I Miss The Gym

I really do.

Who AM I, anymore?

A few weeks ago, this was my picture of the day -

45 minutes on the treadmill at 3.5 speed and I felt awesome. 400 calories? Well that was just peachy keen.

Now, I’m still stuck on bed rest and getting kind of bored. On Saturday, I was actually kind of excited about going back to the office this week, but now that it’s only two days away, I’m not so sure I feel that way anymore. I mean, I love my job, but it’s going to be exhausting walking around the office in the surgical boot. I’ve been trying little excursions the past few days to get up to it, and I know I’ll be fine.

But more than anything, I want my foot to be magically heeled so I can go bust out a good work out at the gym.

And that got me thinking – who AM I anymore? Last summer, I would have said you were crazy if you actually missed the gym. Apparently, I’m crazy! Because I sure do. I guess that’s what months of exercising every other day topped off with two weeks of bed rest and the removal of any possible exercise will do to a person.

I can’t wait until the doctor clears me for light exercise and I can get back into the swing of things. Because almost twenty pounds later, I don’t want to go back to that girl from last summer who didn’t know the key code to the apartment complex gym.

The Journey of Fixing a Foot

When the doctor first told me that I would be on bed for two weeks following my surgery, I was excited about it! After all, who doesn’t want an imposed vacation where someone has to fetch you dinner, clean your house and do your laundry because you can’t go up and downstairs, and allows you time to read and watch endless amount of DVRed shows and Netflix? All in all, that sounds like a great thing to me!

So we started on February 29th with this…

A big bunion on my left foot (with a “yes” written on the foot to be sure they cut into the right one!) and a milkshake immediately afterward. You can see my big surgical boot sticking up behind the milkshake, too. I was hanging out in the backseat, carefree as a lark on the way home from surgery!

This has been my view since then. Stuck with a foot up in the air (toes above the heart, mind you!) with the TV moved up from the craft room. A week after the surgery, the doctor rewrapped my foot so it doesn’t look so ridiculously huge anymore.

He also said I don’t need those crutches anymore! I’ve been moving on my own two feet since last Wednesday. So THAT’S a good thing, at least! That also marked the time I didn’t have to elevate the foot again, which makes working on the computer so much easier.

Things that have made me happy while hanging out in my bedroom? Stuffed animals and chocolate crème eggs, of course!

Once I stopped taking the narcotics (because boy, do those things NOT agree with me, even with extra-strength nausea meds), I was living on this stuff – Tylenol and crackers. Being sick is not for the feint of heart, I can tell you that!

My coworkers also sent me the sweetest get well basket – teas, crackers and jam with a pink Downton shirt (do you notice that font? ). It was perfect! Their note even had things like “Get the HEEL out of bed and back TOE work” – hehe.

And of course, my nook. It’s amazing to have all those books at my fingertips. I’ve gone through a few books so far and hope to finish another one by the end of the bed rest this week. If all goes well at the check up on Wednesday, I’ll be back at the office on Thursday. I’ll still be in the walking boot for another month, until they remove the surgical pin that’s currently sticking out from the side of my foot! I sure hope that one isn’t going to hurt. But really, anything is better than that bunion. Thank goodness for modern medicine!

The Story Behind the Surprise

I guess I left you all hanging in last week’s post, didn’t I?

I’m sorry! If you only knew how crazy the past eight days have been, I think you’d understand. But that’s a post for another day. I really did write a nice long post about the surprise visitor from last Friday but somehow Blogger ate it.

That’s ok, because now I have video to show you what happened. Here’s the set up…

Hubs has been in France since early January, studying law, doing interviews for internship, having fun eating at cafes and sending me macaroons. It’s a good gig, if you can get it! A few weeks ago, we realized there was a week-long break in his schedule at the end of February. We went back and forth, trying to figure out if I could get over there to Europe to vacation for a bit while he wasn’t in classes. For many various reasons (my foot surgery being only one of them!), we weren’t able to make it happen. We were bummed, but we moved on – after all, we knew going into this semester that it would be a while before we could see each other again. We were determined to get on Skype and talk more, email more, and just wish the days away so we could be together again.

Well, these past few weeks have been harder than most for some reason and I was really kind of bummed. I wasn’t looking forward to this major foot surgery coming up (more on that later) because who likes anesthesia and getting cut open? But my mom was coming to help me out so I did have that to look forward to. In any case, Hubs’ cousin asked if I wanted to come to her daughter’s elementary school variety show last Friday because Scrappy really wanted me to come watch her dance. My mother-in-law kept texting me, telling me I should come, and that it would be good for me. I told them I’d think about it, because I had a big work weekend after that and I didn’t know if I would be up for it.

In the end, I decided to go because it would make Scrappy happy and of course, who doesn’t love kindergarteners through fifth graders singing and dancing to silly songs? :) So Friday night comes, and I drive way south to Arnold to the variety show. I meet up with the in-laws and we’re hanging out, watching the kids dance. They’re adorable, by the way.

Then, after Scrappy has done her two dances, my father-in-law gets up and motions for me to join him in the lobby. My mother-in-law does the same thing, asking me to come to the bathroom with her (say what?) for some reason. Rolling my eyes, wondering what in the world has gotten into them, I get up to follow.

In the lobby, my FIL stands by the floral stand, asking if we should get Scrappy one flower from each of us or a bunch of flowers or what… and then, someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around to see my wonderful husband standing there. My brother-in-law caught it on his iPhone:

Apparently, when I get surprised, I can’t talk and I just cry a lot. But to be fair, I had NO idea he was going to be there! I really was surprised. The whole family had known for weeks, because they had been setting this up for me.

I really am quite loved.

My Family Sure Can Keep a Secret

For those who don't follow me on Twitter, I got a surprise last night at our cousin's talent show...

Pin-spiration (I think I stole that from somewhere)

Things have been a little quiet around here, I have to admit. Work, lots of things on the social calendar, cleaning and organizing while Hubs is gone, and I haven’t had a lot of time for blogging.

But I haven’t been quiet over on Pinterest. I think I might be addicted to that site. 1,848 pins? I think that might be kind of ridiculous. But I love it! Here is a snapshot of what I’ve been pinning and why they piqued my interest:

• “What is a weekend?” mug. Do you watch Downton Abbey? If not, where in the world have you been? My favorite character by far is Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess. Her one liners are priceless! You, too, can have a mug or shirt or bag printed with one of her quips at Cafepress.com. LOVE this one.

• I have decided that we need a solution for our front door mail slot. Every day I come home and the mail is splayed all over the front foyer. I end up stepping on it and dragging mud and dirt all over the envelopes. It’s gotta stop! I found this pin the other day and then went shopping for a similar basket. I am going to work on my solution this week and maybe post a tutorial if it turns out ok.

• Social media explained. I love this picture that’s been floating around cyberspace!

• I feel this way quite a lot. Probably because I feel like I don’t put together outfits very well and when I do put something together that I think is cute, I want others to notice!

• This is NOT on the Weight Watchers diet, but my husband sent me a link to this homemade tagalong recipe and I think we’re going to have to make them when he’s back from France. They look SO good!

I don’t think I’ll stop pinning anytime soon, but I really need to work on doing some of the tutorials and projects I’ve been pinning! Someone has a link up party to Pinterest-inspired projects and I may have to work on some tutorials to link up to that. But more than that, I hope I can find more things to blog about and the time to write those blogs!

What’s inspiring you lately?