That Last Step Is A Doozy

Long-time readers of my blog will recall that I broke my shoulder a few years ago. Ah, good times. I actually do look on that time somewhat fondly because it's also when I adopted Finn. But being hurt and recovering? Not so much.

Since that time I've been pretty careful and I always remind myself, when I do trip, not to try to catch myself if I fall. Aside from my knees showing signs of simply getting older, I've been pretty lucky since then in the getting hurt arena. To help keep my knees from getting creaky, I've taken to using the stairs when leaving work; I've found that if I do it regularly, they bother me less.

On Tuesday, I headed for the stairs like normal at the end of the day and was pleased to note that my knees didn't "crackle" at all, like they often do if I haven't done the stairs in a while. I did notice that my one calf felt a little tight and no sooner did I think it than *SNAP!* Something that felt like a giant rubber band snapped in that calf and man, did it hurt.

I still had two set of stairs to go so I took it r e a l l y slowly and continued down. A coworker came by and asked if he could help, but what could he do? I think the poor guy was afraid he was going to have to try carry me down the rest of the way, but I set his mind at ease and kept going. It took me what felt like forever to get all the way down and to my car, but I made it, one halting step at a time.

Long story a tad bit shorter, I ended up going to the ER and what I suspected was confirmed: I'd torn a muscle in my right calf. I've always had kind of tight muscles in my calves so I'd feared that it would happen one day, but not in such an innocuous situation. Just like with my shoulder, there's not much they can do to fix it so I just have to stay off of it and see what happens. I've spent the last two days icing it and elevating it, and sleeping like a fiend because of the pain medication. I have crutches that, frankly, wear me out and I haven't been on them since I got home from the hospital.

I think tomorrow is soon enough. Take pity on the next poor schmo you see hobbling around on crutches, OK?

Ping: A Short Bite

Sometimes, I think I constrain myself here by expecting that a post needs to be a certain thing. This is odd because I'm the one always telling other bloggers, "Your blog is what YOU make of it! Don't let other people tell you what it 'should' be!" You'd think I'd take my own advice more often; no time like the present.

It occurred to me yesterday during a conversation with another blogger that sometimes I want to just say something without a beginning, a middle and an end. Something more like a tweet on Twitter. Without it, you know, being a tweet.

And because there's no sense in having a theme on one's blog if one doesn't use it, henceforth, such little gems here will just be known as a Ping. Perhaps not terribly original, but it will get the job done.

Today's Ping: I'm going to Seattle this weekend. I've been looking forward to it for ages and I'm excited to be on my way. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and I'll be able to take and share some nice pictures. I hope you have a nice long weekend, too.

Year of Living Generously - A Brief Update

I haven't forgotten that I have a blog, I promise. I've just been really occupied with other things -- much of which had to do with the title topic -- and I haven't had the energy or motivation to write.

As you may have noticed, if you've been here before, the color scheme recently changed. I, along with scores of other bloggers, have gone purple in honor of Maddie. Of course, my scheme was actually already purple but I went with a shade that was suggested by Mrs. Flinger, whom you met not too long ago.

I should note here that I wrote all of that rather disjointed intro above almost a month ago. I am not going to go into why there was such a long gap, mostly because I'm not interested in finding a way to articulate those whys to anyone. If that sounds snotty, I apologize; that's not my intent. I'm just not in a place where I'm up for it and I want to say it simply.

My life, mentally, has been different since April 7th. It's not a mistake that my last post and the one that has stayed up there for over a month was the remembrance from the day of Maddie's service. I haven't found a way to express why the events of April have had such an impact on me, to myself or anyone else. All I can say is that they did.

I also want to say that, while I'm going to continue on with 2009 being a year that I give as much as possible, I'm going to stop trying to write much about it beyond this. It's part of what's holding me up from posting. I wrote about how I've struggled with it right from the start and it hasn't gotten any easier.

Since the world said goodbye to little Maddie, most of my giving efforts have been focused on raising funds in her name for the March of Dimes and in helping to fund support for Maddie's parents, who have had such a difficult time since their world shattered. I talked about the March of Dimes in connection with the Spohrs back in February, though I could never have imagined at that point how much would have changed and how much would have happened between then and the date of the actual walk. If you aren't aware, the Spohrs' team alone raised over sixty thousand (yes, sixty thousand) dollars for the March of Dimes and raised so much more awareness of the organization and its mission, since that time. If ever the word "outpouring" were appropriate, this was it; there was an absolute outpouring of caring, commitment and cash from people around the country and beyond, both for the walk and for Maddie's parents. The wave of caring continues on and if you're interested in hearing about what's happening, please check out the March for Maddie site.

I wasn't able to participate in one of the walks, so I instead donated to pretty much anyone I knew who was going to walk. Because I have so many wonderful and generous friends, that was quite a few people and I was happy to set my credit card on fire as they donned their purple and their tennis shoes and set out to make a difference.

And, as Forrest Gump said, that's all I have to say about that.

So now, while life goes on as it inevitably does, I have this new appreciation for the impact that we can have on each others' lives. I've realized, however, that I don't need to write about it, I just need to do what I'm moved to do.