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

 

 

Hi there.

Well, 4 days since my snowmobile “incident” and I am seeing some small signs of improvement with my shoulder. The pain is mostly gone unless I try and lift my arm up or out past my current range of motion limitations. That’s the part that’s taking the longest to return to normal…my range of motion. I can’t raise my arm forward past the 90 degree point yet. So basically i can shake someone’s hand but I can’t wash my hair (well I wash it with only one arm). The same goes for out to the side. But I’m not popping ibuprofen anymore. I stopped yesterday. I needed to give my stomach a break. It was feeling a bit irritated from the pills. With all the commotion of the weekend in Vermont and coming back to a really busy week at work, combined with winter storms leaving my free minutes consumed with trying to shovel (laughable with one arm), salting, warming up the car a little longer, walking slower with the dog because of the ice etc, I haven’t been keeping up with my knee rehab. Shame on me!!! And I haven’t been exercising at all!

Today I finally had a breather with a little flexibility in my schedule. It was really cold and windy but I knew both Duncan and I needed some exercise. I bundled up and we went to one of my favorite quiet spots. Warning: This is where my blog becomes consumed with labradoodle cuteness.

happy to be moving!

happy to be moving!

the snow had a layer of ice so he sort of glided.

the snow had a layer of ice over it so he sort of glided.

We trudged through what looked like the tundra and eventually when that got exhausting we walked along the paved paths.

labradoodle snow

My paws are cold ma. Just gonna stand here for a minute

doodle-poser

such a poser!

my footsteps to the left

my footsteps to the left

trail-tundra

No filter

wetlands

wetlands are more frozen than wet

I figured that with my shoulder still out of commission for a bit and my knee still resting I am limited to what types of exercise I can accomplish. So for now, outdoors will only be walks when I can.

still sitting with a stick

sitting with a stick

walking with a stick...

walking with a stick…

sitting with a stick

sitting with a stick again

at least one of us can run

at least one of us can run

After walking for an hour or so we came home, I showered and got ready to head into the city to meet some friends for dinner and drinks and catch up on life. I made sure to put some nice red lipstick on. I’ve been eating a little more than I should and exercising a little less lately which has made me feel a little extra “fluffy” lately….so the lipstick kinda helped me feel a little better about myself.

IMG_3099

Accentuate the positive

I caught the most beautiful sunset…

IMG_3101

Dinner was fun. And of course ended in dessert. This was an almond pear cake/ice cream combo.

IMG_3100Looks like I’ll be wearing red lipstick a little longer. =)

How do you clean up your act when you find you’ve been eating too much and not moving enough? Do you beat yourself up or do you know it’ll work itself out?

 

Hi folks. Hope you had a great weekend. I spent it up in West Dover, Vermont.
As one of my Christmas presents Mr. SOTSS got us a lovely bed and breakfast ski weekend trip. He’s such a great travel companion and thoughtful gift giver too. This was our first road trip without our furry kids. While it was hard leaving them behind we really enjoyed ourselves.

West Dover Inn

almost 170 years in business!

fire wood

A good sign that there are fireplaces inside…YAY!

We arrived in the late afternoon on Friday to the The West Dover Inn. The Inn was established in 1846 with just 3 guest rooms and has remained in business ever since. They have since expanded to 11 rooms. After checking in to our room we went for dinner at The Roadhouse, a local establishment just a few miles away. They served homemade bread that arrived at the table nice and warm. And they also served homemade apple crisp which we both had for dessert. Any place that specializes in homemade carbs….yeah I don’t even need to finish this sentence.
The Roadhouse

Apple Crisp!

It had been snowing most of the day and night and really set the mood for what a ski weekend in Vermont should feel like. After dinner we went to the bar at our Inn to listen to some live music and have a drink. And their bar recently got a makeover too. It was quite crowded and lively.

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