Gym: 1, Kate: -50

Miles run: 1

Miles biked: 6

Hip: Ow

Butt bones: OH MY GOSH WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME OWOWOWOWOWOWWWWW

I paid for that advice?

Sorry I left you in the dark about the results of the doctor’s appointment. I’m fine, sort of.

He told me I had coxis saltan (?) . . . which means popping hip. Uhhhh, Mr. Doctor? I already KNEW my hip was popping and that it was due to a tendon. What I didn’t know is how to make the pain and popping STOP.

Sigh.

He prescribed six weeks of physical therapy twice a week and if the pain doesn’t stop we’ll go from there. I’m happy to do that but I’m doubtful that it will help much. We’ll see how the running goes over the next few days.

Speaking of running, I have TOTALLY been using my sinus infection as a great reason not to exercise. I’m still a little drippy . . . let’s watch TV!! As of today, excuses are done. Body, we’re going to the gym and we’re running a mile. NO ARGUING.

So, there you have it. Me and my coxis saltan are going to pop our way to the finish of the triathalon in April, even if it kills us.

Eyeballis Ouchiosis and other made up ailments

Have your eyeballs ever felt as though they were fried in oil? Yesterday and today, mine do. I have no idea why I’m so tired or why my eyes feel like this but OW, ‘scuse me OW.

So in other boring news, I have an appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon today and I’m scared (hold me!). About a year and a half ago when I started running again, er, scratch that, for the first time, my right hip started hurting. I just thought it was due to non-use. As I’ve been trying to run more and more (I’m attempting to train for a triathalon in April) it has hurt worse and worse, and it pops pretty much every time I try to stretch it. Soooo, I was told to go see a doctor. I’ve been so excited about getting into shape again, and now I’m afraid the doctor is going to tell me I can’t run or even worse, that something is “broken” and needs surgery. So like I said, I’m a bit scared. I’ve never had any body issues other than a few sprained ankles (ok like ten sprained ankles) so this is the first time I’ve ever gone to the doctor not knowing the outcome. YIKES!

Anyway, just a quick little updated on both my chicken fried eyes and my loudly crunching hip. I’m a huge mess.

Hopefully, this week I’ll get the Christmas Tree up and I can show you pictures of my house ala Christmas! That’s much more fun than any of the other boring, depressing crap I’ve been writing about lately! Yay for Christmas!!

Soap Opera Sunday: Long Lost Friend

Hi lovlies! Welcome to a very late SOS! Sorry I sort of disappeared there for a while! It’s a long story but I’ll spare you the details and get on with my Soap Opera.

If you’re playing along, lovely Brillig the Greatest is hosting this week, so leave your link in her Mr. Linky. If you want to play along, go here for the rules! We’d love to have you join our dramatic fun!

Last Sunday (when I didn’t post – BADKATE) I promised you something entirely different than what I’m writing, but something has been on my mind this week so I’m going to write about that. I’ll write that other story really soon. Crossmyheart.

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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about a lost friend. Way back in my awkward years, right when I needed a friend very badly, I met someone I really thought was a soul mate of mine. We truly had the most wonderful time together and became instant best friends. I loved her family, I loved being with her . . . I loved everything about her.

We stayed the best of friends through many years, helping each other through high school, college, heartaches, horrible injustices, broken engagements, marriages and many, many other things. She was truly one of the most wonderful friends I’ve ever known. However, there was a little “issue” going on in the background. She was sort of a compulsive liar. She would lie about very strange things and seemed unable to keep stories straight so that there was always a different story being told to a different person. What was odd is that she never really lied about anything that was that big of a deal. It was mostly stuff that didn’t matter anyway, so myself and the other girls who were friends with her usually laughed it off and let it go. She was a wonderful, caring, kind friend who would have stood in front of a train for anyone she loved, so we all just thought it was easier to let it go.

As the years passed it started to get harder and harder to believe anything she said. It was almost as though she had built her life on things that were entirely false and she didn’t know what was true and what was made up anymore, and as her best friend, it seemed strange to me that she didn’t trust me or love me enough just to be HERSELF with me, rather than this person she had sort of . . . made up.

