Lucy says hello

Don't you love her stripes? She's been pretty concerned about me over the past few weeks while I've been going through all the *knee issues. Sleeping near me most nights and sitting very close when I'm in a lot of pain. Don't you think she looks so good on that blue bedspread? It was a Christmas gift from Garrett's parents, and we love it. (Also, I never thought I'd match cats to bedspreads, but I have started doing just that. Weird.)


*The knee saga continues. If you're interested, keep reading. Last week, the specialist ordered an MRI, which showed no problems with ligaments, but an "intense" fluid sac below and behind my kneecap and a strained tendon. He said a physical therapist could take care of me. The physical therapist, after poking and prodding Tuesday morning, and having me nearly take off his head when he innocently pushed on my thigh, causing searing pain, announced there's more going on with my knee than the doctor says. (No kidding, I think to myself.) He thinks there's cartilage damage that stemmed from the December injury. But most importantly, he said my iliotibial band, which runs from the hip bone down past the knee to the tibia, is ... hurt. Most likely tendinitis that's developed into scar tissue. This explanation makes the most sense as my thigh and upper side of my knee have had the most pain. Also, the band helps stabilize the knee, which explains why my knee feels so dang unstable. Apparently more physical therapy will help this, but he warned it often gets worse before it gets better. Today is one of those "worse" days. I could use some prayers, positive thoughts, good vibes, etc. I'm not having a fun time. But I have a really helpful husband and two relatively concerned and cuddly kitty cats, so that helps.

A day in the life

Because the more I think about this, the more I realize it could not have gotten more strange, so here ya go.

Got a call at work today. Man says he's new to town and was at a local grocery store when he saw a disturbing package of chips. This bag of chips had a child on it. A little pioneer boy. Standing in a field. With a shovel.

Cue the child labor concerns.

The man wants to know if we will do an investigation into why the company and store are able to sell potato chips with such a horrific image. Because where he comes from this is inappropriate and, what kind of a town is this?

After figuring out that he wasn't talking about Lay's or something, and that this was an actual Utah-based company, I told him he might want to contact the actual company. Or the state's Better Business Bureau. He started to get agitated. He asked if he was completely off base, and I told him I didn't really know much about this type of thing. I mentioned that perhaps since it was a historic photo (in which the kid wasn't actually working), and the company presumably isn't using children to make its product now, it was perfectly fine.

He freaked out. Asked what kind of a community this was to promote child labor. Asked if we would actually do anything about this. I said probably not because the potato chip company wasn't in our coverage area, but I suggested he call the newspaper that was in that area. As soon as I said "Ogden," he got belligerent and said I was just giving him the run-around, and why wouldn't I just do a story about this? He asked again if the boy on the chips was illegal. I said I really didn't know, and we were just a small-town newspaper that probably couldn't follow a story outside our coverage area that would take so much time.

I asked for his phone number and name so someone could call him back. He said he wouldn't give me his phone number because he doesn't know what type of town this is, and he doesn't want his house to be blown up. I assure him that wouldn't happen, and we'd just use his number to, you know, call him back. But he says no.

Then he yelled at me, so I said goodbye and hung up.

I found out he'd already talked — and been nasty to — another reporter, the poor girl in the back who answers the phone and the actual potato chip company. (It's a long story, but they called it a "very strange" phone call.)

That's all. Also, I feel bad for whoever he ended up getting at the BBB and Standard-Examiner.

This post brought to you by Percocet

Actually, it's oxycodone-acetaminophen, the generic name for Percocet. Regardless, it's doing things it's not supposed to while not entirely helping in ways it should. 

About a month ago, I was exercising (surprise!) in my basement and I heard/felt my left knee pop. I'm a pretty poppible person, so I didn't think much of it. It hurt, so I quit doing what was making it hurt and went about my evening. It kept hurting for the next few days, so I assumed I did a bit more to it than originally thought. 

By Christmas, I was purposefully keeping my leg straight at all times because, although bending it didn't hurt, straightening it out after it had been bent hurt like crazy. I also realized, while doing some last-minute shopping, that I was subconsciously walking in straight lines and only pivoting on my right leg to keep from turning my left leg in any way.

This would have been the time to call the doctor. I did not. 

Last week, I decided that maybe it hurt because I hadn't exercised at all in the past month — in an effort to keep the pain minimal, of course. Maybe I needed to actually USE the knee. So, I thought: Yoga. Yoga is low-impact, no contact, etc. There would be no running in place, jumping on that leg, nothing to injure whatever the crap was already injured. 

I was wrong. Two nights of very easy yoga later I felt like dying. Sometime around Tuesday evening I quit being able to put weight on that leg, and the cramping that had been isolated to the outside and back of my left knee had extended into my calf and thigh. I called a doctor Wednesday, and was told I couldn't get in for another two weeks. On Thursday night, I cried myself to sleep. Ice, heat, over-the-counter painkillers, nothing was doing much good. 

