The game needed me

This "weekend" of mine has flown by.  With friends making coming in from out of town for the holidays, the baking and the xmas crafting I haven't had much time to sit around.  Gone are the days of being a cripple who does nothing.  It's a blessing and a curse I suppose.

Tuesday I got to craft in a group and it was amazing.  I hope it can be a more regular thing and not just a once.  Ever.

Wednesday I was supposed to go shopping, but decided I should sleep instead.  I never usually turn down shopping, as it IS one of my favorite past times, but I was tired.  Brandon comes and wakes me up about 40 minutes later to see if I wanted to ride motorcycles.  I couldn't go back to sleep so the two of us did about an 80 mile trip out to Lincoln and back.

Katie was in town and we went to dinner and then to the bar.  I had a ton of fun and chair danced a lot of the night.  There were quite a few people there and it was far from a dull evening.  I didn't get to bed until about 4.  I was very tired when I woke up at 9 to get to my folk's place to start baking.

Today I made 3 lemon meringue pies and helped with the pound cake Jeannie Mae made.  I ate so much I thought my stomach was going to explode.  I filled myself so full I didn't have much room for dessert, but...me being me, I shoveled it in anyway.  Fat kid status.  Brother and I got so full that once we sat down we were physically unable to get up.  It's a good thing I spent that 3 minutes working out on the rowing machine before dinner got started.  I showed that meal who was boss.  There were only 8 of us for dinner, which seemed awfully empty, but it was an extraordinary group of people that I was very happy to have close and share dinner with.  I can't think of a single Thanksgiving where the entire party could fit at one table.

Katie came over pretty late after visiting with her family and I drove her home.  I'm not looking forward to going to work tomorrow, but I am happy there won't be any traffic.  Gotta be happy about the little things, right?  Gotta keep that PMA until my new schedule come January!

83 with a short term memory

My Aunt Nelly's 83rd birthday was today.  A fews years ago she had a stroke and lost her short term memory.  Ever since then she's introduced herself to me multiple times, including during the same visit.

The funny thing about her not having her short term memory, is that she remembers she can't remember.  So usually the introductions go something like this:

"Well hello dear.  And who are you?"

"Hi Aunt Nelly, I'm Dennis and Jeannie's daughter Rijel!"


"Oh well, is that right?  You're all grown up now."

"That I am!"


"Well, it's good to see you again.  Now I lost some of my memory and can't remember much anymore, so I might tell you who I am again later.  You'll just have to excuse me."


So you usually get 2 or 3 introductions at every event, but it's always fun and she's always so sweet about "meeting" you.  Also, on the way out she generally hugs you and says, "Well, it was real good to meet you!"


Depending on how everyone's feeling sometimes we'll introduce ourselves as someone else for funsies.  Then, we'll tell her who we really are about 30 seconds and she'll laugh and tell us she doesn't have a very good memory.  She's quite light hearted about the situation and seems to enjoy the joke.

Since Brother and Amy just got back to town mom and dad were wondering if they'd be joining us at the birthday party.  I sent Brother a text message.  The response I get:

No, tell her we were there though...she'd never know! =p

Needless to say, I called Brother a dick, laughed out loud (literally), then showed my cousin and parents the message and then we all laughed together.  Things are much funnier when there's truth behind them.

I wanted to throw my crutches away today.

This afghan flabbergasts me.  It's crocheted, which means that it's already harder to make a good looking picture, but the artist pulled it off, and quite well.  If I were at all artistic I would attempt something like this, but I know it wouldn't end up as nice...or looking like I would want it to...or ever be completed.  Perhaps one day.  I have ideas on how even I would be able to complete something like this, but it's a lot of work and I'm afraid to take on such a task, especially since I don't know what the outcome would be.  One of these days I'll get over worrying about it and just get it done.  One of these days is just far away, long after the smaller projects I want to attempt are completed (or I've been defeated by them).

Audrey.  Oh dear Audrey.  So elegant and stunning with such large feet.  I love her style.  Everything about it.  Completely timeless.  She dressed to her body style and never strayed far from it.  Her slim pants, collared shirts and a-line dresses.

If only.



