Heel-ing

I can't express to you how depressing it has been for me to be injured. 

I have been running off and on for about 8 years.  I've done countless 5K runs but nothing longer.  I started a half-marathon clinic but couldn't finish.  Up until this past fall the longest had ever run was 12K; the last run before I quit the clinic.  Looking back I'm so disapointed in myself that I quit, and it was because I talked myself out of it.  It was a clinic where no other person was a first time half-marathoner.  Everyone else was a seasoned runner with more than half the class taking the clinic with a personal best goal in mind.  So I was always at the back of the pack, literally.  And it was difficult.  So I just quit.  It bothered me for a long time because I usually start what I finish.  But I didn't, and I make no excuses, I just quit.

I continued to run, sporadically at best.  A 5k here and there but nothing serious.  I did a mini-triathlon, twice, but felt pretty unfulfilled as far as running went.

Last spring I started running with a friend who was training for a half marathon.  She was dedicated and regimented and I joined her bandwagon and appropriated her enthusiasm. She pushed me to run my first ever 10K race and I seriously considered registering for a half-marathon with her in January.  But that was weeks ago.

I felt soreness in my heel for a while but one morning I woke up and literally couldn't walk.  I started to feel better the more I moved around but when I felt a snap in my foot while playing basketball I knew something was seriously wrong.

I have tissue damage in my foot related to a bone spur.  Nothing serious, but recovery can take up to a year.  I went from running 3 times a week and playing basketball and volleyball weekly to barely being able to stand for an entire work day.

It's getting better, excrutiatingly, incrementally, slowly, improving.  But the worst part is knowing I was so close to a long-held goal and not being able to finish.  I didn't want to quit.  And I'm worried I won't be able to get back where I was.  I worry that I don't have the commitment or the stamina or the drive to do it all over again.  I'm worried that my foot will hurt forever and I won't be able to play basketball anymore, or run, or even walk without a limp.  I worry and wait for it to get better, but I'm impatient and worrying is not helping matters much.  It's not productive but then again, neither am I these days.

Day 09 - This is just a sham at this point.

Ok, the whole one post a day plan is pretty much in the toilet so this will be the last "Day" themed post.  Although I'll probably still steal some post ideas because I never have any of my own.

So remember when I said that I spend a ridiculous amount of time worrying that I've offended someone?  Well, I've done it again.  Yesterday on the radio the were discussing leaving your child's Christmas concert before it was finished.  The morning show hosts were kind of making light of it and one very ignorant woman phoned in to say that Christmas concerts were "painful" and that she changes her work shift each year so she has an excuse not to go.

This struck a nerve because I have some experiences with Christmas concerts, so I wrote a letter.  Which I don't ever do.  But here it is...(oh, and this same dumb broad said that her teacher friends told her that they judge the kids because their parents are rude and leave early...which may be true but I'm sure no one would admit it...)

I am so disheartened by the conversation I heard on the radio this morning that I feel compelled to respond. 

It is ridiculous that there is even a conversation questioning whether it is rude to leave a concert early.  It’s not only rude and inconsiderate it’s just WRONG.  Teachers and students work for weeks preparing a concert for the COMMUNITY, because that’s what the community asks of them.  Teachers and schools are trying to instil values such as common courtesy and respect so what message are these parents sending when they can’t even devote an hour or two over the course of an entire school year to their children and the school community? 

I’m sure teachers aren’t judging their students by the parents’ behaviour, they would understand that students are children who are still learning social courtesies, but an adult should know better.  A school Christmas concert is not a Broadway production, and it’s too bad that parents find them “painful”, but what’s really painful is when a student looks into the crowd during their performance only to see people walking out, or worse yet, a nearly empty auditorium.  That message speaks volumes.  And how selfish and sad that a parent would choose to change their shift rather than spend time with their child, especially at Christmastime.

