Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

MemetotheMax
Leave a comment telling me you want me to ask you questions and:
❶ I'll respond by asking you five questions to satisfy my curiosity.
❷ Update your journal with the answers to your questions.
❸ Include this explanation and offer to ask other people questions.

Questions 3-5 from inktea.

3. You have been breaking a lot in the past few years! How is your body doing nowdays?

It's true! I really wish I'd gotten the extended warranty!

Right now, I am basically as functionally healed as I will be, though the final verdict on how functional this makes me is not yet in.

My knees are somewhat more fragile than your average athletic person, and worst of all, I'm now aware of it. So is my over-protective husband. Which sucks. Also, there are some very basic things that hurt or are impossible now--squatting on my heels, getting on my hands and knees to reach something that fell under the couch, etc. My knees make horrible noises at the slightest provocation. And they ache more when I've been active, to a level that's quite uncomfortable.

My biggest problem with my body right now is my weight, which 2 knee surgeries and a prolonged inability to exercise really affected badly. I am extremely displeased with it right now. I am fat and I do not like it (this is not up for discussion; suffice it to say that I qualify by various metrics, including my own opinion, which is the important one). My new approach is to use headology to lose weight. Following the wisdom that is statistics, I now eat off smaller plates, and I'm tracking my calorie intake and exercise at http://www.sparkpeople.com. I plugged in various factors and they gave me an estimated daily calorie intake that I should aim for. It's pretty interesting learning how to weigh calorie counts of different foods, I never would have thought tortilla chips were so bad--aw, who am I kidding, it's tedious as heck. But it's working. This has led to me losing about 5 lbs in the last week-and-a-bit, so I think I'll stick with it. 5 down, 41 to go.

I'm also trying out the assortment of workout videos available from the library and Netflix, since actual class costs are not an option right now. Any money we have has better things to be doing.


Bellydance for Beginners. Fusion Fitness Pilates. (Library) Not really a good workout, though holding your arms up for an hour will become painful. Some very good stretches, and some mind-boggling muscle isolation. You haven't lived until you've seen a dozen buttocks twitching in unison. Acceptable for an off-day workout, and entertaining. Also, Phil walked in and asked, "Why are you watching porn?"


Get Ripped! To the core. (Library) Spent a lot of time swearing during this video, which is a good sign. Also, I had sore muscles for the next three days. It was a very good workout. There were some things that hurt my knees, though, so I have to figure out negotiating that.


Self Workout: Bikini Ready Fast! (Netflix) An easy workout, except for its heavy emphasis on arm workouts. Ow. My arms hurt, but the rest wasn't much affected, and there were no sore muscles the next day.

For reading through all that, here, have a bizarre kitteh exercising ad as a reward:


Also, I got my nose pierced! More about which eventually.

4. How is your photography doing these days? I haven't seen any images from you lately. Is it on the backburner?

Nope, I've been taking photos--the not posting is a side effect of my desktop computer dying. I've been trying not to upload photos to my laptop, so they've been going to the stand-alone HD, and--well, I'll get on that. Also, I've been crazy distracted, and so haven't been doing my Sunday photo safaris. That must change. But for now, let's just say--photos soon! Thanks for reminding me!

5. Zombie apocalypse. What's your plan? Where do you go, who do you take with you, do you plan for the future after zombies, or do you just try to survive as long as you can, and worry about survival later?

Jeez, die? Unfortunately, I've sorta lost contact with my heavily armed acquaintances. It really depends how fast the zombie apocalypse spreads. High ground is crucial. Y'know, grain elevators, or Arkansas mountains, depending on if we have time to go somewhere. Probably we'd head north--zombies freeze solid, right? The human brain being the wonderful squirrel wheel that it is, I imagine I'd plan like crazy, and hopefully that wouldn't get in the way of survival.

You know, a long rambling post where I write about where I'm at and what I'm doing and all the other things I think friends should know about each other but all too often don't these days. I encourage you to do one of these posts, too! I miss knowing these things about my friends (Twitter and Facebook have added a lot of little detailed information, but I think they've taken away some of the big picture).

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Having dealt with house problems and contractors all afternoon, I'm now looking forward to painful physical therapy exercises this evening. At least then I can just watch TV and not think.