Physical therapy today was good.  I did a lot of stretching and I can tell I'm gaining muscle.  Although it was pointed out later in the evening that my legs are obviously different sizes.  That's okay though, I'm going to be diligent about regaining my strength, muscle and mass this time around.  I don't want another surgery and stabilizing my knee through my quads is a high priority.

Not only did I eat breakfast today, but I also had dinner and dessert.  Lemon bar.  Delicious.  Good company too, but the visit was cut short and I went to pick up Brother and Amy at the airport.  Did you know they have a free "cell phone lot" at the airport now?!  Up to 3 hours free parking while you wait to get the call to go to the loading zone.  That means no more hanging out in the gas station parking lot!!  Woot woo!!!!

Where the Wild Things Are this weekend!!!  I've been ramping up all week for this movie and I'm totally excited to get to the theater to finally watch it in all it's glory.

FIVE FREAKING DAYS.

Autumn is settling in quite nice

The weather today was beautiful.  I woke up early (for me anyway) for the second day in a row and went to breakfast at Vintage Cafe with Jack & Jill.  I got a delicious breakfast quesarrito (yeah...not quite a quesadilla and not quite a burrito) and tea for under $4!!!  The 3 of us got to sit outside and people watch and while Jack barked at other dogs, Jill and I conversed with ourselves.

After I made it back home, Jack (from Florida...not Jill's dog) came over to visit with Alissa and I before he heads home to the east coast tomorrow.  It was nice visiting with him while he was here!!!  I was able to talk Brandon into making elk chili for dinner and invited Jody and Amanda over to taste the scrumptiousness that B makes.  I also had some crane melon delivered which is almost gone already.

After reading The (not so) Little Things about banned books (including The Giver, which is still top 7...but probably only because I hardly read any more) I went and ordered up a couple books.  I'm actually pretty excited about them getting here.  I've actually wanted to read the past couple weeks and that isn't a feeling I've had in YEARS.  I ended up getting the 2 books by Lois Lowry that followed The Giver and I also got Scepticism, Inc.  Although I have absolutely no doubt that I will start all of these books (at separate times, of course), only time will tell if I actually finish them.

Tomorrow is physical therapy, pool time.  I'm hopeful that my knee won't lock while I'm in the water.  I AM looking forward to "walking."  I can imagine it will be the reason I will be excited to wake up in the morning.  

I think a miracle happened today.  A ton of things totally fell into place.  I got 5 robots from AdamD (check it and reserve yours: 100 Robots).  I communicated with ALL but 2 of my closest friends and BOTH brothers today.  I ate grapes instead of ice cream, cookies, brownies, yogurt or candy.  I had tea instead of coffee or a mocha.  I'm gonna keep that PMA and say tomorrow will have such treasures. 

4 desserts. 1 day.

I should've taken pictures of all the lovely treats before I devoured them, but I did not.


This weekend consisted of an epic urban adventure, the best of friends, porch sitting, delicious dinners, laughing until I cried, Shirley T's and making new tremendously fantastic friends!!


I'm growing more and more excited every minute about being able to stand up straight with two legs on the ground.  Come Wednesday I will hopefully make that a reality.  I miss standing up straight to put on make up, shower, talk to people, look in the refrigerator, etc.  These are things I generally took for granted.  Lucky for me, I've had to deal with this type of recovery in the past (not quite as bad before) and I took advantage of every walk, jump, skip, squat, shuffle, stair I could.


I think I might make it to the gym tomorrow to get on the stationary bike and try to work off 1/4 of one of those desserts.  Probably won't happen, but it's the thought that counts, right?!  RIGHT?!?!?!  Maybe I need the Scotty work out video instead so I can become a hard body.


Here's a pretty sweet picture of Brother, Grandma, Grandpa and I circa 2003.  Check out my super sweet double chin, thin eyebrows, long-ish hair and 15 extra pounds.  Grandpa LOATED taking pictures...I'm glad he was a good enough sport for this one (even if he wasn't looking at the camera).  

Ice cream cupcakes

Are my new second favorite dessert.  The only thing above them are the key lime tart pie from Cafe Mekka in Nevada City.  By far the best key lime cheesecake/tart/deliciousness that I've ever put in my mouth.


My knee seems to be stagnant as far as flexion and swelling goes.  I ice it multiple times a day, but the thing is still swollen on the inner knee are.  It's also still turning purple and my toes grow twice the size when I stand for too long.  I'm going to ask the doc about this when I go in for my check up next week.  I'm pretty sure it's normal though.


