What's Happened to Saturday Night TV?

Growing up there was The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. What do we have now? The movie Pearl Harbor - which has been shown a number of times. Cops, Dateline, nothing that really grabbed me tonight. I am watching Without A Trace, but I'm not really that into it. Saturday night tv just stinks. I don't have cable or a dish, so I'm relying on local broadcast. What it's led me to do is play too many games of Eggz! That game is so addicting.

I did go to a movie today for the first time in over 8 weeks! Now those of you that know me know that I would love a job that combined movie watching and wine tasting, so 8 weeks is a long time. I had to "break the rules" and put my foot on the back of the seat in front of me - no way could I have had my foot down for 2 hours! Anyway, I went and saw The Hoax. It's about the author who claimed to write the autobiography of Howard Hughes. It starred Richard Gere. I thought it was pretty good. I saw The Aviator a couple of years ago, so I at least had the Howard Hughes story down. I'd recommend going to it for those of you who like movies. It's better than all of the other garbage out there right now.

The ankle is definitely coming along. I've been doing more and more walking without crutches. It's nice to be able to walk around the house without the click, click, click of the crutches. I can now also sneak up on people at work - they can't hear me coming. I probably tend to overdo it sometimes. This morning I woke up at 3:00 and my ankle was hurting and making it hard to get back to sleep. I was "this close" to taking a Vicodin, but I didn't - it's been over 2 weeks since I had to take one. It's been 8 weeks since the fall. So much has happened in that 8 weeks!

Maybe after Without a Trace I'll read a book. We'll see!

Have a good weekend!

Learn Something New Everyday

Steve helped me figure out how to link to websites without filling up my posts with the actual web address. However, in doing so I managed to lose part of my Crip-fucious post. I hope you read it yesterday or earlier today. I'm sure it was really good and now part of it's gone.

The good news is that I learned how to link. :) Thanks Steve!

Gnarly Scar Pictures

Check out the new links to the right - pictures of my foot. The right side of my foot has a nice blood blister from the surgery. It actually is about half the size it was. It is slowly "sloughing" off. The left side of my foot is the scar that I think will be more visible than the right.

Had a great PT visit today. The therapist worked the other bones in my foot to "wake them up" from the 7 week slumber they've had. It felt like a nice foot massage. I'm pretty sore tonight though - is it from the massage or maybe the fact that I'm getting around easier and so I'm walking alot more. Glad to be in my upstairs chair and soon to be bed for the night.

Crip-fucious Says....

"When you’re only wearing one sock a day, and you’re out of socks, it’s time to do laundry."
(OK, so I got that from another blog on broken ankles)

Good news and bad news....the good news is that the weather has been pretty great this weekend (with the exception of rain this afternoon). Highs in the upper 70's. The bad news is that my boot gets pretty dang hot! I have 2 socks that I wear with it and thankfully Steve is washing them as I type. So...I'm out of socks right now.

I'm actually getting around pretty well and doing more and more for myself. I did a load of laundry today, but since I needed both of my boot socks washed I had to have Steve do it. I'm sitting upstairs just waiting for the Hallmark Sunday night movie to start. It looks to be pretty good.

Today I've done a lot more walking around the house without any crutches. I walk a little like Quasimodo, but I'm getting around.

I even swept the kitchen floor! Part of that was because Steve and I made these awesome

VT and the News

Sad news out of Virgina this week. I learned yesterday that a young woman who went to my parent's church for a number of years was killed in the shooting on Monday. Austin Cloyd was a freshman at Virginia Tech and had lived in Blacksburg since the beginning of her senior year in high school. Prior to that she lived in my hometown. Austin was a beautiful girl. My thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and family as well as others who lost loved ones on Monday.

Back to the Gym

All good things must come to an end....my hiatus from exercise is over. Actually, it was great to get back to the gym today. I went after work and did 15 minutes on the "ergometer". The ergometer is an upper body cardio workout - like pedaling a bike, but with your arms. It just felt good to do something to get my heartrate up - besides just walking on crutches.

My one crutch walking is going pretty well too. I have to get warmed up in the morning - some people have reminded me that I'm not getting any younger. Once I get going, I can walk pretty well.

