Brett Favre Tribute from the Greatest Athletes

The Soprano's

You may not know that I am a Soprano's fan. I just watched the last episode. I don't know that I get it. I do know that I didn't hate it. I think that it was easier for me to watch it after it was released on DVD because I was able to learn things about the episode that I would not have remembered because the last time I watched many of the episodes was 2 years ago while I was high on Percoset. Talk about crazy dreams when you are mixing the Soprano's and painkillers.

I think that David Chase left it up to you the viewer to decide how you thought that it ended. Maybe Tony was shot by any one of the sketchy characters. Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe he was shot between the episodes and this was his purgatory. The place where he had come clean with all of his demons before he passed on. All I know is that it made me want to start the series over.

Josh never got into the series when I was watching it. Mostly because he came home and I was on a different season than I was when he left. I literally went through 4 or 5 seasons in less than a week. I wasn't very sure about them to begin with because I am not a mob movie fan. However, when I watched them I got sucked it. I hope that if/when I do watch them again Josh will be able to enjoy them with me because I really think that he would like it.

There is some justice in this world

Kansas church liable in Marine funeral protest - Yahoo! News

I really feel that this was the right ruling here. Josh and I have been e-mailing back and forth on this morning. It is people like this that give Christianity a bad rap. They feel that one judgment isn't enough they must act on behalf of God. Why make people's life miserable why they are alive? To make themselves feel better? To cover their discomfort? It is so frustrating, yes this is an extreme case. However there are plenty of people that you encounter in your everyday life that it is their duty to judge and punish people for being different.

I just want to get up and say "Can't we all just get along?"

My Brett, Our Favre!

Hip New Doctor

Or.... New Hip Doctor.





So as you all know I have my hip problems. At last year's appointment my doctor pretty much told me to go on with life until I needed a hip replacement. It wasn't very helpful. I was so disappointed. He also told me to get my right knee checked out as he was pretty sure that was what was causing my continued hip pain. Well, after my knee is all said and done the hip has still been bothering me.





I have recently resigned to the fact that I will always limp and I will always be handicapped. That was a big step for me. It is hard for someone to admit that they will never lead a "normal" life. For me it was watching my sister's wedding video. It was so hard to watch. After that I just lost it!!! I sobbed uncontrollably for probably 20 minutes. Poor Josh didn't quite know what to do. However, at that point I accepted that I have to live with the body that I have got and there really isn't anything that we can do about it.





So this summer the left side of my lower half has started to bother me. So after talking to my wonderful therapist Marc we decided that it would be a good call to have Dr. Graf check out my knee and to visit the doctor that my hip surgeon referred me to keep an eye on the hips. As all doctor's in the UW system it takes about 2 months to get in when you are a new patient. So my wait was finally up last week.





I went to my appointment with Dr Illgen not quite knowing what to expect. In all honesty I was expecting the same brush off that I got from my surgeon. I was just going to be happy with someone looking at my left side and telling me not to worry or see you in a year. I was surprisingly mistaken. I LOVE DR ILLGEN!!!! If I weren't happily married I would marry him! The whole demeanor of my appointment was relaxed and studious. There was no abrupt decisions or shock factor. The Dr spent most of the time studying every x-ray that I have had taken over the past 2 years and watching the evolution of my hip joint. He didn't neglect my feelings. He was straight but gentle with me about my hip. He told me that within the next several years that I would need a hip replacement. My right hip has degraded so much even in the last year. He wants to watch my hip very carefully and make smart moves. Because I am so young I have a lot of time ahead of me (so I hope) so the plan has to be laid carefully. We talked about how to include a family in this and different steps depending on how things go. I walked out of that appointment feeling better than I have in a long time.





The first time I walked out of Dr. Mann's office I cried! This time I cried too but, for joy! For finding someone that I loved so much that can help me along this crazy path that I have been on. Someone to validate what I was feeling. I never knew that I needed that validation until last Friday. Until Dr Illgen told me that "If he had to live with a hip like mine he would cry everyday." What kind of Dr tells you that? A compassionate one. One who wants to help. One that you can truly believe in.

California Day 4

Our fourth day in California was my favorite day there. I would have to say it was they day I was looking forward to the most. We took the last day as a sightseeing day for just Josh and I. That was the best decision about the trip that we ever made. Friday morning we left our sketchy seaside resort and headed back to San Francisco. Along the way there were many neat things to see. Although we traveled the same highway it was earlier in the day and we missed all the excitement along the way.

Below is a picture of one of the MANY farm fields we passed along the way. It isn't all that clear but the fields were FULL of migrant workers. There was field after field of them picking produce.




