On the Road Again

I think I might secretly have hoped that by writing about the recent chaos in my life and sending it out into cyberspace that said chaos would have packed its bags and moved on to taunt someone else.

Yeah. Not so much. (And I even wrote it on Easter).

So it’s been another couple of weeks of work completely consuming my life. Uh, didn’t I trade in working around the clock for something resembling a LIFE when I left Intel?

Anywho, I spent the week in Tampa at a GIS tradeshow (yes, it is a glamorous life, but someone has to do it). The show was a dismal reflection on how the economy is affecting things and it was the slowest show I've ever attended.

But the week wasn't a complete loss as I had the BEST sushi I've ever eaten while I was there. And that is saying something. My co-worker and I went a little overboard on the ordering and there were literally more plates of food than could fit on our table. Our BOOTH table. But it was so worth the misery of being sushi-stuffed. If you're ever in Tampa head over to Ybor City and eat at Samurai Blue. Delish! (But maybe 6 specialty rolls for two people is a wee bit too much, so scale accordingly.)

I was pleasantly surprised that the pins in my toes didn't even phase the airport metal detector. But they did get me that nifty blue pre-boarding pass. That's a golden ticket on SWA!

On my way home today I realized that I'm a little bit addicted to airport people watching right now. I'll have to do a whole post on this when I get a few minutes. I'm mostly intrigued by the attire people choose. Not so much about the fashion/style, but rather the crazy range of options. I would love to know what some of these folks were telling themselves when they made their wardrobe selections this morning.

After I landed in Austin this afternoon I drove over to Huntsville (it was a rather convoluted travel day). I'll get to see my oldest friend in the world (in duration, not age) tomorrow and then am spending the weekend with the family for my favorite nephew's 4th birthday.

I've got two words for you: Birthday. Cake.

I'm pretty sure that's what's finally going to make all this craziness fade a way for a bit. Well, OK, it probably won't really be the cake. But the two incredibly cute kiddos who will inevitably end up with frosting in their hair are certain to do the trick.

Blogalicious

A few quick links to other good stuff I've seen around the blogosphere in the past few days:

This is a beautiful post about motherhood and kiddos growing up. Oh...and that spectacular not-so-little girl in question? My amazing goddaughter.

I'm a big fan of being able to laugh at yourself (seriously--it's a requirement for my survival for so many obvious reasons). This blog pokes fun of us Christian folks. And so much of it is painfully true.

And finally, you've got to watch this. It's not a blog link, but it's a video that's sure to make your heart smile and brighten your day. So go watch it. Now. It's worth the seven minutes.

Happy Tuesday!

Girl Interrupted

Whew. What a week. You know those times when it just seems like everything is harder than it ought to be? Yeah, that’s pretty much where I’m at. Work is beyond out of control, I’ve been swamped with technology “issues” while said workload makes it the worst possible time to be sidelined without my PC, and, of course, there’s the whole broken toes/recovering from surgery fiasco.

For the most part I’ve been able to hold on to my sense of humor in the midst of it, but I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t had my moments where it just seems like TOO MUCH to deal with. Really.

I’m struggling to keep my head above water. And I’m treading water with one foot.

But no sob story here—I know that each of you have been where I am now at one point or another, and in this fun little thing called life we’ll all be here again.

On the one hand, all of the daily chaos has made it difficult to spend time reflecting on Easter and all that it means (I know I usually keep things on here pretty light, but let there be no question that my faith is the most important thing in my life). On the other hand, though, I’ve felt especially tied to the season and able to relate to the suffering of Christ. Don’t get me wrong—I know my little turmoil is less than one of the strikes he endured as he was tortured for my sin. But it still makes it easier for me to relate than the happy-go-lucky times I am blessed to usually enjoy.

I’m a huge fan of A Slice of Infinity and a few days ago there was a devotional that still has me thinking. It focused on Simon of Cyrene—the guy that was just minding his own business on a little trip when he was plucked from the crowd and forced to carry Jesus’ cross on the way to the crucifixion.

He was minding his own business when his plans got tossed aside and his vacation was (very rudely) interrupted. By the cross. And his life was never the same.

I’m so grateful that the cross completely interrupted my life, too. I know that I tend to dwell on the interruptions caused by the crazy chaos that can easily consume my daily activities…work, technology snafus, and freak accidents that seemingly turn my life upside down.

But the groovy thing is, that when I feel like I’ve completely lost my balance and am swept away by one of life’s floods, it’s the cross that anchors me. It’s the cross that helps me know which way is up. It’s the cross that rescues me over and over again.

There was a time when I was doing things my own way, pretty much just minding my own business living life with the status quo. And the cross came along and completely changed everything. It ruined me for an ordinary life as I came to know and experience the most amazing love of a Father who sacrificed everything for me. ME. And you. YOU.

Who says interruptions have to be bad?

