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Damian Will Eat Your Soul

Three (3!) Things Thursday!

1. Have I told you how much I love fall? Because I do. I love the cool overnights, and the changing leaves, and the peeks of sunlight, and the fog. I need to get a picture of the view I have every morning on my drive to work, but unfortunately, it’s hard to take good photos while I’m driving.  However, I stole this photo from the internet, and it’s pretty damn close (except that I am typically driving OVER the bridge and not floating around underneath it).

 

2. I also love soup. All soups. And this time of year, when it’s time to curl up under blankets and sip cocoa and cider, I want to have soup every day. However, I hate soup from a can, and am too lazy to make soup from scratch every day. I need to find some excellent recipes that can be canned so that I can make pints and pints of soup. Doesn’t this look amazing?

3. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my Damian-ectomy. To celebrate, I wore a pair of high heeled boots for the first time in way over a year. For an entire day. And there was walking! And I didn’t want to amputate at the end of the day.

Toesday – now with 95% fewer shoes pictures and 0% more foot pictures

I have no shoes for you today. I am too depressed for shoes. Why, you might ask?

Because of these:

They do not fit well. They hurt. And while pre-surgery, I was willing to put up with some pain in the name of beautiful shoes, not anymore. Especially not when they cost that much. So, back to kate they go. :(

Also, Nordstrom’s is all “buy your fall shoes!” and I’m not ready yet! (Unless you are – let me know – I take requests.)

*le sigh*

So, I am going to talk about feet instead. Because it’s still thematic.

My feet have been pretty good. I’ve been half-assedly doing my PT exercises, which is way better than the no-assed previous commitments to PT. (In fact, last night I even got my exercise sheet out and put it on my desk and looked at it!)

The running is going reasonably well. I hope. I am running 14 miles on Sunday. I need more biking & swimming, but am getting a little of that in, too.

What I really need more of (besides time) is strength training. That is my big FAIL in the exercise world.

I have been interrupted by actual work about a half dozen times since starting this post, and the idea of doing a fall shoe preview is growing on me (since I keep accidentally clicking on the Nordstrom boot browser). BUT – I will hold strong. No boots ’til after Labor Day (we have to have some standards, right?)

So – anyways, thanks for reading super stream of consciousness blog post of the day.

In summation: shoes = good; my kate spade shoes = bad; fall boots in July = bad but something to look forward to; feet = good; my performance of PT exercises = D+; this blog post = F.

(Did you like how I switched to a letter grade system at the end?)

 

Shoesday – Kind of

I have a confession to make, but before we get into the revealing tell-all portion of this post, I want to show you a picture. Of shoes, of course.

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Those are my sweet, kick-ass bike shoes. I love them. First of all, they are pretty cute for bike shoes. Second of all, I got them on super-duper-wicked clearance for $20 at REI. Go ahead & look at how much bike shoes cost at regular price. I’ll wait.

Expensive, right? And although I don’t mind dropping $100 for a pair of running shoes, $100+ for bike shoes seems steep (I don’t know why, but it does). So $20 bike shoes = win, right?

A few weeks ago, I had a pain in my left big toe joint region. I got X-Rays, thinking stress fracture. I blogged about it. I got referred to physical therapy. The pain went away almost immediately.

During the triathlon, it came back. During the bike portion. Which seemed weird.

I talked to my PT about it last week, and she has a theory. My toes are not flat. If I am standing, there is an arch in my toes so that the balls of my feet & tips of my toes touch the ground. This puts (apparently) a lot of pressure on the heads of my metatarsals (I am totally picturing foot bones with faces now, are you?).

So, if for instance, one had worn high heels, or pointy toed shoes, or done a lot of down-hill running, or, I don’t know, squeezed their feet into a pair of bike shoes that were approximately at least an entire size too small for them, that could exacerbate the problem.

My bike shoes are a size 5. My feet go in them. They are tight, but whatevs, I’m not running, right?

