“Strange, what being forced to slow down could do to a person.”
― Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song

 

Hello My Loves!

I am on day 11 of Purgatory, and it’s going about as well as you would expect.  The first week was not so bad because I had been planning to take it easy after the REV3 anyway.  Plus, I was sore and tired from surgery the first few days, so I didn’t feel up to doing a whole lot.  I took advantage of my extra free time and caught up on writing, cleaning, spending time with my family, and even doing some gardening.  Then week #2 started…

The funny thing I have learned about myself in all of this is that aside from work and working out (and my family), I don’t really socialize.  Now that I haven’t been allowed to do either, I’ve had no one to talk to other than the hubs and my mom… which is kind of a bummer (possibly even more so for them…).   I guess I could take this as a newsflash that maybe I should make some new friends outside of the gym and tri club, but then what would we talk about?  

On the bright side, my yard looks great!  Before my surgery I had decided it was time for a change, so I painted my front door BRIGHT (think FIRE ENGINE) red.  Then I repainted my front steps because they looked kind of drab in comparison, and they were due for a facelift.  

 

 

With all my recent free time, I figured the gardens could use an overhaul too… Which was totally allowed because it involved no heavy lifting.  So I finally divided some of my plants that were going bonkers and moved them to other parts of the yard that were bare.  Then I went to Lowes with my mom and we found a CONCRETE BULLDOG!!!!  My mom decided Adam and I needed to have him, so she bought him for us for our anniversary.  (Isn’t she the best?)

 

 

Our new guard dog… I still need to name him.  I was thinking Uga… he sort of looks like one.  Isn’t he cute !?! I know it’s not a metal chicken, but I still think he’s pretty awesome.

Anyway on Sunday the hubs left me all alone for the entire day while he did a century ride for the Tour De Cure… so being left to my own devices, I got into all kinds of trouble (obviously).  First, I went to yoga, but it was all good because I warned the instructor that I just had surgery.  I totally did not do any poses that would compromise my healing… and I NEEDED IT.  It was SO RELAXING!   It completely got all my jitters out… temporarily.  

Then I figured I would just stop at Home Depot on my way home and see if they had mulch on sale because we really needed some for the gardens (with all the hot weather we’d been having my transplanted flowers were not happy… they needed something to cover their roots and hold onto moisture).  It turned out they did have mulch on sale, and the bags were really light…. so I bought 12.  In my defense, if the universe did not want me lifting those bags (which I reiterate were really light, and I only used my arms… no core… I swear) then they wouldn’t have been on sale.  Plus, some nice guy loaded them in my car for me because apparently I look helpless being all feminine and such.

After my new friend and I got all the much in the car, I went back and bought a bunch more stuff… including a lot of stuff I probably didn’t need.  The thing is, putting me in the garden department is like putting me in a running store.  I can’t be trusted on my own.  So, like I said, my yard looks great.  Also just for the record I did ask my family for help with the mulch when I got home… and then took care of it myself when they didn’t come.  I assure you that it was rather uneventful.  I only had one small turf war with the wasps/bees (who have dug holes all over my garden and yard), but I am pretty sure I won.  I have the hose to thank for that… that and my crazy ninja skills sneaking during the night.  They looked pretty irate the next morning when they found their homes covered in a layer of wet newspaper and a few inches of mulch.  I’m sure my neighbors thought I was nuts, but what else is new?  

Aside from my antics with the yard, I have managed to stay pretty low key.  Interestingly, with my all my spare time for reading and stalking the internet, I learned that my idol The Bloggess is suffering the same fate.  She also recently had surgery because she had a Who trying to escape from her belly button.  Clearly we live parallel lives because we are both so awesome.  My friends have warned me that I too will have a hernia if I continue to push my luck post-op, but I have assured them that getting a hernia through a laparoscopic incision is actually incredibly difficult to do.  In fact, I have actually only seen it happen twice in my whole career.  I guess that just makes the Bloggess extra special… and talented.

Oh and speaking of my career, I got two separate packages from my coworkers yesterday to wish me a speedy recovery.  I would like to remind you that these are surgical PAs and Nurse Practicioners… Look what they sent:

 

The cards said “get well soon,” but this is what I think it probably should have said…

Clearly, these are my people.  They said they even waited a week to send all these treats, so I could actually enjoy them without getting sick… although I am pretty sure if I eat all of it, I will be in a sugar induced coma anyway.  These are the same people, by the way, who think the amount of exercise I do is bad for me.  Really guys?  

In case you were wondering, I did bust open that candy and eat it.  No, I did not even make a dent in it, however I did enjoy some peanut butter cups.  MMmmmm Peanut Butter….  I also did not get sick or have pain after, which is pretty epic in my opinion.

That is all I have to update you on for now.  Sorry for the long post, but I did add lots of pictures to make it more interesting!  I hope you all have a fantastic day!!!! 

#thriveon