I take it back!

I decided about a month ago to have knee surgery. I have a bad knee. I mean really bad. As in, the last time I wsa in therapy for it, my therapist looked at me with wonder in his eyes and said "how old are you????" I have an 80-year-old knee in a 35-year-old body. So. After conferring with my orthopedic surgeon and looking at options, I came to the conclusion that this knee surgery was the best option for trying to replace some cartiledge and reducing the daily pain.

I take it back. On Wednesday, I underwent a procedure known as a microfracture. The pain in my knee right now is fairly minimal. The pain in the ASS factor, however??? Geez. I can't get around the house. I can't go grocery shopping. My arms hurt from supporting the weight of my body on crutches. I can't turn over in bed without wincing. Sigh.

I know this will pass, and I have every reason to believe that it will significantly improve my quality of life for quite a while. But oy. Right now, that painful-but-mobile life that I had just a few days ago is looing better.

Interview with the Track Coach

I've been tagged by Shawnee for this meme/interview. Which forces me to update this blog which is never a bad thing. Is it??

• Name five "luxury items" that you could not live without. (i.e., not necessities such as food, water, air, cocktails or George Clooney. Although that last one may just be me.)
• Books. Shoes (in multiple colors/heel heights/styles). My computer/internet connection. My food processor. Colored felt-tip pens for grading (red ball points are so boring.)
  

• What is your favorite recipe?
• Oooo - I don't know if I can answer this. To eat or to cook? To bake or to serve for actual meals? If it's to make for an actual meal, then probably wontons. Easy, but very impressive. To eat? Ida's cavatelli. To bake? Fudge-filled-peanut-butter-bars.
  

• Of all the places you have visited, which was your favorite? Where would you most like to go next?
  
• This is hard. I've been so many places that I liked. I think in terms of sheer number of things to do, San Francisco was one of my favorite places ever. As far as next? I'd LOVE to see Hawaii. Or New Zealand. I'm not thinking either of those trips will happen anytime soon. Instead, I'm heading to a South Carolina island that I've never been to so that will have to do!

• Which is a bigger temptation - shoes, bags or jewelry?
• No contest. Shoes. By a landslide.

• If you were to change one thing about yourself, would it be physical or emotional / mental?
• Physical, definitely. I've worked hard on my emotional and mental health over the past few years. I haven't worked as hard on my physical health. That's about to change, though, as I've taken a vow with a friend that I will use the upcoming knee surgery as incentive to recover and train to run a half-marathon.
  

You want to play along? Ok.

• Leave me a comment requesting an interview.
• I will email you five questions. I get to pick the questions. I'll try not to be too mean. Ha.
  
• You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
• You will include this explanation (or a reasonable variation) and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
• When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Inordinately Proud

So, I changed the layout of my site. All by myself. Whoo-hoo. The old girl hasn't lost everything, even if I haven't programmed any code for *anything* in years.

I'm teaching myself HTML just for the challenge and it's purty cool. And easy. So if you want a page - just ask me. Now, I'm not promising fast results... :-)

decisions

I went with the first one. It got the most votes (including the votes of two gay men, and you *know* I have to listen to their fashion advice...) and also advertises itself as having "power mesh" lining for figure control. Which really is kind of laughable when you think that in a swimsuit, people are pretty much going to figure out what shape my figure is in no matter what, but it still is tempting. I love the second one, which got nearly as many votes, but I'm not convinced that the cut of the legs wouldn't make my legs look two inches long. I'm 5'1"...I don't need to look shorter!

And thus ends swimsuit shopping drama '07.

Oh - and the first one does have a detachable halter strap, so no worries about the girls getting too much exposure. Accidental exposure, anyway...

because I am indecisive...

This may be a little weird, but what the hell...I'm weird.

Summer (and therefore a beach trip or several) is coming up and so I'm swimsuit shopping. Online, because that's where the best deals and the best selection are. Really - women, if you haven't discovered Newport News for swimsuits, they're to DIE for. Anyway...I can't decide on one. So you get to vote. (Oh - and I know that I am not blond, 5'10" or 110 lbs. Nevertheless, I'm fairly confident that the styles here will be as attractive as anything that contains lycra and shows off my thighs can be...) Here are the nominees:

I like the red here.


Another red one. I think I'm really going for red this year.


I don't know about the jewels here. And it's pictured in blue, but they only have it in "Pomegranate" and "White Multi". I figure the Pomegranate is what I'd get...you know...red!


And for something *not* red:

whew

I've made it to spring break.

This is the break that feels like it will never come every year. By the time school let out on Friday, kids were wild, teachers were burned out and snapping at the kids and at each other, and the whole school was just generally walking on a knife edge. But every year we make it, and return after the break ready to hit the last few weeks of the year at a dead sprint toward graduation.

And speaking of sprints, (like how I segued into track? Great, huh?) track would be the reason that this poor blog isn't ever getting new entries. Every year I forget just how busy I am in the spring and get surprised all over again by my complete and utter lack of any free time. Fer cryin out loud - I was so excited that I had time to see a movie last night that I didn't know what to do with myself.

So here's to a week of no school, no track...just relaxing. Oh, and cleaning the house and mowing the lawn and getting the car fixed - but compared to wrangling several hundred kids a day, that's a cake walk!