Updating Early This Weekend

Just a little catch-up:

Friday night I went out to Which Brew, had dinner and hung out with a few friends.

Saturday I went to the gym, went home and watched the snow, then with the help of Greg's wife Judy I got some shopping & laundry/drycleaning done. I also picked her brain about my short- and medium-term foot prospects (she's a physical therapist, though her experience differs somewhat from the kind of therapy I'll be getting). What she said didn't quite give me the warm fuzzies, but it was good to hear. Basically, I will have quite a bit of trouble with my foot for a while, until tendons re-stretch -- she expects therapy for this to be very painful -- and muscle atrophy will not only affect leg strength, but the atrophy of the little muscles (proprioceptors? -- or whatever she said) will mean problems with balance for a while. When can I start biking and running? She would only say "it depends."

Meantime, my foot feels pretty good, and I've been moving it around a little inside the cast, at least partly to get a jump-start on recovery. I asked her about this too, she said I was probably OK as long as it didn't hurt, but she didn't look enthusiastic. I'm going to do it anyway, since it's the only way to scratch some of the itches under the cast.

Anyway, it was a good productive afternoon -- especially since I'd originally planned to take a nap -- and now I've been the first to see their new boat, and their new kitchen floor. I also got the scoop on flight delays for the Moab trekkers, since Greg called with an update. (I'd talked earlier to Doug & Lori who were driving out: they were making good time, drove through the first night and were in Kansas when I called.)

After that I got two calls: Hans was back in PA for a few days, called to let me know he would be down at Which Brew with his brother, and Joe C said that they would also be down there. Took a taxi, driver told me he'd had a broken ankle once, but the pins broke and they had to re-do it. Gulp! He dropped me at Which Brew with a "good luck!" and I went in, ate dinner, hung out with my friends, deja vu yadda yadda...

Skin: Much better this past week. I've been using that Vaseline Advanced Healing (aka "friggin' liquid wax"), as well as a slightly different bath treatment (it has mineral oil in it, as well as colloidal oatmeal) and a more aggressive use of cortisone cream, and it's been like a miracle cure. Skin's still kind of pinkish-red in areas, but not that inflamed stuff; bleeding has stopped and so has the itching (for the most part). The skincare regimen may have been a big factor, but I think that the rise in temperature and humidity is helping too, and also the extra sunlight and fresh air as I sit on the porch after work.

I'm off to sit on the porch, maybe walk around the block or something, then Mom & Dad are coming up to take me to dinner -- it's my forty-third birthday today!