Then, the lies started getting bigger and were covering up bigger problems. Things that were starting to affect other people. It was hard to not call her out on them, but I’d never been THAT friend . . . I have always been uncomfortable with confrontation and it just seemed easier to let her think she was getting away with it rather than try to confront her and have the lie get even bigger. Things were easier and more fun when there wasn’t any trauma or confrontation and, as I mentioned, she was never a bad friend to me . . . she just lied a lot about other things that were going on in a big way.

Then there was a big blow up in her life, and as her best friend, I was asked to help intervene on her behalf to fix things. I knew both parties involved and though I knew I should stay out of it, I thought maybe I could help. What I learned is that both people involved had serious issues. Issues that I couldn’t help with. Issues that needed a professional therapist. The lies that my friend had told were starting to affect the other person involved, and the other person had some serious issues that were very much affecting my dear friend in a very negative way. I told both parties they needed professional help.

Telling my friend this was not the best idea. I hurt her beyond my words to describe her pain. I felt awful about it. I re-thought my place in the issue and then I kindly told both parties that I shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place and I needed to stay out of it and they needed to work it out themselves.

However, I was already in a little too deep. The other party in the issue had found something that they felt I needed to know about my friend, and it was sent to me in an email. What I saw in the email was very shocking to me, and I responded to the email stating my shock and asking what was going to be done. Later that night I received a phone call from my friend. She had seen my email and felt that I had completely betrayed her.

I am not proud of my involvement in this issue. I am a meddler/conflict solver by nature and it was hard for me not to want to “help” my friend with her situation, but it was NOT my place to get involved. That phone call was not easy. My friend was justifiably angry and felt I had taken the other person’s side. In my (lame) defense, I felt, and still feel, both parties were incredibly wrong in what they had done and I told them both so. They had asked for my help and I had tried to do my best. I am not good at being on one person’s side. I was brought up to always try to look for the other person’s reasons before judging them too harshly. That is what I was doing in this situation, wrong or right.

My friend and I worked that issue out and tried to move on from that day. We tried very hard to get over it and become close again. She eventually worked out the problem and life seemed to calm down and we attempted to completely reconcile, but obviously, it wasn’t easy and our once breezy friendship became a very strained friendship from that point on.

About seven or eight months later, this friend, who happened to work for a close family member of mine, was let go. That day she decided to publish a blog post about the wretched conditions of her workplace and her horrid boss, and how excited she was to finally leave that place of filth and be home with her family. Remember, her boss was a member of my family who I loved very dearly.

When I saw the post, I calmly closed the browser, and in my most passive-aggressive attitude (I’ve mentioned I’m really good at that stuff, right?!?), I deleted her email address from my address book, her phone number from my phone and her link from my blog. I decided that I needed a serious break from the friendship.

My other friends jumped to my family member’s defense, and let her know exactly how wrong they felt what she had done was. Then, most of them, not at my bidding, decided to pause their friendship with her as well. I didn’t encourage this and truly didn’t care if they continued hanging out with her. This was my choice and mine alone, but it seemed most of them had been agitated with her shenanigans for quite some time.

About a week later I received an email from my friend, apologizing for the blog post, but it was too little, too late. I responded back that I needed a break and that being friends with her had just become too hard and too exhausting. I apologized for getting too involved in her personal life and let her know she had never been a bad friend, just that I didn’t trust anything she said anymore and it was getting tiresome to keep up with her lies and pretend to be dumb enough to buy them, and then I told her goodbye.

I received a response from her but I never read it.

This all happened about a year ago. A year ago I said goodbye to someone I thought was a part of my soul. Someone I had loved for years and laughed with almost every day. Someone who’s dance concerts I had faithfully attended and who was always in the front row of my performances with flowers for me. Someone who’s wedding I was part of and who was part of mine, who’s daughter I held on the day she was born and who I always expected would be an aunt to my children. She was like a sister to me and it broke my heart to say goodbye to her. I was so exhausted and so sad that she didn’t seem to trust me enough to admit the truth and her mistakes to me and I didn’t want to be a part of the lies anymore.

I don’t know the ending to my soap opera. I don’t know if someday we might get past all of this and be friends again. There are times that I miss her desperately . . . and other times I don’t. I’m sure she thinks the same things about me. I hope she’s happy and doing OK. I don’t wish her any ill, I just wish that things could have turned out a little differently.

