Snowglobe Sunday! I am in heaven :o)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Well, the "storm" that the weather people have been saying would hit overnight and leave trace amounts of snow has turned into a full blown blizzard on track to leave a foot of snow by the times it has passed along with 30 MPH winds.  So, the town...and most of the state from Denver to Wyoming has shut down.  Yay! snowglobe Sunday.  Below are some pictures from our balcony and our dog, Gunner enjoying the snow.

Ha! The snow is almost too deep on the railing for him to look out! 

Lucky for me I have a stash of yarn I have been "meaning" to turn into a project....and today is that day.  I decided to knit a scarf for my assistant at work, who has been awesome lately picking up my slack and doing more than her fair share while I have been out of the office. She loves hot pink, so I picked this hot pink Italian silk yarn mixed with some variegated gray/black yarn.  Below is a not so great picture, but you get the idea. :o)  I have a feeling when this is over, I will have knitted scarves for the whole office, thank goodness they're very  "in" right now. :)

If you're in Colorado, please be safe today and enjoy the snow!! If you're where the sun is shining, get out and enjoy it! I am only slightly envious, but envious all the same. o) 

❤❤❤

The Big Day....Surgery or no Surgery....that is the question

I have been looking forward to and dreading today since I found out on Monday night that I had broken my leg.  Almost immediately after telling me I had broken it, they said in less than a week you need to see a surgeon and find out what your next steps are.  Ug..  Honestly, from the amount of pain and bruising I was having, I was starting to fear the worst.

So, today at 2:30 I sat in the surgeons office waiting to find out pretty much what the next couple of months were going to be like for me.  Lucky for me (and probably everyone around me) the doctor came into the office pulled up the x-rays and smiled and nodded.  He looked at me and said, "hmmm, well if you are going to break your leg, this is the best way to do it.  The break is in the perfect spot for quick healing and minimum medical intervention.  You will not need surgery and all I am going to recommend is a removable boot cast and non-weight bearing for 6 to 8 weeks and see what happens" Yay!!!! Soooo relieved.  I was so relieved the next question kinda scared him.  I then told him that I wanted to ride the MS150 and wanted to start training ASAP, so how soon could I get back on a bike.  According to my husband he looked at me like I was out of my mind (um, given) and then said, when is it? June 28th...hmm....probably not.  Let's play it by ear but it will probably be months before you can ride and even then it will not be a significant distance. :o(  Sooooo very sad.  I am still going to keep hoping that I will be able ride at least some of the MS150....but it's not looking good and that makes me really, really sad.  I had so many plans for this riding season.  I was even thinking about joining a local beginning crit (racing) team and helping to get other women to join...now...I just don't know.  I personally like my friend Sam's idea and strap a clip on my boot and ride anyway!! :o)  Or, go to spin and just ride with one leg.  I can surely do that!! Right?   Although, now that I just have a removable boot, maybe I can swim?  I wonder if the kicking would aggravate it?

Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure something out and it could have been MUCH worse.  So that's what I have to keep in mind.  The good news is that Robb's dad is going to ride with Robb so he won't be riding alone.

So there you have it, really good news. I am definitely on the road to recovery. :)

Updating to add a picture of my new footwear:

Snowy Days always Cheer Me Up!

Good morning lovely blog people! :o) Now that I am spending more time on my bum in front of a computer I have a feeling I will be updating this blog a lot more.  Which is good, I have a lot to write about and need to get some things out. :o)

I am feeling better (mentally) today.   Yesterday was a pretty good day work wise, I took my favorite customer out to lunch and it was a great time.  Customers like then are what make my job so awesome!

I also decided to make today and tomorrow work from home days.   I have an appointment with a potential bookkeeper for a non-profit I volunteer for.  But other than that it's lots of rest, computer and TV time.

I did receive the below flowers yesterday. They are my favorite and so cheerful and beautiful.

I also received the below edible arrangement from work, which was so sweet....literally! :)

Everyone has been super supportive!! I definitely feel so very loved and taken care of.  I haven't noticed even one eye roll from my husband....and I've been looking.  The only eye rolls I have seen is when I try to do too much for myself and not ask for help (I have a hard time asking for help). ;o)

The pain is not too bad.  It's only slightly unbearable when I over do it and the swelling gets really bad and for some reason I wake up in the middle of the night with sharp pain in my heel or outer edge of my foot under my pinky toe.  Not sure what that is about, but I will be sure to ask the doctor.  Speaking of, I go see him on Friday and I can't wait.  I'm dying to find out how bad or good things are and when I can start riding my bike again!!!! :o) 

Oh, and I found a physical benefit of crutches.  I am going to have awesome guns and abs when this is all over.  I woke up yesterday with super sore arms and abs like I had spent the previous day lifting weights and doing burpees.  Of course! I am using totally different muscles and walking on crutches has to be good exercise, right?! Yep, there's another silver lining.  My arms are always my weakest and flabbiest feature, so I look forward to toning and firming them up a little. :)

In other news, below is a picture of what I woke up to this morning.  I absolutely LOVE it when it snows.  I think I feel like I need to make up for a life in CA without snow....so I always want it to snow as much as possible in the winter.  I mean if it's cold anyways, it might as well be snowing too!! Plus, it's so beautiful and so romantic.  I love the quiet peacefulness of a snow storm.  In CA when we have storms they are violent loud rain storms.....in CO it's quiet and beautiful.  I prefer this storm better.  Plus, my puppy loves to eat it...so he always comes in from outside with adorable snowflakes on his nose which always makes me laugh at him. 

Here is a picture of the snow this morning....enjoy my friends! This was taken from my balcony looking down or street. 