After we made it to San Fran and checked into our hotel we decided to try out the 49 mile drive. This is a drive that was set up by the tourism department to help get people to come and see the city. The route starts in the center of the city and weaves through places like Chinatown, Japantown, the financial district and then heads out to Fisherman's Warf, the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge (which we did not see due to fog). Below are some pictures along the way.

One of the many famous landmarks in San Francisco is Lombard street. It is a street that had to switchback to accomidate for the very steep grade of the hill. You may have seen it in movies and Grand Theft Auto. Here was our view:

We had to stop at Fisherman's Warf. This area is a tourist trap!!! I think that parking was $6/half hour. We stopped just to say that we were there and to catch a picture. There is a Ghiradelli Square there but we didn't see it until we got back into the car. Apparently there is cheap broken chocolate available there.

Here is the biggest highway that we drove on. There are 12 lanes (6 per side) It was crazy!


Finally, here is a picture of the fog rolling in. It was amazing how the fog sucked in the the mountains and then they would be gone. We had never experienced anything like it!

Sorry that it took so long to get this all posted. But that was our trip!

California Day 3

There is not a lot of good things to say about our day 3 in California. I was hungover as all hell and we visited the same damn beach as we did the day before. I was really wanting to see the Hearst Castle but that didn't happen. I didn't get to eat any seafood because I couldn't stomach it and Josh tried Thresher Shark. This is a view from our hotel room that night. As you see we are RIGHT on the ocean. The hotel was an old beach inn. It was kind of sketchy.
We went to a farmer's market in a nearby town for dinner and sightseeing. There was a ton of fresh produce. I had the BEST clam chowder I have ever had in a yummy garlic bread bowl. Other than that not much to report. We fell asleep to barking sea lions and crashing waves. That was the best part of this day.

California Day 2

On our second day in California we visited Morro Bay. This is a very interesting beach on the central coast of California. We drove a very windy hilly road to get from the hotel in Atascadero to get to the ocean. Once you got to the coast there was a considerable drop in temperature. Below is a picture of the famous "morro rock" This rock was formed 23 million years ago from plugs of 2 extinct volcanoes. This rock is closed to any climbing or disturbances like mining to preserve it's beauty.



While we were there I stuck my feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. The water was VERY cold. I would guess the temperature at ~50 degrees F. There was a surfing class going on at the time of our visit and all of the kids had dry suits on to protect them from the water temperature. On this beach we found several neat shells and even a sand dollar.



While that side of the rock was beachy and smooth the opposite side of the rock was rocky. I
chose not to climb the rocks, Josh and his family climbed all over and saw several neat things including sea lions and starfish. We have a really neat picture of this area that we put in black and white and are going to frame and put above our couch in our living room. Grandma Flossie and I sitting on a bench while Josh and the family climbed on the rock ledge I got FRIED while sitting there.

After our adventure at Morro Bay we headed to Pismo Beach to the resort where the wedding was happening. We ate fish and chips at a little outdoor place called Brad's. The food was great even though we were harassed by pigeons the whole time. After lunch it was time to head to the resort to check in and get ready for the wedding. Just an FYI for anyone who travels to California, beach resorts do NOT have air conditioning!!! So if you are hot and sunburned a cold shower is your only bet to cooling off. The ceremony began at 6:30. It was short and sweet. It was a very God centered ceremony. Much of what you would expect from Josh's family. Here are some pictures from the ceremony.

Instead of the traditional unity candle Ben and Jenelle mixed sand from California and soil from Wisconsin to signify their union. That was a really neat idea. I was surprised that they were able to get the soil from Wisconsin to California and back.

The dinner was exceptional. The food was great and the drinks were strong. We had an overall good time. There were about 45 people there total. There was just food, cake and fellowship. What wedding wouldn't be complete without cake smashing, so here is your picture.



The day went by quickly and I ended up pretty drunk on tequila and our complimentary bottle of wine.

California Day 1

We arrived in not so sunny San Francisco, California on Tuesday, July 11th at approximately 1:45 pm. The flight was early arriving so we were excited to have the extra time. We were going to miss the rehearsal because of our flight but were early enough to give us a little wiggle room before dinner. We were looking forward to being able to check into our hotel and freshen up a little bit after a long plane ride and a 3 1/2 hr car ride. Now those baseball fans would know that July 11th was the day of the All Star game in San Francisco. When we arrived at the rental car counter they were out of compact cars and wanted to give us a minivan. I refused to drive a minivan. I told the gentleman at the counter such a vehicle. He had to "search" the system. We walked away from the counter why he searched. I was called back to the counter and offered a Pacifica. I refused that as well because that is pretty much the same thing as a minivan in my mind. Finally we were offered a Chrysler 300 for the same price as the compact car. Finally 1/2 hr later we were finally on the road.


