ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

Don't mind my super nerdy technical anatomy photo above. I'm just illustrating the source of my FRUSTRATION which is also the source of my current grouchiness (which is more than my usual grouchiness by quite a bit). Apparently when I crashed on my road bike last July (and by that I mean the July of 2009), I sustained a 6-7 centimeter longitudinal tear in my peroneus brevis tendon in my ankle. I also sustained a tear of the calcaneofibular ligament (see figure below). As it turns out, the walking, running, weight lifting, softball, wearing heels, elliptical, basketball, hiking, biking, driving, volleyball, and shopping I've been doing since then have NOT exactly helped the situation.


Seems to me that most sprains go away, so I assumed that this one would ... I guess I was also assuming it was a sprain. My bad. When I crashed on my bike, I wasn't even going that fast, but my shoe didn't come unclipped from my bike pedal, so my ankle did get wrenched a bit as the bike came out from underneath me. I still road almost 30 miles that day and played softball that night. It was swollen and hurt, but I have a handy-dandy ankle brace that I've pulled out multiple times over the years. Rest it a bit, wear a brace to exercise, ice it ... that's the cure - right? I guess not. As you recall, I've already been off my feet for a great length of time this year, and we were hoping it would completely heal during that time, but as soon as I started exercising again, it started swelling and hurting again. So after I rolled it last month playing basketball, Dave put his foot down (a bit of a rare occurence), and off to the foot doctor I went.

He did some x-rays and eventually an MRI, and found the two tears, which are not getting better, which will not heal themselves, and which require surgery to repair. WHAT IN THE WORLD?!!!! I've seriously had ENOUGH with the surgeries, enough down time, enough medicine, enough of my room, ENOUGH!!! Don't even get me started on crutches and casts and walking boots. UGH! I'm so grouchy. Okay, moving on. I am grateful that I can get this fixed so it will stop hurting and stop swelling and also so I can walk when I'm older and of course so my leg stays attached to my foot via my ankle. That is of the utmost importance to me.


So here's where the funny part comes in. This picture above is from high school. I don't recall why we got these pictures taken. Seems weird now ... seems like it felt weird then. Maybe somebody had a free sitting fee or something. That's me in the middle with the long dark hair ... just in case you were wondering. This is a group of friends I hung out with in high school and after that. They are some of the most amazing people I've ever known. We were all really close and spent a lot of time together. I keep in touch with some of them now, and occasionally we get together and catch up with our families.

So, the guy sitting next to me is Scott Rogers, or more fittingly, Dr. Scott Rogers, DPM, and he'll be doing the surgery on my ankle. Can you say WEIRD?!! I just can't get over the fact that I'll be unconscious, and HE will have a scalpel. Think about the people you hung out with in high school ... now think about them doing surgery on YOU! It's a weird feeling. And since when am I old enough to have my peers be doctors anyway? When did that happen exactly? Anyway, I'm glad its someone I can trust, and someone I know cares, but still .... you heard me, weird.

So the big day is Thursday. Off it for a week, cast for three weeks (crutches ... yuck), and then a walking boot for three more. Wonder if it will go with any of my cute winter boots with the 4 inch heels on the other foot? Blech. That's it people ... I'm done venting now. Time to think about more things I'm grateful for.

Other Fun Stuff

Maybe I've got more time than I thought ... since you'll notice this is my SECOND blog post in one week. We went with Melanie and the boys to the zoo during our fall break. We haven't been to the zoo for a REALLY long time. Most people are familiar with my unconditional dislike of animals, but the kids love it, so what do you do? If you're me, you go to the zoo, you brave the crowds, you smell all the fun and exciting zoo smells, and you have a great day watching your kids get excited about all the animals. They seriously love it.

The best part of the whole excursion was (I forgot to get a picture of this) neither Melanie and I brought any kind of STROLLER or BAG into the zoo. WHAT?!! Basically, there were no fruit snacks or goldfish, drinks, binkies, bottles, burp rags, diapers, wipes, tissues, blankets, jackets, extra clothes, blah, blah, blah, and you know what .... IT WAS AWESOME!!! My phone and debit card were in my pocket, we stopped at drinking fountains for water, and when we arrived at the point of starvation we enjoyed a nice nutritious lunch of nachos and Root Beer. I'm not kidding you people ... it was seriously liberating.







Back in October, we participated in the 5K Cake Walk fundraiser for President Hughes. The above people were the brave runners/walkers. I helped with registration for the runners, and then moved to my station at the cupcake table. This was the boys and London's first 5K. Good job guys!

Back in October, we went down to Ephraim to visit our friends the Bolli's who moved down there earlier this year. We stopped by FAT JACKS for dinner before heading up Ephraim Canyon. Does everyone know how happy FAT JACKS makes me??? I went to Snow College in Ephraim and survived on Fat Sticks (the best cheesy breadsticks EVER) and Diet Coke for two years. I know ... it's a miracle.
This picture scares me a little.
That's better.
It was beautiful up Ephraim Canyon where the cabin was.
The guys just HAD to catch the score on the BYU-is-getting-killed-by-UTAH-STATE game and then a few plays on said game. Ugh. That screen is like 3 inches wide. Seriously??? Then they went out and played capture the flag in the forrest in the dark, and no one was killed or even seriously maimed. I know ... they're crazy. We didn't even bother trying to stop them. They were just having way too much fun.
We stayed up till 4:00 in the morning playing games and having a GREAT time. Unfortunately, Dave and I could only sleep for three hours before getting up to race back to Eagle Mountain for a football game ... but it was WORTH it. I can sleep when I'm dead ... right?
Halloween is serious business around this house. It's my VERY least favorite holiday (and yes people, that includes Columbus Day), but it's fun to watch the kids get into it and have fun. Dave is INSANE about Halloween. He loves it ALL. Gee, I wonder who the kids get it from ...
London in the school Halloween parade. My control-freak self resisted the urge to run out there and fix her hair, but she told me later she was glad I didn't because pirates have messy hair. She also told me she hadn't brushed her teeth all day because pirates have dirty teeth. NASTY.
T.J. rocked the parade as BUZZ LIGHTYEAR. Seriously, I have no idea how many times one of my kids has been Buzz for Halloween, but it's a lot. He LOVED being in his first parade ... just look at that smile.
Good thing for the boys' football uniforms ... what a PERFECT costume! Heaven knows I paid ENOUGH money for those uniforms ... I was REALLY glad to get some extra use out of them. Don't ask about Jackson's wig. I didn't.