It’s a sad commentary on our society today that this rude behaviour can be rationalized because people seem to think that they’re too busy or (apparently) too important and that the rules of civility don’t apply to them.  If you don’t have any common sense or a modicum of respect for the professional teaching your child, the other families in attendance or your own child for that matter, you should probably just stay home.  REDACTED, it’s your choice to leave early from your child’s concert but please don’t be so discourteous to our hardworking educational professionals and the children and families in our community as to encourage others to follow your example.  Common courtesy should be the rule, not the exception.

I received a reply from the host thanking me for my feedback and letting me know that they would be reading my letter on-air because I had made some good points (obvs.).  So in typical Tee fashion I worried about this all night, and figured I'd get in trouble at work or at the very least come across like a crazy person.  Anyways, the boy heard it on the radio but I didn't hear it at all...how anti-climactic.

Day 08 - Short Term Goals for the Month

Honestly, my goal for the month is to make it to the end of the month.  I'm already exhausted with minor family emergencies, Christmas parties and events, babysitting duties and the general hustle and bustle of the holidays, oh, and the flu.

And I know that everyone feels the crunch at this time of year so I can be patient with the guy who cuts me off in traffic, or the person ahead of me in line at the grocery store who takes a million years counting out their pennies.  We're all stressed out,  so my goal is to slow down during the holidays, that way I won't kill anyone.  I think that's a pretty reasonable goal.
 
My other goal for the month is to be able to run again.  I've been on the bench for the last month or so and it's been really hard watching my buddy train for a half marathon without me, and my basketball team take a beating while I sit on the sidelines.  So I've been stretching and physio therapy-ing and wearing sneakers with dress pants for ever and I'm hoping to give that up for January 1st, but we'll see.  It's been a very frustrating process where it feels like every step forward is followed by another step backward. Sigh.  But it has reminded me how much I enjoy swimming and rekindled my love for the lap lanes.  So I'm going to keep that up and maybe think about another mini-triathlon in the spring.  But walking without a limp is priority one right now, so I'm trying not to get ahead of myself (which is working out really well obviously).

And on a completely unrelated note, here's a picture of Bailey visiting Santa today.  It was a shitshow I tells ya.

Day 07 - Better Late than Never

Ok, so I kind of blew my goal by like, a month, but whatever. And I'm not writing about today's assigned topic because I just don't like it. So there.

Instead I'm going to write about today's adventures in babysitting...the actual kind that do not include Elizabeth Shue. (Side bar: I love Elizabeth Shue, she should totally be in more things, and how great was she in Hamlet II playing herself? Answer: SO GREAT!)

So the boy's niece and nephew are spending the night. At the moment they are curled up on the couch watching a movie. The boy meanwhile, is passed out on the couch, literally snoring. Lightweight.

I have to say, we make the most awesome babysitters. We played Wii, baked cookies, went for a walk in the snow with the dog, ate nachos and cheese, took hilarious pictures and sent them to grandma and grandpa, put on our pjs and watched a movie. All in all, a super-fun time. Also, this is about 150% more effort/activity than we would ever have accomplished or even attempted on our own. Tomorrow will require naps.

Being an "aunt" totally rocks. The kids show up excited to be here because they know we're going to show them a good time. They're at the perfect age where we can do fun things like go to the Imax or to the Science Center, they're old enough to enjoy it but not so old that they're too cool for it yet. And we don't have to say no to anything so when they come visit, they eat garbage and stay up too late.

But the best, best part is that babysitting gives us an excuse to do all those things that we would feel silly doing on our own. Playing at the Science Center, trying on costumes in the store, making snow angels in the park...all of these things require children in order to lessen the creepiness factor. (Preferably children who know you because "stranger" children do nothing to make you appear less of a freak show).

But kids are also exhausting, as every mom and anyone who's ever been to a mall food court will tell you, so it will also be great when they go home tomorrow and leave us to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Day 07ish...

I went to a friend's wedding last night and I didn't get home until 1:30AM so I took the day off... and it's my blog so I say that's ok.

Day 06- Favourite super hero and why

I'm not answering this. It's stupid. I'm not a 12 year old boy or a Star Wars fan so there's no way you're going to learn anything about me from my answering this question.

