Playing the Waiting Game

Growing up, Jud and I always went to amusement parks. Six Flags Great America in Illinois was our favorite - mostly because it was so close to home and perhaps a little bit too convenient. We went on all of the rides together, but roller coasters were definitely our favorite. Jud and I loved all of the roller coasters, but that doesn't mean that they didn't freak us out. The worst part of a roller coaster isn't the loops or the high speeds: it is the "click-click-clank-clank" of the roller coaster’s initial ascent. With every "click," I used to always ask myself, "Why I am doing this?! This is crazy!" By the time we had reached the pinnacle and could see for miles, I was positively ready to pee my pants. After the ride was over, I would turn to Jud and scream, "That was awesome!!" I was ready to do it all over again.

I am currently two days out of ACL reconstruction surgery. I feel as if I am definitely back on a roller coaster with Jud, just 11 years old, waiting for my pending doom. Every well-intended, "So, when is surgery? Are you nervous? I hope it goes well!" seems to be another "click" on the track. Previously I told people, "Oh, my surgery is September 17th. It'll be a while until they find a matching cadaver graft. Right now I'm in physical therapy." I wasn't even in the roller coaster cart yet: I was still waiting in line, chatting with Jud. Now I have to face reality and say, "They found a cadaver match this morning, and I have to be at the hospital on Wednesday morning at 7:00 am."

My friend Jenny is a fabulous researcher. She researches a subject until it impossible to know anything else about any given subject of interest to her. When I told her about my surgery, she went into hyper-research mode. We found an incredible website from a doctor's office in Kansas that outlines my surgery, complete with pictures. It's definitely worth checking out: http://www.ksknee.com/Ligament%20Reconstruction.htm

The pictures freaked me out - along with the warning that even the best ACL replacements / reconstructions only last twenty years. I'm a little bit nervous to think that when I'm in my forties, I'll have to do this all over again. And there is always the amusing bit of setting off metal detectors for the rest of my life. I'm beginning to ask myself those roller coaster questions all over again, "Why am I doing this? This is crazy!"

The best answer that comes to me is the one that I've discussed with Craig, my Momma, my family, my dear friends, and my doctor: I can't imagine an inactive life. I don't want to be sidelined from running on unstable terrain. I don't want to sit out of fun, important races that Craig and I love to run. I don't want to be limited in my physical activities. I want to have limitless potential in my physical activities. As a result, I will be in the OR on Wednesday morning. I'm going to be able to see for miles, and I'll wind through the loops and survive the high-speeds.

When the surgery is successfully completed (hopefully!), I highly doubt I'll be ready to do it all over again. I won't turn to Jud and say, "That was awesome!" When I think about the setbacks of having an ACL reconstruction, I can definitely become discouraged. I don't like to think that I'll always have a weaker right knee. When the thoughts of having a weak right knee and all of the implications associated with a bad knee become too much to handle, I think of my friend Dave. Dave worked in New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. He writes that one of his favorite quotes (found on a bathroom stall in New Orleans) says, "A setback is nothing more than a setup for a comeback." I hope so!

Weekending in Cascade

My Mom and I spent this past weekend in Cascade, Idaho, for the annual Women's Retreat. It was SUCH an amazing time! I loved visiting with SO many great ladies of all ages! We had a great speaker - Deb Krum - and made lots of fun memories - like wandering the halls of the Ashley Inn at 1:00 am. What a great weekend away!

One of my favorite bits of the weekend was driving north on Hwy. 55. Craig and I normally make that drive to go rafting north of Smith's Ferry, but this time I traveled further north to Cascade. My Mom left for Cascade at noon on Friday with two of our dear friends - Beryl and Kathryn. Things didn't come together that I could leave with them, so I had to drive by myself. Although I initially dreaded the idea of making the drive north alone, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the time by myself. My life is normally SO busy and filled with so many noises, people, obligations, and appointments - it was nice to have a serene, quiet, beautiful drive all to myself. I loved driving through all of the beautiful mountain passes that are changing from green to red, gold, and orange. Fall is DEFINITELY my favorite time of year! What a beautiful drive!!

