Haven't Written in a While...

Well my whole family came down with the flu, including me, and I'm now getting my energy back and feeling further away from the grave. :)

So not much to report really. I got a new camera that Russell's dad gave me. It used to be his and I always loved it and the cool stuff it can do. Now I need to figure out how to work the thing! But it's better than the camera I have and I'm hoping it will hold me for a while until I start needing an upgrade. I might have to save my pennies though and buy a serious zoom lens for this thing and not need an upgrade for a very long long time...that would be nice.

In other news, my ankle isn't completely right yet. It still swells and is much bigger than my other one. I can walk and stuff, but if I've been on my feet all day, it starts hurting and I have to ice it. Hopefully by another three weeks it will be almost completely healed. That would be the standard six weeks for a sprain to heal. If it's not good by then, I'll assume I did more than sprain it...but probably torn ligaments and/or tendons. Then it will take much longer to be strong enough to handle rough terrain or lots of trail miles. Looks like I'll be car camping for a while eh?

Let's see what else...

Well I finally saw One Eyed Doll at Headhunters perform on the 16th of this month. They rocked! I love their sweet little singer. Go check her out! I've heard their music on a few occasions and thought they were pretty good. I've been wanting to see a show of theirs for some time now, and was so excited to find out they were playing the last night of SXSW at the bar I happened to be at! We were there to see another band, but when I found out who was playing next I though what a super bonus that was! I was not one bit disappointed in their show and now want to see them play as much as I can! I bought the cd for sure and have every song memorized now.

Ok, what else can I tell to catch everyone up....

Russell, Ben, and I, dyed Easter eggs yesterday. I bought a bunch of the plastic ones too and filled them with candy and money. Ben had a blast dying eggs, and of course he loved hunting them as well. Russell and I hid those things all over the place and it took Ben forever to find them all. He had a little help from us on a few of the hardest ones to find. We played the hotter/colder game.

Well that's all for now. I apologize to my readers...if I have any left by now...for taking so long to post again. For those die hard loyal fans of mine, thanks for sticking around! And when I figure out my new camera, I'm getting back to my photography. Hopefully I'll have a few good shots to show for all my efforts in learning this new contraption. :)

Ta Ta for now.

Had a GREAT Time Last Night!

My new girlfriend Linda has a very talented son who plays in two bands. One is a rock band, and the other is a Jazz band. I don't know the name of the jazz band, but the rock band is called Perfect Pants and they were AWESOME! They had a huge range of sound, some of it was Punk, some was Ethereal rock, some songs had jazz influence, some had reggae influence, and the last song they played had some polka type influence. But make no mistake it was all ROCK and they brought it.

After their set, Linda and I went over to Headhunters and spent the rest of the night in their upstairs area partying with lots of cool people we just met. I love Headhunters...it's one of my favorite bars in Austin, because even if you go into that place alone, it's not long before you are talking and partying it up with lots of fun easy going folks...they are so friendly in that place! I also like going to this other place, a pub, to throw darts and drink beer. People are friendly there too, but I can't remember the name of it. Anyway...

I got home around 3:00 this morning, and Caitlin was crashed on the couch. I went over and gave her a kiss on the forehead and then she woke up. So we talked mother daughter stuff for a while, and then Ben got up, and was all happy because it was the middle of the night and thought it was so cool that we were up in the middle of the night. Ha, had a time getting him settled back down and sleeping. Then Russell woke up and I find that he is sick, so I get him meds, etc...and we talk for a while. But finally the household wound back down and everyone went to sleep around 4:30 or so this morning. We're all a wreck today...accept Ben of course. :)

Here are some pictures of last night! lol some of them turned out crappy. I never could find the right settings because it was dark and I had been drinking. So I just used a flash...which kinda sucked.
Before getting drunk...

After having a few lol...this was just some guy's hat...not sure how I ended up with it.

Oh Yeah, Linda has had a few as you can see, and now has the hat!

Some Band at Headhunters...they kinda sucked.

Perfect Pants!!!!! They ROCKED! And I'm not just saying that because her son is in the band.