The ride to Atascadero was very interesting. There were a lot of really neat things to see. The one thing that I noticed how brown the landscape was. We saw green only when we passed farm fields and vineyards. We have never driven in or near mountains before. The miles and miles of grapevines that we saw was staggering.

More Grapevines with mountains in the background.

Another thing that we had never seen before was an oil refinery with oil drills. Dotted along the mountains and road side were small oil drills.

One of the last interesting things that we saw was the sign posted below:

We found out later that evening that there was either a prison or mental institution near by. In the background of this picture is a bell. These bells were along the highway about 1 hour apart. They were mission bells commemorating all of the missions in that area.

We arrived in Atascadero just in time for the rehearsal dinner. We enjoyed a pizza at the restaurant that Jenelle, (Ben's now wife) ran previously. It was a nice little place and the pizza was good. The cake we enjoyed that night was from the Madonna Inn. Check out the link it is a VERY unique place their guest rooms are very interesting. The cake was FABULOUS!!

We returned to the hotel to check in around 9 pm and turned in for the night exhausted!

I'm Working on it

We got back from California on Saturday night. I am working on a series of posts, including pictures, to tell you all about it. It was an interesting trip!

My $100,000 Leg

I have been meaning to write for a couple weeks now. I looked at the date and cannot believe that it has been a month since I posted. I guess that is because time has flown.

I have been trying to start this exercise regimen. Well actually, I am successful at half of it I guess. My WONDERFUL therapist Marc has an exercise regimen set up for me. I am to ride my bike one day, walk the next and take the following day off. Rinse and Repeat. My goal is 5 miles biking and 3 miles walking. Well I am 1.5 miles away from the biking goal and think that I will reach that. However, the walking thing just isn't going well. I just don't think that I like walking. It is too slow and boring for me. I am only up to 1.2 miles and cannot seem to get past that. I have been Nordic Walking. It is really great for cardio and it works your tummy and your legs so that is a bonus. It is just too hot for me to do this. I get hot and "melt" as my mom calls it and I just feel like I am going to die. I am not, but I feel like it.

The thing is I need this success to move on with my life. I love Marc dearly! I am so happy that I found him as a therapist but, I need to move on. I need to get past this chapter of my life and move onto the next. A year ago I was more than ready to get onto bigger and better things and then my knee started bothering me. This year, I keep living in fear of the next pain, the next problem. This is such a fear I think that I am having a hard time moving past it. I have started to notice little twinges and small pains in my left hip and knee. I panic because I am just waiting for the floor to drop out from under me. Waiting to hear that I need surgery on that side too. I feel like I have been limited for so long. That I am always going to be that way, like I will never be able to lead a normal life. I want to be able to not worry about my body. I want to be able to do things normal people do.

Marc is really starting to prepare me for life without him in it. He is advising me on my future. The fact that I can NEVER stop exercising. I have to keep moving, whether it is biking, walking, swimming or all of the above. I think that I can do that but then not doing it is so easy. I have to remember to push myself. To say "OK, it is exercising time. Lets get out there." It is a hard change to make. I don't know why I keep fighting it!

Let There Be Darkness

You always hear that having a home eats up your time. As a renter you never believe that a house could be that much more work. After all what is a little mowing and snow shoveling right? I guess it is a little more than that. We have been busy with house stuff. Mowing, weeding, picking, cleaning and much more. On April 22nd we placed an order for window treatments to replace the 3 sets of UGLY vertical blinds that were located in the house. We chose April 22nd because JC Penney’s was having an incredible sale. The Bali products were 70% off. On top of that it was friend’s and family day so we got an extra 20% off. Plus, we opened a Penney’s card and got an extra 10% off. So we ended up buying 2 large blinds for $400 instead of $1900. Which was a fantastic deal!! We then went home and did some shopping online. JCP has some French door panels that are attached to your door by Velcro and they can either hand straight down or can be rolled up by hand and there are straps to hold them up. It was nice because the set that I found had a valance that matched. I did a REALLY good job picking out the colors online. They panels are VERY functional and you can keep the sun (heat) and peeping toms out at the same time.

This week the blinds came in. The living room blinds came on Monday. It was nice because with custom purchased blinds you can put 3 blinds on one header. The blinds are then hung at the same level and you don’t have to measure. It was cheaper than buying 2 small blinds and 1 big blind. So we installed those on Monday and it really changed the look of the living room! Yesterday the blinds for the bedroom came in. Josh was happy to remove the last set of vertical blinds. We both hated the looks of them. What was worse was that the blinds weren’t really functional. You had to open and close the whole thing to let light in they wouldn’t turn sideways anymore. After we moved we found out that they were aimed the wrong way and the gears were worn down. So we decided to get something functional. Also, the blinds were thin and light easily shown through and it made it tough to sleep past sunrise. During the week that is fine. However, I like to sleep in on the weekend. That was pretty much the last thing that we wanted to change. We have to find curtains for the living room. Then we should be done for a while. Gardening is next. So we move from the inside out. Fun Stuff!