Things done today:
* Had one-month post-surgery knee checkup. Everything looks fine, my mobility is good for the time range, and I've got a prescription to start doing "official" physical therapy. The appointment was for 8:30 a.m. Phil got up and went to work, I rolled over in bed and tried to go back to sleep (which also was bad because it would have left kitten unfed and unwiped). Fortunately Phil remembered I had a doctor's appointment and came back and got me. Whew! Good husband earns brownie points. Between that and him putting up with pain-and-sleep-deprivation-induced crankiness, I think there will be the baking of brownies this weekend. (Yes, my brownie points are literal.)
* Finished writing my after-the-end-of-the-world short story, "Missing You In Pieces." Only about 600 words over-budget. Stay tuned for the critiquers call.
* Started weaning the kitten by mooshing formula with kitten food pate and letting him eat it off my finger after he'd had some straight formula. He likes the idea a lot, but he's shaky on implementing it. He ended up wearing a large amount of the food.
* Witnessed kitten's first solid bowel movement. Kitten formula may have the things a growing kitten needs, but it's not 100% ideal for their digestive system. There have been poosplosions. This is a huge improvement. I have hopes he may soon start using his litter box, too.

Things forgotten at home when I went to the job:
* Thumb drive with my writing files on it.
* MP3 player with things to listen to if there's office projects (so far, no).

Food things acquired recently:
* On my way home yesterday I picked up fat-free Target fudgesicles (better than sugar-free, because I despise the taste of artificial sweeteners--and alas that fudgesicles are one of those things that are difficult to find in an unaltered state), blueberry toaster strudel, and DanActive (for the taste--reminds me of tasty sweet Nigerian yogurt drinks, or of sweet lassi).
* Phil, because he knows what makes me happy, bought real fudgesicles for me on his way home. He's definitely getting brownies.
* The CSA was duly split last night, so I have many tasty vegetables and some tasty fruit. Yellow watermelon is heaven. Also need good tomato recipes.
* On my way to work this afternoon, I was handed a bag of pretzel crisps and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. Yum. La vache qui rit cheese always reminds me of growing up in French-colonized West Africa. And I love working in downtown, where free things are handed out on the street corners quite regularly in summer.

And lo, Phil did bring home Taco Bell supreme tacos for dinner. And there was happiness and the contented silence of chewing deliciousness. And it was good.

x-posted to Fb/LJ--

I am doing better. Better than I was immediately after surgery, and definitely better than I was at this point in my recovery after my first ACL knee surgery. I have a little bruising in addition to the incision, and some pain, but nowhere near as much as I did last time. I'm not out of my head from pain or painkillers, also unlike last time.

This time, they didn't find any meniscus damage (or very very little) when they went in to do surgery, so everything took the projected amount of time and all they had to do was repair the ACL and take care of some abrasiveness on the underside of my knee cap. I had a cold, so they couldn't put me under general anesthesia like they did last time. The anesthesiologist said it was probably better not to anyway. So I got a spine nerve block and another nerve block on my leg to help with the incision. I was wide awake all the way to the operating room, where they put in the nerve blocks and then gave me a sedative, and I woke up still in the operating room, instead of several hours later in the recovery room. They also sent me home with a fanny pack holding a softball-sized bag of anesthetic that fed an IV line into my leg for the first three days to help get me past the worst of it. Brand name? O-no.

I can get around on my own wearing a thigh-to-ankle immobilizing brace and using crutches, though the brace hurts to wear. I tried to do a little with one crutch so I could carry things with the other hand, and that was not such a good idea. The pain pills are doing a pretty good job of controlling my pain, though alas, they are not super-fun pain pills--I'm neither pleasantly muzzy-headed nor filled with warm fuzzies. I've begun doing the most basic physical therapy exercises: putting my leg up on a chair and letting it hang; and trying to bend my knee without putting any weight on it. They hurt. I cannot bend my leg yet, but the straightening seems to be going well, as it has since I injured my knee.

