Quit Your Whining

This is the "before" picture with Dr. Scott. Not bad. Still smiling. I should have waited until he was all in his scrubs and goofy doctor hat to take the picture. He looks perfectly reasonable in this picture, and I look well .... yeah. Go ahead and just FORGET making any comments about how I look, and keep in mind I'm still wearing a hard cast and I have violent tendencies.

This is right before I told Scott that I wanted a RED cast, and he and Dave started hyperventilating. Scott reminded me that I'd still be in the cast for the BYU/Utah game and asked if I would please reconsider. We debated all the way into the operating room, and as you can see, when I'm unconscious, I apparently don't get to choose the color of my cast. Just kidding, I "repented" (as Dave called it) and switched the cast color to COUGAR BLUE right before the anesthesiologist came at me with the oxygen mask.

There is an "after" picture, but you will NOT be seeing that. Nope. Sorry. Thanks for asking. Let's just say I don't handle anesthesia very well. I have an ANGRY almost violent reaction when coming out of it and just feel SO rotten. Apparently this time I was being quite loud and my vocabulary got away from me a bit. Dave and the poor nurse did their best to get a handle on the situation. I seriously felt just so YUCK. Ugh. Hate that feeling. HATE IT.

So the good news is the surgery went well. The bad news is, my ankle was a bit more screwed up that we had anticipated going in. According to Scott, my torn peroneus brevis tendon that is supposed to be about the width of his pinky finger was discovered to be the width of his first two fingers during surgery. He called it hypertrophy. It was working too hard to stabilize my ankle and was huge and swollen and all torn up. So, it took quite a bit of "cleaning up." Ooops. I guess I should have got it checked out before. I admit ... I was WRONG. Cherish this moment people.

I've learned a valuable lesson from all of this. It never hurts to get things checked out. If it turns out to be fine and you wasted time and a co-pay .... OH WELL! In my defense, this past year and a half especially, I was SO unbelievably tired of doctors, x-rays, offices, co-pays, lab work, tests, procedures, surgeries, insurance hassles, drugs, needles, outdated magazines in waiting rooms, writing out checks, pharmacies, blah, blah, blah .... I couldn't stand the thought of anything being truly wrong with my ankle or even the possibility of having to get it fixed and being in my bed all drugged out and sick and bored AGAIN!

But thanks to a fantastic Relief Society lesson last Sunday, I need to quit the stinking crying and belly aching and just be GRATEFUL. I'm so glad that the technology and expertise to fix my ankle exists. I'm grateful for my friend/doctor and his willingness to fork out insane amounts of time and $$$ to go to school and learn how to do this stuff. I'm grateful we have insurance and fixing my ankle was even an option.

I'm grateful for our friends and family and ward members who have watched over our family so much this year. I'm grateful for the basket of fun things to entertain me and treats to eat that my friend brought over. I'm grateful for met deductibles and satisfied out-of-pocket maximums, and in that way, I'm grateful for timing. I'm grateful for the yummy meals and treats and running errands done on our behalf. I'm grateful for online shopping and that happy little knock on the door from the FedEx guy. I'm grateful my friend came over and helped me figure out a way to take the medications that would stop the ridiculous vomiting.



I'm grateful we still got to go to St. George for Thanksgiving (where it was SLIGHTLY warmer than here), and I even still got to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving thanks to my mom and sisters pushing me around in a wheelchair (not an easy task apparently .... or maybe they are extra wimpy). I'm grateful for people driving me around and being patient with my being slow. I'm grateful for all the hours and hours of watching T.J. and walking him to and from school. I'm grateful for the patience and resilience of my kids and husband. I'm grateful for my amazing counselors, secretary, and advisors who have once again stepped up and gone the extra mile when I just couldn't do it. I'm grateful for my feet that carry me around and help me take care of my family and give me the freedom I have clearly come to take completely for granted. I'm really excited to have BOTH of them back in working order.



So, the "one to three weeks in a hard cast" I was promised turned into "three to four weeks" and I'm really really hoping to get the cast off this coming Wednesday at my appointment. However, I've smacked my foot pretty good a few times, and I'm sure as heck glad there was a hard cast on there. I slipped in a restroom on a wet floor about an hour after the surgery and slammed it down pretty hard. Wow. Pain. Then on the way home, I passed out in my garage (after I had already passed out in the car) and smacked it again when I fell. At that point, Dave literally threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and delivered me to my bed. Don't think I wasn't conscious enough to hear the horrible straining/grunting sound he made when he lifted me and my dead weight from the garage floor. Nice job hon.

The night before my surgery, Michelle and Paula took me out to a movie ... which was a PERFECT stress reliever and apparently my last night out on the town for a while. Paula made me a sign (see below) to safety pin to my shirt. Maybe I should have been wearing my sign. Ugh.