I spent lots of time listening to Sarah McLaughlin's "Ordinary Miracles" on my iPod on the way north. Yes, I had it on repeat. The song complimented the drive (and the weekend) perfectly.

Reasons I hate Christy...

Okay, not really. I actually love Christy. Christy is one of my dear friends from Boise High, and I'm so blessed to have her in my life (and back in Boise)! But, last night as I was driving home from the Co-op, I definitely was ready to shoot her. Why you ask? All over a bag of Pirate's Booty:

Christy posted on her blog to "run, not walk" and pick up a bag of these yummy, organic treats. Last night, on my way home from work, Craig called and asked me to stop at the Co-op and pick up a couple of items. Craig and I do 95% of our grocery shopping at the Co-Op in Boise. Organic, natural, free-range, vegetarian, non-processed, pesticide- and antibiotic-free is just better. He also mentioned, "If you see any great deals on chips or organic cheese puffs, pick them up too."

I ordinarily love strolling the aisles of the Co-Op, but it was getting late, and I wanted to go home. The last aisle I checked out was the organic snack food aisle. I couldn't make a decision regarding snack food (yes, snack food), until I saw the blue-and-white shiny bag of Pirate Booty out of the corner of my eye. I immediately recognized it from Christy's blog. I also noticed a yellow "sale" sticker beneath the bag. I decided I would give it a try.

By the time I was on my way to our house, it was nearly 7 pm. I hadn't eaten since 12:45 pm. I was hungry. I decided that I needed to try Christy's recommendation for myself - so I told myself I would only take a couple bites of the Pirate's Booty to hold me off until I got home to make dinner.

BAD IDEA.

After the first bite of YUMMY Pirate's Booty, I was hooked. What I thought would be a mere confirmation of a recommendation from a friend quickly evolved into an exercise in willpower and self-discipline. Lori, don't do it. Craig actually wants to take some of these to work and school with him. You can't give him a half-eaten bag, or worse, an empty bag! To stop my hand from re-entering the bag again and again, I called Craig. I told him that I'd found a bag of cheese puffs for him: "Christy recommended them. They're called Pirate's Booty." Craig couldn't contain his excitement and practically yelled into the phone, "I LOVE those! Where did you find them?!" Apparently they are almost always sold-out at the Co-Op. I must have been one of the very lucky ones to nab a bag!

I eventually made it home, but I had to put the Pirate's Booty on the seat behind the driver's seat in my car, just to make sure that my willpower had some tangible follow-through and help. As I pulled into the driveway, Craig was waiting for me in our front yard. He ran over, gave me a kiss, and said, "Where is it?" He proceeded to grab the Pirate's Booty, and put it in his car for the next day -- but not before he grabbed a handful. Or two.

I Love My Momma...

I'm one of the blessed ones. I seriously have the best Momma. EVER. When God picked her for me, He knew what he was doing (if she saw the picture I posted above - on the ski lift at Tamarack in fall, sans makeup - she would shoot me =).

Over Labor Day weekend, Craig and I decided we needed to do some camping. Well, city-style camping. Okay, we wanted to hit up SNIAGRAB in the morning, the annual Labor Day event held at the Sports Authority. We knew we would have to camp out in the Sports Authority parking lot overnight. Ahhhh, urban camping. Gotta love it.

At 8 am on Saturday morning, the Sports Authority SNIAGRAB people hand out $100 gift cards to the first twenty-five people in line. The second twenty-five people in line get a $50 gift card, and the last fifty people in line get $25 gift card. In addition to the gift cards, two of them are secretly $500. WOW! Once you get your gift card, you are able to get into SNIAGRAB and buy all sorts of winter must-haves in Idaho: skis, snowboards, boots, bindings, goggles, hats, winter coats, gloves, poles, snow pants, ski pants, ect. Craig and I decided it was our year to get new winter coats. All marked half-off, and with our guaranteed combined $200 gift cards, we knew it was going to be AWESOME.

Only one small, tiny problem: SNIAGRAB is VERY popular in Boise. People show up early Friday morning, almost 24 hours before the doors open, just to get a spot in line. People bring tents, air mattresses, tarps, camping chairs, and all sorts of warm clothes - completely prepared to spend the night camping out -- literally -- in line. Craig had class on Friday. I had to work on Friday. There was no way we could be in line any earlier than 4 pm on Friday afternoon. By 4 pm we would definitely be at the back of the line.