Linda's fabulous son jammin out

Guy on keyboard...I wish I could remember everyone's names! I'm horrible with names...anyway he was great too. Unfortunately these were the only pics I could manage. I wanted so bad to get a good shot of the bassist and the drummer, but it just didn't happen. Sorry guys, next time for sure!

Some fellow party goers

Awww now that's just too cute!

Our angel for the evening. She was a total doll...loved her right away!

Oh THIS is where the hat came from. Yeah, this is Billy, he bought us a round of drinks. Nice dude.

Yesterday

Jen and I took our boys to the park for a picnic. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I don't have any cool pics to show. But it was a pleasant day and the boys had a great time while Jen and I lazed about on a blanket under a tree.

Today is amazing. It's actually HOT outside. It's perfect for a little walk and think I will do just that, right now. :)

Going Out Tonight!

I'm headed downtown with a girlfriend and we are going to see her son play some rock music in one of his bands. I'm not sure what bar yet we are going to be in, but since it's SXSW I'm sure it will be crazy downtown and lot's of fun. I can't wait!

It's Getting Better All the Time...

With my funk that is. The medications I'm taking seem to be helping. Some days are better than others, but maybe a trend of more good days than bad is starting. I am still waiting to see what develops. I'm optimistic however that I'll have my depression under full control in a reasonable amount of time. The side effects however are still bothersome...mainly the stomach upset it causes. This should go away in time...I hope.

The person prescribing the medication to me is top notch and knows what she is doing. I like her approach and think she is incredibly thorough.

While I'm on the subject of my health...

My ankle has improved slightly in the past day or so. There is still minor swelling, but I've been doing a little home physical therapy and feel I'm gaining more mobility as time goes by. It aches some and there are still ways I can't move it very well without some pain, but I'm optimistic it's on the right path to healing. I've been using Arnica gel on it too and it seems to give some temporary relief from the pain.

Russell Working Again!

He picked up a new job and his second day was yesterday. So far he seems to be enjoying it and it's certainly a relief for him to be working. So woo hoo for us!

Much Improvement with My Ankle

I can walk normally and am getting some of the flexibility back in my ankle. There is only slight swelling and bruising now. I hope it continues to heal as quickly as it is!

I Had a Super Birthday!

My birthday was great from the time my feet hit the ground until the time I crashed out at 6am the next morning. It couldn't have been a better birthday.

The first thing that happened was my five year old came into my room and woke me up by saying in my ear "Happy Birthday Mommy, I love you!". To which I sleepily hugged him, said I loved him, and kissed him. Then he ran off and I was back to sleep.

The next time I awoke, it was to Ben and Russell singing me happy birthday. It was very sweet. At some point I got up and made plans for my day. Ben was already at school and Russell needed to run errands. I started to get lots of phone calls from friends and family and chatted a while with each person. It was great. At some point Russell came back home with a gigantic balloon, and a bunch of yellow roses for me. I was totally surprised and loved them both.

When Jen called, who was first of course, she said "Happy Birthday...Bitch!". I got a kick out of that and laughed heartily. While I was on the phone with Jen, our friend Jamie called me on the cell and the very first words out of her mouth were "Happy Birthday Bitch!". Ah the day was progressing nicely.

So Jen and I made plans. I went to her house and picked her up, then we picked up her son from school. We went back to my house and dropped off her boys with Russell so they could play with Ben, while Jen and I went to Half Price Books because she wanted to get me a book or two for my birthday. Yes indeed the day was unfolding and I just got happier and happier as the day went on.

Jen and I didn't stay in the bookstore too long because there were way too many books we wanted, so we had to force ourselves to leave after about 15 minutes of pulling book after book off the shelves. We left with an armful and then decided we were hungry.

To our delight we were right next to Kobe Steak House and on sheer impulse we went in and debated whether we should or not. We decided we should. We sat down at a table with another couple, while the waiter took drink and food orders and we waited on the chef. Jen and I ordered the Kobe Trio, and some vegetarian dish with tofu in it.