Then just the other night, I slipped on some black ice and smacked it again, and a parking lot of people (i.e., Dave's co-workers) got to hear my "words" of frustration/pain. Anyway, thank goodness for the cast. It's almost like Scott knew how clumsy and accident-prone I am. Weird.

I've officially stopped using the crutches ... as of today. The reasoning being that my arms/hands now hurt worse than my foot. So bye bye crutches. Also, I've walked around in the cast enough that it's cracked on the bottom, so I can bend my foot better and walk without too much trouble ... as long as I go slow. Shhh ... don't tell Dr. Scott. He said I could put weight on it, so hopefully this is what he meant. It still feels better to stay off it and it definitely aches in the evening and at night but nothing I can't live with. So if all goes well, next Wednesday I'll get the cast off and trade it in for a lovely walking boot. One that can be REMOVED to sleep/shower. Yeah for me.

After three weeks in that contraption, it's off to physical therapy for me. Lucky for me, I have access to several good physical therapists and one very accommodating and handsome physical therapist assistant who has agreed to do my therapy at home on the couch. I'm actually not looking forward to the therapy. Dave has way too much fun inflicting pain ... not sure I'm ready to be his next victim ... I mean patient. We'll see how that goes. I guess I have a month to gear up for it. I'll keep you posted. I've got to get busy if I'm going to be on my bike by April ... and I AM going to be on my bike by April. It's happening people.

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.

Just When I Thought I'd Have Some Free Time ...

After the way busy summer we had, I was looking forward to a little bit of free time with all four kiddos in school. I've been waiting 12 years for this day, and I was just sure I'd have free time coming out my ears. It turns out .... I have LESS free time than ever! My child-free hours in the morning have quickly been filled with things like helping at the school, working out, shopping BY MYSELF, work, my calling, etc. Hmmm ....
Couldn't quite get that perfect first-day-of-school picture this year. The boys were too busy mourning their loss of free time to smile for a millisecond so I could get a decent picture. WHATEVER. At least London was excited, and T.J. was DEFINITELY excited and ready for "the big school." With four kids in school, we're spending a lot of time reading, working on spelling words, volunteering at the school, doing homework, working on projects, etc. You get the idea. Good-bye fantasies about having free time. I will miss you.
The school year is going well. Everybody likes their teacher ... and I like everybody's teacher. Love that. We're blessed to live right across the street from an amazing school. The convenience of my "parking spot" is something I'll never get tired of. We have great teachers and involved community and parents out here. It really is a great place to raise kids, and we're glad we're here.

You'd think I'd have realized when I signed up two kids for football and two for soccer that it would mean EIGHT practices and FOUR games every week. I knew I'd be busy, but GOOD GRIEF .... and that is an understatement. We had practices every night of the week but Monday and games Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Seriously?!! And football practices aren't exactly an hour long. They're anywhere from 2 to 3 and a half hours depending on where we're at during the season. Wow.
Austin is #77 above. He started out the season on offense and was switched to defense for the last three games. He did great at offense, but he LOVES defense. His first game on defense, he sacked the quarterback twice and had seven tackles. I could not believe the boost in his confidence after that game. It's fun to see him succeed after working SO hard all season. These boys really deserve some credit. They spend hours and hours practicing and working so hard. They really did a great job, and I'm so proud of both of them.

It's been harder for me to watch them play football than any other sport. It's hard to watch your kid get hit over and over again. It's hard to have them come home with bruises or be discouraged after a hard game or practice. It's hard to have so much of my time taken up by running back and forth to practice and games, but at the same time, I love it and it's worth it, and we'll definitely do it again. It's been so good for both of them. I'm so grateful to their coaches and everything they've taught them. There's just something about a football coach's impact on a boy. They spend so much time together, and when done correctly, the impact can be so positive. I can encourage and praise my boys all day long, but when a coach says, "Good job out there today, I'm really proud of you," their confidence goes to a whole new level. I love that they have other role models and authority figures and good examples in their life in these coaches. I love that they're out there working hard for hours and hours a week and understanding the importance of working hard and getting along with other people. Not to mention the important lesson in perseverance. There's nothing I want them to learn more than to never, ever, ever give up.