It was beautiful weather here today and I did think about the fact that had I not fallen, I would be training for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in June. Still pretty bummed about not being able to do that. Maybe that can be a goal for next year. Although, I may want to reconsider. Last year I walked and 3 days later I fractured my big toe. This year I was going to walk and broke my ankle. Hmmmm....

Down to 1 Stick - (Occasionally)

I met with a physical therapist yesterday and he gave me some exercises to improve my ankle mobility. He also taught me how to walk on one crutch (or stick as he called it). After yesterday I decided that I'd be on crutches until I'm at least 40!

Today I was describing my inability to walk with one crutch to a coworker. When I went to show her how bad I walk - it clicked and I got it! I was actually able to walk with 1 crutch all around the office the rest of the day. By mid-afternoon I was getting pretty sore and so was on 2 crutches by the time I went home.

I've been sitting with my foot up and ice on the foot for most of the evening. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Anyone watching the Price for me? I think there is a primetime special in May - I'll keep you posted when to look for it.

Take care.

I Didn't Drive (much over) 55

Today marked 6 weeks since my fall on ice. In order to "boost my mood," Steve suggested that I might want to drive to work. At first I was pretty apprehensive, but then I decided that it would be fine. The doctor had told me that I could drive. I just get to the car in my boot and once in the car I change out of the boot into a shoe and then back to the boot when I get to the destination. I had originally thought I'd wait a couple of more weeks, but....why not!

Sadly, none of my shoes would fit on my foot since it's still pretty swollen. Luckily one of Steve's tennis shoes worked just fine. So, we got me set up in "Little Red" (my new car from last fall) and I was on my way. It felt so strange at first, but I definitely enjoyed the freedom of driving myself. (I'm sure Steve enjoyed the freedom of being on his own for the day!)

I think it was good exercise to move my foot back and forth from gas pedal to brake. I drove with my right foot, however when I really wanted to push down on the brake I used my left too. I was very conservative in my driving - not a lot of lane switching, stayed around the speed limit and left lots of room between me and other cars.

I'm happy to report that I made it to work and back with no problems. Steve was on standby to come get me if I felt that I couldn't make it back. (also if I had a flat tire or any other problem)

So, I'm one more step closer to being back to normal. I don't plan on driving every day anytime soon, but it's nice to know that I do have the option.

I'm thankful it's the weekend! A full week at work and no Price is Right this week - I'm tired and a little sad. :)

Back at Work

As you can tell by the length between posts, I'm back at work full-time. It's going very well - although I'm very tired by the end of the day. I also am missing my daily Price is Right fix! It really is good to be back in the swing of things.

Everyone at work has been so nice and helpful. I have co-workers asking me all the time if they can get me a drink, lunch, go to the mailroom, etc. So, all in all the week back has been good. Although I am looking forward to the weekend!

Sorry - not much right now to write about, but wanted to add something.

Oh - check out this link....my favorite game to play right now - Eggz.

http://www.cbsgames.com/games/play/eggz

Take care!

Breaking News

Today was another appointment with my surgeon. I received clearance to start putting weight on my foot. I can walk with my boot on for the next 5 weeks. He suggested that I walk for a bit with both crutches, then down to one and finally all by myself. So, everything is healing as expected. May 15th is my next appointment and at that time if the x-rays still look good I may get out of the boot and into regular shoes!

I'm back at work full-time this week. It's good to be back, but I'm wiped out at the end of the day.

This entry is short as I'm tired and am heading to bed. Without my boot! Yes, I finally can sleep without a big boot on my foot each night. I'm looking forward to it, but who knows - I'll probably find myself missing it in the middle of the night and have to put it back on to be comfortable. :)

Road Trip to Seed Savers

Today marked my first "extended" outing since the ankle incident of '07.

