Welcome spring!!

Today was a marvelous spring day. It was in the upper 50's, so cool but not cold. The wind was friendly and stayed pretty gentle all day. I got in three or four hours of outside time with my girls!! They had a ball exploring and getting reacquainted with all of their toys that have been put away for the winter.

My camera (ie my phone) was put in a jacket pocket that I took off and then promptly forgot about, so no fun pictures to show. I can share Lauren's battle wounds though. She took two headers today.  One inside the house off a kitchen chair (I was right there, but still couldn't catch her in time) and the second happened in our driveway - I would say the driveway won... I'm not sure how it happened but I was there for the aftermath...

On another note - I saw the Orthopedic specialist today. Unfortunately, I'm not any closer to knowing what is up with my leg. He said that my x-rays looked good (the anomaly on my right leg is from where I had bone taken for a bone graft in my jaw several years ago - I had forgotten about it). I tested negative for any ligament or cartilage tears. His thoughts from the pain I'm having would be inflammation of the miniscus, but he also said that it shouldn't be taking this long to heal... So, the only remaining course (other than just more time off of it) is an MRI to see if I have a stress fracture. That isn't on the calendar yet because it has to be pre-approved by insurance.

Injury update, 15 months, and a new do!

Tonight I am discouraged.  It has been four weeks since my last run.  Four weeks since my last exercise induced boost of endorphins.  I feel like all the effort and work of the past six months is going down the tubes. 

Four visits to the Chiropractor - my body in general is starting to feel better, so I know that the adjustments they are making are helping me overall... but any effort at running, fitness videos, fast walking... same result.  Pain in my right knee that radiates up into my quad and down into my calf.  If I persist, this ache will stay with me (earlier this week when I ran a half mile, the ache persisted for 36 hours after that attempt!). 

I am seeing an Orthopedist next week, but I'm not sure what he'll have to tell me.  My chiropractor is pretty proficient at tendon and ligament injury detection.  He manipulated my knee pretty thoroughly through all the checkpoints for ACL, MCL, LCL, meniscus tears and they were all negative (which is good, but still frustrating that we can't pinpoint something)...

Anyway... forgive my whine.  Yes, I will take some cheese with that!

On happier notes...

My baby is 15 months old!  She is an averaged height, skinny little peanut!  30.5 inches tall, 50th percentile.  20lbs .5oz - only 10th percentile!  I looked back through my records of the other girls and she is right in the middle.  A half a pound heavier than Karen and about a half pound lighter than Megan.  I can't believe she's growing up so fast!

I finally made it in to get my hair cut.  It was really needing some attention!  I decided to go a little shorter this time around - shorter than I've been in a long time.  The front doesn't look that much different, but it is pretty short in the back.  No more ponytails for me!  (Check out my shirt - this is prior to the game yesterday - go Zags!!)

Go Zags!

I promise a recap of our time at Disneyland is coming, but today is the start of March Madness!!  This is a big day in casa-Crider!  My husband has been a basketball player most all of his life and this is a fun day in front of the tv for us annually.

This year however, is even more exciting.  Our beloved Zags are the number 1 ranked team in the nation and have a #1 seed going into the tournament.  Both Carl and I are Gonzaga alums and Carl played for the Zags from 95-98. 

It's been quite a ride the last eighteen years.  It started with our first visit to the "Big Dance" in 1995 - my freshman year in college.  I traveled with the pep band to Salt Lake City to watch the Bulldogs play against Maryland.  We were beat pretty handily but it was still a great experience.

The next visit to the tournament is the one that most people remember - the 1998-1999 team that shocked everyone by beating the #2 Standford Cardinal in the second round.  I was also at the  Sweet Sixteen games where we beat Florida by 4 in the final seconds and eventually lost to UConn in the Elite Eight (UConn went on to win the tournament).

Another memorable tournament showing was the 2003 game against #1 ranked Arizona.  Gonzaga came in as #9 and played Arizona in the round of 32.  A double overtime game that was decided by one point and a really good look by Blake Stepp that just didn't fall!  Carl and I had just started dating and I have vivid memories of our hooping and hollering at the tv and our utter dejection at the outcome!  I've seen them replay this game several times on ESPN Classics.

We've never made it past the Elite Eight - but there's always this year!  I filled out two brackets, one has them winning... yes, I made that choice based upon my heart.  The other bracket has them losing in the Final Four... some might argue that bracket was also chosen with my heart.  We'll see!!

Go ZAGS !!!

It was a "splash"!! {Wordless Wednesday}

Fun times!!

Can you guess...

... where we spent last week??

A preview of what's to come!  Recap coming soon.