Dear Boyfriend: Thank you for a perfect Valentine’s Day
Dear Wolf Pack Girls: Thank you for a fun Atlantic City weekend 
Dear slot machine: I’m breaking up with you. sometimes you should try giving instead of taking. 
Dear shoulder: I think you need to try harder to heal. I am repeating my mantra “time and rest heal everything” but damn you hurt 🙁

OK so despite dropping some $$ in the slots and dealing with this ongoing shoulder pain I sure did have a fun weekend. Probably because it was filled with an abundance of delicious food…so let’s discuss: 
First, was the Valentine’s dinner that my sweetie cooked. He made stuffed artichokes, crab stuffed, bacon wrapped filet mignon, roasted potatoes and sautéed asparagus and mushrooms. I watched him cook everything so I know he didn’t sneak in the gourmet meal from somewhere. Oh and he even hand dipped chocolate strawberries for me. I guess he likes me just a smidge. Tee Hee. And then of course I made my famous apple crisp which we had with ice cream. Heavenly. Haven’t mentioned it lately, or maybe I have….I’M.JUST.SO.LUCKY!

valentine's dinner

I am loved!

We’ve been getting lots of snow. It snowed a few inches on Saturday. Duncan isn’t sure if he loves it as much as he did a few weeks ago.

More snow!

More snow!

More »

Hi there.

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s a silly day to me because I think we should be lovin’ on everyone every single day. And I hate that it makes some people sad (I was that person for many years). But I’m on board to celebrate it today. Especially with my two favorites:

coffee and dog

my doodlebug and my coffee…LOVE!

I found the best candy ever:

wonka candy

YAY! Wonka makes sweetart conversation hearts

I’ve always said those conversation hearts are so chalky and taste like antacid and wouldn’t it be cool if Wonka would make a Sweetart version….My wish was granted!

Wonka candy

Be Mine!

I finally made it to the orthapedist and 11 days after falling off the snowmobile got an X-Ray. No breaks! So that’s great.

no breaks

no breaks

They can’t get me in for an MRI for another 10 days but apparently whether there is any type of tear to the rotator cuff or not, the treatment is the same….rest. Yep, rest. I could have saved myself some $$ on copays.

They gave me a sling so my surrounding muscles that are picking up the slack can get a break but it’s pretty uncomfortable so I haven’t been using it much.

sling

I need to bedazzle it.

This should be a fun weekend. Tonight I’m headed to Mr. SOTSS’ house. My sweetie’s cooking me dinner! I am loved (and lucky)! And because I love him back I’m baking dessert and I’ll even share it with him (although I already tapped into the can of whipped cream I bought to top the dessert with). Tomorrow I’ll be going to the Borgata (hotel and casino) in Atlantic City for a “wolf pack” birthday celebration for my friend Lisa.

wolf pack

The wolf pack from our last trip to celebrate Barbara’s birthday!

In case you care to read about our previous shenanigans at the Borgata you can read this post and this post.

The doctor said I can run if I want and won’t cause any damage to my shoulder but it might be uncomfortable. She said perhaps I should use the bike or elliptical. Since I don’t plan to start running again until 2/21 (which will make 4 solid weeks of no running) I might just ease back into cardio with some biking at the gym next week. Although I have to say I’ve been loving being lazy. It is really weird.

I have been walking with the dog when I can but that’s really all the exercise I’ve been doing.

struttin

struttin

brisk walk

enjoying the sunshine and the freezing temperatures

doodle

reflective doodle

freezing temperature

cold.just.cold

So here’s my life lesson: TIME and REST heal everything

Let’s face it, in this world where everything around us is instant—instant food, instant gratification, instant conversations, instant access to information—it’s hard to grasp the concept of slowing down and taking it easy. I’m going to stop Googling “how to heal faster from runner’s knee” and “how can I train for a marathon in 8 weeks” and instead I’m just going to take it one day at a time. I remember my foot doctor saying to me when I was suffering with ankle tendonitis “If it feels better give it one more week to be sure”. While I can do things like apply heat and ice, strengthen and stretch and foam roll, I think rest and time are really the clinchers in the healing process.

I know in time I’ll be feeling healthier and stronger and I’ll start craving those long runs…In the meantime I’ll enjoy  the time and the rest and the healing.

Duncan doesn’t mind all this extra time I have had for him…

the "stop taking pictures" look

the “stop taking pictures” look

stocking up on doodle supplies

stocking up on doodle supplies

The light is just too bright

The light is just too bright

Valentine's day means a special cookie!

Valentine’s day means a special cookie!

In honor of Valentine’s day what color would you choose Pink or Red?