I don't even really know any super heros, beyond the obvious of course. And does it really say something about my psyche if I have to choose between Spiderman and Batman?

No. No it doesn't.

So I'm not going to. Except to say that I like Christian Bale better than Tobey Maguire. So, Batman I guess.

Day 05 - A Picture of Somewhere You Have Been To

Last week the boy and I were walking through the toy department of Wal-Mart (don't judge) and I pointed to a puzzle and said to him, "I've been here."  He kind of grunted and kept walking.  I, on the other had, thought it was kind of cool to have been to a place so beautiful.

Riomaggiore, Italy.  It is a beautiful small town I visited about 7 summers ago with a sort of friend, Tiffany. The actual-friend I was supposed to travel with became ill right before we had to leave and so Tiffany and I lost our common bond, and the buffer.  It was kind of an awkward trip, we definitely were not compatible travelers but we were extremely polite.  So, we each suffered in silence and by the end of the trip I'm sure she wanted to kill me as much as I wanted to kill her.  (i.e. I speak French and so she wouldn't speak to anyone in any French speaking country, that was my "job", insert eye roll here.) 

Anyways, Riomaggiore is part of a chain of 5 towns: Cinque Terre.  The towns are connected by a hiking trail as well as a train system.  The hiking trails get more difficult the farther you travel so Tiffany and I decided to take the train to the last town and travel back, that way it would be easiest at the end of the day. 

I couldn't possibly describe how beautiful this place is.  It is a beyond-picturesque hike through mountain-side citrus orchards with amazing ocean views.  It was a difficult hike though, almost entirely uphill to the next town and the path was very "rustic", often you would be looking down a sheer drop off a cliff straight into the ocean; it was treacherous to say the least.  But we were prepared: we had water bottles and backpacks, proper footwear, hats and lots of sun screen.  By the time we reached Volastra, the next town, we were exhausted and sweaty.  We took a break, had lunch and went back on the trail.

I don't know if you remember the summer of 2003 but it was the year that flip flops with heels were all the rage (apparently that was also the year that common sense was out of fashion).  I only mention this because as we traveled this next part of the trail we came across an Italian man and his wife.  What we saw defied all logic and sense and unfortunately lived up to every Italian stereotype.  The man was a portly fellow wearing a white dress shirt, unbuttoned to the waist, hairy chest covered in gold chains, speaking Italian at a rapid fire pace.  Following was (I presume) his wife.  Tall, brunette, olive skin, too much makeup and wearing (now we're hiking remember...) a bathing suit, sheer sarong tied around her waist, large sunglasses and heeled flip flops.  We were almost at the town and I figured they'd just started out and had no idea what they were in for. (Later on, we met up with some travellers who passed them later on that day and the Italian couple was just finishing the trail, so bravo to them I guess).  Those cultural differences: a Canadian needs $200 worth of MEC equipment to do what an Italian woman can do in a bathing suit and high heels.

We only made it to the second last town that day, the heat and exhaustion drove us to pack it in early.  We took the train back to Riomaggiore where we shared a big seafood meal with a girl we'd met earlier that week (actually the restaurant can be seen in the picture, about halfway up on the left side there's a brick semi-circle and that's the patio of the restaurant where we ate).  We decided that we would finish the trail the next day and to find the trail head after dinner.  We walked towards where it should have been but the sidewalk didn't end.  We continued on for about 15 minutes on the paved sidewalk, looking for the trail when we approached a group of cafes.  We asked a local where the path started and learned that we had just walked from Riomaggiore to Manarola, the second town.  The path was paved that entire section of the trail and we could have just finished it that afternoon if we weren't such wussies. 

This is listed as one of the 1000 places to see before you die and it's true.  It's so beautiful here, it's one of my favourite travel memories and one of the places I would like to see again before I die.

Day 04 - A Habit You Wish You Didn't Have

I have lots of bad habits, but I think they're charming and quirky so I don't refer to them as "bad habits", I like to think of them as "blessings and presents", meaning you're blessed to be in my presence so quit your bitching.

