Happy New Year : A wine, an update & WoYoPracMo

Bonne Année! Happy New Year!

I know, it’s already the 3rd, but we’ve only just returned from our little holiday. We had a wonderful time celebrating with family, but it’s always nice to be home, isn’t it?

I’m a very goal-driven individual, and usually the thought of embarking on the adventure of a New Year inspires me. There’s a “clean slate” feeling that comes with each new “year diary” I purchase : yet to be filled pages of dates where I’ll be noting and scheduling everything. As I fill in the pages with birthdays and anniversaries (lest they be forgotten), I find myself thinking about the things I’d like to achieve during the coming year, as well as taking stock of all that I did the previous year.

January 1st also usually means calculating my yearly running mileage and training information. It’s fun to compare my averages, the long runs and speed work, and see how I’ve improved. I just can’t bring myself to do it, at least I haven’t yet. Being out the last 7+ weeks of 2008 hit me pretty hard (as you know and are probably sick of reading about!) and I feel so frustrated not knowing when I’ll be able to get back to training, which goes back to me being a goal-driven person. I can’t schedule a new race or set any goals for myself as I’m dwelling in the purgatory of the injured reserve. Alas.

There is some good news on the “My Left Foot” front, however. I can now go up and down stairs. Very exciting stuff indeed. For the past four days I’ve seen a real improvement, and hope that with PT beginning on Monday I’ll be running (maybe) sooner than later. I’d hoped to be running by my birthday, the 9th, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen.

The exciting news is that I was able to try a little yoga, and it was ok! I knew WoYoPracMo (World Yoga Practice Month) was coming up, and I’d planned on participating pre-foot breakage.

I managed a 10 minute practice on the 1st, and worked up to 25 minutes yesterday! How exhilarating it felt to be moving for the first time since November 12th! If you’re not familiar with WoYoPracMo, you can find out anything and everything with a Google search, or just click on the above logo. Yoga Mum created this specific community last year (I got in just after January) and it’s a wonderful resource. There’s also a supportive community of yoginis & yogis to help you stay motivated if you’re thinking about giving WoYoPracMo a try. I’m really excited that I can participate, even if I’m rather shy of my usual 45min to 1 1/2 hour practice. Some yoga is better than no yoga at all!

And now for the resolutions! I know many find that the idea of a New Year’s resolution is foolish, even hypocritical : why not change when we feel we need to? Why wait for an arbitrary date on the calendar to take action? Me, I like resolutions. I like to think of them more as goals to be cultivated and nurtured throughout the year. I’ve managed to make many positive changes thanks to deciding to cultivate a new habit on January 1st.

When I was 13, I decided to write my Grandfather once a week so I’d be sure he received some happy mail. Poor man probably grew tired of reading the same adolescent drivel, going on about dance, school, and of course boys, but with a few exceptions I continued writing him (in addition to calling of course!) until he died in 1996.

Another successful resolution was to stop biting, playing with and otherwise disfiguring my fingernails, resolution January 1995. My mum still laughs when she sees my now mostly-taken care of hands as she remembers the way they looked when I was young.

I feel a bit disappointed in myself, because I don’t really have a resolution for this year. I have many things I want to accomplish, but I can’t pinpoint one thing I want to change. I guess the list is too long! I’d like to be a better person : a better wife and mother, a better vegan and teacher…laudable, but vague. This is the first year that I don’t have something concrete, and it’s a little strange. I’m giving myself a little more time, because I’m sure something will come to me!

Dinosize Me! & I’m Free!

First the exciting news : I have no more cast!

So, auditions are on Saturday.

That was so lame. I’m sorry.

After 6 weeks of immobilisation and 5.5 weeks of casty-magic I can take a shower standing up! What a luxury. I’m walking (baby steps) sans crutches because I can, but that’s about all. Going up the stairs is easy…down? Well, going up the stairs is easy. Did I say that already? Now I need to start some P.T. and such, but of course we’re going out of town on this weekend, and most P.T.s are closed during the holiday week anyway. At least I won’t be spending the holidays on crutches! And if I’m walking with a bit of a wobble after too many cocktails, well, I’ll just blame it on my foot! Woot!

