3athletejen

Besides Christmas vacation, the best thing about working in education is a snow day. It makes it perfectly acceptable to stay in pajamas the entire day. Which I did, with the exception of venturing out to shovel. With a bum arm. I'm stupid. I'm also now under the influence of pain medication. I'd like to say the day was productive and all sorts of chores were accomplished, but that would be a lie. The highlight was I managed s short workout and did laundry. If you don't have cable, there's not much on during the day, so I relived high school by watching The Cosby Show. It was horrible. But I remember loving it at the time. Mostly, I just coveted Vanessa's wardrobe. I'm hoping for no snow day tomorrow. Cabin fever is setting in and another day with the Huxtable's would be too much.

This week has been about one thing -- pain management. It really started last Saturday (New Year's Day) when I ended up with a nasty hangover. Boyfriend and I met friends in Lawrence for festivities which began with a shot of whiskey at 7 p.m. That set the expectation for the rest of the night, which I strived valiantly to uphold. The celebration ended with the eating of cheese bread and pizza crust at 3 a.m. (I napped through the actual pizza.) I'll admit it. I'm an amateur. I kept hearing people mutter "amateur night" about those choosing to ring in 2011. Hell yes, it's amateur night. So these people pride themselves of being professionals? Professional drinkers? Am I the only one who thinks this smacks of alcoholism?No thanks. Amateur is just fine with me even if I end up eating a giant bag of potato chips the next day. (Nothing soothes my hangover like Lay's chips and onion dip.) Next on the pain management tour was my arm surgery on Monday. I won'...

So I'm copying this from a friend's blog and counting it as an entry. (Thanks, Natalie.) 1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before? Asked for a harder job without a pay increase. Camped in the mountains. 2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make resolutions. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Not counting sorority sisters who are now facebook friends, no. 4. Did anyone close to you die? A member of my department at work died unexpectedly this fall. She was not someone I socialized with outside of work, but was a close office-friend and I'm a little surprised at how often I miss her. Denise was a rare person who was both kind and hysterical. My funny moments often come at the expense of others (not proudly), but Denise could make me snort with laughter without ever uttering a mean word. We also shared a love of Twix bars and she always kept a stash hidden in her office for me. Sometimes I think she...

Done, done, done. With Christmas shopping, that is. The last present was delivered to my doorstep by my nice (but not hot) UPS man yesterday. With the exception of two gifts, everything was ordered online helping me avoid crowded shopping areas that make me crabby. The internet has lifted over 50 percent of my holiday stress. Which is good, because my job has added it right back. Yay. Speaking of the job, it continues to provide new and unexpected learning opportunities. That's code for it's continuing to kick my ass. Software issues overwhelm me. (I'm a word girl, damn it.) But all my projects require mods and bolt-ons and upgrades. It's a different language, and one I don't understand. My co-worker said it best yesterday, "You don't know what you don't know." And I don't. One of the perks of working in higher ed is Christmas break. (That and snow days.) Usually I make a long list of things I'll finally get done when I have a week+ off wit...

How might I know this? Because 25 years after my last Tour De Coachlite skating party, I found myself at Skate City donning a pair of frayed laced, orange-wheeled rentals next to ski-ball machines. Sweet nostalgia. Except it wasn't really sweet. It was painful. I realized my roller skating prime had passed when my primary concern was for bunion pain. It was far worse than stilettos. Think I developed some shinsplints, too. And to be clear, it's not like riding a bike. Trying as I might to channel Olivia Newton John in Xanadu, grace on wheels eluded me. The whole two hours was spent teetering with my arms out, trying not to fall on my butt.

Fifteen years ago I was in a car accident that resulted in a broken arm. To help it heal, they put a plate and a couple screws in the bone. Five years ago, I broke the plate and learned the bone hadn't grown back together (non-union), so they repaired it with a lighter, stronger plate. Apparently as the plates get stronger, so do I, as this plate has broken as well. (See above.) All of this means surgery that will either A) replace the plate and screws again or B) insert a rod into the bone to make it stronger. It's called an ulnar reconstruction. I prefer any sort of surgical reconstruction be of the cosmetic variety, but oh, well. The hardest part will be not being able to swim for a couple weeks and no yoga for at least a month. That means I will be mean as a snake and no one will want to be around me the month of January. Don't say I didn't warn you. On another note, Friday night I met some girlfriends out for happy hour, which lasted four hours. Saturday I moped a...

That's how old I am today. 38. Two away from 40. 62 away from 100, if I'm lucky enough to be an centenarian. Speaking of 100 years, have you ever listened to the lyrics of that song? Depressing. No significant plans. Dinner with parents, drinks with the girls, a little holiday party. I try to stretch out the celebration for several days. Yes, I'm one of those people. I still think birthdays are a big deal and get frustrated by people who downplay them. Celebrations are good, people. Take advantage of any occasion. Speaking of special days, yesterday was "hug a swimmer" day. I was told this last night at practice. Honestly, I think they're just hormonal tweens that want to hug each other instead of doing dry land. Because I'm a pushover, I let them. Back to birthday. Some people make New Year's resolutions on January 1. I use birthdays for this. And since self-improvement resolutions rarely work, I'm making easy ones for my 38th year. Here they are:...