Chondromalacia, can you say that three times fast?

Chondromalacia apparently takes six weeks to heal and currently hurts like a bitch. Pardon my french. It's been rather painful for the past week and I learned from going to my doctor today that apparently the small dots on the front of my knees that I thought was discoloration is actually bruising that I've had for at least nine years. So I'm going to have that taken care of also. I am going to have four sessions of PT and hopefully that will take care of it. I am going to the same PT I went to a few years ago because he really helped me (with my arms and shoulders) and he's a really nice guy. I also need to bring my running shoes in to have those diagnosed to see if those are also causing an issue. The GOOD news is that I can start working out again tomorrow I just have to do cycling for my cardio and then medicate with pain relievers afterwards. I never thought that the adductor machines at the gym would be worth anything. I stand corrected.

Wilderness Trail Pics

Wilderness Creek Trail

So Isaac and I went hiking on Sunday at Wilderness Creek. I've been too sore and tired to download my pictures. I will attempt to do so tonight because it's a really nice hike. So Isaac wanted to start out with something easy but since we had plans later in the day we settled on an intermediate hike. I didn't think it would be that difficult I mean it's obviously not listed in the difficult section. That would be mistake number one. The easy one that Isaac wanted to do was twice as far away and I didn't think it would be feasible if we wanted to do everything else that day we had planned. Mistake number two. As easy as the other hike would have been the drive time would have probably made up for how long we took to walk the four miles.
I do also have to mention that Isaac and I both had very sore muscles (my left knee is also sort of bothering me) from working out rather hard during the week. I'm hoping that's what made the hike so hard. It says it's child friendly but I think they're crazy, I wouldn't take a child on this hike unless they were a teenager. It's a four mile hike. you gain 1200 feet in elevation up and lose it all on the way down so it's a pretty steep ascent and descent. In it's favor it was beautiful and the sun was out which was really pretty to see streaming through the trees. There were also some really neat wooden logs as small bridges (I love those).

And today people, I was almost hit by someone who was not paying attention. I was making a protected left hand turn and they just barreled through not even noticing until I honked multiple times so they had to swerve in order to not hit me. Cause god forbid they actually stop and let me go, no apparently when it's my turn I still don't get to go. I feel like that's the story of my life. Not to mention I already have a cracked windshield which I am getting replaced today. Last I checked today is not Monday...

Fabulous

Some new buys from www.thecarrotbox.com

I swear I am addicted.

Look Ma! No hands!

So I'm very excited. Today I got my own office with plaque outside my door (title and no name that makes me happy) and everything. I won't be fully set up until Thursday but who's counting so I've been in limbo today and and I will be tomorrow too. It wasn't official until I got word today that I was moving so I didn't say anything until it was made official to me. I didn't want to jinx it. I'm in charge of Human Resources.

Another exciting piece of news is that Carrie, Keith and E are moving to Indianapolis. Her current position was only a year so she was working on securing another job and I'm sure kind of stressed out by the task. Another possibility would have been California which would have been closer but at least Indianapolis is closer than where they currently are. :) I'm going to plan a trip to see them when I find out the dates that they'll be in their new home. Yay! It was good news all around today.

I've got religion.

Okay well not really. I mean I've always been religious but I'm not one of the flashy sorts. It's something that is important to my life but not something I talk about a lot. I'm mentioning this because there is someone in my office currently (they're new) and they are of the "I've got Religion" sort. Not the converting sort, just the I have religion and everyone needs to know sort. It's driving me crazy. This person walks in and they talk about how they were listening to gospel music on the way to work, or they will just walk in singing it. They talk about how they go to church and it's "Lord have mercy this" and "Lord have mercy that". What seems incongruous to me is that this person smokes and apparently went on a bender last night. These things I don't really think of as being Christian. To me Christianity is about living an upstanding life. I'm not saying be perfect but have your actions reflect what you say. I might be being too harsh but it's constant every day, and even sometimes this person will break out into mini prayers. I guess it just seems theatrical and not real. I was also taught that praying was a private matter so when I do it I make sure I am alone unless it's in church. All I guess I really know is that it's driving me crazy.

As a side note I saw something on my way home when I stopped at the grocery store. I saw a very fit woman having a small latina girl that worked at the grocery store putting her groceries in her Land Rover. This irritated me. I know the reasons against it irritating me. Hey she has a job, and she's doing useful work. Also the grocery store (well all grocery stores really) offers this service. Yadda yadda yadda. I know why it irritates me. I see it as a form of oppression and possibly it's ugly cousin a form of modern day slavery. I think the last one is taking it too far. It also has to do with my complete repulsion of asking other people to help me. My only super ceding factors are if your family or a very close friend I've had for years even then it might be hard. Really the only easy person to ask is Isaac. It's also why I dislike managing people and training them. It makes me feel like "Who the hell am I Jesus Christ?" and "what makes me so special that I can walk in here and ask you to complete work that I have that needs to be done". It also makes me hyperaware that I fit into the oppressor category. White, oppressor. German, oppressor. American, oppressor. In fact the only thing I have going for me is that I'm a woman, but that's not a lot. One time I asked an African American gentleman to see his id when I was cashiering because he was paying with a check and he burst out crying. I guess I just feel like she's shoving her wealth in the girls face. Also I don't understand why do all these women who go to the gym and work themselves to be super skinny and not put their strength to use? I guess I feel it's a show of power. It makes me ashamed and not ever want to be a burden on anyone or put anyone out. I would rather just take it on myself.

P.S. I heard somewhere that any year the Steelers win the Superbowl the SMP runs 25% higher than any year that they do not. If it's true then I'm really happy the Steelers won. Otherwise I can just continue ignoring football altogether like I normally do.

Sock Monkey's

Now who doesn't love sock monkey's? Well I know I do. You can even make it the theme for your baby room. Sorry it's kind of a random thought but it's what I've been thinking about this morning. Another theme I want for a baby room is this cover from Zora Neale Hurston's book "Their Eyes Were Watching God". It's a fabulous book and the cover is amazing. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. The flowers at the bottom are a metallic copper color, just amazing. I don't know if I would be able to find someone who could do it but I'm going to try.