the knee diagnosis

The title sounds kind of menacing… like it should be followed by some ominous sound effect. DUM DUM DUUUUUUUUM.

But don’t worry, things aren’t as bad as they could be. But I’ll save those tantalizing details and dig into my food first.

Bagel thin with strawberry jelly

Clearly not the most filling breakfast, but I really wanted to try the Bagel Thins! They were pretty good! They might not kill a bagel craving, but they tasted good!

I then went grocery shopping! Don’t you love it when your mom hands you the credit card and says “go grocery shopping”?? Well even though my mom’s house is kind of in the country, there is a decent grocery store (Martin’s) here that has a great natural section! I was able to snag some great products I’ve been wanting to try and the produce looked great, too. While there, I picked up an Amy’s frozen burrito to heat up for lunch!

Amy's Black Bean burrito with a carrot

Grapefruit sections

Complaint: This “individual, convenient” cup of fruit? It has TWO servings! When something is packed like this, it makes one think it is a single serving. They are tricking consumers! Make the package smaller or change the nutrition info to reflect what is in the container.

Then I got some stuff done around the house and before leaving for my doctor’s appointment, I had some toast with the new nut butter I found!

Whole wheat bread with sea salted soynut butter

The sports medicine practice I went to is attached to the hospital that my mom works at, so I picked up a Subway sub to take to her for dinner (and one for myself, naturally).

Then I went to the practice and I had some X-rays done and it has been decided that I have a very (very) minor stress fracture. I’ve already taken a week off running so I’m to take another off while resting, icing, and stretching. Then I can start slowly on a treadmill and stop immediately if it hurts and take another week off. He thinks that after 2-3 weeks of rest I should be okay to slowly start building up mileage and to use a treadmill at first because it is a softer surface. Yay I’m not broken or torn seriously! I can still do the elliptical, cycling, and swimming as long as it doesn’t hurt! And for strength training I just have to avoid squats and using heavy weights on leg extension machines.

Off to relax a bit before eating dinner & going to a movie (by myself!)

cake, babies, and driving

Sorry for my absence, but today was looooong!

I had a pretty average morning, but didn’t make it to the gym because I stayed up packing last night. However packing up my stuff and then packing and unpacking my car did break a sweat and required some heavy lifting, so that counts, right?! I had a pretty boring bowl of cereal with a banana & an apricot for breakfast then headed to the office for my last day of work!

Mona, my boss/my best friends’ mom/my “other mother”, ordered lunch for the office! I had a sandwich on foccacia bread of marinated portobello mushroom, tomato, lettuce, and harvarti cheese. There was supposed to be Caesar dressing on it, but you can never be certain if it is vegetarian or not so I skipped it. She also got me a cake! Of course I forgot to take my camera into the conference room (where we ate) but got a picture of the cake after we ate it! It said “Good luck, Meredith!”!

Mmmmmm layers of vanilla cream and strawberry! Definitely had a slice!

It was a very rich cake so the slices were small but so tasty!

After lunch, I finished up my last task and had tearful goodbyes with everyone! I already had to say goodbye to Jeff in the morning before work, and now my co-workers and Mona who I have lived with for nearly 6 months! But I had places to go, like the hospital.

No, no I’m not sick! My cousin was finally in labor! She is the first cousin to have a baby (she just got married in June!) and I feel like we’re all growing up now. She’s the oldest and was the leader of our ragtag gang of grandkids. Oh, all those summers at the beach! And now she’s a mommy! I spent a few hours with her but left to pack up my car. She delivered a healthy baby boy, Luke Caleb 8 lb, 11 oz (HUGE), while I was driving to my mom’s house!

Baby!!!!!!! (Sent from my uncle's cell phone)

So after I left and packed up my car, I shipped out and said goodbye to Virginia Beach! Actually, saying goodbye to Mona & Jeff’s puppy, who was basically my puppy this whole time, was the hardest. Her sad little eyes made me feel bad about the suitcases!! I’ll be at my mom’s house on and off for a couple weeks before vacationing in France, working in Richmond briefly, and moving to Texas! On the 4 hour drive, I ate some Kashi crackers, an apple, and a Clif MoJo bar. And when I got home and was exhausted from all the moving and starving because it was 9:30pm, I inhaled some low fat Chex Mix, cherries, and a whole wheat wrap with lettuce, hummus, and cheese. Then ate some Jelly Belly jelly beans for dessert

Now I’m super exhausted and going to bed. Not much on the agenda tomorrow except for run some errands, bake/cook, and go to the sports medicine doc for my knee!