My Mom is always up for a bargain. She is absolutely into freebies. Heck, she was at the mall at 1 am the day after Thanksgiving this past year for the free stuff and amazing deals. I knew if there was one person in the world who wouldn't mind sitting outside, all day, in the heat and sun, holding her children's place in line for a great deal, it was my Momma.

I called her on my way to work. I told her (quickly) about SNIAGRAB. I assured her that I would bring her lunch (my office isn't far from the SNIAGRAB location) and take her place at 4 pm. Within minutes she packed up a sleeping bag, a book, and a water bottle, and she headed down to sit in line. She called me at my office thirty minutes later to tell me that she was FIRST in line! At 8 am! I was SO proud of her.

When I visited her at lunch, the line was already fifteen people deep. My Mom did not have a chair (she only brought a sleeping bag for padding), so the General Manager at the Sports Authority took pity on her and brought her a folding chair (such a nice man). She did not have sunglasses. She did not have a hat. She was not wearing sunscreen. I thought my Mom looked just like a skinny tomato in a tank top. There she was, sitting in front of a HUGE white tent on a sleeping bag, reading her book. She looked completely zen and happy, despite being completely sun burnt and possibly dehydrated. I ran quickly and picked up some helpful items: food for lunch, sunscreen, two camping chairs, sunglasses, and the biggest water bottle I could find.

Our boss ended up closing our office early, so I was able to join her at 2 pm. I called her on my way out of my office, and she started rambling off a list of things for me to bring: the tarps in her garage, the three air mattresses, snack food in the pantry, sheets, sweats....and in the middle of her list it became clear to me: she was planning on staying the night with us. I stopped and asked her, "Mom, are you going to stay?"

She happily said, "Well, I've been here for six hours already. When you get here, I'll go home and spend some time with Aunt Ethel Mae. Then I'll be back around midnight to sleep with you guys. I think I would like a $100 gift card too." I decided that my Mom was absolutely a baller. She was also the oldest person in line -- by AT LEAST forty years.

She was true to her word. When I brought all of the items on my Mom's list, we set up a beautiful squatters camp (until Craig arrived to fine-tune our living quarters). We chatted for an hour, and then my Mom went home for a little while. Craig arrived, and I told him what my Mom had done all day for us. I also mentioned she would be sleeping out all night with us. Even better? She didn't have much use for the gift card, so she was giving it to us to go towards our winter coats. Because of my Mom, we were guaranteed $300 towards our new, winter coats. Craig summed it up best when he said, "Wow. She's definitely the best Mom ever." I couldn't agree more.

My Mom returned and spent the night with us in our makeshift tent. In the morning, we each ended up with a $100 gift card. Chelsea also came in the morning and got a $25 gift card. Because of my Mom's patience, age, grace, and positive attitude, the Sports Authority gave her a bonus $50 gift card. Craig ended up with a beautiful, bright yellow Columbia coat. I became the proud owner of a red North Face coat. Craig also got amazingly sleek North Face gloves. Chelsea found a gorgeous Columbia jacket as well. As we loaded everything into our car, my Mom's last words were, "Wow, I can't wait until next year!"

What's in a Name?

In so many ways Monday nights are my own, especially since Craig is in class until 9 pm. Sometimes I'll phone date with a friend. Sometimes I'll do much-needed housework (especially if the weekend was busy). Sometimes I'll try a new recipe that is time-consuming. Sometimes I'll go swimming at the McKinney's. Sometimes I'll work late at my office. Sometimes I'll take an extra-long walk. I love the autonomy of my own, personal time!

Yesterday was a cook-and-housework Monday night. The weekend, aside from Art in the Park, physical therapy, and visiting my dear friend Courtney, wasn't very busy. I just wanted to sleep much more than usual - which meant that Monday-night-laundry-and-cooking called my name.

