the bloggess

“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself.

For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness

is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”
Martha Washington

Hi All!

I am pleased to report that as some of my activity restrictions are being lifting, life is starting to return to normal around here… which is a good thing because I was starting to go a little bonkers not being allowed to exercise (We’ll just say it didn’t agree with the PTSD and that I’m happy to be sleeping through the night again).

Currently, I have returned to work and survived my first full week back including one hellish weekend shift. I have also resumed swimming! In fact, at the two week mark from surgery some super cool peeps from the tri club and I went to the lake to celebrate my first day off swimming restriction. The only downside was that it was windy out and the water was choppy which definitely did not agree with my motion sickness. The good news is, it definitely encouraged me to kick harder and swim faster!

Speaking of which, I also am thrilled to inform you that I have started an Open Water Swim Training Program through the Lake Quassapaug Sailing Center. Now I get to swim on my Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings off with a bunch of swimmers who are far superior to me. On the bright side, they give me a head start. Plus, they are all really fun people… hilarious actaully… I have gone out with them twice already, and I feel like it has helped a lot with getting used to the wetsuit. In fact, I have to be honest that open water swimming has really grown on me. *gasp* I think I may even prefer it to the pool at this point. The lake water is cool (ok COLD) and refreshing, and you can’t beat the scenery. Today I swam in the pool for the first time since surgery and the water just felt really warm and gross in comparison (at least upon first getting in anyway…)

My newest home for swimming… you can go ahead and be jealous now…

Aside from starting to swim again I also spent a little time on the bike trainer. Then yesterday I went for my first post op run (more on that to come… I decided to just go big. After all it was my three weeks out from surgery marker!)

For all of you wondering what I did with the rest of my free time (riiiight… you’re thinking “What free time?!“, but trust me, I had lots of it….) So to keep from climbing the walls, I decided to finally order my wedding photos and redecorate the living room. It all started because I found a great piece of furniture to hide all of Adam’s cycling gear… which has been slowly taking over the house, especially the dining room table. Then I decided that instead of trying to hide of his stuff (because I’m realizing it’s futile… he’s never going to be the kind of guy who puts things away…ever… it’s just not who he is) I would try to camouflage it instead. I know! Genius, right?

Here are my efforts:

Our beachy wedding photos and newly wed pillows 🙂

The hubby’s new bike gear storage with new bike themed decor…

And our nifty new clock

I think the hubs was both touched and impressed by my efforts to incorporate his love of cycling into our living space. Of course, he was not quite impressed enough to actually use his new storage area, but at least I have a place to put all his stuff when I clean up after him. I also believe he was happy to see our wedding photos finally hanging… although I bet he was secretly sad to see all the photos of the dogs go.

So apart from my run yesterday which we will discuss in a separate post, that is all the shenanigans I have to update you on for now. I have surprisingly been doing a good job of laying low and keeping out of trouble… with the exception of yesterday’s run. In my defense, though, I was told that my activity level should be dependent on my pain, and I really don’t have any. Plus, it’s not like I have been lifting anything which is the really important restriction. After all, as much as I love and adore The Bloggess, I don’t want a Who trying to escape from my belly button. 😉

Stay tuned!

“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