Fragmented Friday

- It's been one week since I last had Del Taco or fast food of any kind. I think this is the longest I've refrained in a decade or so. And I'm sure some people won't believe it but I'm not having withdrawals or anything. No twitching, shaking, drooling. Nothing. Since they switched to 0 transfat oil a couple of weeks ago, it just didn't taste all that good anymore so I think the only reason I kept eating it was out of habit. Take Thing 2 to school, go for my walk in the park and the swing through the drive-thru on my way home. So one week crack-free. Yay me!

- The swelling in Thing 1's knee has gone down a lot. He's still walking funny but he tossed the crutches and requested a cane. I think he had visions of Dr. House with his cool cane with flames but I got him a basic aluminum cane at the drugstore, sans flames. He's having a little too much fun, though, using the hook part to grab people and hooking the back of their pants. We'll see how that goes at school today.

- I know the rest of the country is suffering under blankets of snow and ice while Southern California is enjoying beautiful sunny, warm temperatures. Even the Canadian geese at the park are thinking about making this a permanent home instead of just a seasonal retreat. I've seen them meeting with realtors and being shown various locations at the park that might suit their needs.

- My new Sketchers Shape-up shoes seem to be worth the money. I can feel it in my calves, thighs and butt. By the end of my morning walk, I feel like I've been doing lunges and leg extensions.

- Thing 2 started the winter hockey season and played against the coach who thought she wasn't good enough to play forward. Guess who proved that coach wrong when she scored on his goalie? Thing 2, that's who. Vindication was sweet!

- Our light ghost is at it again. Not last night but the night before (when 24 robbers came knocking at the door) I was in bed reading with just the bedside lamp on. All of a sudden the overhead light started going crazy. on, off, on off, dim, bright, slowly on, slowly off. It would be quiet, so to speak, for a few minutes and then start up again. This went on for about 10 minutes. It was like a little kid was playing with the switch. At one point, the light turned off and I said, "Are you through?" The light came back on one last time and then didn't come back on again. The next morning I mentioned it to Thing 1. He looked startled and told me that his overhead light kept coming on in the middle of the night.

And then yesterday, I was in my bathroom and I heard what sounded like a man's voice, kind of sighing, right in my ear. And Lucy has been acting really weird. She keeps whimpering, whining and barking at nothing. And it's not even time to go to the park.

Just another day in Paradise.

It's Wednesday but it's not Wordless!

Ok, maybe not "wordless." Our off-road race is coming up this weekend and there's so many things still to do besides my work shown above. I have to get to the printers so I can print up 500 copies of riders instructions, tape fender cards, type up a list of all the #1 plate holders because they get free entries, type up a list of Overall plate entries because they get special colored tape on their fender cards, get a list of all the desert stewards to have on hand at sign ups, make a finisher board, get pens and highlighters and markers for the checks, get all my competition license supplies organized so TheManTheMyth can take them with him when he heads out tomorrow since I won't be heading out until either Friday afternoon or early early Saturday morning.

On top of all that, Thing 1 is a "poor widdle crippled boy" (his words) with a gimpy knee. There's no damage to his knee (Thank GOD!) but the swelling and stiffness make it very difficult for him to get around, even with crutches, which he HATES having to use and he can't really put any weight on his leg just yet which makes it awfully hard to walk even with crutches, which he HATES. And it makes it difficult for US to be around HIM. We've been calling him Patty, as in Krabby Patty. The doc said the swelling should be gone by the end of the week so we just have to get through the middle of the week without bloodshed. No guarantees, though.

I'll be glad when Monday gets here and I can start on the post-race stuff, like results and avoiding phone calls from people complaining how the race was hard and all that fun stuff. Every year I say that I'm done and Never Again and every year I'm stuck doing it again. I want to be one of the many people who sit on their butts doing nothing but expecting pats on the back for "supporting the club." But seriously, this IS my last year. Really. I mean it. I'm done. No more. This is IT.