Who else loves to squirt whipped cream into their mouth straight from the can?

 

Hi there!

Hope you are all in a relatively good state of mind. My state of mind is a little bit all over the place today.

I went to the primary care doctor yesterday to address the shoulder that I hurt while snowmobiling last weekend. I probably should have just gone a week ago but you know me….always expecting my injuries to heal on their own in “a couple of days”.

paperwork

Where is the copy and paste button?

I was forced to fill out the same paperwork because now it’s 2015. I don’t understand this process. I have the same insurance, same policy ID, same contact info etc. Why can’t they just put a big 2015 at the top of my 2014 paperwork? I also had to fill out a questionnaire to show how much of a risk I am at being sick I suppose.

patient questionnaire

Yes I wear my seatbelt.

They asked me if I wear my seatbelt twice! LOL! Someone didn’t proofread these before they were printed. The reason this is funny is because up until a few years ago I never wore my seatbelt! I actually gladly paid a ticket once for being pulled over and not wearing it. I hate seatbelts. They irritate my neck and make me feel trapped in the way someone with claustraphobia might feel. But after being yelled at by family and friends I finally worked on it, and am proud to say I wear it now! #YAY

So the doc (who I don’t really trust because he was sure I had a stress fracture last May when it turned out to be tendonitis) said he’s pretty sure I tore a tendon in the rotator cuff. He’s referring me to a shoulder specialist (orthopedist). I actually got my referral same day and will be calling that shoulder doc this morning to try and get an appointment ASAP. In the meantime, it’s become a lot more painful. I am trying to keep the arm as still as possible but even typing on the keyboard and lifting a fork to my mouth (which are two very non-negotiable things in my life!) hurt.

Silver lining to all this is that I’m most likely not going to have runner’s knee by the time I get back to running….I was planning to try running again in 2 weeks but I have no idea once I get the official diagnosis on my shoulder what that will mean…Will I be told I can’t run for an arm injury? Hmmm….

And at this point the NJ Marathon will probably become a half-marathon for me since i can’t imagine having enough time to train. Basically I’ll be running into the same situation as the San Francisco Marathon last July, only I’m eerily more accepting of this than I was of the San Francisco Marathon (I ended up running the half very slowly and had a great time anyway). I always do try and find the positive when I’m faced with injury and I do have to say it’s getting easier to accept that running can’t always be the driving force in my life. I hate admitting that but I get this reminder from the universe that my life is full of so much that it’s OK to skip races and running and focus on healing or even just spending more time with the ones I love.

Chester

Chester….all 82 pounds carefully balanced on the armrest.

niece

My beautiful and talented niece. She plays the alto saxophone.

doodle

Fresh from the groomer….makes me love him even more!

snowmobile

Mr. SOTSS….my sweetie!

Speaking of love…

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I thought I’d share a different kind of heart story.

Anna King

#LoveOfaDonor

I’ve been following Anna King’s story over the last 2 years. She was 12 when she was put on the heart transplant list. 6 months ago she finally received a new heart. Now at age 14 she is thriving! She wrote a blog post for Life Is Good and I think it’s a great way to think about love and hearts and all that jazz. Duncan will probably give me a toy from his toy box for Valentine’s Day…subtle hint that Fetch makes him happy.

Duncan

Valentine’s gift = let’s play fetch!

Tee Hee

Tee Hee

Ok…off to make that doctor’s appointment. Have a great day.

Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? Do you think its just a silly commercialized holiday?

Are you good at handling setbacks? Injuries? 

 

I always like to post just before Monday morning (Eastern time) so (most of) you can start your week with some new “content” to read while trying to get into your groove. But tonight I have nothing big or meaningful to share. I mean, there were a couple of majorly meaningful and amazing moments that happened this weekend but not shareable moments. They’re part of my non-blog life and I hold those dear to my heart. 🙂

I am still struggling with my shoulder. I thought it was doing better but then i had a setback. So tomorrow I’ll be finally seeking some medical attention. How ironic that a non-running injury is forcing me to a doctor. Why didn’t I go when my knee started bothering me? #stubborn

I’m feeling a bit lost at the moment with my health and fitness…I should be running and sharing my marathon training journey with you. I should be at 12-14 miles for my long run. I should have been running with the NJ Marathon training group today. They had their first on-course training run. But alas, I’m still working on getting this knee to be able to handle running long distances again. Thankfully my sanity is in check!

So I thought I’d take this opportunity to let you ask me something. Anything. Shoot! And maybe I’ll reply in a vlog….

Go ahead! Ask me anything

Go ahead! Ask me anything