***I’m being very vague to protect my friend and others here. I’m sorry if this post became confusing in the vagueness. I’m also turning off comments for this post because of how personal it is to me and how many people I know are aware of the people and details of this story. I’d love your comments, just not in a public forum, so please feel free to email them to me at kateastrophe(at)cox(dot)net (there’s a link in my sidebar if that’s easier, okTHANKSbye)***

The I can breathe out of one nostril Thankfuls

I’m on the road to recovery! Thank you to all of you for your well-wishes. Half of my face has recovered and hopefully the other half isn’t far behind. I can breathe a little better and can sleep better as well. At least my Thanksgiving wasn’t ruined! Phew!

I’ve realized that I have way too much to do lately, and no energy whatsoever with which to do it. I need to get a new couch, but I’m too tired to get up off the OLD couch to go look for a new one. I need to go to a friend’s house to pick up some accessories I bought from them but the thought of driving out there has me ready for bed. I need to paint my family room, start decorating for Christmas (and buy new decorations because holy crap my old decorations don’t cut it!), landscape the backyard and a whole host of other things that need to be done and I’m just.so.tired.

Oh yeah, and I have to shop for Christmas. Most of you know that a) I love to shop and b)I work for an eCommerce company . . . A tends to conflict with B because I like to go to the mall and shop for presents but I SHOULD shop online to support my industry. I just don’t usually do it. Except for maybe this year. I’m thinking of going virtual for my Christmas shopping and even I can’t believe it. What do you guys think? How do you shop for the Holidays? Does paying for shipping make you want to pull out your hair like it does me, yet somehow you add up the time it takes to go to the mall, find a parking space, drag your butt from store to store and realize that it might just be worth it? I’m still trying to decide.

Also, what the CRAP do I get my husband? He’s very hard to shop for. I can’t get him tools because “tools aren’t FUN they mean I have to do work with them. I like fun presents.” I can’t get him what he really wants because hi, I don’t have $40,000 sitting around with which to buy him a nice truck. Clothes seem boring to buy because he has a uniform of sorts and getting him the fiftieth blue and tan plaid shirt just seems . . . wrong. HELP!!?!?!?

Ok and on to Thankfuls. I skipped yesterday because, well, see the first paragraph. So ten Thankfuls on the way and then I’ll see you all tomorrow!!

1. Hannah. We had the funniest conversation yesterday over email and I miss her and her gorgeous babies to death right now. I was thinking about a night many years ago when we laughed so hard for almost an hour that we couldn’t talk, breathe or do anything. All over a guy’s lip zit. AHAHAHAHA. Dear Hannah how I love you.

2. A clean car. I’m not good at keeping my car clean and I wish I was because it’s sure nice to be in when it’s not a disaster.

3. Chocolate hazelnut mousse cake with fondant. It was a co-workers birthday today and we got the most delicious cake. Mmmmm.

4. The ease with which I can buy music on iTunes. It’s bad for the bank account but good for the soul.

5. That my husband didn’t get one bit mad when I called him up AFTER I’d just spent almost $200 on concert tickets.

6. Instant Messenger. I’m not sure I’d know anything about some of my best friends without it. I haven’t talked to one friend on the phone in almost six months, but we talk every day on IM.

7. Carbohydrates. That’s all I’m gonna say about that.

8. The thought of eating my Grandma’s creamed corn on Thursday. If I could get away with it, that’s all I’d eat at Thanksgiving.

9. Little kids voices. SO precious.

10. My brother Sean. We talked yesterday and somehow got on the subject of tap-dancing lawyers and we were dying laughing. He’s become such an amazing man and one of my greatest friends. I’m so proud of him and how much he’s overcome. He’s literally and figuratively my hero.

Medicated Thankfuls

Oh thank jeebus, I finally went to the doctor this morning. Well, I went to Urgent Care and was there for two and a half hours. And then the doctor said “well you are on the verge of having a sinus infection, so I’m going to give you a prescription to hold on to for three days, then if you get worse get it filled.”

Um, right.

I’ve been sick for almost six days and it’s been getting worse every day. It ruined my weekend and I spent almost three hours of my Sunday waiting for you to give me DRUGS. If I wait three days and I am still sick, I won’t be able to go to my Grandparent’s for Thanksgiving for fear of making them sick, so then not only would my last week have been ruined, my entire Thanksgiving break will be too! Not. Gonna. Happen.

