Tripping Over the Cat

Last night I told my husband, "I can't believe it's only been a week since the ALA ride".  It seems like a lifetime ago.  As you know, I have some pretty serious pain in my foot following the ride - enough that I bought a walking cast from Amazon.  Due to financial concerns, we were really hoping that that would be enough to get me through.  Unfortunately, by Friday, it was apparent to me that it wasn't.  My foot was hurting worse than ever, despite the cast, despite staying off it (for me), working from home, etc.  It just wasn't getting better.

Jedi didn't want me calling the doctor, because x-rays would probably be ordered, and in the end the treatment might be RICE and a walking cast - what we were doing already.  Whole lot of money we don't have for nothing.  I didn't feel right, but I waited until he left for errands on Friday morning and then called (illicit phone calls - sign of good marriage).  

After I gave my info to the nurse, she immediately said, "I know you!!  I saw your family earlier this week!  They are so cute but man they are a MESS!!!".  Girl child is still sporting her stitches, boy child his scraped nose from his tumble over the weekend.  A mess, indeed.  I replied, "Yes, and that's going to factor in here...."  After explaining the situation, the nurse agreed to sign me up for an office visit (only) later that day, and told me to be completely non-weight-bearing.  And by the way no driving - someone was going to have to drive me. Jedi was less than amused when he came home.  We had a wedding cake to make that day, little dude's swim practice, and while he is 95% supportive of everything, the three things he dislikes most are baking wedding cakes, money, and doctors.  So cutting him some slack on this was warranted.

I did what any self-reliant, mature, reasonable adult would do.  I called my mom crying.  Mom agreed to drive the hour to my house to take me to the doctor, so that Jedi could carry on with his previously planned day.  She even brought enough gear to stay overnight.  An extra adult set of hands.  Love mom.

Grandma has her hands full.  Watching the Lorax.

So off to the doctor we went, with a very excited little pumpkin in tow.  Girl child decided hanging with mom and Grandma was more fun that watching her bro's swim class, and she was wicked excited to show off the awesome Halloween costume that Grandma made for her.  (Aside - I do not care what my kids are wearing.  Really almost ever.  Ever since they have developed free will and the stubbornness to insist on wearing their pajamas to the grocery store or picking plaid pants and a flowered shirt for school, I just don't care.  Jedi still fights this fight.  I do not have the energy.  I think they look cute no matter what).

Lil' Pumpkin in the waiting room

The doctor examined my foot (lots of poking - ouch) and explained that x-rays really were essential.  If it was broken, which he suspected it was, I'd need a plaster cast and to be on crutches for 8-12 weeks.  I swear I stopped breathing for a good minute then.  8 to 12 weeks?  Impossible.  Not feasible.  Later, a friend would call and ask how I was - when I told her that possibility she said "I want to see you on crutches for 12 weeks.  Are they gonna install wheels and some sedatives for you???".  Yeah.  The alternative was a deep bone bruise or fracture too small to be picked up, in which case I could keep my walking boot, but be on crutches for 2-3 weeks and in the boot until fully healed (no pain).  In either case, no driving.

We got the x-rays taken and went home to wait for the results.  And by wait for the results, I mean stack and decorate a wedding cake while Grandma chilled out with the small ones.  I did manage this, even on the crutches, and against all odds it turned out ok.  My x-rays came back negative (Hallelujah!).

The following morning both kids had soccer.  Jedi had to take over my coaching duties for my little guy (boo).  Grandma and I did go to the field to watch part of the practice, before she went home.  All four of us delivered the wedding cake to the reception - it made it there in one piece.  Girl child did develop a MASSIVE nosebleed on the way home, which turned what was to be a brief stop at a friends house to borrow nicer crutches into a 30 minute pit stop while Jedi attempted to stop the hemorrhage.  (The phenomenon has continued all weekend.  Stitches and clothes that look like Carrie wore them to the prom.  My poor little girl).  I've been watching a lot of The Next Great Baker - I want to create a reality show where bakers have to compete with two small children thrown into the mix.  For real.  Buddy Valastro doesn't have fractious kidlets in his box truck or underfoot while frosting.  Just saying.

So now I've been on crutches for exactly three days.  This is also impossible.  It feels like it has been years.  I hate them - I am clumsy.  I fall.  I am forever tripping over the cats and the children.  Stairs are a huge pain.  We have a split level house, which means that everything is either up or down a short flight of stairs from me.  I go to the sink to pour some water and realize I have no way to carry it back.  The phone rings and it's across the room, but my crutches are just out of reach because I either put them down wrong or someone knocked them over.  I give up and walk without them, only to have my foot start throbbing again after three steps.  I am going insane.

Batty bat

This weekend I did manage to do some productive things.  I started processing the mountain of carrots that boy child and I harvested last week (in my boot - not smart).  Carrot muffins, lots of frozen carrots.  I made dinner in the crockpot after eating bananas and plain pasta the night before for lack of food.  I made the little guy's Halloween costume (he's a bat).  My inability to use the presser foot on the sewing machine reinforced the "I can't drive" issue. I made a wedding cake topper of two brides and their mountain bikes (not easy to sculpt out of clay, btw).

Some big carrots...