I have a horrible habit of trying to do a million things at once and so I will often forget either what I was doing when I started or whatever it was that you were trying to tell me in the midst of my chaos...sorry about that, please don't take it personally. I actually really hate that I do this, and I'm working on it, because I worry that it would come across like I don't care or that I don't think you're important, neither of which is true, I just am not a very effective multi-tasker.

But honestly, my worst habit is that I take everything WAY too personally. I don't know why I'm so sensitive! My feelings get hurt so easily but worse still, I literally think that after every interaction with another human being they walk away thinking I'm a jerk because I must have said or done SOMETHING to offend. Admittedly it's pretty self-centered but I can't even help it! I'll be in a meeting, and I'll maybe say one or two things but then spend the next three days wondering if I came across like a douche. And I'm sure sometimes I do, but mostly I don't.

Here's a good example: my mom retired this spring and some colleagues threw her a party and a few people went to the podium to say nice things about her. So I went up, explained that like my mom, I cry at the drop of a hat and proceeded to give a teary but sincere (VERY) short speech conveying our family's pride. No big deal right? Not for me. I didn't sleep that night and was convinced I made a fool out of myself. I called my brother a few days later and he didn't even remember me going up to the podium. See what I mean? Ridiculous right? I know. Seriously. Get over yourself, conceited.

Day 03 - A Picture of You and Your Friends

This is Bailey, he's the friend I'm going to post a picture of.  All my other friends are better looking than me so we just won't go there.

The boy got Bailey just over a year ago and that's the reason we moved in together; because Bailey was just too much work for one person!  The backyard at that house wasn't fenced in so every time Bailey had to go we had to put a leash on him and take him out to the backyard.  This got to be pretty tedious when he was being housebroken seeing as we mostly had to guess as to when nature was calling.  Then he had a few accidents in the house and decided he didn't WANT to go outside.  So the trainer suggested taking him outside every 20 minutes whether he wanted to go or not.  This was pretty awful in November and December and at -35 degrees.

We decided to bell train him and hung a bell by the door and we'd make him push it with his nose before we took him outside.  Now it works so awesome.  At the new house the backyard is all fenced in so when he rings the bell we let him out, he pees on the grass and everyone is happy.  He's a little too clever though, he's figured out that he gets attention when he rings the bell so now it's a signal for either 1. I have to pee or 2. Why are you ignoring me? 

Bailey's pretty awesome, he's cute and energetic. He loves to go for walks and doesn't bark or howl, unless directed to!  He likes to eat socks though and he's pretty much impossible to tire out.  He also likes to cuddle which is great when you're sitting on the couch, but less great when it's 2AM and he's whining at the foot of the bed.  But you can't be that cute AND perfect, that would just be unfair.

Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name

My blog name isn't particularly clever so don't look for answers to life's big questions...I just chose "Tee", because it's a nickname, and "short" because that's a good description of the length of my posts. See what I mean?

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

I'm not that interesting so some of these facts might be made up. See if you can figure out which one, it's like a really fun blog-game! (No, really, it's fun!) But I'm not gonna lie, I stole a few/all of these things from the "25 Things" Facebook meme...I know, I'm lame.

1. I think people who home school their kids are just deluding themselves.
2. Sunday mornings are my favourite time of the week because I get to play basketball
3. I think people who are rude are trashy. Especially people who are rude to bartenders and restaurant servers. Also, I don’t think you really understand life unless you’ve had to serve drinks to pay rent.
4. I appreciate passive-aggressiveness in all its forms, unless it’s directed at me. I’d rather have some direct but constructive criticism, even if it’s peppered with expletives.
5. I think that arrogance is the most unattractive trait a person can have.
6. I unapologetically love really bad music (Brittney anyone?)
7. One time I had a dream I was changing a light bulb and when I woke up in the morning I had unscrewed every light bulb in my apartment. I’m kind of a freak-show.
8. I’d get a tattoo if I could just figure out what to get a tattoo of.
9. I should probably change the oil in my car more often but I always feel like the mechanic is judging me because I don’t wash my car very often either.
10. I have no opinion in the whole “toilet paper end up or down” debate, I’m pro-choice.
11. I faint in hospitals. And it’s wildly embarrassing.
12. I was supposed to be the original Arnold on "Different Strokes" but was recast at the last minute. My catch phase: "I'm confused, please clarify Willis", wasn't so catchy.
13. I hate the kind of humour where someone is humiliated so I’ve never seen the Meet the Parents movies and sometimes I have to turn off the Office and walk away.
14. I really enjoy awkward moments, but only as an observer. As a participant they are far less enjoyable.
15. One time I saw Dawson from Dawson’s Creek in an airport and almost said hello because I thought I recognized him from high school.

