So here is the awkward moment for the weekend…running into one of my student’s parents at a bar! I think my sister would agree, that this was an awkward turtle moment!

Only being able to do the stationary bike for a cardio work out = super suckage!

It was almost two weeks ago that I injured my foot and ankle. This week, I dropped wearing the boot and moved to an air cast for support. My ankle feels good, the swelling has gone down immensely and my foot has returned to it’s normal color. It still hurts on occasion, but thanks to Ibuprofen, I am able to walk without discomfort.

I went over to see a orthopedist today over at Slocum (and yes, the immature part of me wants to giggle whenever I say it). If you ever need to see an orthopedist, I highly suggest you go to Slocum. From the minute I walked in the door, the staff was kind, friendly and informative, and the facility is amazing.

After meeting with the doctor and having my ankle poked and prodded, the prognosis is good. There is some still some healing that needs to happen in my ligaments and tendons, but due to the fact that I am so active, my foot and ankle are healing nicely. The doctor gave me the go-ahead to begin crossing training with biking and swimming. I will start with physical therapy next week to relieve pain, improve strength and increase range of motion. As far as getting back into running and soccer, running will come first before soccer. Running involves the same movement repeatedly, while soccer requires my ankle to move in various directions and until I can increase my range of motion without pain, soccer is out. Not sure when I will be able to get back to running, only time and therapy will tell. I am dedicated to making sure I fully heal before getting back into running and soccer, which will involve a lot of patience but it will be worth it in the end. Hopefully letting myself heal will also help prevent injuries in the future.

I just finished two days of 12+ hours days filled with both teaching and conferences….man, I’m wiped. I don’t know how people work like this. I definitely need time to regroup at the end of the day.

Overall, conferences went extremely well. It’s so good to hear that parents of my students are happy with my class and have seen growth both behaviorally and academically in their students. So I guess that means I’m doing something right. It’s nice to see how my students are progressing in academic and social areas. Sometimes it is hard to see those changes on a daily basis but looking at progress from the beginning of the year, it truly is amazing how much can be accomplished!

This was a topic of discussion at work today. Last week, the Today Show did a story on the safety of plastic water bottles. I currently have 3 Nalgene type water bottles. After watching the story, I have come to find out, these are the worst type of water bottles to use. Personally, I am going to get new stainless steel water bottles. Since I have many friends, family and soccer peeps who read my blog, I thought I would get the message out there. But I leave you with this clip, and you can make up your own decisions about your own personal water bottle.

After spending Thursday night and all day Friday on crutches, I am finally able to bear some weight on my foot. Now I am gimping around the house with my very sexy black boot. I am still trying to limit my movement as I need to rest up as much as I can this weekend…good thing there is basketball for me to watch today! My foot/ankle does feel better, but I still have a lot of pain and swelling, which is to be expected. But I am happy (as well as my sore arms) to not have to rely on crutches. It’s amazing how such a simple thing like taking a shower or getting dressed can be so complicated with only one good foot!

I want to thank all my friends, family, co-workers and soccer teammates for their support and words of encouragement, especially to my wonderful roommate Heidi. This injury has been pretty emotional for me due to the fact that I had been so excited about running my first half marathon and I am out of commission from playing soccer. Thanks again and I feel so blessed to have a great support group. Thanks for keeping me smiling!

This was the sound as I fell to the ground, crying in pain while grabbing my right ankle. I instantly was scared and in a great deal of pain. I am not really sure what happened, but I was either going for a ball and tripped on myself or another player, but my foot went awry. The pain was bad, but the sound was worse. There was even a report that someone heard the sound about 50 feet away (yikes). So after I was carried off the field by Dylan and Arron (thanks guys), Heidi and I headed to the doctor’s (thankfully my doctor’s office does an after hours clinic).

After a number of X-rays, I have a moderately sprained foot and ankle with torn ligaments in my foot and ankle. So the ‘rip’ was the sound of my ligaments tearing. Trust me, not a pretty sound. For the next 7-10 days, I will be in a large black walking boot, using crutches for the first few days. Then I move to an air cast until my foot feels better to resume to regular shoes. Due to the injury, I am out for at least six weeks…which means no soccer and no half marathon.

This leaves me super bummed as I am not able to play soccer and accomplish my first half marathon. Sure their will be more half marathons and soccer games to play, but for now I watch from the sidelines.

Trying to keep positive….