Limping

Ever realize you inherited something from your parents you wish you hadn't? Maybe it's a funny-shaped nose, a bad speech impediment, or a monstrosity of an heirloom you can't justify giving away?

Well for me, it's my knees.

Thanks Dad! ..and Grandma, and probably half the family tree. Psst! I woulda been fine with the nose! In all reality it's not just the knees, it's all my joints- neck, ankles, shoulders- they all kinda creak and crack and ache more than your average 24-year-old's joints should. But right now, it's the knees that have really got me down. Er, no pun intended.

In the last couple of weeks they've started acting up like they haven't in awhile. It's always been the right knee that caused me problems but it seems I might be compensating for the right one with the left, and causing pain there as well.

I got online to research a bit, looked up the "lateral release" my doctor suggested we do and well, basically I found a whole bunch of pictures that made me slightly queasy. I did find this one though:

Helpful, no? Honestly I have no idea what all the means except that it seems to be that patellar ligament that's causing me problems. However I think it gives this post some validity... and anyways I like it. It's nice- neat, clean, simple. How a knee should look. I can't find a good picture of how I think mine actually looks but I can promise you it doesn't look that nice.

So anyway, there is no real reason for this post other than to get to complain and draw you all into reading a blog about my knee pain. But have no fear, at least I'm getting help! Doc prescribed some nice strong pain meds, (which I'm not taking because of the possible effects on other things before mentioned in this blog) and I'm on my way to having surgery to hopefully fix the problem! Doc is on vacay till next week so I'll keep ya posted on how things progress from here...

In the meantime, if you have perfect, lovely, amazing knees. Take a moment to appreciate them.

Things you do in Michigan in Wintertime

It's time for a new post and I don't have anything major to report. I also don't take pictures all that regularly, and when I do, my computer is too slow to upload them and/or let me edit them.

So as I sat down to post this evening I thought back on the last week or so and realized that all I've really been doing outside of work lately is find new ways to keep myself from going stir crazy. I figured those are as good a thing as any to write about so here goes!

Lately I have been...

Practicing "retail therapy." Ok, I don't actually practice this all that often but yesterday I had a bit of a bad day and decided to take myself shopping. I needed to get out of the office and had already eaten lunch so I went with the old standby- Target. Mind you, I don't really like to buy stuff to make myself feel better (well, the smart half of me doesn't...) but yesterday was just one of those days where I felt it would be ok to splurge on myself, just a little.

I wandered the isles, looked at jewelry, clothing, even housewares. I really do need a new teakettle. But I finally arrived (arove?) at the pajama department and my heart went pitter-patter.

I love PJ's.

I really love cute PJ's.

There is nothing better than putting on something that is not only warm, soft and totally comfy but also makes you feel cute.

So here is what I got: Striped Hooded Sleeptee

It's comfy, it's warm, it has a hood... and it was $8.59!

It made my day.

I also found a necklace for $2.98--I wasn't going to buy it. So frivolous, so cute...and it matched the nightie. Not that I'd ever wear the two together...nah. I caved and walked out of that silly store with $12 less in my pocket.

It was worth it.

The other thing I've been doing is going for long, ear-numbing walks with this:

You can't really say no to that face- trust me, this face has even more control over one's mind than shown in this picture. Just stare into those eyes - one brown, one blue - and you'll don jacket, ear muffs, scarf, boots and 3 pairs of mittens at the drop of a hat.

His gas is pretty terrible too- it has it's own mind-altering powers.

Last but not least, I've started working on some projects on this website: Scrapblog.com

I would show you all the cool things I can do with it... Only hubby has the fast computer and this one doesn't like anything having to do with pictures, editing or awesome online digital scrapbooking.

My next winter project? ....Convince said hubby that I need a better computer so I can nurture my habit...

Back from Vacay!

It's cold here...After a week spent in Florida it's been a real treat getting used to this cold weather again! Ever the Michigander I sucked it up and dealt with it when I had to scrape off my car that first morning, but let me just get it out of my system once: “BRRRRR!!!”
Anyways, Florida was a fantastic time. We fished, tickled for lobster, snorkeled, ate out at yummy restaurants, and my favorite- got to pet and feed a manatee! Mom said he was my Christmas wish as he showed up behind the boat on Christmas morning! Practically gift-wrapped :)
The highlight for me (besides the manatee), was getting to really relax. When we went to Reno/Vegas there wasn't a whole lot of relaxing to be had since we had all kinds of activities pre-planned before we got there! Plus, Andy is such a “go-go” kind of guy that on this trip it was nice to let him and Dad hang out on the boat, putzing around, while Mom and I could go do “girl things” like reading a book, swimming in the pool, or shopping for deals in the fun local stores.
As with every good vacation though, by the time it was over we were glad to be home. We missed our pets, our friends and even our jobs. Andy always misses flying when he's not doing it (we HAD to make stop at the Marathon Airport one morning!), but I missed my students at church a lot too. Samson, Louis and Mr. Whitaker were happy to see us as well.

Finally...Florida!