Sunday, October 4, 2015

Fall Weather And Other Thankfuls

I am pretty sure this is the first time I have opened my computer in exactly one week. I really need to shake off this writer's funk and get my shizz together. Maybe it will help to be thankful? Surely, it will!


1. Fall is finally here! Now, I hate, hate, HAAAAATE cold weather (unless I get a snow day out of it), but I love the clean, crisp air of fall! Our leaves aren't changing yet, save for a single leaf here and a single leaf there, but FALL, people!

2. Volleyball still sucks. I'm not going to lie. But the JV team, on which my daughter is now playing (and please, don't get me started on the unfairness of this) won both their games this week. That team she USED to be on, the one she worked so hard to make and which she, so she's been told, single handedly has caused to lose nearly every single game they have played even though she has only lost them a handful of points, lost both of their games. By a lot. Bam!

3. I'm thankful for a daughter who may fall apart about said treatment at home, but at practice and at games, she keeps her chin up and a smile on her face. I should do the same, but I'm not as good at hiding how I feel as she is.

4. I'm really thankful for my good friend and fellow bleacher buddy Melinda. She was one of my very first friends when I moved here 17 years ago, and I'm happy to say she's one of the best!

5. Funny preschoolers. Instead of straightening my hair, I wore my hair in its natural state (wildly curly) this week for the first time since school started, and one of my 3 year old girls looked up at me, smiled sweetly, and asked, "Did you take a shower?" "Because of my hair?" I asked her. "Uh huh!" she nodded happily, and I laughed and laughed. 

6. Unless we are cooking or doing something else special, our preschoolers take turns providing snack for the class. Popular choices are goldfish crackers, Cheez-its, fruit snacks, cheese, cookies, etc. On Tuesday, the snack helper for my primary class brought watermelon (cut into bite sized pieces and in a clear, plastic box from the produce dept. at the grocery store). We've never had that for a snack before, and while messy, most of the kids loved it (I have eight 3 years olds in that class). When snack was over, I took the nearly empty box to the water fountain right outside the door to drain the juice out of it before putting it in the trash, because we all know trash bags are great and all, but they aren't leak-proof. I had the lid loosely over the box and was straining out the little bits and pieces of watermelon that were still in there as I poured AND WAS NEARLY DONE when something horrible happened and the box slipped. I do NOT know exactly how this all happened, as it went down quick and ugly, but the remaining watermelon and juice flew out of the box and against the wall above the water fountain, as well as IN the water fountain, down the sides of it, onto the wooden steps there to help preschoolers reach said water fountain AND onto the floor. What was probably only about a quarter of a cup of watermelon bits and juice appeared to be more like an entire watermelon. With a deep sigh (and, surprisingly, no bad words from me), I got paper towels and was in the midst of the clean up process when Vanessa, the church office administrator, came up the stairs. "Did you take a picture of it for your blog?!" she asked. Dammit! No, I did not! But know what makes this a thankful? That Vanessa's first thought was that it was great material for my blog. She's a fan and I appreciate it more than she knows.

7. Can that one be two? It was really long....

8. I'm thankful for the positive benefits of living in a small town. I did something earlier this summer to goober up my achilles tendon (I have a vague recollection of it popping as I stretched up on tiptoe to reach a high shelf). My heel has been pretty tender all summer, and I have been doing heel stretches in an attempt to make it feel better. Then two weeks ago, when I took Lizzi on her Tour de Missouri (blog post to come, I swear!), I put on real shoes instead of flip flops for the first time since, oh, May, walked for miles and climbed on rocks that nearly were the death of me (teaser), and the back of my heel became swollen and painful. REALLY swollen and REALLY painful. And kept getting worse. I was able to wear a pair of TOMS shoes, since the part that touches the heel is soft and I could slide it under the swollen part, but all other shoes are out for me. And it's fall. After Thursday's volleyball home game, I showed it to the athletic trainer and asked him what he thought about it. He thought I could have torn part of the tendon. The dad of one of the team members just happens to be an orthopedic surgeon, and while he wasn't there that night, his wife was, so, at the trainer's suggestion, I asked her to take a picture of it and ask her husband what he thought. And she did, texted it to him, and got me a tentative diagnosis of retrocalaneal bursitis. He advised ice, ibuprofen, heel stretches and clogs and let him know if that didn't make it better (which research on The Google tells me would mean four to six weeks in a walking boot to immobilize it until it heals). Try to accomplish a diagnosis and treatment plan that quickly and inexpensively (i.e., free) in a big city, why don'tcha?

9. The second thankful here is that the doctor VERY CLEARLY has instructed me to go shoe shopping.

10. I have loads and loads and LOADS of laundry to do today, which isn't my favorite way to spend a beautiful fall Sunday afternoon, but by the end of the day, I will have put my electric mattress pad on the bed and made it up with fresh sheets and a couple of blankets and I will be ready for cool weather!


I don't even have pictures to use this week for my post.
Enjoy this instead....

How the heck are y'all, anyway? I've missed you, even if I haven't been making the rounds of your blogs lately. Do link up with us at Ten Things of Thankful. It really does make you feel better.