The power of the cross is personal. Jesus didn’t just die for some collective whole. He knows us each intimately and he allowed His own life to be interrupted so each one of us could have something so much better than we deserve.

As I celebrate Easter this year I am unspeakably grateful for the hope that there is so more much to life than the daily grind. I am unspeakably grateful for the grace that secures that hope and promises that one day my life will REALLY be interrupted and replaced with joy that’s beyond what I could ever imagine.

That whole eternal life in Heaven thing?

It’s going to be pretty great.

Hope to see you there!

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

Foreshadowing and a Smidge of Redemption

I've got to admit that I'm pretty amused by the sharp spike in hits to the blog as folks flock here to see pictures of my very pathetic looking toes. I'm so happy that I can be the train wreck of the week. No, really...please allow my misfortune to entertain you. I'm a giver like that.

As people emailed me comments about the blog (and certainly about the toes!) I started looking back at some of my more recent posts. I was, to say the least, a bit disturbed by the amount of foreshadowing I came across. In this post I actually said, "it's definitely time to prove that I can enjoy an adventure that doesn't end with some sort of triage." Wow. Guess I let those words fly out of my mouth one SoCal trip too soon. There was another reference somewhere in there, too, about ER visits and how accident prone I am.

Perhaps there's a lesson here.

But despite all of the clear signs that Moose + Bike = BAD NEWS, I do have one tiny point of redemption. OK, redemption might be a stretch, but these days I've got to take what I can get.

I realized that I never did post pictures from my rock climbing afternoon in LA (3 weeks before bike riding in LA). So here you go...there IS, in fact proof that I can enjoy an adventure and not end up in the ER. At least once in while.

Yep......that's me...

...dangling from a rope on a big rock. Kind of high up there.

(At least for me).

And back safely on the ground where I'm sure I ought to stay.

(But am sure I won't)

Thanks, MDP, for taking me and getting me up and down without incident. I think I quietly mentioned at one point that you might ought to know that I'm a little bit accident prone...now you know what that means. And I can't wait to climb again!

"Toe"-tally Disgusting

Well, I don't get it, but apparently photos of my broken toes are in high demand. My original thought was that I would post a link to Flickr or something so you wouldn't see them unless you really wanted to, but I'd have to set up accounts and these days I just don't have that kind of time.

So if you don't want to see it...now is the time to leave the page. I'll try to add some space so you have to scroll down and aren't immediately assaulted by the lovely images. If that didn't work and you saw it anyway I apologize. But only sort of, because let's face it...I have to not only look at, but also feel it....and wrap my brain around the fact that there is metal protruding from my body. So. Completely. Disgusting. And bizarre.

I saw the doc yesterday and all is on the right track--the pins will be in for 4 more weeks (UGH!) and then I should be back to normal within a few weeks after that. The pain is very manageable and I'm SO grateful that they gave me this post op sciatic nerve block pump thingy that left my entire right leg numb for 3 days. I could still feel the toes some, but not nearly as much as if I'd hadn't essentially had an epidural in my leg. The pump thingy, by the way, also very bizarre. And my roommate deserves a medal of some sort for not only helping me get around when I had no feeling in my leg, but also for helping me pull the catheter out of my hip when the pump ran dry. That's a quite a story in and of itself, but I have the feeling that I've already crossed way over the TMI line and will have enough respect for us all to just leave it at that.

I genuinely feel like I lost a week of my life to the twighlight zone...who knew that two little toes could cause so much trouble?! HUGE thanks to Amy, Clare, Stephanie, Laura, Tracey, Liz and others who helped me out so much last week...I can't tell you how much I appreciate and love you guys!

OK...so without further ado...

Here's what it looked like the night before surgery:

Here's what I was able to see until yesterday morning:

And here's what I have to look at for the next month:

My co-workers have nicknamed me "The Claw." Nice. Apparently I am as prone to odd nicknames as I am to all the injuries.

Paging Prince Charming

Dear Prince Charming,

I still believe that you're out there somewhere and am excited for the day we actually get to meet and fall in love. I know those are going to be some good times. However, I'd like to request a bit of expediency in the process.

As I lie here on the couch with my foot propped in post-surgery recovery, pain pump releasing the numbing meds in five minute intervals, I am acutely aware of your absence. I have lovely friends who have been so helpful over the past few days--they are awesome and I love them very much.

I'm just saying, though, that it would be really great if you could go ahead and ride up, hitch your beautiful white horse to the front porch and ring the bell. Even in my current state I'll find away to let you in. And I promise that I generally look better than I do at the moment.

Don't misunderstand that I only want you around to be a nurse of sorts...not at all. I'm just thinking that these moments are part of the whole kit and kaboodle. I promise to do the same for you as needed. (Though I must say that I really hope you're not as accident prone as I am. I'm sure we have a lot in common, but maybe just not that nifty little trait).

OK. That's all. Hope to see you soon,
Mel