Summer Fun & Sprained Ankles

Three months since I last posted?? Oopsy. My only excuse is that we've been so busy having fun this summer, there really hasn't been any time to blog about it all. :o)  This is the girls' first 'real' summer vacation (from school) and in hopes of them having an awesome summer, we made a "What we did on our summer vacation" list. It includes all the normal things like going to the zoo, Cedar Point, playgrounds, etc. But it also includes things we don't always do like have a lemonade stand, camp out in the backyard, the library summer reading program, etc. We have about 60 items on our list and about half are checked off so far! We don't plan on checking off every item, but it's fun to have some suggestions when we are looking for something to do. Some of the most exciting events (to me, anyway) are Kaitlyn's first rides on a few bigger roller coasters. She hit the 48" mark this year and has been on the Beast at Kings Island, as well as the Blue Streak, the Mine Ride, the Gemini and the Corkscrew at Cedar Point! It's been so fun experiencing all her "firsts" on these rides...my dad and I always loved riding coasters together and now I get to enjoy that same experience with my own daughter. I love it. :o)

I've also hit running a bit harder the last few months...this summer has been pretty cool so it's just perfect for running. I joined a group WAY back in December called I Run 4 Michael. They pair up able-bodied runners with children with disabilities who aren't able to run or just have health issues. It took a long time, but I was finally matched in June with my buddy, AnaGrayce. She's 11, one of 4 kids, lives in Oregon and has severe asthma and a milk allergy. She has an amazing singing voice, has a good relationship with God and loves Sanctus Real, just like we do. It's been fun getting to know her and putting in some miles for her...just one little problem lately though...

I SPRAINED MY ANKLE!! Ugh! Last Wednesday at ultimate Frisbee we were in our last play of the last game and I jumped up with the girl I was guarding, came down, landed on my rolled ankle (that made a crunching noise - ick!) and fell to the ground. It was so bizarre as in all my years of volleyball, track, etc. I have never gotten injured during a game/practice like that...never had the "laying on the field" moment in front of everyone...it was a bit embarrassing! I laid there a few minutes, unable to move at all because the pain was INTENSE, people crowded around, etc...see, embarrassing! After a couple minutes, the pain mostly went away, I got up, walked it off and decided I could finish out the last point (we were, after all, already down to me being the only girl) slowly and carefully. It hurt, but I thought I just tweaked it and it'd be fine. Walked off the field, to the car, got home and put ice on it right away, took a shower, etc...it hurt a bit, but no big deal. Sat on the couch an hour watching tv, got up to go to bed and it was a little swollen and stiff, so I limped up to bed around midnight, but again, it didn't feel THAT bad. Took me a while to get comfortable but finally fell asleep and woke up an hour later with throbbing crazy pain...and I had to pee! LOL. As soon as I moved to get up I discovered that HOLY CRAP this ankle is freaking killing me!!! It took me 15 minutes (seriously) of trying to get out of bed - several cuss words later I realized there was so freaking way I could put ANY weight on it! UGH. I ended up CRAWLING to the bathroom and then down the stairs to the couch thinking maybe I'd be more comfortable if I could prop it up. I laid there awake for 2 hours (now 4:30am) Googling "sprained/broken ankles" and "urgent care centers near Waterville." I hated to admit it, but this was more than a little tweak.

Next thing I know it's 8:30am and Kaitlyn and Aundrea find me on the couch. Then Wayne comes down asking "Aren't you going to work today?" to which I reply "You need to take me to urgent care, like now! I can't put any weight on my ankle!" So off to the St. Luke's ER we go (urgent care wasn't open yet). That was kind of fun because I was reminiscing about the only other time I've been to the ER there being when I had Kaitlyn...it was a little different pain this time around, ha! Anyways, we got right in, saw a few nurses/doctors, they took a few x-rays to make sure it wasn't broken and I ended up crutching out of there with a sprained ankle. Dang it...ain't nobody got time for that! How am I going to take care of the kids, the house, go to work?? And let's not forget that ultimate Frisbee playoffs are the following Wednesday and I'm signed up to run a 5k Saturday! Yea...none of that happened. :-(  I've never pulled out of a race before, so that sucked...and it was AWFUL not getting to play in our Frisbee playoffs. Earlier this week I totally had a "woe is me" day...I miss running and Frisbee and walking without pain! I am way too active to be down and out for much more than a few days and it was really getting to me...I even joked (kind of) that I would need a padded room if this went on for much longer, lol. Anyways, I'm 9 days post-injury now and I'm getting there...doing lots of ankle rehab exercises/stretches/balance/biking...see, those sports medicine classes in college did pay off! Still very antsy to get back to running...especially since I'm planning on doing another half marathon on Oct. 12 in Dayton! Hopefully I can get back up to speed quickly.

Ok, enough about that! Lots more to catch up on (back to school is coming!) but we'll save that for another day.