FYI

This is a cute picture:

This is the day after my surgery, when Erin and Stephanie came to visit!

I meant to post it with my first surgery pictures, but I forgot and just found it! So..... you get a random picture of my swollen foot and cousinfriend!

Things I do for fun

So, it's a quiet Wednesday morning. I wake up rather late (because I'm cool and can do stuff like that) and one thing pops into my mind.

I want to weed a garden.

Trust me, I am aware of how.... not normal that sounds. This may explain the low number of friends I have... hmm....

Anyway. So I woke up, and wanted to weed a garden. My backyard and front yard at my parents' house were looking pretty good cuz I was taking care of them basically every day. (Since I like to do it so much) But I DO know of one other garden.....

After some errands, I headed over to this special garden. Here is what I walked up to:

Shoot! I LIKE doing this stuff????

Well, I do... so after situating myself with plenty of fluids, music, and gloves I went to town. I originally wanted to plant cucumbers in this field, but I'm sure it wont work out anymore since its the end of June... But there is something hidden in the weeds!

If you haven't guessed, I went over to Stephanie and Adam's house to bum around their land. I started weeding a patch we knew had a crop in it... and then Adam joined me to mow! Looks AWESOME now!


The section I spent just about 4 hours cleaning out! Yikes and it's not even close to being done!

Ahhh there's that special crop! STRAWBERRIES!!! Adam and his brothers stumbled upon them one day and they were being smothered by weeds. Strawberries need plenty of sunshine and they weren't getting any. Plus the weeds were holding water and many of the berries were rotting.

Yes, this is an installment of "Things I do for fun." Please stay tuned for further episodes that will surely rock your socks, and probably make you wish you were my friend.

Hahahha. I kid. :)

Hmm, but I should really get over there and install that strawberry net....

Bloggy Help!

Soooo, for the entirety of having a blog, I have had an awesome background. It was an orange flower and orange-y stuff everywhere and it was SO me.

Did you know that I love the color orange? And the outdoors?

Well, I do. :) Anywho....

RANDOMLY, one day, my background disappeared into oblivion. There were little boxes everywhere that said, "Image cannot be displayed."

Ok, no big deal, it was time for a new background, right? Well, here's the thing....

I can't remember which website I got that awesome orange-y background from!!! AND beyond that, I can't remember how to even install a new background from a website.

Can you help me? Where do you go for cute blog backgrounds that are free? And once you find one, how in the heck do you get it into your blog? Apparently two years later, I can't re-figure it out!!!!

Thank you bloggy friends. :)

*Warning!*

I interrupt your daily routine to give you some breaking news about....

MY FOOT!

Oh yes, I know. There are probably 28370283027 of you who are looking forward to knowing how my foot is doing. I will quench your desire to know how it looks, feels, and functions!

Things have been going great, I am actually comfortably walking barefoot and wearing a few different types of sandals. Am I allowed to? Not actually sure, but I'm living it up while I can!!! :) I stretch it, walk on it, and push it to its limit every day so it's like I am in physical therapy.

About two weeks ago, I went to the doctor for a post-surgery check up and the doctor was VERY pleased. He is a little worried about it healing crooked so he gave me a fancy little toe spacer. Other than that, I don't even need to go to physical therapy because my range of motion is so great, as is the strength. Booya!!!

*Pictures to follow!!!*

They put tape over it, but I wear it now without tape. It looks horrible and uncomfortable but it's actually really comfy! It keeps my big toe straight and keeps the muscles and bones healthy while its healing. I think this really attracts the men!


My feet next to each other. Swelling is doing great! Still have some discoloration in this picture, but at least its not black and blue!

I had an x-ray taken and the doctor says I have about 1/2 inch of swelling by the scar. That seems like a lot, but it's actually not bad for post-op 4 weeks. Today, it looks even BETTER, but why spoil you all with so my foot pictures in post? I should really space them out, right? :)

Stay tuned for more breaking news photos of my foot and its healing process! Hahaha!