Now for the Dino PJ Pants :

These are so super cool and warm and soft that I am kicking myself (with the good foot) for not having bought enough fabric to make PJs for the three of us! That would have been the best family holiday picture ever! Need to write that in my diary for next December – matching PJs Family Photo. Excellent.

So many of you mentioned wanting to give kidlet pants a try! I love it! I promise to get you a step-by-step photo tut after the holidays so you can make a pair and feel as cool as all get out because you are a DIY Rockstar! It won’t be until after the New Year (bcause we’ll be out of town), but it’ll be soon after. Deal?

I also made this :

Which Guppy could use to stow her PJ pants, but for now, these guys are in there :

There are about 15 mini-dinos in there, so by the end of Christmas morning she should still have about 5 to play with, right?

Food : Then & Now

Then:

Since so many of you kids out there in blogland are foodies – vegan & omni alike – I thought you may enjoy this. (I think it’s freaking fascinating and can’t stop wasting spending time reading it) . Check out this Food Timeline that Kelly of Eat Make Read posted. I don’t want anyone getting their vegan organic cotton panties in a bunch over the accuracy of the site – for me it’s purely for entertainment purposes, or perhaps a good starting off point for further research. I just think it’s terribly interesting to connect the dots of our genetic histories and food choices. I also think it would be wonderfully interesting to run a timeline of the apparition of “affluenza-esque” diseases parallel to this one. The introduction (and government-produced propaganda for the marketing) of sugar really marks some interesting changes in the ways we lived and died. Now excuse me while I eat another sugar cookie. Ahem.

Oh, and I’m also thinkin’ that I should be eating whole rice and millet more often, since they are just some of the most ancient grains regularly consumed meaning our bods have the technology to utilise them proficiently. And they rock.

Just sayin’.

Now :

Speaking of some great grains…

Curry Couscous Stuffed Mushrooms served with Red Wine Carrots.

I know, another washed-out photo on a food blog! How original! But get over it, because this meal goes down in the history books of deliciousness. (For a vegan I am awfully cheesy, don’t you think?). These carrots disappeared so quickly that I think for the first time ever in the history of the world I was reprimanded for not having made enough veg for dinner. Yeah, that good. Oh, and they have red wine in them. We all know how I feel about red wine.

And the schrooms? Out of this beloved galaxy my friends. I wish I could tell you what kind I used, but I can’t. Not because it’s top secret, but because Monsieur F has been negotiating the shopping since “My Left Foot” so, I told him to get big mushrooms. He asked how big. I said, as big as the palm of my hand, por favor.

I think he did a pretty darn good job. Don’t you?

Anyway, I hate to be a tease, but these are two snazzy recipes which will be featured in 500 Vegan Recipes by our super sistahs Celine of Have Cake, Will Travel and Joni of Just The Food.

Oh, are you beginning to hyper-ventilate in a freaking panic because you still have a billion things to do before the 24th at midnight and are out of ideas? Take a deep breath. Joni has recently posted some great holiday recipes that would make delicious gifts, and so has Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs – so you’ve no excuses! Inspiration is everywhere! (I think the chocolate will travel just fine to France, don’t hold back!).

Happy Mail! Blogger Buddies are The Best!

I’ve been trying not to let “my left foot” get me down, but I admit, it’s not easy. While I am aware that there are people dealing with problems terribly more grave than a broken foot/torn ligaments, I’ve been laid up 4 weeks now (2 more to go with cast…) and my arse is getting sore from all this sitting! (It really is.)

I had to paint a gray picture of my little bobo in order to contrast it with the sunshine that arrived thanks to some unexpected “Happy Mail” I received last week from two beautiful blogging buddies : Ricki, of Diet, Dessert and Dogs and Libby, of The Allergic Kid. You two are the best, seriously!

The first happy letter was Ricki’s :

inside were the most adorable get well card and sweet stickers! Ricki said that since she couldn’t sign my cast in person (helas, we could have gone on a holiday chocolate binge tasting à la française!), she designated Guppy to be our official cast decorator.

This was such a sweet attention for Guppy, who is still rather stressed by our accident & seeing me laid-up (I have daily shots & a nurse has to come twice a week to draw blood…a lot of newness for a 3 year-old). Ricki’s surprise gift subverted the negativity surrounding my cast and turned it into a little girl’s artist canvas! Bravo, Ricki! You are fantastical!

