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.