But mostly, I've been sitting.  A lot.  Watching tv, reading.  I've even gotten sick of HayDay (it's less entertaining when you're not on pain killers).  I've started to take serial pictures of the cats in my lap.  To make it worse, it is the peak of fall - it is gorgeous out.  Perfect running weather.  Gypsy's half marathon is in a week - she is crushing her training.  Hummingbird ran a PR and made it to the podium in her 10K this weekend.  Legos and many other friends did the Electric Run at Gilette.  I am so proud of them all, and more than a little jealous.  Trying to focus on the proud.  (Jealous is winning).  

"Draft" of Mnt. Bike Brides

I feel like it will be months before I'm even back to where I was in my training before I got hurt.  Even once I'm cleared to run, I'll have to start brutally slow.  Having to say goodbye to my fall race schedule is killing me.  Moreover, my general inability to get around, leave the house, and function like normal is killing me.  Thank god it's only a couple of weeks.  I should be able to make it a few weeks.  After all, I made it years of my life without training.  Having to rest and take it easy is a sentence many people would love to have.  It's not all its cracked up to be... but I'm trying.

After trying to figure out how to get into the office (which is 45 minutes away) this week for some important meetings, I finally had a temper tantrum at my boss and threatened to go out on disability.  In true Scarecrow fashion, he told me to do whatever I wanted, but that he'd handle those that are telling me I have to come in.  Work from home.  Get comfy.  So that is the plan for the next two weeks - these 4 walls and my cats.

two nights ago....

yesterday afternoon

Andy cat seizes the lap!  Last night

Dissent.  Tigger wanted the lap and is sulking

When it Rains it Pours

 It's been a busy few days.  For one, we have had back to back BIG cakes to make.  The kind that required me to take time off my full time job to complete (yes, this is what I use my vacation time for.  It is sad).

The first big cake was our first call to be a "Sugar Angel" for Icing Smiles, Inc.  The mission of Icing Smiles is to match bakers to families that have been impacted by the critical illness of a child.  We signed up with this nonprofit organization over a year ago, so were very excited to be called.  There are two types of cakes - regular cakes and "Dream Cakes".  Dream Cakes are tiered, carved, or otherwise very special.  In other words, not a project you can phone it in on (in case you are the sort of person inclined to do less than your best for an ill child.  Which I am not).

We were given our child's name and a theme - Hello Kitty.  Abbie is turning five years old, she likes chocolate, and her favorite color is red.  This is what we came up with:

Abbie's Dream Cake

This cake got my kids' seal of approval, which was comforting.  Nothing like the thumbs up from the resident five year old girl to predict that the five year old in question will like it as well.  Which she really seemed to when she came with her mom and grandma to pick it up tonight.  Some things are really, really worth doing.  This was one of them.

Immediately following the Icing Smiles cake, we had another monster to do.   This one, a wedding cake.  Wedding cakes are a big deal partially because of the extra pressure to not mess them up, but also because they take a long time to bake all the layers.  A three tiered wedding cake has 3 layers each, which in a traditional oven like ours, keeps the Jedi up to his elbows baking for about nine hours straight.  Which makes him grumpy.  Which, when we have to share our small kitchen while he bakes one cake and I decorate another, makes everyone grumpy.  So.  Normally we wouldn't have booked a wedding cake on top of the Icing Smiles cake, but there were some car repairs, and.... gotta bring home the bacon.  Frosting.  Whatever.  So anyway, all that baking and six hours in the kitchen today stacking and decorating, and here is the finished product:

Birch themed wedding cake

I will admit I'm partial to the nature themed wedding cakes.  As well as any cake that I get to hand-paint, which is something I'm actually pretty good at.  I finished this cake around 3 pm today, and since the little dude had swim at 4 pm and Hello Kitty was picking up at 6 pm, I found myself suddenly with three hours alone.  To myself!!!!  Oh what is a mom to do??

Running with Bud.
Good for speed, bad for distance

My training in the last few days has been next to nonexistent, due to a massive migraine that laid me up for three days.  The pain medicine alone was mind-expanding enough for me to come up with everyone's nicknames, so you can bet I wasn't doing much exercise-wise through it.  Except for one short run/bike with my little guy, the biggest highlight of which was me losing the nice custom earbud from my new Pear headphones, I'd been a complete lump.

Up until this point in the day, it had been beautiful and sunny. But this is fall in New England, where the weather changes more often than a teenage girl picking a prom dress.  So I checked the weather forecast.

See that?  ZERO percent chance of precipitation before 5 pm.  A likely story.... Anyway I decided that IF it should rain, better to be on foot than on tires, so I hit the rail trail near my house for a four-miler.  I kid you not - the skies opened up as soon as my sneakers hit the dirt.  By a half a mile in I was soaking wet.

Run turned Swim

It wasn't very cold, so I proceeded with the run as planned.  After all, better the wet than the heat, right?  My slow pace and the sore legs made me seriously question my ability to ever run 13.1 - as a single serving OR as part of a half ironman.  But I'm trying to table negative thoughts.  In the rain.  Good luck.

It's raining, it's pouring.... but pretty

Predictably the sun came out at mile 3.8.  Of course.  Why not.  And I had clear blue skies by the time I arrived back at home (two miles down the road from the trail).  Ahhh.... fall in New England.....

The best part?  I found my earbud.  In the mud, in the downpour, on two miles of trail that I'd lost a day previous while chasing my four year old on his bike.  Let's hear it for small victories!

YES!!!!!!