The food and service was great and we had the best time. Lot's of food and two gin and tonics later, we had our abundant leftovers packed up went back to my house. Needless to Say Russell and Gilbert, Jen's husband, were happy to see the ton of beautiful leftovers we brought them for letting us get out and do girl stuff. It was getting close to 6pm and Russell and I had plans to go see a movie. We saw Juno at the Alamo Drafthouse on Lamar, drank beer, and had dessert. Russell and I both agreed the movie was pretty good.

The evening was only getting started because Jen and I decided she should come back to my house after I got home from the movie so we could make cocktails and play lots of Blokus, listen to music, etc... We both ended up snockered and laughed our butts off all night long.

So Back to the Trip Report...

I made it to the car, I got some ice on my ankle, and I chilled in camp for the rest of the day. The weather couldn't have been better really. I turned in early and had a bit of a hard night's rest with the ankle hurting. I took one of my emergency vicodin, and some ibuprofin before I arrived at the campsite and it helped. But at some point in the night I woke up hurting and took more pain stuff, and was back to sleep fairly quickly.

The next morning my ankle was even more swollen and so stiff I could barely move it. But I managed to hobble around and get packed up. I was the first to wake and made some progress on my own. One of my hiking friends got up about an hour later and started packing up stuff too and then put all of my gear in the car for me. I did managed to break down and pack my own tent. The whole time I'm doing all this I'm thinking to myself, if I was alone, I'd be doing all of this loading myself and that would be doable, but not fun and slow going.

I've always known that hiking can be dangerous and have remained as respectful of that fact as possible. I know I'm not invincible, but I don't let the possible dangers scare me away from what I love doing so much. And, when I did my solo trips I was cautious, but knew I could be on my own in a bad situation and hoped that I was prepared for it after all the reading I've done, question asking, etc...

When I was on the trail and making my way back to the car after the sprain (I was crying of course and feeling like a big baby), I managed to get my emotions in check and made it back without too much incident. I had someone with me too and they kept me company. There were some tricky areas and I surely stepped down wrong a few times that made me cry out in pain, but other than that I did well and was so happy I wasn't further in on the trail. But I realized that if I had been, I would have dealt fine. I would have taken it incredibly slow, and careful, and would have made it out. And I realized that no matter what the situation, I would handle it.

I want to give a special thanks to the person who took care of me on Sunday...the one who loaded up all my stuff. He was very sweet to me and really stepped up to the plate to help...his new girlfriend was nice too. I have a few pictures of my trip and will load them up later. I obviously didn't get to take much, but that's the way it goes.

Happy birthday to her

Hey everyone, it's Russell. Today is Ginny's birthday! Wish her well!

It Could Have Been So Much Worse!

The short of it is I sprained my ankle badly on the trail. I actually am not certain if it's just a sprain or a break, but truth be told a break would be so much easier to heal. I'm hoping I didn't tear any ligaments or tendons because that would take far longer than a sprain or break to heal. The good news is I wasn't too far into the first hike before it happened, maybe a mile and quarter in. But I still had to walk back to the car in miserable pain and crying because of it. Not to mention the utter disappointment of a beautiful day of hiking ruined exasperated my not so great mood at the time. More on the details of that experience later.

So I am doing the right things, intermittent icing for the swelling, elevation, and staying off of it. But I am considering getting it x-rayed anyway, because if it's broken obviously that will need more attention. Whatever the case may be, it's definitely going to put me out of hiking commission for a few weeks, and then I will have to slowly get back to it again.

And all I can say about that is FUCK FUCK FUCK!

Everyone who knows the struggles I've been through will understand why I'm rightly so upset. I've had one set back health wise or another that have hampered me from being out on the trails again. This weekend was supposed to be back to back hiking with an overnight in between. The miles hiked would have been about 14-17. Probably 7 or so the first day, and maybe 8 the next. I was completely looking forward to walking long hours in the gentle rolling pine forests out east. Well none of that happened. But the trip wasn't a total waste. I learned valuable things and it was an entirely eye opening experience that I needed.

I'll write more later...