Oh, body, you have a mind of your own.
Near-death experiences aside, I don’t seem to be able to go six months without hurting myself! My legs, specifically, and usually the right. In the past five years I’ve had a broken femur, plantar fasciitis (multiple times), ITBS (twice), and tendonitis (twice, in different places). Usually, these were running-related, which more or less go with the territory. But this time? Guys, I was sitting.
Well, I was sitting…. I’d just wrapped up a session with a client, and stood up. I didn’t realize my foot had fallen asleep, and it buckled, rolling first over the front and then to the side of my ankle. There was a loud crack, and at first I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d just cracked my ankle in the usual way (B cracks his ankles every morning, on purpose). Then I started getting dizzy, and my vision blurred. I had trouble taking deep breaths, and thought I would both throw up and pass out.
Luckily, neither happened, and even luckier, one of my coworkers is a paramedic. We iced my foot with veggie burgers and wrapped it in an ace bandage. Another coworker who is also a classmate helped me hobble to school, and B was able to pick me up after class.
In the middle of the night I woke up in excruciating pain. Because of my colitis, I’m not supposed to take any anti-inflammatory drugs- I even called to ask her if I should make an exception. The physical pain plus the stress of my new summer schedule felt really overwhelming at 2:30 AM, and I had a brief moment of hysteria. B was going out of town the next day; my parents were in Germany, so we were watching our family dog, Charley. And how could I miss school? And work? It was one of the only times this year that my tears haven’t been caused by Grey’s Anatomy.
The next morning, I called a podiatrist, and was lucky enough to get an appointment that same day. He took a few x-rays, and said that despite the bruising and swelling, my foot was not broken! (He even went so far as to say, “You’ve got good bones, girl!”) He re-wrapped it in a more secure bandage, which he told me to leave on for 48 hours, after which I would use a soft brace.
I felt sorry for myself for about 24 hours, ordering in and watching 8 episodes of Gossip Girl. (It wasn’t until #6 that I realized I’d already seen all of these….)
I’ve been in good company, though. My friend Ilena came over with cookies, and my friend Ryan came over bearing dinner and bourbon. (They know me well!) Charley, knowing something was wrong, even spent the night spooning with me; he rarely sleeps in the bed! I’ve had to take him on shorter walks than he’s used to, but he’s adjusted like a champ.
B came home, and with my ankle feeling a little better, we resumed our pledge to spend time together outside the apartment at least once a week. (It’s more difficult than it sounds, with our opposite schedules.) We turned to our dateboard, and knocked out three dates in the past week! We started with dinner at 1742 Winebar, a meal I’d bought for B for Valentine’s Day via Amazon Local. Our food was fine, but not excellent (the same was true for the accompanying wine), but we had fun.
We’ve also started a new tradition of going to a coffee shop over the weekend! B’s been taking an online class- education never ends!- and it was fun to study together side by side. (Not to mention share a delicious lemon basil cookie!)
This past weekend, we finally, finally got to see The Great Gatsby. I love the book, and I love Baz Luhrmann, and I went in knowing that the movie would not be the book. And it shouldn’t be! The film was pure spectacle, and completely stylized. It took a lot of the subtleties out of the novel, and the green light thing was pretty heavy-handed, but I still loved it.
Before the movie, we grabbed dinner at S’Mac (FODMAPS be damned!) and shared two nosh-sized mac ‘n cheeses: the parisienne, with brie, roasted figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms + fresh rosemary; and the garden with cheddar, parmesan, roasted cauliflower, broccoli, portobello mushrooms, roasted garlic + scallions. Yes, they were both as good as they sound, and were nice for an indulgent treat. One of the reasons I don’t eat things like this every day is because not only do I not feel so great afterward, but I also feel unsatisfied. Pasta + cheese is delicious, yes, but aside from being heavy it’s not very filling. That being said, I’m not one to deprive myself, so it’s nice to have every once in a while.
A homemade pasta at home: brown rice noodles (leftover from Ryan’s dinner) with sautéed eggplant, spinach, shrimp, this marinara (so good!) + feta. We’ve been on a huge feta kick lately.
Thanks to our CSA, we haven’t been bored in the salad department. This one had romaine, mixed greens, hard-boiled egg, strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, olives, goat cheese, tahini, soy sauce, dill + mint (from our garden!).
Another good one: romaine, radish, tomatoes, avocado, and edamame with a dijon/olive oil/balsamic/oregano vinaigrette. Oh, and some home brew on the side! (VERY exciting kombucha news: you can make it yourself with just a bottle of brew, no SCOBY required! )
You can see that Charley’s eying that salad, and he’s giving me the same hopeful eyes right now. I’m off to feed my 14 year old puppy and get a little more work done. I hope you’re all having wonderful weekends!
Have you seen The Great Gatsby? What did you think?