When Craig got home, he offered to help me put the sheets, pillow cases, and mattress covers back on the beds in our house. As we changed the linens, we chatted about how bummed we were that Sara had to leave so soon, thus vacating our guest room. On the flip side, we also talked about how excited we were to have Katie and Maureen in less than two weeks. Halfway through my, "I'm so glad you love my friends," comment, Craig stopped me mid-statement and said, "No, wait, these pillow cases are wrong."

I looked at him in confusion. "No," I said, "these are the guest bedroom pillow cases."

As Craig started to take the pillow case off of the pillow, he was confident: "Sweetheart, I'm sure. The DKNY ones are for our bed. The Vera Wang pillow cases go in the guest room."

I was thoroughly impressed and slightly shocked. I thought I would press him further: "Really? What does DKNY stand for?"

Without missing a beat, he held my gaze and said, "Donna Karan New York."

I was ready to challenge him, so I narrowed my eyes and said, "What about our guest set?"

Craig said, "Vera Wang makes wedding dresses too. And we have her China pattern."

I smiled at my dear, sweet husband, standing in our guest bedroom, with the biggest grin on his face that I'd possibly ever seen from him. In fact, he was grinning so much that it quickly turned into laughter. He was so proud of himself. I couldn't help myself, and I started laughing too - wow, my husband definitely was up on his designers.

After we both finished laughing, Craig said, "Our bed has the DKNY set. The guest bedroom has the Vera Wang set. I'm sure. Help me change the pillow cases."

Conner Stuart is 3!

On Tuesday, August 26th, our dear, sweet nephew Conner turned 3 years old! I honestly can't believe it's been three years. On the other hand, Conner has most definitely turned into a little man. I love his complete sentences, "May I have a drink of water from that glass please Daddy?" It's very cute. Chelsea picked out a jungle theme for Conner's party:

In addition to the "jungle" theme, Jud and Chelsea rented a bouncy-house for Conner and all of his little friends. It was a HUGE hit! The only drawback seemed to be how hot the bouncy house was in the 3:00 pm sun. This is Conner, the birthday boy, ready to jump down his bouncy-house slide:

Little children (those under five years) were not the only people who enjoyed the bouncy-house:

Craig had an amazing time in the bouncy-house with all of the children, but especially Landon:

Craig played basketball with Landon inside the jumping portion of the bouncy-house. He also showed Landon (with some assistance) how to slam-dunk the basketball. It was absolutely adorable. I'm not kidding when I say that Craig is an amazing uncle, especially to little Landon:

Conner received all of the presents that you would expect a three-year-old to receive: toy trucks, a remote-controlled car, a bubble gun, clothes, a toy Mickey Mouse, and all sorts of matchbox cars. Conner loved to show his Daddy and Landon all of his brand-new gifts:

After presents, Chelsea and Jud made sure that Conner had a pinata for his birthday---and yes, it was filled with lots of candy:

At the end of the day, Jud and Chelsea hosted a fabulous party for Conner. After a day of excitement, Chelsea still looks amazing:

Happy 3rd Birthday to Conner! Here's to many, many more!

Together Again!

Ulmer, Me, Emmy


Some people collect objects. You know the type---their house is full of figurines, their backpack can't possibly fit another pin / patch, or their lawn is full of eclectic objects, like gnomes. I like to be a bit different: I collect friends.

People often tell me that they're amazed that I stay in touch with / keep track of so many different people that have been apart of my life at so many different places and times! I'm proud of my collection, because each person is so special and unique to me. I can mark the milestones of my life by my friends.

Yesterday I went out with two of my very favorite pieces of my friend collection: Ulmer and Emmy!! The three of us met because we played softball together for Boise High, we hung out because we got along and understood each other during those awkward high school years, and we stay in touch because, well, life just wouldn't be the same without each other.

Emmy currently lives in Arkansas, so we let her pick the place: Old Chicago. How fun! It was great to see two amazing women and catch up over lunch. It has become a semi-annual tradition: once in the summer, once around Christmastime---whenever the three of us happen to all be in Boise at the same time.

Ulmer and I are looking to expand the tradition a la ROAD TRIP TO ARKANSAS! We have both decided it will be a cultural experience to visit Em in her natural habitat. We're working on it...