I had to add a bit of tape to keep them down…

Sorry about the glare, I wanted to get the “vive obama” that one of my students wrote on my cast!

This was a difficult picture to take – good thing I’m flexible!

My cast is so spiffy now! It grows fancier every day…each evening we add a few stickers (and replace those that couldn’t make it). This was a beautiful idea and such a thoughtful surprise. In the words of Guppy when I told her my friend Ricki sent us the stickers, “We love Ricki, she’s cool! Right, Mumma?”. Right, Sweetpea.

Just two days later, yet another sweet surprise arrived from North America! This time, it was Libby’s package that made Guppy’s (and my) day!

Libby’s son is as crazy about dinos as Guppy is. I’ve not found any dino-shaped cookie/sandwich cutters here, and I couldn’t help gawking at hers a while back. Libby decided to right this horrible wrong by generously sending us this…

But wait! There’s more…

Libby also sent us some adorable Autumn cookie cutter shapes, and…

(sorry about the blurry photo – my hand model was frankly not as thrilled about the rice as the dino & leaves and wanted to get back to playing with them! Go figure.)

Wild Rice! Turns out Libby is a Minnesota native, and she graciously shared some “home grown” wild rice with me! I *love* wild rice, but it is a North American crop, and it is sometimes difficult to find, of questionable quality or pricey. I can’t wait to make something delicious with it!

Thank you Libby and Ricki for such wonderful “Happy Mail”!

Wanna Sign My Cast?

My little piggies, in all their swollen glory.

What did you do this morning? Me, I went to see the Orthopedic Specialist Dude who told me what nearly every medical professional has told me for as long as I can remember, “You know, this is really rather unique…”. At this point they generally go on to explain to me how I have extra tendons or ligaments or bones (all true) or how what happened isn’t possible (yet it is) or how they’ve never seen anything quite like whatever it is that’s wrong with me. Happen to you, too? I *so* believe you.

The “unique” thing about my accidented foot is that given the way I fell, I “shouldn’t” have the injuries I have. Ha! Tell that to the foot & ankle, people! In fact, “it’s really impossible, or I guess improbable” quoth Dr. Orhto Dude. I love doctors – and they love me, because I’m FUN! That being said, he re-confirmed that I managed to blow the three main ligaments on the lateral side of my foot, which came as no surprise, but the big news was that I also managed to break a bone!

I don’t mess around, people.

While the preliminary x-rays were cleared by the radiologist last Thursday, Mr. Ortho Dude took one look at them, pressed down on a spot on my foot that made me say all sorts of bad words (on the inside) and informed me that I broke my calcanius – not all of it thankfully, but the part that articulates with the rest of the world – turned it into a bit of an anti-social piece of rif-raff no longer interested in maintaining a healthy relationship with the rest of the gang.

You know when you really want to be wrong? I knew something was broken. In fact, it was the first thing I said to the paramedics when they asked me what happened. I could tell. I felt it friggin’ snap. Bugger. I would have loved to have been wrong about that one.

But what does this all mean? When can I go back to running and jumping and leaping tall buildings, etc.? Well, the cast is on for 4 weeks. Then we’ll see after the x-rays. In December. You know, far, far from now. Like almost in 2009. Bugger.

If I must be casted, let’s at least have some fun with it, right?

Non-sporty Monsieur Fish has a very dry sense of humor.

Guppy signed when she came home from school at lunch. “L” is the first letter of her name, the picture on the left is of our accident, and the one on the right is of a jellyfish (she is drawing jellyfish like nobody’s business) but drawing on these resin casts isn’t easy, so she crossed it out because she thought it wasn’t pretty. I told her she could try again later. I’m cool with that.

My goals as of right now are not to gain 5Kg over the next two months and to try to do as much as I can (ab work, free weights, etc.) in the mean time. Must shake off the “eat more cookies and you’ll feel better” blues.

If I knew how to knit, I’d make myself some little toe warmers. Burr.

I’ve got some yummy food to share with you tomorrow. Don’t worry, this hasn’t become “Musings From The Footbowl”. Promise.

Also a huge & gigantic thanks for all the love. It really makes a big difference, believe it or not.