That's Austin above (#77) when he was still on offense. It's a bit of a of a relief to have him be one of the biggest kids out there. Seems almost unfair to have a kid my size playing 6th grade football. Oh well. I worry less about him getting hurt somehow.
Thankfully for us, it was nice and warm through this football season. We've spent a lot of time in these chairs this fall ... Thankfully, we got London and Cameron on the same team, Chase and T.J. on the same team, and Landon and Jackson on the same team. We literally could NOT have done it without that. Even with all those kids doubled up, between the two of us we had 11 practices and 5 games every week, and Dave and Jason are tied up a LOT during the evenings, so we did a lot of it between the two of us. Just thinking about it makes me TIRED.
Cameron would sometimes run his own little boot camp when the other kids got tired of watching the game.
This is one of my favorite pictures and favorite things about this whole football season. Jackson and Landon on the SAME TEAM!!! Seriously LOVE that. Made our lives less complicated, and what an awesome opportunity to play on the same team with your cousin and best friend. They've had a great time being together this year.
Go Jackson! Sometimes he got to play on kickoff return in addition to offense. Wherever he played, he worked hard, and I'm so proud of him.
Jackson played well on the offensive line. He's #88 above. I guess you can tell by the name that is sprawled from shoulder to shoulder on his back. At least they didn't have to shrink down the letters to fit it on his back. Haha. He worked hard blocking and kept those big guys from getting through to his quarterback. His team has had a GREAT year offensively, and they couldn't have done it without their offensive line. Nice job Jacks!
Jackson's team is still playing in the play-offs, and they've had a GREAT season!

I sometimes worry about Jackson getting hurt being on the line just because he's sort of normal sized, and there are some REALLY big kids out there ... especially on the defensive line. But he is a FIGHTER! He did a great job as a blocker, and so far, no injuries. Way to go Jacks!
Austin's pretty proud of his bruises.
In his last game of the season, Austin caused a fumble and then RECOVERED it! Yeah Aust! He was so excited, and we were too. Dave snapped the perfect picture just as he was coming up from the pile-up.
It's hard to see in this one, but Austin's got his arms wrapped around #57 in the front there who had the ball and he's about to tackle him. What a great action shot.
London and T.J. played soccer this year, and London scored her FIRST GOAL EVER!!! She was SO excited. I actually missed it since I was with my Young Women at a volleyball game, but she had a HUGE cheering section that got really excited for her. Thanks everyone!
Great action shot of London running after the ball. Way to hustle kiddo!

T.J. played soccer this year for his first time. We were kind of worried when he refused to play in his first game and instead sat on the sideline and cried, but he warmed up to the idea. I'm proud of him for overcoming his fears. Way to go handsome!
This might have been the closest he got to the ball all season, but here's the proof, he DID touch the ball. Yeah!!!

We've had a fun and busy sports season, and I'm kind of glad for a little break ... before basketball starts. AHHHHHH!!!!! You know, I've been crazy busy for months, and of course, I've complained about it, and several people have asked me why we do this season after season and year after year, and the reasons are simple. I like them to be busy. I like them to have something to do. I like them to work hard. I like them to learn how to work well with others, problem solve on their own, work through challenges, be a good sport, fight through pain, be a team player, and overcome fears. If there's one thing I've noticed with kids and teenagers ... not just in Eagle Mountain, but everywhere, it's that they get into trouble because they are BORED. When there's nothing to do, you find trouble, or if finds you. Keeping my kids involved in worthwhile activities is important to me. I want them to have the confidence that I didn't have at that age. I love them having positive role models and authority figures in their life in addition to me and Dave. I love seeing them work hard and play hard. So, it's worth it to me for them to busy and for me to be busy, because they're learning all these things and having all these experiences that are making them better stronger kids.

Lagoon With the Fam

Back at the end of the summer, we went to Lagoon with the Morton's. The above picture is our theme for the day. It represents the countless times I talked Melanie into going on a ride with multiple little people so I never had to spin, turn, rotate, free fall, or go fast on anything at Lagoon. Yeah for me. Don't let her facial expression fool you. She loved it.

It's fair to say I'm not much of an amusement park person. I've NEVER really liked rides. I can tolerate some things, but as a kid I HATED everything about amusement parks. At least now, I've learned to enjoy sipping Diet Coke and eating popcorn and ice cream all day while waving at the kiddos on the kiddie rides. Trust me, I'll do anything to avoid RIDES. Yuck.

You know, I come by this hatred honestly. I was "strongly encouraged" to ride a tilt-a-whirl at Knotts Berry Farm as a kid. Yeah. Bad idea. I threw up and then passed out and some helpful bystander got the ice out of her sticky Coke to rub on my forehead. Is this a cure for fainting/vomiting I'm not aware of?!! Ugh. Fast forward 20 years. Dave talked me into WAY too many ridiculous rides at Six Flags in Wisconsin. I only remember the first half of the Batman ride. Then I remember Dave and the ride attendant nervously trying to bring me back to consciousness. Nice hon. Seriously, rides are NOT my thing. Problem is, Dave LOVES amusement parks, so we compromise. I'm a good sport (kind of) until said vomiting/fainting presents itself at which point Dave lets me off the hook. Fortunately for him, he had Austin, Jackson, Colby, and Landon to entertain him so I didn't have to. Kiddieland here I come. The kids (and Dave) had a great time and that is ONE thing I do like about it. Yeah Lagoon. Enjoy the pics.




One of these days, one or both of us will remember to remove our sunglasses BEFORE a picture is taken.







Grandma did her share of barf-mobile rides with the kids. She happens to love things that spin. I'm not sure how we're even related.