And here's my picture, it's from far away for two reasons: because I've gained weight and I don't need the world to know (yea, I'm deluded), and because I've got issues with a picture of me being totally public...you know what I'm sayin'...

** Ok, my picture won't upload, I'll try again tomorrow...it's not really cheating.

30 posts in 30 days

That's the challenge. So I'll give it a go. I've listed the themes but honestly, I'll probably adjust them a bit, call it poetic licence, and it's my blog and I'll do what I want.

Live blogging the confrontation going on outside my hotel room door.

I’m typing this at 2:15 am on Friday night (Saturday morning?). I’m not going to be able to sleep through the apocalypse currently happening outside my hotel room so I’m going to share...enjoy.

Let’s back up, shall we? When we arrived this afternoon there were dressed up kids all over the lobby and I wondered why there was a prom in the middle of August. Now mind you, these kids didn’t look so bright so I figured it was summer-school prom or something. But then I just realized they were drunk. At four in the afternoon. All over the place. And all wearing strapless dresses. I had just landed in the middle of an episode of “The Hills” and someone was getting married.

There were drunk kids everywhere, drinking outside the hotel, drinking in the parking garage, drinking in the lobby. I’m not even exaggerating when I say the elevator doors opened and drunk girls, with pink drinks and too much eye make-up spilled out. Drunk, drunk, drunkity-drunk, drunk. This was not a good sign. Also, there were no grown-ups, anywhere. I didn’t see one person over the age of 25. This was going to be awesome.

So now, at present time: There are about 8 drunk people standing in front of room 514 banging on the door. Apparently Molly has passed out inside the room and won’t let anyone in. Even though they’re knock-, no wait, now banging on the door. God dammit Molly, you’re so inconsiderate!

2:20 – Oh thank gawd. Molly’s boyfriend has arrived, I’m sure he’ll take care of this! Can you believe this isn’t even her room? O.M.G! I’m just so glad that everyone is talking SO FUCKING LOUD in the hallway that I can follow the drama. When does Lauren Conrad show up? Or hotel security for that matter, because I’ve called twice for fuck sakes.

2:25 – Shit just got serious. I don’t know what the hell just happened to Molly but that was not her room and that was not her boyfriend. Yikes! Now there’s some new bimbo in the hallway yelling: “Was her name Molly!? WAS IT?!?” There’s more banging going on because I guess Molly shut the door behind her after screwing new-girl’s boyfriend. How rude. There’s some pushing and shoving going on and more yelling. Thank god my sleep number bed is comfortable.

2:50 - Everyone on our floor must be awake by now. The guy at the front desk has assured me the police have been called. I hope they use their tazers. I’m standing at the door watching out the peep hole. Part of me is so angry I want to go out there and strangle those little bastards and part of me is enjoying this soo much it’s kind of sad.

3:00 – Slutty boyfriend is getting kicked out of his room. “I paid 90-fucking-dollars for this room and you’re kicking me out?!?” I think that’s his way of saying goodbye to all of us on the fifth floor. Sleep well Slutty Boyfriend, (in the back of your Corsica), and goodnight moon.

9:00am – We head down to the lobby, to apologize to the night front desk guy who I reamed out repeatedly and who I think at one point I called “an incompetent fuck-tard” (I get grumpy-wumpy when I’m sleepy-weepy). Mid-apology it occurs to me that yesterday was Friday and who gets married on a Friday? Oh no...that was not the wedding....THAT WAS ONLY THE REHEARSAL DINNER OH MY GOD NOOOOO!!!!