Success....It's a wrap!

Okay, I know I owe you a travel recap from the Europe trip, which was amazing.  Life changing really.  But, well I haven't felt inspired to write about it since I've been back.  I think it's perhaps because I don't know where to start or maybe if I write about it...then it will really be over and I want to live with my memories for a little while longer and continue to process before I share. ;o)

But, there is a reason I am here tonight. I am here to write of course..and I am inspired to write about something else, so that is what I shall do. While we were in Europe my father and I had decided to ride the MS150's again this year (same as two years ago).  I have so many wonderful memories of two years ago when we rode them and I loved training and meeting so many amazing people, plus the increased self confidence was a nice added bonus.  Also, I have gained some weight since I was training and riding every day, and could really use the inspiration or motivation of an upcoming challenge to get my rear in gear (literally).  We both signed up when we get back and I started to put my training plan together.  I have been attending the occasional spin class, but my training schedule starts on Friday. Yay!!

That was until last night...now things are considerably more up in the air. Here is what happened and what explains the below picture of Gunner and a crazy foot.  I worked from home yesterday and I told Robb that while he was making dinner I would go pick Gunner up from doggie Daycare.  Simple enough. Yep.  So, when I got there, it was packed...there was a line to the bottom of the stairs of anxious parents waiting to pick up their puppies.  So, I walked in the door which was at the top of the stairs and all of a sudden I started to lose my balance, my ankle had turned and I was grasping to catch my balance....with no luck.  I was falling down the stairs crashing into the hard tiled covered concrete stairs on my way down.  There was a lady at the bottom of the stairs who I was trying to avoid clobbering her, but she was forcing herself towards me trying to catch me as a fell. The end result was that she punched me in the lip and nose on my way to the ground.  In my traditional klutzy fashion, I jumped up...not even thinking to take inventory and smiled and giggled as everyone asked if I were okay, "oh yeah" I said. "I do this all the time, I am such a klutz.  I am totally used to this. Darn ankles".  I could see it in everyone's face, the concern. I tried to keep my smile as my lip quivered from the pain and embarrassment.  By now, I knew something was wrong.  My whole body was shaking and I could not put any weight on my right ankle. My whole body was shaking now and my lip and nose were stinging from that trauma.  But, I kept smiling....secretly praying to myself that I just wanted to go home..I really, really, needed to go home.  Can I please just take my dog and go.  But, I was too embarrassed to make a scene...so I patiently waited.  Hoping and praying it would all be over soon and I could just rest and let my ankle start to feel better.

Finally, it was my turn to get my dog and the nice ladies offered to help me out or walk him out, I declined and lied and said I was feeling MUCH better already and really didn't hurt myself.  After all, I regularly fall...this is just another one of "those" times.  Heck, I almost believed it myself.

One the way home, I started to really wonder if I actually hurt myself.  The burning in my ankle felt like the worst sunburn I had every had, like I had wrapped my ankle in a scalding hot cloth.  Everytime I depressed the break pedal at a stoplight, I moaned in pain.  Gunner was looking at me like I was crazy.  Towards the end of the drive, I was praying for green lights.  Then, finally I was home.

As I walked into the door of the house Robb took one look at me and asked what happened.  I smiled and said, I fell again.  Twisted my ankle, again. I sat down, took off my shoe and sock, my ankle was starting to bruise and was already twice it's normal size.  Not to mention the pain that was not getting better like normal sprains, but was getting worse.  But, I still wanted to believe it was just one of those many sprains I had experienced in the past.  We had dinner, rested and I was feeling sick to my stomach.  But then, I got up to walk around barefoot and I could no longer feel the coolness or temperature of the floor under my foot.  So, I told Robb....we have to go to emergency. It's time.  He agreed, and had been trying to get me to go all night.

They did the obligatory x-rays and you guess it.  It was broken. Figures.......I told the doctor that I had plans and really need to get better by next week. She said that unless I had super bones, that was not going to happen.  The official diagnosis is Right non-displaced Distal Fibula Fracture.  The doctor told me that this was a lesser fracture but that I needed to see a surgeon because more than likely I had also torn the ligaments and that needed to be evaluated for surgery or if it would heal on it's own.  They put a splint cast on it, said to give it a week for the swelling to go down and then go see the surgeon.   Ug....this just sucks.  Sorry but it does.  I am kinda down about this one.   

Gunner and I after the trip to the hospital, I can't tell if he's bummed about my foot...or mad that he's lost half of his sleeping space on the couch. ;o)

So now to think about the MS150 in June, I guess now I wait and see what the surgeon says, but the frustrating thing is that I can't really do much to train.  I have thought about spinning with one leg....but I don't know. Seems kinda drastic.  I guess I just have to wait and see.  But, even more frustrating is that I can't do ANY exercise, no swimming...or walking or jogging or cycling or anything.  Sucks. 

Oh, and the doctor said best case scenario, I would have the cast off in 8 weeks.  Which according to my calculations is April 20th and then there is PT and rehab after that...so I'm thinking the end of May is when I will have my life back. :( Sorry this post is a poor poor pitiful me post, but I am feeling kinda down tonight.  I miss my cycling friends and was really, really looking forward to ride every weekend like I was before.  Finally when the days were just starting to get long enough to ride after work and the temp was getting over 50 degrees regularly...this happens. :( 

Well, there is always the MS150 in September in CA.  Right? ;o) ;o( 

Thanks for listening and letting me vent. Oh, and the title of this post is the one good thing I could find out of this situation, I have been"trying" to break my leg for years with countless falls....well...success! I finally did it.  Let's hope this is the last. ;o)