Diaries I Read:
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this past week. It all started last weekend when, unfortunately, B and the rest of my running partners were running the L.A. Marathon.
It was so hot. I truly pitied them. A marathon is a long race in any conditions. And Sunday was a HOT day, even if you were just lounging around (which I was). So the fact that they had to actually run 26.2 miles in those temperatures and under that sun was really too bad. And to make matters worse, the L.A. Marathon starts particularly late � at 8:30 in the morning. That might not sound �late� for a Sunday morning, but it�s very late for a race. They usually start by 7:00, if not earlier. When the starting gun went off, the sun was already blazing down on them, and they ended up running through the hottest part of the day.
B actually did a fantastic job, though. He finished in 4 hours flat, which is a really good time in any weather and exceptional for this particular race day. My other friends didn�t fare so well. Two of them finished in about 5 hours, and one of them got heat stroke so she and another girl (who loyally stuck by her running partner) took over 6 hours. All in all, it was pretty miserable for them. So I guess if I had to miss a marathon, I�m glad it was this one.
But back to the weather. It�s so beautiful � in the mid 70s, sunny, clear, warm. It�s the kind of weather that makes it absolutely miserable to be stuck in a cubicle where I can�t even see a window. Ugh.
That�s all I want to do is spend Saturday at the pool reading my book. That�s all. Is that too much to ask? Probably, since B�s parents are arriving on Saturday night to stay for a week. And our house is a mess. I have about six loads of laundry to do and the entire house to tidy up in addition to cleaning those spots we don�t usually use (guest room, guest bathroom). Double ugh.
But maybe if I clean all night on Friday after work, I can spend Saturday by the pool. OK, that�s the plan.
XXX
Today I�m wearing a pair of pants that I haven�t worn for over a year. It is so nice to be fitting into my clothes again � it�s almost like having brand-new outfits! I can also get into my size 6 jeans again, which is awesome. I have the same jeans in a size 4 � can�t button those yet, but I�m thinking I�ll be able to in another five pounds.
XXX
I don�t think I ever told you about my knee surgery. It was exactly two weeks ago, and everything went fine. I even got some plastic surgery at the same time � well, sort of. See, I had this big, nasty scar on my knee from the previous surgery. Seriously, it was the length and width of my index finger. The doctor took one look at it the day before this surgery and asked if I�d like for him to fix it. Heck, yeah. So when he went in to remove the screw, he also cut out the old scar and re-sewed it.
Anyway, the surgery was uneventful, and afterwards my knee hurt, but I was able to walk that same day. Nonetheless, I took advantage of a Vicoden-induced stupor and let B wait on me for the rest of that day and the next.
Oh man, though, you should see the screw! I told the doctor I wanted to keep it, and that thing is huge! It�s not so much long (about one inch) as it is big around. And the grooves in it are really deep. (I�m having in encased in an acrylic cube to make a paper weight.) I saw an X-ray of my leg post-surgery, and there�s now a hole in my tibia the exact shape and size of the screw � including the ridges. It�s weird. The hole is supposed to fill itself in with regenerated bone in a few weeks. Until then, I have to be a little cautious � no skiing, soccer, etc.
Now � two weeks later � it feels great. I�m barely even aware of it at all, except it still feels a little like a bruise. I still can�t tell if the surgery has actually solved the problem, though, since I haven�t tried running on it and it felt like a bruise before the surgery too. I think I�m going to try a short run next week.
Last week they took the stitches out and the new incision looks really good � very thin. The doctor put steri-strips on it and told me to just leave them on until they came off on their own. I expected them to start coming off in a few days, but man, those things are really stuck on tight! They haven�t come off at all, even after several showers, a dip in the pool, and a thorough soak in the hot tub. And they�re starting to look nasty, leaving their sticky crud on my skin and picking up little lint and dirt from my clothes and stuff.
So last night I let my impatience get the best of me and I resolved to take those stupid steri-strips off myself. I even stopped by the drug store and bought rubbing alcohol (to dissolve the adhesive) and Vitamin E (to put on the scar). I set to work on the first strip, and it wasn�t budging. So I worked and worked at it, and even pulled a little bit of scab off, and I got that darn thing off.
But then I started getting scared. I mean, I had to really work to get that strip off, and the doctor did say to leave it on �til it fell off on its own accord. I thought maybe the incision would start stretching itself out and I�d end up with another ugly-looking fat scar on my leg. So I took a little piece of medical tape stuff from my first aid kit and tried to re-do the steri-strip.
I swear, I�m like a little kid who can�t stop picking at a scab or something. Why am I so darned impatient? Keep your fingers crossed that my scar stays skinny.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004