So I called Nurse Mom (she’s really a nurse, promise) and told her about the symptoms, what the Doc said and what I wanted. Thank goodness she agreed with me and told me just to fill the prescription. Z-pac here I come! Or um, came? Something like that.

I’m feeling about the same right now, but I have confidence that Mr. Z-pac will take effect soon and I’ll be back to normal (for me, at least!)

So today, I am thankful for:

1. Z-pac. Mmmm so great.

2. My Mom. Oh how I love her (and not only for giving me permission to disobey the doctor). She has been my rock and my best friend my entire life and I don’t know where I’d be without her. We talked for a while tonight and it made me miss her SO much!

3. Pajamas. Specifically my Victoria’s Secret perfect lengthed pant T-shirt pajamas. Oh how I love them.

4. My Ohio State ball cap. It’s great for hiding “sick hair.”

5. Friendly neighbors. Matt and I went outside to watch the sunset and we had about ten neighbors wave at us. In our old neighborhood we knew NO ONE and we’d wave and they would look away! We didn’t know what to do! We are so grateful to live in a place where people are SO FRIENDLY!!

There you have it! And Thanksgiving is this week! YAY! I’m so excited! Mmmmm food.

Soap Opera Sunday Delay and Thankfuls

I am so sorry but I’m not posting for Soap Opera Sunday today. I am unfortunately not feeling any better and try as I might, I can’t come up with an interesting story or the energy to write anything coherent. I promise I’ll make it up to you next week because I’m going to start with the most messed up, long, drawn out soap opera of my life. It might take me like four months to complete, no lie.

Anyway, if you’re playing this week, our Anonymous Soap Opera Blog is hosting this week! This is a place for you to post stories you may not want your name associated with, so if you’ve got a story you’re DYING to tell but are feeling a little shy, head on over and post away!! The rules and all that jive are posted over there too, so head on over!

Anyway, really quickly here are the things I’m thankful for today:

1. THE Ohio State Buckeye Football team. We had a gloriously victorious day over the Michigan Wolverines and it made my day. Go Bucks!!

2. Nasal Spray. One second I can’t breathe, then I spray that miracle liquid up my nose and voila! For as long as it lasts I can breathe through my nose!

3. Freshly waxed eyebrows. I was beginning to look like a Wookie and the one thing I forced myself to do today was run over to my community spa and get those babies waxed. I feel SO much better when I look at my face!

4. Our new, huge bathtub. I’m on my way for a long relaxing soak. In the old house the tub just seemed to small so having a big tub seems like heaven!

5. The hand knit blanket Matt’s Aunt Lorma made for us as a wedding gift. It doesn’t get a ton of use in hot Arizona, but it’s awesome to cuddle up with when one of us isn’t feeling good.

Hope you all have a great weekend and if I’m still alive, I’ll be back tomorrow!!

Thankful Goodness It’s Friday!

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday. I felt like pooh so I spent the afternoon/evening lying on the couch watching TV. I’m lazy like that.

So, today I have to try to post ten Thankfuls! Here goes!

1. Rivalries, specifically in college football. Tomorrow is the Ohio State/Michigan game and seeing as how my ENTIRE family is somehow connected to Ohio State, I’m a crimson blooded Buckeye Football fan till the end. This also means I hate “that state up north” and can’t wait to see the Buckeye’s kick the crap out of them tomorrow afternoon. ALSO, the BYU/University of Utah game is NEXT weekend and I’m hoping I can find a place with the right cable (stupid Mountain West Conference TV) so that I can witness the glory of the mighty Cougars. There’s just something about the air during those huge rivalry games that can’t be beat!

2. My DVR. Oh what would I do without it. I love that I can record all my favorite TV shows and then watch them at my leisure. Which is usually about fifteen minutes after they start, just so I can avoid stupid commercials.

3. My Daddy. We haven’t always been super close, but my Dad is an amazing man who I know loves me and my siblings with all of his heart. He’s charming, hilarious and SO fun to be around. He called me last night when he was bored and waiting for an airplane (as is his custom) and it was so great to hear from him!

4. My oldest friend, Sheila. Yesterday we talked for about thirty minutes and it made me miss her so much! We don’t remember meeting each other and we’ve just always been the best of friends. I love her more than she could ever know! I can’t wait to see her next week!

