An Update for May

Hello.
Things have been good here. :) At least for a few days that is. I cannot tell a lie, it's been a rough few weeks. The story thus far....
On April 20th I had surgery to fix the cartilage in my knee. An athroscopic debridement is what it was officially called. It went well, but put me on my back for a few days (partly my fault...the pain meds I was taking "just in case" put me into a foggy coma for about 2 hours every time I took one). Having the scope done was easy, however the anethisia made me sick, and then I got an allergic reaction to the glue the used for the tape strips to close the incisions. So no pain, but I was itching like mad for the better part of a week or two! The only bright side was Jason stayed the weekend and took care of me, and I was able to behave myself well enough to get back to work on Monday. The surgery found that the medial plica in my knee was sort of jacked, and I had a flap of cartiladge behind my kneecap that shouldn't have been there. They removed all of the above and I'm now going up and down stairs again without any obnoxious clicking. The doctor said I should have a very good summer. I figure he knows what he's talking about because he's one of the team orthopods for the US Skiers and Speedskaters....those kids can mess up their knees way worse than I can.
A week to the day after my surgery, my wallet was stolen out of the office at work. This threw me into a state of crisis for the better part of a week, as I needed proof of who I was overnighted from WI in order to even get to my bank accounts. Thankfully, I knew which cards I had and managed to close everything pretty quickly. Now I'm dealing with one stray credit card charge (for a tank of gas not put in MY car) and so far only one fraudulent check (written to DI...the Utah equivalent of Goodwill). It looks like an act of desperation at this point, but it made for a really long week, and probably some additional headache to come. A note to everyone...take your wallet/purse out right now and make a list of EVERYTHING in it, including the 1-800 #'s for all of your cards. In hindsight a backup credit card and photo ID kept seperate from my wallet would have been a big help....Just FYI.
No major crisis last week other than the notice from my bank that someone wrote one of my checks. It seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back, but I have had better luck since then.
This week I'm working another 60 hour week putting in some long research assistant hours. I like the hours, but some days are frustrating. The morning we had a no-show at 7am, and our 8:30 appointment is now 20 minutes late and just arrived. We've had our share of no-shows, but usally not two people back to back. Good research subjects are so hard to find!
On the Acceleration training side of things, I still really like what I'm doing. It's becomming more and more hectic as we get closer to summer, and there are hours where it's tough to even get the chance to run to the restroom or grab a snack...but I sort of like the craziness. It's also been interesting lately because we've hired a few new part-time "fill-in" people that we are training, and we're getting a batch of 2 or 3 new interns for the summer. The new faces are nice, but it has also solidified Chris and I as the "afternoon team" (since occasionally we find all the new people to be a big pain). We're having great fun at work. Thank goodness once again he has a great sense of humor!
Jason and I are doing well. It was just 4 months, but between me moving, having surgery, and having my wallet stolen, he's been through more than most any boyfriend should go through in say the first year. I think he'll manage to stay around for awhile :) We're planning on getting out and doing some hiking as soon as my knee heals up. It's a slow progression since I'm trying to keep the swelling down, and I'm pretty hard on it at work. Last weekend we just went for a walk around the park, next we're going to find a hill, and then we'll eventually head to the mountains.
It's a beautiful time of year here. It's been dry and around 70 degrees for at least a week or two. The mountains are snowcapped, and becomming green at lower elevations, and in town we have lots of flowers and fresh-cut grass. I have started a small container garden on my balcony...nothing more than peas and a tomato plant, but I thought I would give it a shot.

So that's the news. I hope everyone is well. I'm hoping you e-mail me, because I'd love to know how life is in your neighborhood! Take Care and Be in Touch!

Steph~