Beautiful!

I recognize that you might think this blog would be about me, considering the title. Thank you for that kind thought, however it is more about where I was. I went out walking today. I found out yesterday that I can walk outside and go fairly far and not hurt too much. I tried to run, but after two measly steps my body informed me (I really already knew it) that my ankle was no where near ready for running. So, I went out today for a little over an hour. I exercised/walked for 4.2 miles and did a warm up/cool down for .6 miles. I noticed several things as I was out today. I love watching Chancho make the burm owls fly from one side of the field drain to the other. As soon as they land they blend right in to the dirt. If he didn't scare them I wouldn't even know they were there. They are soooooo cute! I also love watching the fair workers put up the rides for our county fair (it starts next week). I always think it is fun to go to the fair and I love that we can see it from our house.

We also have a storm coming in so it is really windy. When I turned West I was almost knocked over! It was like walking in a gigantic wind tunnel! I saw a huge hawk flying in the wind and figured that is one of the joys for birds. He was bouncing up and down and tipping from side to side. I could just imagine the joy that bird felt as it was doing what God made it to do. I saw egrets flying and teeny-tiny birds. The sky to the South was blue and sunny with fat, fluffy white clouds. To the West it was slightly dark with white clouds in front with the Blue Angels practicing their show (so can't wait for March 12th!!!). To the North the sky was dark, but not all one shade of dark. It was multiple colors with some areas looking like someone had smeared the clouds down towards the ground. Towards the end of the walk I started to feel raindrops (rare in the valley). It was a fantastic walk! So much better than being on a stupid treadmill. Added to the scenery was the smell of all the things that are growing in the fields that surrounded me.

While I am wishing that I could exercise the way that I had been before my accident I am profoundly grateful to be able to get out and get exercising again and to be able to do it in such beauty. I am soooo grateful that there is no snow! haha I love all of my family that is stuck in snow, and wish that it would go away for them, but I am glad not to be in it! For sure I will be a snowbird when I am old.

Serious Complaining

I am sure you don't really want to hear more complaining from me. However, since this is my blog, I am going to do it to anyway. When we first moved to California I had a hard time adjusting. I was so sad all of the time. Last March I started exercising (for real, and not just here and there) and I started to feel a difference in how I was feeling. I found that my classes and also helping coach gymnastics helped my attitude so much. Well, from previous posts you know that I have hurt my ankle. In two days it will have been 4 weeks. I was researching sprains and there are three types. 1st, 2nd and 3rd levels. I have level 3. It of course is the worst. I have torn my ligaments and am still in a lot of pain. I got on the treadmill today and it hurt so bad to put my foot in my shoe. I got walking (so slow!!!!) and had to hold on to the handles so that I didn't hurt my foot or fall off. I started to cry and cried through the whole exercise. It was hurting, but I was crying because of not being able to do what I want to. I was running and doing gymnastics and now I can barely walk and I have to hold on to even do that. It is very discouraging. I know that it takes time to heal, but I have not idea how long this is going to take and I really want to get back on track! So, now that I have my crying and complaining out I will try to avoid doing it about this particular item again. I can't say I wont complain about anything else though!

6 1/2 Hours

Parker had a Tae Kwon Do tournament today. Four different cities were competing from Mexico, Arizona and California. We got there at 9:00 and left at 3:30!!!! Yes, 6 and 1/2 hours! How long did Parker's part last, you might ask. 15 minutes! I LOVE watching him. What parent doesn't? But there has got to be a better way to do this! I had 3 other kids (not to mention Parker when he wasn't competing) and we had to watch all belt levels do the first part (forms) and then the higher belts do their weapons and then the red belts do a performance (I was pulling my hair out by this time) and then they finally moved on the the sparing (Parker's favorite part). You might ask how I did it (2 of the girls were sick). Portable DVD player, movies, dsi's, food, ipods and coloring books. It was like packing to go up North for the summer! I think that they should do all the events by belt, then nobody has to stay and watch people that they don't know or could not care less about. By the way, Parker took 2nd in forms and 3rd in sparing. He had a blast. He got one kick in that hit the other boy in between his legs. All of the men around me groaned in response, but that kid ended up winning! lol

J.B. Fever and I AM SICK OF MY ANKLE!

