with even longer times if I wiggled.  So.  I treated it like interval workouts - watch the countdown clock.  Thirty seconds at a time.  After a while it become surprisingly difficult to stay perfectly still.  Whew!

So now, even though my doctor has the images, I have to wait until next Wednesday to find out the results.  Fingers crossed.

Not my foot.  But isn't it amazing what medical science can do?