5. Napkins. As you all know, I’m prone to messy disasters and if I didn’t have napkins, I wouldn’t be able to go out in public.

6. Tide Pens. See #5.

7. The sad but awesome fact that everyone at the local Kosher Deli knows my name. I used to be there almost every day when I was an Admin and now when I go I love hearing “Hiiiiii KATIEEEE” from all of the counter staff. And they give me free cookies. Mmmmm.

8. Ultra Fine Point Sharpies. They are so fun to write with! I need to start using one all the time.

9. Online Bill Pay. Oh my heavens it makes my life so much easier.

10. Kleenex. A scratched up nose and face is never a good thing. Thank goodness for super soft facial tissues and a little company called Kleenex.

I will be posting Soap Opera Sunday and another round of Thankfuls tomorrow so be sure to check back and everyone have a great weekend!

Sniffling Thankfuls

Yup that’s right. I caught the plague. Whatever Matt, my office and the entire Valley of the Sun have got, they passed on to me. I’m in the early stages and I’m doing everything I can to ward off the evil, so we’ll see how it goes. If I’m sick for Thanksgiving I’m going to be PISSED.

That complaint out of the way, I am thankful for stuff today:

1. Advil Cold & Sinus Non-Drowsy. You saved my bacon you beautiful little orangish-red pill, you.

2. Comfort Food. I know I’m supposed to be eating well but while feeling under the weather there is nothing like the food you feel comfort in eating to make you feel a little better. I have a crock pot full of vegetable beef stew simmering at home and I can’t wait to get there, make some biscuits, curl up in a blanket on the couch and indulge.

3. The thought of seeing my Grandma in a week. Shirley is one of my life’s biggest blessings and I can’t WAIT to see her next week, do some shopping, eat her fabulous food and just hang out with my Grandma and bestest buddy for life.

4. My sweet husband. He has been SO sick for almost a week and SO frustrating to me because he won’t just TAKE IT EASY. And while that’s frustrating to someone who knows just how sick he is, honestly, I’m grateful for that part of him. He works so hard to provide for us and give us a great life. He has never done a selfish thing as long as I’ve known him and this morning he apologized for making me sick and asked if I needed anything. He is an amazing man and I can’t believe he settled for me.

5. The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. Even though I can’t afford even the staples that hold that thing together, it makes me happy just looking at the pretty green, butterfly embossed cover and drool over the designer shoes.

Thankfully

Today I worked from home because I had to meet some servicemen taking care of some issues with the house. I am surprised with how much I was able to get done despite working ten feet from my big screen TV. I was also able to supervise the work being done on my house, which was nice.

Have I mentioned I love our new house? Because I do. It’s starting to feel like home and I don’t miss our old house anymore. We still have lots of little things to do and some furniture to buy, but I’m not impatient and that will come in time, we’re in no huge hurry. I do want to have a Christmas party this year, so I’m hoping I can make it look a little more homey in at least the common areas, specifically the family room. It needs paint in a bad way, but I also need a water softener. And by need, I mean HAVE TO HAVE RIGHT NOW oh my gosh the hard water stains are going to drive me to take pills. For real. So I think the paint may take second seat to the softener, because those suckers are expensive!!

So, now that you’re caught up on my boring day, I give you my Thankfuls.

1. Soft carpet. I love walking around barefoot at home and digging my toes into our gorgeous, soft, wheat colored carpet.

2. People with accents. I know, I know, to some people I am the one with the accent . . . but today i heard Paula Deen say “auuul” (oil) like fifteen times and I giggled with glee every time she said it. I also love a British accent. I just watched The Holiday the other night and mmmm Jude Law . . . with his accent. Meow!

3. My recently fixed master bathroom toilet. It’s been sorta broken since we moved in and I am overjoyed at the prospect of NOT running through the house to the half bath to use the lou in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Ahhh modern plumbing.

4. Forks. Yep, forks. I spent some time in China several years ago and let me tell you what, whoever invented the fork had the right idea. Eating without them sucks. Chopsticks are hard and spoons just aren’t right for SO many things.

5. Feed readers. Oh the joy of not having to search out your new posts. I love using my reader to help direct me to your posts. I do love me some bloggers.