I'm spending all my time on the couch in the living room, either reading the internet (email, blogs, newsletters, etc.), watching TV, or sleeping. Pain wakes me up when the pills wear off, so I've been sleeping very irregularly at night, and I tend to take 3-4 naps during the day, whenever I get sleepy, which is regularly. I've finished watching all of Criminal Minds on DVD, all of True Blood on DVD, the 2nd-to-last season of Monk, and I'm about to finish the first season of Buffy (rewatch, borrowed from a friend). I'm catching up on my writing newsletters, and I'm pleased that I'm clear-headed enough to actually get some writing-related work (and soon, writing!) done, though I'm cutting myself a whole lotta slack. Did I mention 3-4 naps a day?


WARNING: Beyond this point, there may be TMI and photographs.


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x-post Fb/LJ--

The knee surgery to replace my ACL is scheduled for this coming Monday, and I can hardly think of anything else. It's worse because I know what to expect this time around (I had the other knee repaired about a year and a half ago). I have no energy, no willpower, and my impulse control is remarkably poor. I think all my strength and willpower is going to the not-freaking-out-about-imminent-surgery project. With mixed results.

I've dealt with work emails. I've gotten my teeth inspected and (my very first) cavities taken care of. I've bought skirts and loose-fitting pants for post-surgery work wear. My family visited us and we visited Phil's family. I went to the opera, the zoo, and the Walker Art Museum*. I went to a nice restaurant with Phil last night for the last time for a while. I have a bed.

There's no way I'm hitting my Vicesteed editing goal before surgery--I'd hoped to finish this draft, but I'm only to Chapter 20. And writing/editing/anything time will be pretty much non-existent for the next couple of months, mostly because I'll be too muzzy-headed to do anything quality. I suppose I could write short stories, because it matters less if I muck those up.

There are still other things I want/need to get done before surgery. I'd like to get my bike fixed, so I can use it for physical therapy during the recovery (once I'm somewhat mobile). I'd like to get the dishwasher fixed, but that requires one more part to arrive and then a scheduled appointment with a repair guy. There's a wedding, and the surrounding events. There's the MNSpec writing meeting and critique session (the day before surgery), that I still need to get critiques done for. I need to finish uploading and labeling at least the 2009 orientation photos. I'd like to go to the MoA and look for more post-surgery clothes and comfortable dress shoes and tiny earrings, but that seems a distant possibility. I'd like to go to Fire Roast Mountain coffee shop in the afternoon this weekend, but other events may interfere. Oh, and I need to pay bills and see about that property tax refund and...and...clean the house really thoroughly one last time, and--.



* While I'm still a walker. Get it?

It seems like everything's speeding up as the date for my knee surgery limps closer and closer. My schedule's packed with events, and I'm not where I wanted to be in various writing projects. It doesn't really matter. Things happen, you do what you can, and you don't shouldn't waste time whining and wishing.

It's much on my mind, the closer it gets.

06/15/2009 - Monday, photo gig all day

06/14/2009 - Sunday, no work. Photo gig in the afternoon.
* Read Writer's Digest, 5 Publisher's Lunch, WritersWeekly, FFWSmallMarkets, FundsforWriters, Duotrope newsletters.
* Updated Aswiebe's Market List, cleaned out old contests and anthologies, and uploaded newest version.
* Emailed newsletter and posted on website, livejournal, twitter, and facebook.

06/13/2009 - Saturday, no work.
* Finished crits (2 & 3 of 5) for Critters.
* Started getting "The Old Woman By The Sea" ready to edit. Printed off crits from the message board of the now-defunct collaborative project I wrote it for, left note to the effect that I was going to be revising it and submitting it elsewhere, and checked with one of the other members about whether it was okay for me to leave in references to something she'd created, even though it would be in an alternate-alternate world.

06/12/2009 - Friday. Worked all day. Some downtime.
* Approved MinnSpec new member.
* Posted writing log.
* Another private-locked penthius freewriting where the story idea is all. Been having more of those lately. Wish I had time to write them.
* Finished crit (1 of 5) for Critters.
* Worked on crit (2 of 5) for Critters.

I have returned! To martial arts classes, that is. After being allowed back by my doctor, there was a vacation in Georgia and a really nasty cold that intervened, and I almost said, "Screw it, they're about to go on holiday break, I might as well wait to join up until after classes resume." I'm glad I didn't. For one, this allowed me to ease in a little more. For another, it means I'm not another one of those people returning to physical activity just because they made a New Years' resolution; they have a high percentage of attrition.

( martial arts stuff )

( weight-loss stuff )

( state of the knee )