Random Thoughtz by Amy

**Part 3**

- I am writing Random Thoughtz because I am too tired to write a real entry!
- Why are people from NC generally awesomely nice?
- I do not enjoy washing walls. Or ceilings. Ask me to plunge a toilet instead.
- Remember that one time I had surgery on my foot and posted pictures on my blog? Gross!
- I have a theory that my fish, Cup, enjoys making his tank grimy for me and that he taunts me while doing it. Punk!
- When (if) I get married, I do NOT want games played at any/all showers thrown. I. Hate. Games.
- Except for Apples to Apples
- I do NOT post 4 times a day to my blog, contrary to STEPHANIE'S beliefs!
- I miss people at ISU and want to see them!
- The phrase "Bunion Funion" cracked some people up, which in turn cracked me up
- I want a dog
- I watched a show called "Cup Cake Wars" for an hour with my mom tonight. What the heck? There is such a show? Yes, I was addicted
- I ate a huge bowl of Mac n Cheese at 11pm. My dad said the following to me:

Dad: When you wake up at midnight with a stomach ache, don't wake me up and be loud. They say do not eat after 11pm. And look what you are doing.
Me: But I'm STARVING and haven't eaten dinner yet!
D: That is not my problem.
M: What if I go like this 'Daaaaaaaad my tummmmmmmmmmy hurts' and knock on your door?
D: Then I will get up and rub your face in poop. Like a dog.


^^^^ That is true love in my family folks!

It is wayyyyyy too late and I'm wayyyyyy to tired to be posting! More later! :)

Bunion Funion

There's not really a purpose for that title. It sort of just came to me! And when it did, it made me laugh as I said it out loud. Try it!

Bunion Funion.

Yeah, it sounds dumb! But it's a source of amusement for me!

Ok, where was this going? Ah yes! The bunion! It isn't actually "fun-ion!"

As you may recall, I graduated ISU on May 8th, and it was quite exciting! But something a little less exciting, yet necessary, was surgery on my foot. As I talked about here, I went to the doctor to get a bump on my foot checked out because it was extremely painful. It turned out to be a bunion. Be sure to read up on that post if you don't know what one is!

It is NOT an oozey thing that old ladies have. Actually, cute 20-somethings get them too!

Back to the surgery. It was scheduled for May 11th. Gross! 3 days after graduation. I tried to live up my 1 day of summer, but let's face it... there wasn't much to do with everyone else in school or crappy weather! But couldn't put it off... it needed to be done!

The slicing-Amy's-foot party was scheduled for 11am, so we had to check in by 10am. Which means I had to stop eating by midnight and stop drinking by 4am. Umm, that's a LONG time for Amy to not eat! I stayed up til 4am so I would sleep all the way until we needed to leave instead of being awake and cranky. (Did that really work? I'm not sure, ask my mom!)

Checked in, got changed, and was given an IV.... and THEN was told that my doctor was 2 patients behind. At this point it was 11am, and I was pretty hungry. Ok, so I have to wait. Awesome. I HATE WAITING. They brought my mom back and we pretty much sat... in silence. I was grumpy that the doctor was so late, I was hungry, and IVs make me have to pee. THREE HOURS LATER, we are told that he is finally ready for me. Finally!!!

They asked me if I needed anything, and after going to the bathroom as I sucked down an IV bag, I answered, "A rack of ribs." People laughed, "Haha that Amy is a funny one!"

Yeah, no. I was serious. By 2pm, I was beyond hungry, I was becoming cannibalistic.

After being told that I was ready to go and wasn't going to be under general anesthesia, I was ready. Here we go, essentially ruining any type of summer by breaking a few bones in my foot! Yay, let's do this.

When I woke up an hour later, the first thing I told the nurse was, "Please tell the anesthesiologist that I feel great and I love her." Ooops, I get really affectionate after surgery. After my first one, I remember calling for the male nurse, Pat over and over again. And no, he wasn't young and cute, he was like 60.

I was wheeled to post-surgery recovery and I got some instructions from the nurses. I felt great, honestly! Usually I am very sick from anesthesia, but not this time. Oh, and still hungry... did I mention that? Mom took me home and went to fill my pain meds and pick up dinner. Wanna guess what she got?

A rack of ribs from Portillos!

