Wounds

I took pictures of my wound while I changed the bandaid and let it get some air. It looks pretty bad, but it only hurts when I stand or walk. Too bad I can't spend the rest of the week on the couch with my leg up and ice on it.

Girls Weekend in Palm Springs

A couple of months ago Shana, Heidi and I were lamenting the fact that Heidi is moving away after she graduates and planned a couple of girls weekends for before she leaves. This past weekend was our weekend in Palm Springs. We were originally planning on leaving on Friday night, but it was Ryan's karaoke birthday party that night so we decided to stay for it. The party was great and I did so much singing that I had much less voice by the end of the night. Due to a late night Friday night we didn't get off to an early start Saturday though.

We ended up leaving about 11:00 to drive out to Palm Springs. We actually ended up staying in Banning because there was a golf tournament in Palm Springs and all the hotels were full there. Shana and I drove out together and then Heidi drove as well because she was heading to Utah after this weekend. We met up at the hotel in Banning about 1:00 to check in and plan our weekend. Part of what made it a great weekend was that we didn't really plan much before we went. We had a place to stay and that was about it.

We drove in to Palm Springs and walked around the downtown area. We got some lunch at this Mexican place that was pretty good. It wasn't as warm as we thought it was going to be, so we decided not to spend time by the pool, but to go on a hike. We got to the base of the hike and the ranger told us that they weren't letting anyone out on the trail because it was past 3:00 and we wouldn't get back before it got dark. Lame.

The hike was out. So we did what any girls would do who saw a huge outlet mall on the way in...check it out. We spent a couple of hours there and found some great deals. We all tried to exercise self-restraint and were fairly successful. After a long shopping excursion we got some dinner and took it back to the hotel room, ate and then went out to the hot tub. For some reason our card wouldn't open the door, so rather than asking the hotel staff for help Shana just climbed over the fence and let us in. The hot tub was just what we needed and afterward we were so relaxed that we just chilled and fell asleep.

Sunday morning we got up and went to church in Desert Hot Springs. After church we were driving around and decided to take this little road out to see all these windmills.



We took some great pictures and changed out of our church clothes. Then we headed back to the hike we were going to take the day before. We got there and the person at the desk rudely informed us that it was going to be $12.50 per person to hike this 2 mile hike. We thought this was pretty steep and decided to take the free trail that was right by the other trail. We climbed up the hills and got a good view of Palm Springs. It really is amazing how many palm trees there are there. We were taking a bunch of pictures and we saw this rock that was above the trail. Shana said someone should go up there and we would take pictures. Heidi was wearing flip flops so she was out, so I volunteered to go up. I was climbing up the rock when all of a sudden the piece I was standing on decided it no longer wanted to be connected to the rest of the rock and took me down with it. I did a nice 360 turn as I was falling and landed on the trail, thankfully not falling down the rest of the mountain. But I ended up with scrapes on all of my limbs with my left lower leg taking the brunt of the fall. Combined with the soccer bruises from earlier this week, I kind of look like a mess. After that our hike was over and we hiked back down to the car and went to CVS to get something to clean my wounds with. Thankfully with some ice, ibuprofen, and bandages I'm as good as new.












After our hike it was time to part ways. Heidi went off to Utah and Shana and I drove out to Redlands to visit with my aunt and uncle and cousins. I didn't realize how close they were to Palm Springs. Next time we're totally staying in the guest house. It was so much fun just hanging out with family and friends out there. My aunt, always ready to play matchmaker, has all but set Shana up on a date with my cousin's friend. She even talked to him on the phone while we were there. It was just a end to a wonderful weekend. Now if only I can get the swelling to go down in my leg so I can walk normally again!

How long to build a habit?

When I got laid off I decided that it would be the perfect time to re-start for the umpteenth time the habit of being more physically active. Somehow I always value sleep more than exercising in the morning. But being without a schedule for a month, I was actually pretty good at exercising 4-5 times a week. I think I actually slept better and just felt better because of it. Plus it gave me something to do every morning and kind of put me on a schedule. I'm trying to get myself to at least tolerate running and do some strength training and work on my flexibility as well.

But this week will be the test of my habit (is a month actually long enough to form a habit?). I already did away with the notion that I would wake up early enough to work out before going to work. I know myself way too well to even think that would work. But I get off work about 4:00 and then have lots of daylight left so my goal is to work out after work. Monday I got home from work about 4:25 and was just so excited to be done with the day that I couldn't wait to get out there and run. I walked a few blocks to warm up and then started running. I made it to the church (a mere .75 miles) when my shins were cramping unbearably. It wasn't shin splints, I'm very familiar with those, but just cramping. So I tried to walk it off and run again and after running about a block more just decided that I'd better walk home. I came home defeated.

After some good stretching and sitting on my couch doing nothing it was off to FHE where we played indoor soccer. I didn't really know what to expect with this because you never know with a church activity. But it was really fun and a workout. The first three goals we played linked up with one other person just to get everyone warmed up. Then it was an hour and a half of intense soccer playing. It made me really miss soccer and realize once again that I'd much rather get my exercise by participating in a sport than by going to the gym. It's just so much more fun. We played about 6 on 6 in the gym and I happened to be the token girl on my team for most of the game. Ruth-Ann (my church athletics buddy) and another girl were the female representatives on the other team. Soccer was just what I needed after a long day at work (more on the new job at the end of the week). I was completely exhausted by 9:30 and my legs were starting to cramp again (but I ignored them this time).

After such a successful Monday I woke up on Tuesday and thought my legs were never going to forgive me. My shins are a lovely shade of black and blue with a tinge of purple here and there. Note to self: wear shin guards next time you play soccer. Shana and I were supposed to play tennis Tuesday night, but she had something come up and in all honesty my legs were screaming at me so much that it probably was a good idea to give them a day off.

Wednesday...couldn't bring my legs to doing anything today. More will power for Thursday.

Camera

Yesterday I went and bought a new camera. I had a gift card at Radio Shack and didn't really have anything else that I wanted. And my trusty little camera is showing signs of aging (the lense doesn't close when you turn it off, the battery has a short in it, etc.) so it got replaced. Since you all know how much I love to post things when I have pictures, look forward to me posting more often as I get lots of use in with the new camrea!

Literary discovery

"All that was needed was shrewd questioning, first of the patient and then of his mother, to conclude once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera."
-Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The beautiful imagery in this paragraph comparing the torments of unrequited love with that of cholera just stuck out to me. May I never have cholera.

Employment

After a long month of resumes, interviews, phone calls, waiting, etc. I would like to finish my employment story. I think my last post I wrote I was in the waiting stage of things. Monday came and went and I had to call the hospital to ask them if I could have another day to think about things since the pediatric clinic was supposed to call on Tuesday. Tuesday morning comes and the clinic called and said that the person they were interviewing was sick and couldn't come in that day. So they rescheduled for Wednesday. I had to call the hospital again asking for another day. No one answered, so I just left a message letting them know I'd get back to them on Wednesday. The stress of job searching must have caught up with me because Tuesday afternoon I got that terrible aura that is the precursor for a migraine. The rest of the day was toast. I think I spent 100% of Tuesday afternoon/evening on the couch. But thankfully it wasn't a terrible one and I was able to sleep Tuesday night. Wednesday morning came and I got a phone call from the pediatric clinic in the morning saying that the person they were going to interview was sick still so they were just going to offer me the job still and hope that everything would work out so they could get someone else in there too to mentor me and just be an experienced OT. So I finally was able to figure things out and I start there on Monday. It's been a roller coaster of a month, but it looks like things are going up. Look for more updates once I start working!