Our new room on the 9th floor is much quieter.

What have we learned:
1. I don’t know what the liquor laws are here but the hotel should not have let these kids have this much booze all day.
2. Children should be supervised at all times.
3. People should not be allowed to marry before the age of 25.
4. Priceline.com is the place to book your hotel because I spent WAAY less that Slutty Boyfriend. Ha!

An Open Letter to the People Ahead of Me in Line at the Self Check Outs

Dear Fellow Shoppers,

We need to talk.

You're in the self-checkout aisle where there is no time for your bullshit, people are in a hurry and you need to get the hell out of the way, so listen up.

Lady with the baby putting on a show while you ring through your diapers, baby food and Oprah magazine: Yes, I can see that you've got a baby, good for you! Yay babies! So you can stop handing every item to your kid and then saying, "Give it to Mommy! Good job!" We have all noticed your baby, you can stop talking in that annoying, high-pitched, sing-song voice. We get it, you've passed a baby through your vagina, yay vaginas! Move on! Hurry the hell up.

Elderly Person: Good for you! I am completely sincere when I applaud your efforts at the self-checkout. Honestly, some older people are afraid of change and these new-fangled machines can be intimidating so I think it's great you're trying something new. But perhaps this "trying something new" could happen at some other time than on a Monday evening at 5pm when the store is packed and there's a million people in line. Face it, your time on earth is drawing to a close so why not take advantage of the middle of the afternoon when everyone else is at work, m'kay? Thanks!

Person with a full cart: You do not belong in the self-check. This is like the express line for really impatient people so take your full-ass shoping cart back to the regular line up, buh-bye.

Blackberry Guy: We get it, you're important! You can't even put down your blackberry to buy your energy drinks and frozen dinners for one, you're just that important! PAY ATTENTION DAMMIT! We're all waiting for an open checkout so quit changing your Facebook status and get your ass over to the open checkout and scan your damn items already, douche!

I'm not asking for too much here people, if we all work together we can make this a comfortable, stress-free shopping experience so that I don't have to be escorted by security to the "cool down" room again...this week.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation,

Tee

Always Look on the Bright Siiiide of Liiiife!

Dear Not Quite Awake, I'm working on that whole "master" post....so to tide you over, I'm telling a positive story...

There's this inside joke on my frisbee team about these slurpee/shakes at this dive-y convenience store on the corner of these two very busy roads. So me and the boy decide to stop there on Saturday so we can finally see what all the hullabaloo is about. We get our drinks (meh btw), then we set out for home. We're waiting for a break in the traffic to turn right onto busy street #2 and I'm literally saying how I was rear-ended at this same intersection last winter when an SUV turns left into oncoming traffic and smashes into a truck trying to beat the yellow light in the suicide lane. I'm holding my dog in my lap and as I watch this SVU coming right towards us all I can think is "hold on tight because when the car hits us I don't want the dog to go flying".

So the SUV careens towards us but miraculously stops short...so short that the boy can't even open his door. I jump out of the car to see if everyone's ok and THANK GOD they were. The truck guy was totally out of it but I would be too if I was hit full force in the face with an airbag. When I opened the door to his truck there was still smoke coming from the bag! The other guy got out of his SUV and started walking around, when I asked him if he was ok he just wanted help getting his guitar to safety! Then he handed me a CD and said, "Thanks for your help, here take a CD, I'm a musician"...and that man was Bono...ok, no it wasn't.

This was the worst accident I have ever seen, looking at the state of the vehicles it really is amazing that no one was killed, especially with how fast everyone involved was driving. The police and ambulance came and we had to give witness statements and both vehicles were pretty much totalled. When we finally got back in the car to go home I couldn't stop shaking thinking about it all, and especially about how lucky we had all been. It was really nice to see the sheer number of people who stopped to make sure everyone was ok, the owner of the store even came out with bottles of water for the guys in the accident.

So, slow down out there people and maybe call your mom more often.