Apparently, I can squeeze my feet into too small shoes because my toes just curl up even more, causing more pressure.

The first time the badness happened, I had done a track workout 2 days before, and had gardened & biked the day before. A lot of foot time in too small shoes. During my 10 miler, there was a little pain in both feet, in that exact spot. During the triathlon – it happened during 12 miles in too-small shoes.

I may have to go buy new shoes, because apparently spending a little extra for shoes that fit is worth it. And I’ll need those shoes! I have another triathlon the end of July AND, the architect has challenged me! If I ride 1000 miles in 2011, I get a new road bike! One that might not vibrate violently at moderate speeds! (Only 866.7 miles to go! In 6.5 months. That’s 133 miles/month average. Dammit. I CAN DO IT, right?)

Shoesday!

I am just over 6 months out of my boot, almost 8 months post surgery, and 4.5 months pre-marathon.

So – “how are things with the foot,” you ask anxiously (I imagine).

I’m so glad you asked!

October 19, I was here:

ewwwww, right?

November 16, I was here:

 

Last Monday, I was here:

Tight bike shoes fit without pain!

(It’s been over a year since I could wear my bike shoes without pain.)

And then, last Wednesday and Thursday, I was here:

Yes – you are seeing right. I was able to wear my favorite pair of wedge sandals ALL DAY for two days in a row. That is awesome, right?

Even better?

Saturday, I was here:

Clevery Staged Photo - not in my office at ALL! ha!

The feet are feeling pretty good. Not super, but not too bad. I can wear a lot more shoes than I could even a month ago, and I have very little discomfort at the incision site anymore. Also, except for the weird not-broken toe thing a couple weeks ago, I’ve not had any issues. All the feeling has returned to the right foot, and my toenails have started growing again (although they are NASTY looking, since they hadn’t really grown for about 6 months…I’m almost ashamed to go in for a much needed pedicure.)

I ran 10 miles last week, and 7 a couple weeks prior.

The most noticeable difference now is that I can no longer wear size 6 shoes. *sob* Which means that my largish collection of size 6 stilettos is nearly useless. *double sob*

However, never let it be said that I’m not a silver-lining kind of girl – this means that I have to go buy a brand new collection of size 6.5 stilettos! Yay!

Happy shoesday, ya’ll!

Weekend in Review

Another busy weekend, although honestly, if I typed “this was a very mellow, low-key weekend, I did nothing,” you would call me a liar.

Also – this is the third time I have started this blog post. It keeps freezing & disappearing, and I am putting you on notice, Word Press! Or something.

ANYWAYS – I’m sure the first couple of times I typed this out, I was much wittier, so if this is boring, just pretend it’s awesome.

Friday I had my third (of four) standing up straight appointments. Although I’m making great strides in standing (outstanding!), there is a small problem. I’ve started pronating in my right foot as a reaction to the surgery. This pronation is causing my fifth metatarsal to spread outwards, which in turn is causing the little toe to point inwards. Or, in other words, the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING THAT CAUSED ME TO HAVE SURGERY IN THE FIRST PLACE. Ahem. Sorry. That makes me shouty. It also makes me want to kick the surgeon in the shins (with my left foot) for saying I didn’t need physical therapy. Clearly that would’ve been a waste of time, preventing a recurrence of the problem that was now caused by the surgery that was supposed to fix it.

Moving on.

After standing up straight & balancing on one leg, I went home and did some homework before hopping on a bus to go to Surreptitious Brew Review #24 at Tugboat Brewing. Surreptitious, because last time, I did my usual facebook invite, and eleventy hundred people showed up and tried to fit in a space designed for 10 people.

This place was a wee bit bigger, but still wee, so only a few people came (invites were sent based on a complicated algorithm that took into account a) who shows up most often and b) who seems the most enthusiastic about beer).

Brew review #24 - April 8, 2011

After brew reviewing (I really liked this place, and am committing to posting brew reviews 22, 23 & 24 in the next three weeks. I promise), we headed across the street to Bailey’s taproom, which is just a great place to grab a beer.

