Meeting Grace: The Blog

So August has not been my best month physically.  I’m over the rib pain as described in the last post, but then yesterday morning, as I was getting ready for work, I stubbed my left pinky toe on the coffee table in the living room.  No big deal, right?  Wrong.  As I made my way to work, I realized that the toe just wasn’t feeling right.  Then, when I looked at it, it was swollen and had started bruising.

I emailed my sister who I knew had suffered a broken toe before (I learned later that she’s broken a toe three different times!) She was a very knowledgeable toe nurse.  She said to get some first aid tape, take some ibuprofen, elevate it.  But I was at work.  No tape in the first aid kit.  I made a makeshift ice pack and tried to elevate as much as I could at my desk.  It really hurt to walk, and I found that I had to turn my left foot sideways a bit thus making my walk look much like Igor’s, kind of a stride/drag/shuffle kind of thing.

I called my doctor’s office and they said they would have a nurse call me.  I left work around 2pm, because my foot was throbbing and I just needed to take care of it.  I also had to hit the grocery store as there was zero food in the house and the two other residents were returning that evening.   It took me about 45 minutes in the grocery store, pathetic.  It did include a call to my sister for advice on the kind of tape I was supposed to get (when I learned of the 3 broken toes she’s suffered).

I made my way home, put away the groceries, “buddy-taped” my toe,  and sat down to try to get a little work done, but my work laptop couldn’t connect to the network.  Then, I had to handle something with regard to DK’s return trip from Seattle.  I decided to nap for 20 minutes from 5-5:20pm and then be up for my 5:30 call with the health coach and then the 6pm arrival of Han.

When I woke up, I quickly checked Han’s flight to find out that his plane was arriving at that moment!  I shuffled to the car just as my health coach called.  We rescheduled for Wednesday, so that’s good.  Han arrived and it was all good.  The Acoustic Duo’s trip to the midwest was a great success with no major hiccups.   We relaxed at home and slowly as the night wore on, my toe just throbbed.

DK was dropped off by her mom around 10 pm and we heard about her trip for while.  It was nice to have everyone home.  But by 11 pm, I knew it was time for a vicodin and sleep.

~

While Han was gone, I spent a lot of time at home on my own.  I started on my volunteer work doing preliminary reading of 40 poems to evaluate them and provide my recommendations as to whether or not they be included in an upcoming anthology.  I read some of my current books.  I watched the premieres of two of my favorite shows (Top Chef and Project Runway).  I went to a work function on Friday (pre-party and Pades game) which was fun, though I made my way home after the 5th inning.  I napped.  I did some Acoustic Duo work and some Rock Band work.   I ate pasta.

On Sunday, I went up to my folks’ house as they were hosting a little get-together for my aunt & her husband’s 40th wedding anniversary.  They would be there as well as my other aunt and uncle (my dad’s sibs), my cousin and his wife and kid, and my other cousin and his companion.   It was a tough transportation day as it was hot, congested, and then I got stuck behind a stopped train for a while which made me irritable.  When I finally detoured, there was a car crash in the intersection I needed to cross so had to make another detour.  I arrived only about 15 minutes ahead of the other guests, sweaty and with a headache that never quite went away all afternoon.

My parents are remodeling their kitchen, so I was even more impressed that they offered to host since they had no functioning appliances (other than the refrigerator, temporarily located in the dining room).  But still they pulled off a nice gathering, croissant sandwiches, potato salad, regular salad, California rolls.  And a gigantic cake.  It seems like everyone had a nice time.

The drive home was better, no stoppages or accidents.  I finished up some laundry, did a little reading, and some other tasks then hit the sack, not knowing what awaited my toe the very next morning.

It’s been entirely too long between posts for any self-respecting blogger. Sorry for that. What can I say? Life gets in the way much more than I ever imagined it might. Or I’m tired, or I tell myself there’s something else I should be doing. It’s a recurring story. What can I do to break the pattern?

That said, this won’t be a long post, as I need to get to bed. But a glimmer of me for you. For anyone reading (hi Mom & Sandy & Mia & Dad).

Han is on the road ’til Monday so I have some time to reflect and relax in different ways than when he is here. It’s not better or worse, just a different situation. I’m letting myself do some things I can’t (won’t) do while he’s here: have candles lit (he’s allergic to the scented ones) and watch guilty pleasure TV (ANTM re-runs anyone?).

Last week, I was home, inflicted by a good 5 hours in urgent care that resulted in some extra-strength ibuprofen and some vicodin to relieve some harsh pain from what they could only presume was some kind of muscle tear in my rib cage. I took Tuesday & Wednesday off, and had already requested Thursday & Friday off to go to Las Vegas with the Acoustic Duo. Instead, I stayed here and Han went to his gigs. It was for the best, but it was a bummer. But the rest was good for me, though I didn’t do much else other than watch movies, sleep, and try to book some shows.

The week before that, I was in Iowa for work. I enjoy going out there. I did pretty well with the travel too, thankfully. My co-workers were cool and we got along well. Our meetings were good, and what’s better than a summer night watching minor league baseball in Iowa? It wasn’t heaven, it was Iowa.

This afternoon I got a wild hair to “friend” a lot of folks from my high school graduating class. Next year will be the 20 year reunion and I had a major moment of nostalgia, just wanting to know what everyone is doing now, and more surprisingly wanting them to know what I’m doing. So I filled out some more info on my profile and posted some photos. Many have already accepted and written a note on my wall, and it’s nice. I can’t quite explain my shift in attitude, but there’s an interesting fondness I’m feeling for these folks, a true wish for their happiness and success. Maybe my jaded heart is softening.

In other news, our dear Barbara has taken off for Austin. At her farewell party that we hosted, I drunkenly sang “Miss Celie’s Blues” for her, a song that she & I bonded over very early in our friendship. It probably sounded terrible, and it ended in tears, but it was still a truly beautiful moment between us, and one that I’ll think of often. Many of our friends already have plans to visit her, and she’ll be back periodically to do some shows with Flan during his music season so I know we’ll stay in touch. I hope Austin knows what it’s in for.

I’ve made some small steps toward getting my health/weight on track. I’ve started the process of receiving phone consultations with a health coach. Our next talk is on Monday when we’ll discuss more of my weight loss goals and start figuring out how I can achieve them.

My dad is recovering from some surgery and I’m glad to say that he’s doing well. My mom’s getting ready to head back to school. They’re also remodeling the kitchen.  I can’t wait to see it! My sister’s doing awesome (best.sister.ever) in SLC with MT, T, and the new puppy Osi.

DK turned 12 and has spent the last month visiting Han’s folks. She’s up in Washington now and loving it. Han’s sister took some photos of her after doing her make-up and she looks 16. It’s pretty crazy. But she was really able to capture her personality. She’ll start 7th grade at a performing arts school in September. I hope she excels.

Do check out the flicks link and the flickr stuff. Both have been recently updated!

So much for a short post! I’ll wrap it up for now. Until next time!!