On Friday, Garrett took me to InstaCare after work. The doctor there confirmed what I thought — I've torn/sprained my LCL (lateral collateral ligament). The yoga aggravated the injury and is what has caused the massive cramping of my entire leg. X-rays showed no problems to my bones, so the doc prescribed me some narcotics and told me to call an orthopedic specialist if I didn't feel better soon. 

I will be calling that orthopedic specialist. The Percocet is relieving some of the pain, which has only gone from completely unbearable to barely bearable. I cannot get comfortable. I'll move my leg to one position and think I'm good only to have every muscle tense up five seconds later. It's like a permanent charley horse. From hell.

Meanwhile, the narcotics are making me feel like I'm crazy. The room is spinning, things aren't making sense, and I'M SO DANG HUNGRY all the time. For weird stuff. You'd think I was pregnant, but I assure you I'm not. So it's got to be the drugs. (Plus, Google tells me it's the drugs.) I made Garrett get me Jimmy Johns last night (all I really wanted was the avocado on the sandwich), was craving deep fried fries all day yesterday, and today, got up from my nap/can't-do-anything-so-I-hang-out-on-the-bed time and made the blondies I'd just seen on Pinterest. (Thanks, Natalie.) Also, I've gotten up at 4 a.m. for the past two nights to hop on one leg to the pantry and eat straight chocolate for a good 10 minutes.

This has to end — if for no other reason than to prevent me from ballooning to 200 pounds by the end of the month. Because at this rate, it could happen. And, please, for the love, so I can just quit hurting so bad.

Confession time

I am wearing shoes I bought in 1998. That means I was 14. And that means I've owned the shoes for as long as I haven't.

But they're comfortable, black and warm. Since they're Doc Martens (wow, huh?), they're still in one piece. I got them at the old Nordstroms in Ogden — the one all of us kids in Logan used to drive down to once a year to make ourselves feel fashionable.

So, I ask: What is the oldest item of clothing in your closet that you still wear? Shoes, like me? A shirt? Are you lucky enough to fit into pants from high school still? I want to know.

2011: You say goodbye and I say hello: 2012

I suppose I'll start blogging again by wrapping up 2011 (in January, but whatever).

I feel like I lost the writing bug this year, but I'm hoping it shows itself again in 2012. For now, here's a marathon of a review. If you make it through, you deserve a medal.

January
After being unemployed for more than seven months, Garrett got a job. It was a huge relief. It's been good for him. Since it's a student job, he has flexible hours, but he's allowed to work up to 40 hours a week. It doesn't come with benefits, but still pays more than my job, which I've been at for six years and requires a degree. Sad. I considered becoming a vegetarian, but ultimately never gave up any meat. I still think about it — more than most would assume — and feel good about myself after a non-meat meal.

February
I wrote a column for work about Cache Valley being a small world and realized my skin has sufficiently thickened up over the years after feeling not one bit of "ouch" when reading some of the comments. Also for work, I got to ride a camel. It was awesome. Freezing, but awesome.

It snowed and snowed and snowed. The one good thing about this is sending your kitties out into the deep snow and watching them pad around. Jet looks wonderful with a white background.

March
Things got political with Utah's House Bill 477, which took up much of the space in my brain during that month. The Associated Press announced "e-mail" could become "email," making journalists everywhere — including me — squeal with glee. I saw some old friends and spoke on a panel at the Mountain West Regional Public Relations Conference at USU. Garrett and I decided to make the trek to Las Vegas to see the Aggies plan in the WAC Tournament. We watched basketball and walked around Vegas for two and a half days. And, of course, I found the only flowers in the area. 

April
My trusty little Corolla, which I'd been driving around for the past year as a dual-colored car after losing its hood in 2010, became one color. My nephew, Anderson, turned 1 and learned to walk. Now, he's running, hopping, jumping from things and even fake limping to make people laugh.

This was also the month of the alpine fir tree. After considerable research, Garrett and I settled on buying two alpine firs (I think one is a subalpine because it looks different, but whatever) for our front yard. I love the little guys, despite their distaste for our low(er) elevation and dry summers. They made it through the summer with the help of massive drinks of water every day, and I think if they make it to the year mark, we'll be safe.

May
I showed off a bit of my feminist side blogging about how little Mormon girls need to be taught in church about things other than homemaking and becoming a mother. Natalie at the Bobby Pin was kind enough to post something I wrote for her "Define Beautiful" project. I loved getting to see old high school friends when Chelane graduated from pharmacy school at the University of Utah and had a little party. She and I drove up to Boise a week or two later to search for apartments for her to live in during her residency at the hospital up there. It was then that my newly pretty car became not so pretty. After 10-plus years of no tickets, no crashes, no driving problems whatsoever, that came crashing down. So sad. So expensive.