In Your Face Howard Stern!

I am so happy this morning because the no talent, scary haired freak Sanjaya has finally been voted off American Idol! Each week was more painful to watch than the last. Especially after he stayed and Gina Glocksen got booted. Now I can truly enjoy the show without having to dread his hideous hair and slow painful murder of a one good song! Good bye Sanjaya once and for all!!!

A+ in Therapy

One of my major concerns, and reason for withdrawal these past couple months, has been my knee. I had intended to write while I was off recovering from my surgery. However, my body had different plans for me. The day or two after surgery my leg started popping. Popping like it did before surgery. As you can imagine this hit me really hard. Here I was going through this painful experience and then to feel my knee pop just like I had never had surgery, was very hard to deal with. I knew that it was making me an unpleasant person to be around. I just ignored that and pressed on. It wasn't until three weeks ago at therapy that I lost it. I am glad I lost it there instead of my doctor's office the next day. However, losing your composure is something you really don't want to do.

My therapist Marc is WONDERFUL! I am so glad that we have found each other. He has been fantastic in helping me recover from my hip surgery and guiding me through my knee surgery. That day he went through and showed me how my knee was recovering. He pointed out the problems but showed me the promising things and told me to keep working and things would be getting better. That day I made a promise to myself to really try hard and work hard in the pool and do my exercises at home. I have kept that promise to myself and worked on things at home and pushed myself hard at the pool. I have seen a difference in my strength in fact I climbed 2 flights of stairs this weekend on my own. That is something that I haven't done in over 2 months.

I haven't seen Marc in a couple weeks because we have been alternating between him and his assistant and then he went out of town. Now I have to great guys looking out for me. In fact I was walking in the therapy room today and his assistant was watching me too. Marc told me that I have made the most progress since my surgery in the past three weeks. He was very happy with what I was able to do. He still notices some limp and snapping back of my knee but overall much better. I am so happy that I have been able to accomplish this. I really hope to keep it up and to not have anything else go wrong!

I'mmmm Baaaaaaack

I finally have something to write about that is exciting. I got a promotion yesterday! I am now an Associate Scientist III. It comes with a big fat raise! I am so super excited!!!! I needed something new and exciting to spur me onto writing again. It isn't that things have been that terrible. It has just been a hard past 3 months. Between the my surgery and my mom's and rehab and crazy work the time has flown. I hadn't meant to stop writing for three months but hopefully it has inspired my passion again.

Temporarily Speechless

I am taking a break.... We have been busy around the house. Work has been insane. I am enjoying the silence.

I will be off for knee surgery Feb 8th-16th. Maybe I will be up to talking by then. So many things in my head I just don't have the energy to type them up.

See you soon!

Honey I'm Home

This weekend we moved into the house. I think that this was our fastest move yet. By 12:30pm Saturday afternoon everything was in the house except for the garage stuff that had to be left because there wasn’t room. We had been moving boxes every time that we went to the house so all of that stuff was there already. In the past we had to move stuff and boxes all at once.

I have been very happy with how everything has come together. The only room that I wasn’t sure about the arrangement was the family room since the design is kinda funky. However, the way that it had to be arranged (due to the location of the cable outlet) turned out quite nice.

I am very happy with how the color choices made fit with all of our stuff. The bathroom turned out smashing and our bedroom is just gorgeous! I feel nothing but comfy and cozy in our living room and could spend hours staring at our red accent wall in the kitchen. It is odd to hear people speak of my bold color choices because I really don’t think that they are that bright. The colors warm the house up and just make you want to spend time there. Each room draws you in more than the last.

Now we face the dubious task of shopping. Since we have two spare beds I need to pick out another comforter set. There is the issue of lighting. There are not really any lights on the ceiling so we have to buy lamps for some of the rooms. I have had my eye on a set of lamps from Bed Bath & Beyond. We have to find window treatments for all of the other rooms now. The blinds are nice but, I want something to go over them.

It is crazy how smoothly every thing has gone. The only SNAFU so far has been a mix-up with a programmable thermostat. Although it caused a lot of stress at the time, it was an easy fix and it wasn’t even our fault! Already it seems like we have lived in our house forever and we have never lived anywhere else. I hope that I don’t get so comfy that I forget that we have an apartment to clean.

I am content

Is this the end?