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I love going back to New Orleans:)


I took my camera to New Orleans for Thanksgiving, then realized I didn't have a memory card. Shoot!  

I had a great week.  I feel good and rested, as I should since I slept about 11 hours per night and had to force myself up every day.  The week went a little something like this:

Kyoto

Creole Creamery

Bryston's

St Joe's Bar

Rocky's Pizza

Prytania for The Blind Side

Dirty Coast, Storyville, and Magazine Street Shopping

Black and Gold Store

Mosca's

New Orleans Daquiris' x 2

PJs

CCs

Gluttony to the max!

I brought back 10 pounds of big shrimp, fresh off of the boat- at $2.50 a pound fresh, I dare you to find better food anywhere in the US.  It must be my turn to host a dinner party.  

The city is alive with Saints magic!  I am sad to say I have not seen a game since Hurricane Katrina, and at $900 a pop (yes, that is the current going rate for a seat at tomorrow's game) I guess I will not be seeing them play this year.  I also don't think I can upgrade my Aaron Brooks jersey to Drew Brees, as the kid's jerseys were $55 each, and I am just too thrifty to pay for the inflation that comes along with a winning season.  

So maybe I will get a WWBD shirt instead.  

5th Annual Turpin Turkey Trot

The Turpin family tradition continues- although we didn't squeeze in as many miles today as the Robert's household seemed to be full of whiners

-Damie:  my knee might swell

-Dave:  my groin hurts

-Cayenne:  but I have stitches in my foot

The Official Turpin Turkey Trot Crew- minus Papa taking the picture

No, the t-shirt over the tracksuit is not flattering, I know.  

And, I get to run this week...I get to run this week...yippeee!!!!!!

Knee Update- So Far So Good

I find it funny that I didn't realize how tired I would be after a day of work as a physical therapist.  What part of "physical" did I not understand?  I am doing well generally and learning the ins and outs of the job.  And since I am no spring chicken, I am learning to deal with the fatigue of WORK!  chuckle amongst yourselves as you figured it out a long time ago....

The knee is doing really well.  I am squatting, lunging, and spinning for 30 minutes amongst other things.  Pain free :)  It looks like I will be able to start running over Thanksgiving (small 30 second intervals) and I am really looking forward to it.  Too bad the 5th Annual Turpin Turkey Trot is happening early this year and I won't be able to showcase my 30 second run for the family. 

Other than that, I can't believe it is only Wednesday.  Ughhh.   I love the weekends.       

Evolution

We are not finished, but the new kitchen is underway.
Here is a glimpse at the old kitchen- unfortunately it is too hard to see the crappy, crappy 30 year old metal cabinets that are rusted, the washer that leaks, the mismatched sink cabinet, etc...It was embarrassing having friends over because the kitchen was so nasty.  It was not just ugly, it was gross- rust, 20 year-old-dirt, and food in crevices that could not be reached.

Dave and I decided to replace the cabinets and pain them all to match.  We were also going to paint the kitchen, baseboards, and window sills.  All of our appliances work just fine, so we weren't going to change up anything else.  

Phase One-

So, I literally came home from work on Tuesday, and the kitchen was gutted.  Mind you, I had no clue this was happening.  I just left the boys alone and the cabinet replacement turned into a full kitchen remodel.  I think this is because the boys don't balance the checkbook, do they?  

But, notice the nasty wall the had rot in it where the old sink was, etc....   It really did need more work than we originally realized.  

Phase two- 

The kitchen has a new wall to replace the area by the sink, and the walls have been primed.

Phase three-

Most of the cabinets are in as well as the countertops.  There are a lot of new appliances to go with the new look.  We still need to put all of the trim on the cabinets and countertops, paint the walls, complete the tile backsplash, and put in all of the appliances.  

We still have quite a bit of work today, but I plan on having a party as soon as it is done.  I can't decide if I should have a recipe exchange with the girls (since I have no excuse for not cooking now)- OR- turn the recipe exchange into a recipe exchange for Joy as bride-to-be -OR- just invite everyone over for dinner and wine.  

I am leaning towards all girls, recipes, and party for Joy.  

While the boys did electrical, plumbing, and saw work, here is what I did with my morning.

I lifted 200 pounds of aluminum cans into the truck and recycled them for $84.  (24$ to the humane society, and $60 to Hearts of Gold Pit Rescue is the plan).  I guess my knee is fine since I was doing squat-lifts with 30 pounds or so.   Oops- not fine, it is swollen.  Time to slow down. 

Gutting It Out

Another big congratulations to a Florida Ironman Finisher- Chris (tri-ing fat man- although I think the name should change to tri-ing Ironman!).  

You can read about Chris by licking on the link above, or look to the left under my motivational blogger section.  Chris has an awesome story and really embodies the spirit of athletics and competition- as we know, the competition is truly with ourselves.  

So Chris gutted it out-

and now I am gutting it out too.  

This used to be my kitchen.  

Wanting For Nothing

Because I already have all that I need....

Nothing like a Saints win to end the night, along with the animals all coming to get their night-night kisses.  

Lots of prayers for my puppy Cayenne, whose amputation is infected again, that everything will be solved tomorrow at the vet with no more cutting or loss.  

Love Ironman :)

I am enjoying the evening checking up on friends doing Ironman Florida.  (not loving the LSU loss as much...)  

I find that when I track friends doing an Ironman, I get so pumped up to race again.  I want to sign up for an Ironman ASAP- know the feeling?  