Saturday morning, I got up bright & early to head to the Living Yoga yogathon (give me money, if you so desire – link in the sidebare). I am on the yogathon committee (with Jen & Emily – Emily is the head honcho).

It was such a great day! We got all set up, and then people showed up to register. I participated (along with fellow yogathoner Sarah!) in the yoga class and the guided meditation, before helping break everything down & heading home to finish my paper.

I also finished my bacon on Saturday. I had made a batch of maple-flavored bacon and one of just plain old salty bacon. The maple bacon was fantastic! So good. Awesome. The other bacon? A wee bit on the salty side. BUT – it will be great for soups, I’m sure. No extra salt needed!

Next time, I’m going to plan things better so I can take advantage of the neighbor’s smoker without having to bother said neighbor immediately after she’s had surgery.

Bacon! April 9, 2011

Saturday night was pretty exciting. The architect & I went out to dinner (used a Groupon) at a place I used to love (definitely used to – Saturday night was not a good experience), and then went out dancing all night went home, popped in a movie, and were asleep before 10.

Sunday morning was a lazy morning. I made us breakfast: maple bacon, homemade bread (courtesy the architect), and eggs (courtesy anonymous donors) topped with parsley from my herb garden.

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After breakfast, we kicked it into high gear. There was cleaning. And vacuuming. And laundry. And grocery shopping. And finally replacing my headlights on my car so I can drive at night (the dim lights died, one after another, the weekend we were in Seattle). And then – some gardening.

A picture of possibility....peas, arugula, and radishes - April 10, 2011

I planted peas and arugula and radishes, some hops, and removed a stupid bush of evil thorniness. I also turned over all the dirt in the main garden, getting it ready for tilling (not that too much is going in any time soon – carrots, beets & onions, but the rest of that garden will be given over to peppers, tomatoes & corn, none of which should be planted any time soon (step away from the tomato plants, Portlanders! just because you CAN buy them in April doesn’t mean you should).

I reacquainted myself with all my trees, offered some encouraging words, gave myself a couple new blisters (hoeing is such hard work!), and then, after the architect finished mowing the lawn, we sat on the patio and had a beer.  Shortly after that, we set up the motion-activated sprinkler to try to discourage the stupid dog from down the street from shitting in my newly planted garden. I hate him & his stupid owners who just let the thing out every morning to go do his business wherever he feels like. I am about one more 1-gallon bag full of crap from buying them a bunch of baggies & returning what their dog has left behind. FOR REAL. HATE!!!

After drowning the hate with the beer, it was time for dinner.

We made linguine with fresh asparagus (unfortunately not from my garden), tomatoes, garlic (this time from my garden) and some of the homemade chicken sausage from last weekend (ooh – and homemade broth from my pantry!). It was so good. SO GOOD. Honestly, one of the best meals I’ve ever made.

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(I think I need to take a food photography class….is there such a thing? All my food is blurry.)

Last night was another early night – all that hoeing made me tired.

This morning, I was getting ready to work & went to grab my glasses. The new ones. The ones I’ve had for a week and a half.

And they were gone!

I was so sad – where could they be? I remembered having them on Friday at the bar, and I also remembered taking them off Friday at the bar & stowing them in their handy little case. Did I leave them at the bar?

I know I hadn’t worn them since Friday night.

I had a vague memory of shoving them in my purse before heading out on Saturday, but maybe that was just wishful thinking?

This is why I can’t have nice things, people!

Good news, though – they have been found. I did indeed shove them in my purse on Saturday morning, but they hopped right out at some point during the yogathon. Perhaps they wanted to try a couple poses. They were picked up by the Living Yoga ED and saved from being lost forever, and tomorrow I get to have them back.

Yay!  Who doesn’t love a happy ending?

Happy week, everyone! See you back here tomorrow for shoesday!

Yay! Glasses!