Well, she bought 2 racks thinking the three of us (with my dad) would share. Again... yeah, no. I showed no mercy as I polished off a rack of ribs, coleslaw, breadsticks, and a glass of water. Suggestion, don't deprive me of food for that long. Yum yum, thanks mom!!!

Want to see what my foot looked like? Hmm, well I am warning you RIGHT NOW that it's not pretty, but it's interesting to see what was done! I even painted my nails to make it less horrifying! :) Here we go!

Post-op x-rays. See that screw? That baby is keeping things together now! Compared to the other x-rays, things are getting more straightened out!

6 days after surgery, the doctor took off all the post surgery wrappage and gave me this ace bandage wrap and special shoe. Oh, after he peeled off some super glue and cut off some stitches!


Both feet side to side. Check out that swelling!


I thought all the yellow was iodine and the purple/black was rubbing off from my boot, but no! That is all bruising as the doctor told me!


Even the bottom of my foot was nasty! I found this lovely purple bruise before I showered.
My dad thinks its because I walked on it four days after surgery, but hey... the bruise never actually hurt so it's ok! :)

Whew! Gross huh? Well, I didn't ask you to look at those pictures, so no blaming me for posting it! Hahaha, good news, all of that was one week after surgery, so just imagine how things are looking right now! In fact, you don't have to imagine much longer, I'll post it in a bit. And no, the pictures aren't any less gross (come on, when are feet NOT gross?) but the swelling is MUCH better! :) Despite the pain and inconvenience, I am glad I did this with the doctor that I did it with!

Summer to Do List!

Oh don't worry, I am aware that I am partially crippled, but I still have some stuff I want to do this summer! Especially since this will be a short one for me, let's go baby!

- Go to a Cubs game!
- Go to any zoo!
- Go to the Chicago Botanic Gardens!
- Spend a day in Chi-town
- Bonfire!!
- See lots of fireworks
- See a movie!
- Learn to play poker
- Get past "beginner" on guitar hero
- Make a small college scrapbook
- Go to the BEACH!
- Go shopping and buy a ridiculous outfit
- Go to a concert!
- Go to Six Flags for a day
- Ride on the back of a motorcycle
- Plant a field of cucumbers

Oh baby! It's the end of May and I have lots I want to do!! Want to help? Hit me up :D I'm betting my bum foot won't be a factor for much longer!

June 1st - New Years Resolutions!

I have definitely slacked off when it's been updating time! Since the last time I updated, graduation and surgery was getting in the way! BUT, it's time for me to be on time... here we go! Reminder of the resolutions:

• Be more on time: I am not ALWAYS late or INCREDIBLY late, but I need to work on it in general. I'm known for breezing in just a few minutes late :\
  
• Shrug it off: As EVERYONE knows, I worry about everything-all the time-all day. I plan on letting the small things go. It'll help me so much to not worry so much!
• Swear less: I don't cuss like a sailor, but I do need to work on my language a little!
• Say no: I'm not sure how successful this one will be, but sometimes I get so stressed out because I cannot learn how to say no to people. This is my attempt to look out for myself a little more!

And here are my assessments as of June 1st:

• Be more on time: Remember that one time that Stephanie was celebrating Stephanie's birthday and she said, "Let's meet at 5pm" and I text her at 7pm saying I'll be ready soon? Yeah ok, that was partially a miscommunication, but I'm not doing so great! Once summer started, I forgot about these, so I need to get back into the game!
  
• Shrug it off: I can actually thank my dear roommate for this progress! Some random drama has followed me home, and I was really stressing out about it! I texted her randomly one night (I'm talking 2am) and she talked (typed?) me through the situation and stuck with me the next day, too. Her help that night has gotten me to shrug off randomly bothering things! Thanks Shannon :)
  
• Swear less: If I were to say that I was improving, my mom would comment and say, "No even close!" It's true, my language was pretty strong near the end of the year. For some reason I resort to that when I'm stressed or frustrated! Not too lady-like though.
  
• Say no: Well currently, I have about zero obligations so it's been easy to say no! Not sure if this is an appropriate time to say I'm doing better, but I will anyway since I sort of failed on the first three this past month!
  

I'm glad to have looked at this again because I needed to remember what I wanted to improve by the end of the year! What are your resolutions? We are almost half way through 2010, how are you doing?