Hello! I’m going to try and keep this relatively brief tonight (ha!) because I really pushed my physical limitations today and am dead tired and super sore. But – worth it.
It’s been an okay week. To be honest, it’s been a bit of a letdown after how excited I was with my improvements last week. This week my body hasn’t shown me much progress. I’ve been sore, exhausted, and back to almost daily meltdowns over something or other. This whole recovery process is so long and so trying. It’s hard to stay positive when my legs are screaming in pain. But on the bright side, I realized about an hour ago that I had been FWB around the house the entire afternoon and didn’t even notice or remember where I had left my crutch. My goal is to consistently be walking without my crutch by my next PT on Thursday. I’m not super optimistic about reaching that goal, but I’m going to try.
Anyway! Last Sunday was actually a really fun family day. If you’ll remember, we were having basement water issues on Friday and Saturday and I was a little bummed I couldn’t ask to do any of the outings I was hoping for. But we made up for it on Sunday. First stop was a local greenhouse to pick out a few flowers and herbs. We took down our real garden this year and I’m just planning to keep a few pots of my favorites. We also stopped at Shopko to look at the gardening center. Then we swung by Burger King to get a ton of super cheap nuggets for a silly lunch.
After a rest (for me), we went to the dog park and then swung by Culver’s to use some free ice cream tokens to get custard for dinner. We were super healthy that day. 🙂 But hey, it was memorable and it was fun! And everyone was happy! That NEVER happens on weekends.
On Monday, I decided I needed to start giving myself some daily driving and outing challenges. I started with going to Pick n Save for a couple of groceries. I survived! And was quite proud of myself! I was feeling pretty great that day, actually. I had a late afternoon PT session and expected to be so exhausted, but I was really powering through it. My therapist decided I was doing so well I didn’t need to come back for another ten days. Of course that’s with the implication I’d keep doing all my exercises at home, which I’m not so great about following through on…
On Tuesday, there was a last minute cancellation with a therapist we wanted to try out with Caden, so we rushed over there. It was mostly just an information intake session, but it felt really promising. At least a lot more promising than the last therapist we tried and I couldn’t stand. I won’t go into all the details, but things have been rough with him lately. More so than ever. We’re hoping finding him a therapist that he can relate to might start helping him manage all of his really big emotions in a healthier way. None of us want to continue on the way things have been lately.
My physical challenge for Tuesday was going to a thrift store. Again, I survived! I’m so sure one of these times I’m at least going to trip over something and hurt myself, but so far so good!
I feel like work has been more of a footnote in my life again, which maybe isn’t such a bad thing. I’m certainly keeping very busy with everything else. But fitting in sewing here and there and wherever I can. I actually made quite a few dolls this week, but they were all custom orders, my giveaway winner doll, and these dolls I made for the boys’ teachers. I’m getting pretty antsy to start on patriotic dolls, but I just didn’t have time to start them yet. Next week.
I was in a ton of pain on Wednesday and feeling hopeless about a full recovery ever happening. But I gave myself a pep talk and decided that pain filled or not, I AM going to keep doing what I want to do. I WILL get through it. So on Thursday I stuck with my original plan of going to Target all by myself! That was my first time driving out of Columbus, though it ended up being fine. Highway driving is much easier on my ankle than all the starting and stopping in town. I felt like I was going at a turtle’s pace through Target, but it felt so liberating to finally run errands by myself again. I was hoping to get to Barnes and Noble, but Target didn’t have some of the ingredients I needed for today’s desserts, so I had to go to a grocery store instead. I never would have survived three stores in that trip, but maybe I can go next week. Anyway, I rewarded myself with some pretty flowers. And a Dairy Queen blizzard. 🙂
Thursday night we had an at home date night. We went to the dog park. And ate leftovers. But it was a really nice night of just being together. I think in some ways breaking my ankle has been a bit of a blessing. Our family has spent so much more time together. I appreciate them more. I hide from the chaos of family life less. Greg understands all the random little things I’m responsible for that maybe went unnoticed until I couldn’t do them anymore. We’re a much more equal and understanding team now.
On Friday, Laura came over for a coffee date and we got to catch up. I deeply appreciate her efforts to keep our friendship alive despite my inability to leave the house much the last three months. I think most people have forgotten about me. Or, they certainly would if I wasn’t constantly posting instagram photos of my life. 🙂
Friday night was the school carnival, which was actually rather enjoyable!
All of my walking exercises this week were to lead up to successfully going to the farmer’s market this morning. And we did it! The Dane County farmer’s market is one of my all time favorite things to do. It makes me so happy. And last year I started occasionally taking a kid with me and they loved it too. Even Caden! It’s been killing me that the markets started back up a month ago and I haven’t been physically capable of going yet. But I was bound and determined to make it happen today. We were all up by six and got there around seven. It was pretty chilly, keeping the crowds at bay. I didn’t get run over, trip over anybody, or need to stop and take a rest. I was sore by the end, but it was super worth it!
Greg and Shepard got gigantic cinnamon rolls for their breakfast treat. And Caden is just always fixated on getting spicy beef sticks. I’m always on the lookout for whatever strikes my fancy, but tend to gravitate toward morning buns. They’re just so dang delicious.
I had no intention of going to Gotham Bagels since I’m still irritated with how they treated me on multiple occasions last year. But Greg parked the car near there and offered to run ahead and stand in line to get me a bagel. As usual, it was DELICIOUS. But the wait for him to get two bagels with cream cheese was still ridiculously long. Like half an hour. Ridic.
We had to swing by a grocery store for Greg to run in for a few last minute things, and then we went through the Starbucks drive thru to get me a frappuccino. I’m all about the treats this weekend. It’s Mother’s Day! 🙂
Realized when we got home that we didn’t buy a single item of produce. Not that there’s much of a selection at this time of year, but still. We got some tasty treats! I’m not sure how often we’d ever all go as a family again (Greg likes his sleeping in days too much!), but I genuinely had a good time. We all did. I didn’t even miss not having the ability to go by myself, the way I usually do the day before Mother’s Day.
The rest of the day has been jam packed with things to do. Wrapping gifts, cleaning up, and lots of baking! I made this strawberry cream pie for the in-law’s big party tomorrow. I usually make it every Easter, but wasn’t up for baking anything this year. It’s super easy, though, and soooo delicious.
I also made this chocolate raspberry cake that I’ve been desperately wanting to make for about a month now. This is the cake I wanted to make for my five year doll anniversary last week, but decided would be too much work. And it definitely was a lot of work. Not HARD, just time consuming. I think it’ll taste great, though. I can’t wait until tomorrow! I also still need to make a butterscotch sauce to go with a bread pudding my mom is making for dessert at their house. I’m pretty sure I won’t be making it until morning. So tired.
One last thing I really wanted to do this week was walk around the antique mall. So even though I was still really sore from the farmer’s market, I asked Greg to drop me off there for awhile. He and the boys and Annie went to the park while I shopped. I’m not sure how long I was there, but I managed to get through the whole first floor (biggest antique mall in WI – so that’s a lot of area to walk!). I didn’t trip on any of the uneven floors or knock any glassware down with my crutch or basket. Came close many times! 🙂 I wasn’t even sure I’d make it through without my legs giving out. But I did it! And found all kinds of great treasures. Sometimes I go there and can’t find a thing. This time I got lucky.
Back at home I took a nap to try and recover enough to finish up the desserts. Greg got Chinese food for dinner so I didn’t have to worry about making anything extra. And now I’m going to end the night with a bath! The week wasn’t the best overall, but today was great. I’m really excited for Mother’s Day tomorrow! And Greg’s birthday on Monday. Lots of fun days ahead!
