Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Well, after six weeks, my thumb is still swollen and it still hurts. Wednesday while I was at my physical, my doc said it was time to x-ray it (I kinda think this should have been done six weeks ago, but I'm just a lowly English teacher who has no medical training). The x-ray tech said yes, there was definitely something but wouldn't tell me what. The doc had to tell me. The doc, though, ended up having her nurse call me and tell me my thumb was fractured. I needed to see an orthopedist. The orthopedist sent in his nurse practitioner who informed me a piece of the bone did break off and slipped down into the joint, which is why it still hurts and is still swollen.  There's nothing that can be done for it.  I knew before going to the orthopedist that most likely a piece of the bone had chipped off. All along I could bend my thumb a little bit and move it. The only issue I have is gripping things and using my thumb to open my car door. Any pressure on the thumb pad is painful...

It's official. I ate way too much today. All day. Started around 8 this morning and finally took my last bite at 8 this evening. First morsel in was the delicious almond flour with coconut drizzle cinnamon rolls. Last morsel in was the homemade pecan pie baked by Lovely Beautiful Daughter. Now I'm thinking, "What in the world was I thinking?" I've not eaten this much food in one day in . . . probably . . . ever! Tomorrow, I'll get back to eating the way I know I should eat: a lot less and way more thoughtful about what is consumed. This being the first Thanksgiving without Mom, I was kind of dreading the day. So many of my Thanksgiving memories include her. She would always be up and in the kitchen early, way before the rest of us pulled ourselves out of our warm beds, fixing breakfast for us while at the same time prepping the turkey and preparing the stuffing. Along with the mashed potatoes and gravy, Mom always fixed a cranberry dish for Dad. He was the o...

For awhile now, I've been lamenting the fact that I have a spare tire around my middle that I can't seem to get rid of no matter what I do. Hubby, being the nice guy that he is, just laughs at me, saying I'll need that spare tire once the BTUSFMS ride comes around. Yeah, he's a really funny guy. He then goes on to say I'm delusional, and that if I complain about my "spare tire" in front of other women they'll beat the living daylights out of me. According to him, I don't have a spare tire. I see flab, though, and I really want it gone. So yesterday, I picked up the latest Bicycling magazine because as I was walking by the rack, it practically screamed at me, "Hey! You! Get rid of that spare tire!" I looked over at it, and on the cover in bold letters was the title of an article on the inside that discusses how to get to your ideal cycling weight no matter if you're wanting to race, ride long distances, or just putz around. I could ...

Due to a major head cold, the training has been put on hold for the last two days. I finally broke down and took a cold med this evening when I couldn't take the pounding headache any longer. I try to avoid taking anything when I'm not feeling well, but when the aching causes my stomach to become upset, that's when I cave. I've never been diagnosed as having migraines, but sometimes I get these headaches that make me feel like I've been in a smack-down. I can tell when they're coming on, so I head them off by taking an over-the-counter as I loathe the upset stomach. The last three days it's mostly been the scratchy throat, the sneezing, and a bit of a cough, so I was just riding it out, but today the headache took over. Ughhhhh. To help pass the time this weekend, I searched for a training schedule for a sprint tri. I found several. I hadn't given strength training much thought, but most of the schedules have weight workouts built into them. Looking at t...