The IMFL drafting reports are already out there, though.  And that is one thing about that race that really turns me off- the reason I may never do that course again.  I remember- vividly- literally my heart rate is elevated thinking about it- the drafting.  I remember seeing people I know fly by me in packs.  It sure is easy to hold a pace 1-2 mph faster with a pack than on your own. Grrrr!  I had to work hard to keep my focus inward instead of wasting energy on losers.  And there were sooooo many losers!  Ughhh!!!!  Cheating sucks.  So, Joy, to answer your question- nope, won't do Florida again.  I just remembered why.  

But, anyways,  back to the good stuff.  Daniela Kruse (blogger) and my friend Kat Grifo (college teamie) look like they are both on there way to a finish- yea!!!!!  I hope they are enjoying every step of their marathon and taking it all in- that first Ironman finish.  Congratulations!

And I am just sitting around thinking...which IM next????    :))))))))

 

One Week Out

...And I have upgraded my day to fixing my own food, driving myself to PT, and standing up at candle light vigils for abused animals.  If you have not read about the horrific conditions in Memphis and want to, here is the link.  Warning- graphic, awful picture.  I think I officially hate Memphis now, but I am not sure how New Orleans is any better.  I think I need to move out West and live off of the land, but unfortunately Dave is such a weenie and has to live by a big city lest he become bored.   

So I felt good enough to convince Laura to ditch running with Joy and come protest with me instead.  That is what you do when you are out of shape and can't do anything- you sabotage your friend's workouts too and convince them it is the "off-season".  Oh- she didn't mind.  It was fun!  We felt like hippies in the new century- except I was wearing my triathlon Los Locos jacket.  And, someone asked us if we were with the college, which made my day at 31-years-young!  This morning I found out the shelter director did get fired- great- but what ignorant POS are they going to put in charge now?  I am think I am going to try to throw for the job.  I bet I can learn in 1 month more about running an efficient and humane shelter that all of these bozos could learn in a lifetime.  

But, yes, the knee is doing well.  I am basically moving around just fine with some soreness if I do too much.  I think my knee already feels better than it did before surgery-I am using mental persuasion on myself.  I know the truth on if surgery helped or not will not be realized till a couple of months from now when I try to run.  :)  

But, I was told they extracted a cyst of 10 cm out of my knee/hamstrings.  Since I am a dumb American, I measured 10 cm today just to see what 10cm actually looks like.  I feel so much better knowing I don't have a cell phone in my knee anymore.  

Wait!  Addendum!  I have correctly identified the Nuun tablet holder as being the culprit.  Exactly 10 cm.  2-3 cm width.  Hmmmmm.....maybe that was bothering me a spot.  

Cayenne is back in her flower.

Tonight Dave and I drove home from the vet's office with our two dogs in the backseat. We were musing over the fact that we had just spent a quarter of our paycheck on Cayenne's elective foot surgery. Foot surgery that I chose for her to have to hopefully alleviate pain, which has ended up in an amputation and possible loss of function- and more pain than any dog should feel. Do I feel like a bad mom? You bet. Does it hurt to lose money when we are trying to claw our way out of debt Dave Ramsey style? Of course. And mostly, I am worried sick about my dog.

As we drove through a Memphis ghetto, Dave and I chewed on some of the decisions we have made or contemplated through the day we spent together: Cayenne's foot, moving to New Orleans, remodeling the nasty kitchen, purchasing a used car to replace our dying car, my surgery, paying back student loans, etc...

Dave gently said that life is full of tough decisions, and we sat quietly in the car, reflecting our day. Every day we will face challenges and tough decisions- it doesn't get any easier, and we don't even have kids yet.

It was such a beautiful moment for me, though, as we concluded that life is about the way you handle the tough times and make the tough decisions. I couldn't have been happier riding in the car with my husband and two loving dogs- my family.

Look at this picture? I love this picture. I have a happy family and a great life. This picture of my two dogs gives me warm fuzzies.

Picture of the posterior incision-

Day 5-The knee is doing well. I am recovering nicely and staying off of it. No rush here to get moving, and that is the beauty of being injured so long. My patience is getting stronger and I am willing to rest more and heal more to reap long term benefits. I will be excited to share good news as I start to do a little more rehab and strengthen the leg again.

Day 3...

Day 3-
Things are going okay. I definitely have ups and downs all day long, and I am sure it is mostly the result of medication and sitting on my bum. Most of the time I feel positive and I can't wait to start rehabbing my knee. There are moments, though, where I feel afraid that my rehab won't be good enough or that I won't return to running or triathlon. I just have to push those fears aside and continue to give myself a lot of positive talk.

This is my daily view! The dogs have been great company :)

I am a little surprised at how needy I have been post surgery. Since Dave has been working full time every day, I have really felt lonely. By about 1:00pm yesterday, I was in full tears as I could not fix myself lunch and had no one around to help. Dave called with his normal cheery self and I had to explain to him through tears that I need him to check on me more often. Lucky for me, Kathy walked through the door right then with pumpkin pie- followed by Bekah, Laura, Latte, and cheesecake an hour or so later. I also started getting some phone calls and text messages which really cheered me up. Thank you!

I think Bekah understands how much I have really needed help and company because she came back to visit me last night in full Halloween gear. Her husband, Jon, is Brett Michaels, and she is his Rock of Love.


And just as I am writing this Bekah has walked through my door! Thank goodness!!!!!!!! Seriously, she just walked in- and look what she brought over!
Which thing does not belong in this picture?