June
This was a busy month. I taught a class about reporting and interviewing to a group of high school yearbook students at USU. I planted stuff this month. And got some more trees. I love June because everything is growing, green and pretty. It might have become my favorite month.

My family got together and had a group shot taken for the first time in a long time.

And then a few of us went to Moab and rafted the Colorado River for a couple of days. We stopped at Goblin Valley for a few hours to see the crazy landscape.

Part of the month was also rough for me for a reason I won't go into here. But I will say I learned that Garrett will do hard things for me when I can't do them. Things that are hard for him, too, but things that he knows I just can't bear to do on my own. Also, people who abuse or neglect their animals will rot in hell. Yes, that's related to everything I just said.

July
I volunteered to judge newspaper articles for another state's contest, not realizing that it would nearly kill me.  I spent more than 15 hours going over stories and packages trying to award some lucky journalists in Nevada some random awards. I hope they're appreciative. Garrett built some shelves in our garage, which was lovely. My cousins, aunt and uncle from Illinois came to visit and stayed at our house for a couple of days. We left for Virginia the last week of the month to see Garrett's family. We met Wynne, went to the zoo to see lions, saw an international soccer game, stayed at a "river house" for a couple of days and visited some historic sites. It was a great trip.

August
We hung out with Joey and Emily at Bear Lake; the water was warm, the lake was gorgeous and the company good. We hit our two-year anniversary or living in our house, so I wrote a list of things to know when you build a house (i.e. things we might do differently next time). We (mostly Garrett, but I did help) built some massive retaining walls on the south side of our house. In an effort to take advantage of the good weather, I spent a good portion of the month eating lunch by myself in random parks around the city. I can tell you all about the creepy, old foreign guy who hangs out at Adams Park and which trees to NOT sit under at the Tabernacle.

September
We spent much of this month and the next in the yard. An early snow prevented us getting our entire front yard done, but it's trenched, piped and flat, ready for sprinklers to be screwed on and grass seed to be spread in the spring. This poor little beech tree has been moved more times than it knows how to handle, but hopefully it's in a spot to stay now.

I wrote about how I feel so disconnected from other women my age and how maybe that's OK. Garrett and I went to Illinois to see my aunt, uncle and cousins. It was an incredibly refreshing long weekend, and I'm so glad we got to see people. We stayed at their house for a few days and in Chicago for a night. It's an awesome city — seriously. While in the Midwest, my aunt and uncle took us all to a traditional apple orchard, where we launched apples, ate caramel apples and sat in a really big chair.

October
I successfully picked 19 out of 20 games correctly as the guest picker in our newsroom one week, only missing out on a perfect week because I succumbed to my pride by not picking BYU as a winner. I wrote about how I stare at a picture of Jesus sometimes at church to keep me from getting up and walking out. And our camera broke, which means there are no photos from October, November and most of December except the crappy ones on my phone. Otherwise, I'd show you and adorable kitten my sister and brother-in-law adopted. Sorry.

November
I spent two days in Salt Lake City at the AP NewsTrain conference, which while exhausting — it started too early and provided no caffeinated beverages — was awesome. Great presenters, great ideas. I quit blogging for multiple reasons, but mostly because I just needed a break. My old journalism professor asked me to teach a class on copy editing and design at USU this next semester. (Wish me luck. Seriously. I'm getting nervous. ... But excited.) We had Thanksgiving at my parent's house with some extended family and a delightful German guest of my uncle. My brother-in-law Shawn had the month from hell after a knee surgery gone bad. He had to have a second emergency surgery in the middle of the night, was in the hospital for days and couldn't put weight on it for six weeks. It's been rough on their little family.

December
Work was insane this month. Holidays + reporters on vacation + a general lack of news + the same usual space that needs to be filled = a stressed-out editor Emilie. Regardless, we managed to have some fun outside of work. Garrett and I went to Boise to see the Aggies play in their first bowl game since 1997 and see Chelane. They lost, just barely, but it was a good game, and it was really good to see Chelane. Also this month, Manette hosted a Christmas party, which was all sorts of fun. (Really, it was a ton of fun.)

We spent Christmas with my family in Bountiful. And the dog, Midas, who pretty much was doing what we all felt like doing after unwrapping Christmas presents.

Thanks for making it to the end! You're all wonderful!

So it's been awhile

And, to be honest, it might be awhile longer.

I'm in a bit of a funk, and there are so many things I want to say but for some reason there's been a block — be it a particular person I don't want to be reading my thoughts, an opinion I haven't reconciled with another belief, or just plain writer's block. And while I'm out of words, I'm also out of photos because of that little camera breakage issue earlier this fall.

Also, I don't think I'm loving the blog layout (and I think it prevented a few comments from making their way through in October) but I'm too lazy to figure out what to do about it.

So, despite the craziness in my own mind, this blog is going to sit still and be very quiet for a bit longer.