So, on Monday James and I took the kids to see 'Never Say Never' for Valentines. For those of you who are not tweeners/teens, it is the new Justin Bieber movie about his long (16 years) life so far. I was totally dreading it. Two hours, give or take, of listening to and watching Justin Bieber. A true sign of how much I love my girls. I left liking him a lot more than I felt before I went in. Now, don't get me wrong, I have never hated him. He plays good songs for the kids, but not anything I am going to listen on my own. I can see why there is so much Justin Bieber fever! He is a cute kid with a lot of talent! I am totally good with having to listen to him while my girls sing and dance to his music. What I did find hysterical was all of the squealing and yelling from all of the girls in the theater, my three girls included in that. Who knows, I might even take them to a concert the next time he comes to San Diego.

Now, I have to say, this next part of my blog is driving me crazy! I am so sick of my foot hurting and still being swollen! It has been 3 1/2 weeks since the initial injury. Yes, I say initial because last night I kind of re injured it by being an idiot while helping to coach gymnastics. I am an idiot. Anyway, I am so tired of not being able to do the things that I want to. I have dreams that I am running and think 'My ankle doesn't hurt!' and then I wake up and am reminded that it was just a dream. I was looking out my window and saw a guy running along the fields and I could feel myself glaring at him. James is in San Diego right now, probably running along the beach and I am blogging about how I am not able to run! How fair is that?! I know, life is not fair, but seriously! This is not fair! So, who knows how long I am doomed to watch everyone do what I want while I sit on the sidelines or am only able to help coach in small ways.

My Ankle Woes

Last Wednesday I was at the gym finishing my class (taking not coaching). Our final exercise was to run around the floor 10 times. I was on my last lap when I stepped in to a hole (covered by a mat) and rolled my ankle (hard) I was going fast enough that I didn't just stop. I kept running and had the choice of hitting a coach who was sitting on a piece of equipment or smashing head first in to a mirror. Which would you choose? I chose Rudy. I smashed right in to him and then felt myself falling. I didn't want to hit the cement floor too hard (I was already injured and didn't want to add more injuries to it) so I hung on to Rudy and pulled him down with me. I did everything I could to not cry! It hurt so badly! After a few minutes of my head hanging back with my eyes closed I opened them to see a million people - okay, slight exaggeration- standing over me staring with concerned eyes. I looked down at my ankle and saw what looked like a gigantic goiter on the right side! I could not see how I was going to drive my kids home when it hurt like crazy to even think of moving it. I tried calling James to find out where he was (over an hour away) and as I was trying to talk to him they were trying to wrap my ankle. All James heard was LOTS of screaming! He was sure I had hurt my back again. (totally stinks to get old) We quickly ascertained that I needed help getting home. Two wonderful guys (Art and Saul) helped get me to Dianna's car (she was driving me home, Art took my car and the kids). I was joking that I could go home and tell James that I held two guys hands that night. Saul said if they ended up dead in bed people would know where to look. haha

They got me home and James got home a bit later. We waited until the kids got off to school the next morning to take me to the hospital. We don't have a doctor down here yet (we have only been here 3 1/2 years! Give me time!) . I had x-rays taken and it turns out that it is not broken, *just* a bad sprain. Several interesting things happened at the hospital. The doctor offered to give me a prescription for Morphine! What?! I take morphine, in the hospital, for my C-sections. I certainly didn't need that! Bring on the Vicodin! Hallelujah! We saw a prison inmate and his guard brought in, there was a Code red and all of the doors locked down. When I asked somewhat what that was she said 'A code red'. I gathered that from the speakers repeating over and over 'Code Red!', 'Code Red!'. Turns out it meant that there was a fire in the hospital. I was thrilled that they locked us in! We also saw a man rushed in by ambulance who had to travel 20 minutes to get there. During the whole trip they were performing CPR on him and they had to use the paddles twice. This all before getting to the hospital. Poor man died. :( It was awful. We also had to listen to a man swear over and over. I wondered if he had turrets, but it had something to do with his stomach. There was also a little girl (I would guess under six) who kept crying 'don't. That hurts. I want to go home'. That made me cry. All in all, a very interesting trip. You may wonder how I know all of this stuff. I listen, people! I like to watch and hear what is going on. Some might call that nosy. I call it being watchful and informed.

So, it has now been 6 days later. Yesterday I was able to start putting a little bit of pressure on my foot (totally paid for it last night). I am hoping to heal soon. I am missing my exercising! In fact, that is what made me end up crying at the gym. I was so afraid of gaining weight that I couldn't hold back the tears. At least I know where my priorities are!