Tonight the roommates and I got served a "loud party notice" from the local law enforcement.  I think it's because Alissa talks so loud. Or maybe it was just a joke.  Regardless...our street cred just went up.  That's right.  We throw raging parties.  Parties so loud that the cops who were on our street 100 feet away could hear us and decided to serve us with a notice before anything even happens.  Yessssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hopefully our neighbors saw and are now mad jealous.  Maybe they think we're outlaws.  Maybe they think we've done something terribly bad and that's why the cops keep showing up at our house, perhaps to interview us again and again.  Yeah...we don't mess around!!!


I got a package in the mail today from my brother in Connecticut.  My dad informed me of this via text.  I asked him what was in the package.  His response:


"Don't know.  I don't open private mail.  


It's a federal crime."


I told him I'd be over tomorrow to pick it up.  


"Pray.


That was supposed to be pray


Otay


Fucking spell check"


My dad rules.

A lengthy and amazing birthday

First off, I wanted to make sure I thanked everyone who sent me a happy birthday message, email, text, facebook, myspace or called.  I tried to get everyone, hopefully I succeeded.


All the night before Brandon kept telling me how I needed to go to bed early because I had to maybe wake up early.  I barely got any sleep all night because our house was ridiculously hot and I was filled with anticipation.  I mean...26, that's a milestone, right?!  At 6:30 I got a birthday call from New York.  At 7:30 I was sung the happy birthday song by my amazingly adorable 4 year old cousin and at 8 I decided I couldn't sleep any more and got out of bed and got ready for the day.  While I was in the shower grandma called to wish me a happy birthday and left a voicemail telling me I was lazy because she'd already been awake for 3 hours!  Super adorable!!!


I got a phone call from Bryce just after 9 and decided I was going to go wake up Alissa and Brandon.  I felt too bad about thinking of waking them up and finally they rolled out of bed around 10.  Both of them were completely surprised to see that I was up, awake, showered, in my birthday skirt outfit and ready for the day to begin!  They took me to an unknown destination for tasty birthday breakfast (Fox & Goose!!!!) where I got an olallieberry scone with devonshire cream, amongst other delicious treats.  We got back to the house and I fell asleep in a food coma.


There was a loud pounding on the door and next thing I know, Maria and Orlando are in the house with ICE CREAM CUPCAKES (WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!) and an ice cream sundae!!!!  They couldn't stay long, but they wanted to make sure they stopped by to say hello and happy b-day!  After eating ice cream...I decided a nap was in order.  I awoke from about an hour/hour and a half nap and Will said he was coming over to visit for a short while.  While Will was at the house, I put him to work in carrying some pizza and garlic bread back to the house so I could take it to my folk's place for a combined birthday/35th anniversary dinner.


Alissa and I headed out with my bicycle in tow.  We got to my folks house to dine with Bryce, Jody, Amanda (+baby),  Kip, Mel, Sydney, Emre, Brother, Amy, Scotty, Brandon and the 'rents!!!!!  There were more people there than I expected, so it was a pleasant surprise!!!!!  After a FANTASTIC dinner and visit with everyone, we headed home.  Just as I sat down I got a message from Jill saying she was headed to Rick's Dessert Diner with Dan, Buddy and some additional amazing people in tow!!!!  I told her right then that I would be there to indulge some lemon cheesecake.  I realize that with all this food...how could I be hungry?!?!?!  For dessert even?!?!?!  There's ALWAYS room for dessert!!!!  Maybe I'll just put on a couple pounds!!!!!!


After dessert, I headed back home and Peter came over with a care package of Shirley Temple ingredients, apple crisp and a gigantic cup full of Jelly Belly!!!!!!!!!!!!  Peter got Alissa and Brandon a little tipsy and Brandon some how coaxed everyone into his room to watch youtube videos of the Slap Chop Remix and some fat kid on a roller coaster with his mom laughing at him the whole time.  Go B!

Me? Go to bed early?

I may or may not have forgotten to take pictures of my knee for comparison. Apparently I was WAY too busy to be bothered with that task today. I did, however, find the delightful creature above lurking amongst my clothes. The day consisted of waking up ridiculously late (as always), hanging out on the machine for about 7 total hours and getting picked up by Brother for dinner with the family. When I wasn't at dinner, I was watching tele and a few movies. Pretty busy day. Or not.