Steve, my friend Tracy, and I hopped in the car (I literally hopped) and set off on a Road Trip to Decorah, Iowa to a place called Seed Savers - http://www.seedsavers.org/ . The drive took us through Rochester, MN and then just into Iowa. It was a gorgeous day out - nice and sunny. It was rather windy and quite brisk outside. Seed Savers is a farm setting that spreads over 890 acres - they have walking paths and of course - lots of gardens. Given that it's early here and it was cold, there weren't many visitors and we only explored the visitor's center. Steve picked up a couple of books, some potatoes, and I picked up some seed packets - both flowers and vegetables.

We then went into Decorah and had lunch at a little bistro in town. It was pretty good. We saw a gentleman there with his beard in a couple of ponytails. A little strange....

There were some little shops that looked interesting, but given my condition we just kept on going. We did drive through the campus of Luther College which is housed there. There was a statue of a big head which Steve graciously posed by for a picture.

Tracy knew of a bakery in Rochester that was good. So on the drive back we stopped at The Bread Baker http://www.breadbakercompany.com/index.html . Some great tasting bread!

It was a day of driving with a few stops here and there. It was fun getting to catch up with Tracy who just came back from Puerto Vallarta and was a great way to spend my last day of my time off of work.

I am back to full-time at work next week. Wish me luck!

Tired from Work (a.k.a., Mother Knows Best 2)

After a month off of work recovering from this broken ankle, I went back today. I worked about 5 hours and I was worn out! My mom had warned me that I would be tired. She was right! My mom had double knee replacement a few years back and she said it was good getting back to work, but she would go home at the end of the day and crash. Mother does know best!

All in all being back at work was fine. My supervisor had arranged for someone to come to my desk and help me get situated with something to rest my foot on and to make sure my chair was set up properly, etc. That was a great help! People were also very helpful - getting me a soda for lunch, carrying things for me, etc.

I got caught up with everyone in the department and started sifting through my emails. I can tell I've lost a few brain cells staring at the tv - I called a "manila" envelope a "vanilla" envelope. I just have to get back in the office groove again. Maybe I need to watch Office Space again! (Have I mentioned how funny I think that movie is?)

The nice thing is that I have all day tomorrow to recover. I'll be back at work on Thursday for another 5 hours and then back full-time next week.

Miscellaneous Items:

Ohio State let me down last night! I ended up in 8th place after they lost. No winnings for me. Out of the 18 people in the tournament pool, 6 were female, 12 were male. All of the women were in the top 10 in the standings and the top 3 (the ones who win something) were women. :)

Price is Right Watch - tomorrow I know someone who is supposed to be on Price. Her name is Ann - she's a brunette. Cheer her on if you can!

Debbie & Ebert - Movie Reviews for a Sunday

I finally made it into a Blockbuster and was able to stay long enough to pick up movies. (A week or so ago I tried and had to leave due to some little issue with my foot.)

So - today was movie day!

For Your Consideration - an ok movie. Nothing fabulous, but it didn't lose my interest either. It was rather short which helped. Basic premise is it's a movie within a movie and a buzz starts that a number of the actors might get an Oscar nomination. Ebert's review was very positive (www.rogerebert.com). He gave it 3 1/2 stars. I'd give it 2 1/2. It didn't help that the disc was scratched and kept "catching" during parts of the movie.

Stranger Than Fiction - good movie. It wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be, but it kept my interest and I thought Will Ferrell did a good job. The movie details the life of a man named Harold Crick whose life is being written by an author who is determined to kill the character at the end of the novel. He can hear her narration and quickly realizes what is happening. I won't give away anymore, but it was a cute movie. Ebert gave it 3 1/2 stars. I would have to agree.

Running With Scissors - haven't finished this yet. Very strange movie so far, very dysfunctional. Steve was around when I was watching this one and he asked if we could switch it out for another one. I haven't decided if I'll go back and finish it or not. We'll see. I know that you should give a book 50 pages to decide if it's worth your time or not. Not sure what the count is on movies.

Napoleon Dynamite - OK, so I finally watched this movie that some of my coworkers have quoted over the years - Gosh! It was good. I was ready for it to be pretty lame, so I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think I'll watch it over and over again like some people have - it's not to Office Space status. I'd probably give it 3 stars. Ebert gave it 1 1/2 stars - ouch!

As my eyes are now a bit blurry from so much screen time, I think I'll call it a night.