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20 comments:

  1. I know how political and unfair high school athletics can be. Good for your daughter for hanging in there. I hope she finds she has a better year at JV than she imagined. I loved the watermelon story..and really enjoyed your blog.My best friend just moved to MIssouri.. I miss her.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. She's a pretty tough cookie, all in all. She will weather this and learn from it.
      I cannot believe how big a mess I made with that itty, bitty bit of watermelon!
      And thank you so much! I appreciate the compliment. You should come to Missouri to visit your friend. It's not TOO bad a place :)
      (My best friend is 9 hours away, in Tennessee, so I completely understand)

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  2. YAY I'm first...for frist; why I don't know... I swear half the time I feel like i am always late to the party and I'm too embarrassed to ask if I miss anything LOL...

    great thankful... I really hope that the volley ball gets better or works it's self out.. soon

    oh boy the water melon incident sounded very sticky...Dyanne I hate sticky it never cleans right and one has to go back to make sure it's not sticky any more.

    yes when I read the part that you needed to wear clogs I wondered if you have any ...and thought well if she doesn't you need to buy a pair quickly . yay new shoes... but boo to the pain although I don't think I ever torn the Achilles tendon I do think I bruised it quite often as matter of fact and often when I'm really stressed I mean I wake up with one foot or the other really sore - it's probably how I sleep and the pain can last for over a week. heating pad, Motrin and massage (by me) works well...lately, several years now they are fewer ...and I think since I started doing Yoga helps a lot plus I try not to sleep with my feet pointed and tense. LOL take care...and enjoy the new shoes:)

    Enjoy your Laundry...but better than that jump into bed tonight sighing and enjoying those clean sheets !!!! lol :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You seem to have gotten out-fristed this time :)
      We have two more weeks of volleyball season. I'm hoping I make it!
      That watermelon was everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I can only hope I got it all!
      I found a pair of Born clogs on sale for $24! Leather and everything! The icing seems to be helping a lot. I'm already having less pain, even though the swelling hasn't gone down. I've also noticed massaging it after a shower, when I'm drying off, makes it feel better. And I'm bad about sleeping with my toes pointed, so when I wake up in the night and again in the morning, I do heel stretches.
      Five loads of laundry so far and I'm still not done!

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  3. tI was so happy your daughter's team won and the one she left didn't. Love when you get to enjoy karma. Sounds like a coaching problem to me. Love the preschool hair story - surely you good have found a picture for that, had you wanted to. The doctor story is great - thankful for his wife, phone pictures and diagnosis. Good luck, hope it heals quickly. Clogs aren't so bad.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Is it terrible to admit that we were secretly rooting for the other team during the varsity games?!
      I thought everyone was kidding when they said to have my friend take a pic of my foot for her husband to look at, but they weren't and it has seemed to work - it is feeling a little better!
      The clogs I bought are really cute, which is fortunate, because there isn't a plethora of them in the stores.

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  4. so: a watermelon fight, volleyball team suffering a hex that causes them to lose, a surgeon diagnosing by twitter and a British woman left in the rocky wilderness to fend for herself…. and you haven't been posting?

    lol… in time. sometimes a break from the relentlessly hungry blogosphere is a good thing…. not too long a break, mind you!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. The watermelon won.
      The volleyball team didn't.
      Healthcare of the future!
      I was actually the one who nearly got left on top of a mountain, as I got myself kind of stuck.
      I really need to write that shit down, huh?

      Delete
  5. I hope your heel heals before the snow flies! Clogs and new shoes are fine, but so are dry feet. I've been savoring this chilly weather and the cooler nights, so no electric blanket for this girl!

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    1. Yeah, not looking forward to cold weather and no heels on my shoes!
      I like the room to be cool (right now, it's perfect for keeping the windows open all night) as long as the rest of me is toasty warm.

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  6. OK, that whole watermelon story is crazy. How do you have so many wild accidents in the hall of your preschool?!?!? And now I'll step down from my high horse since I am terribly clumsy. Or impulsive.
    You definitely need new shoes.
    Glad to hear more details on the volleyball situation, but sad and mad that it continues. Sucks.
    Thanks for helping me out today. Was that the weirdest request or what?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Who would ever think preschool could be such a dangerous place?! Flying bats, flying watermelon.
      Got a pair, on sale for $24. Leather. Pretty cute, although my daughter would disagree, but she's 16, so whatever.
      The volleyball situation truly sucks.
      I had fun helping you decide which dress and shoes! What did you choose?

      Delete
  7. You never fail to make me guffaw, and I hope you realize that is a huge compliment coming from me. I really really like to guffaw!

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    1. Thank you so much! I am honored to have made you guffaw!

      Delete
  8. I just love some of the things pre-schoolers say sometimes.
    :-)
    That foot injury sounds painful. Hope it heals sooner rather than later.

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    1. They are funny, funny creatures!
      I feel like a sissy about the foot, but it HURRRRTS!

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  9. I'm sorry about the volleyball woes. I think it is worse when it's our kids--we want to make everything FAIR for them, and life isn't always that way. Your daughter has a whole lot of internet fans, for what it's worth. Wish I could change the dynamics for her.

    Do you remember how David Letterman used to drop things off the top of the Late Night building? I really think you could supplement your preschool days with late night TV hosting! Glad you survived the watermelon.

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  10. That meme makes me laugh every single time I see it.
    Bringing out the ol' electric mattress pad already? Or is it just that cold weather will be here before you wash the sheets again. :)
    Glad you got some answers about your heel. I hope it heals and you don't need that horrible boot.
    I'm so sorry about volleyball. I hate how one lousy coach can cause a kid to not enjoy something she normally loves.

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  11. Psst! Dyanne! SBOR/BOSR 1.3 remember? No worries on #7
    Look at all the material you have for a collection of short stories for 3 year olds :D
    "The Watermelon Incident", "Spiders in a Jar", "Snake on a Stick" (didn't you have a run in with a snake last year? lol)
    Yes, small town coolness - pictures/diagnosis via cell phone. Hope your heel feels better soon!

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  12. I love the church office administrator's comment. That sounds exactly like something my husband would say to me. What a mess to clean up, but then again you will always remember the day the snack happened to be watermelon. Your daughter's comment about whether you took a shower made me laugh. Seeing through the eyes of child is so revealing. :-)

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