It was nice enough today to sit outside for dinner, so we did just that. When it was time to leave dinner, my 4 year old cousin started crying because she just didn't want to leave. Brother and I laughed for a while, because how often does crying work in getting what you want? I mean, getting out of tickets is a whole other story, but as a kid?! Then we started talking about how when we were young we remember the one punishment that worked the best. Turns out Brother and I had the same reaction. Punishment: cold shower. Clothes and all, mom or dad picked us up and threw us into the shower and held us in there. We stopped throwing our fit and started crying because we were so shocked. The one thing both Brother and I remember crying about: "But, but, but...I'm still wearing my clothes!!!!!!!" I specifically remember being sooooooo bummed because I had JUST taken a shower. That's what I got for throwing a gnar gnartantrum! I don't EVER remember getting another cold shower after that.

I've got dreams of waking up earlier tomorrow, but we'll see how that works out since it's almost 5 already.

Favorite quote of the day: "I need you to see Final Destination 3D with me. It combines my 2 favorite things, 3D and final destinations."

First day back at home

Being home for an entire day was pretty sweet. Alissa came home from work last night and took me grocery shopping. Right when we got back she made cheesecake and today when she got off work she made me a late dinner. Apparently she became amazingly domestic while I was gone. Score!

I made it out of the house for a couple hours today to watch Brother and Brandon play soccer. Dad showed up and delivered a few things I had forgotten at their house and to watch his son's team lose terribly. By the time I made it home my leg was all purple and slightly swollen. I think I need to ice it more and try to get this swelling thing under control, even though the doctor said it's not uncommon for the knee to still be swollen...even this late in the game.

Brandon decided he wanted to see how sitting in the machine was, so he did a few minutes and decided it's not too bad. I don't think he'd like being in it for 6-8 hours a day though. While he was in the machine, I was doing some strengthening exercises out of the machine (part of my rehab). One of the exercises I do is pretty much the same thing the machine does for me, only I use my own muscles to bend and straighten my leg (which is actually really difficult for me). As I was bringing my knee up, I think I probably made a good 115 degrees of flexion or so, I was looking at my knee and I hear a POP and see part of my knee kind of loosen near one of the dimples. A STITCH BROKE. I doubt it's bad and it's an internal stitch, but it felt weird and freaked me the fuck out. I got a little apprehensive to continue with those exercises right away, but once I realized I wasn't a wuss and started the exercises again it looks like I have more flexion. It's also not as tight and straining in that area of my knee. But it was still fuckin' scary when it happened.

Perhaps I'll take pictures tomorrow and compare to see if I can tell the stitches popped.

Day 2?

Surgery yesterday. Got out of the hospital and home by 7 last night. They put some sort of shot in my leg and now the whole thing is numb!!! I can feel my toesies, but not my thigh or much of anything else on my leg. I'm braced up and good to go. I feel like I can use my leg to walk around on (since it's all numb) but I'm not. I'm keeping off it like I need to.

I thought for sure I'd be pretty messed up when I got out of surgery (especially since my surgery 2 months ago I threw up multiple times the first night home). This time I was able to wake up fairly quickly after I got to the post op room. I also felt totally fine. No nausea, no headache, no pain. I also sent a few text messages that didn't make any sense...maybe I'll go through and post some of those later. After going through a few...they prove to be slightly entertaining. I think now quite a few of my friends know how I would be drunk. I also made some amazing facebook posts that involved me thinking I got jizz in my hair while I was under. Pretty awesome.

I went to bed last night/this morning around 6:30...waking up at 8:30 and not being tired. Hence the blog update.

In other news...I get a CPM machine for my leg. I think it's supposed to be delivered today and I'm to use it for 8 hours a day. I'm not at work but still have 8 hours devoted to something else! Crazy.

They said I only have to leave this bandage on for 72 hours...then I can shower and check out my war wound. I hope it's big and gnar gnar like they promised. I'll be pretty bummed if it's some baby incision again. Especially with all the hype.

Best news about this: doctor said I should be able to PLAY SOCCER AFTER THIS IS OVER. Brother, watch your back. I will annihilate you!!!!!