It Was All About Piper (and Morgan Too)

I spent the weekend of October 3rd up in Spokane, WA visiting my sister Meg, her husband David, my 22 month old niece Morgan, and her new baby sister Piper. Unfortunately, Meg and David are (again) dealing with a colicky baby. : ( Piper is so cute, but can be SO loud! Here's a photo I had to take. Can't you almost see that sound coming out of her little mouth?


It's hard to tell in this photo, but Piper's whole body, head to toe, turns bright red when she cries. Aww... Of course, it's easy for me to write about it and think it's kind of cute. I'm not her parents though and I got to leave after four days and get to some peace and quiet! It was actually not always loud at the Allendorf abode and my visit was good. Albeit, there was some baby stress and much sleep deprivation going on. Here are some more photos from my visit.

Aren't I cute in ponytails? These Cheerios are good too.

Piper is so sweet in her sleeper. Don't miss the teddy's on her feet!

Morgan shopping with Aunt Ali at Old Navy! We bought her Halloween costume, but I'm not going to spoil the Halloween photos. I'll give you a hint though... it's pink!

Piper's bright baby blue eyes. They don't look like they are going to change. : )

Dreams of Running

I've mentioned in the past that sometimes I dream about running. Before my second knee surgery, the amount of running I did in my dreams built slowly. Once, I dreamt I was starting a race down on Crissy Field, not far from the Golden Gate Bridge, but only jogged a short distance before I woke up. Then, there was a 10K dream and few even longer races. I didn't always cross the finish line before I woke up, but sometimes I did and I remember that sense of accomplishment. In some of the dreams I worried that I shouldn't be running and in others, it just felt good to run. I always seemed to be running with minimal impact to my knee or other joints in my body. After my surgery in February the dreams stopped... until last week.

Last week I dreamt I was running down on the Marina Green. It's an area between Crissy Field and Fort Mason in the Marina neighborhood. Each year, the transition area for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon is located on the Marina Green. Many people run along the paved path next to the street, Marina Boulevard. As I recall the dream, I was running the distance from Crissy Field to where the monkey bars sit just at the edge of the boat marina next to Fort Mason. The short run felt good, although there was that nagging voice in the back of my head saying, "You shouldn't be running yet." Of course, in real life, I am listening to that voice and do not plan to try running until at least the year anniversary from my knee scope. In the meantime, it will be interesting to observe my dreams as my knee gets better. Maybe I'll be running those races or familiar paths in my sleep in no time! I wonder if we burn more calories when we run in dreams, compared to more sedentary dreams? I hope so!

A Couple of Trips to La La Land

I'm back into the routine of traveling for work. To be honest, I like it. I missed my travels when I was not able to fly after my knee surgery. It's so nice now to not have anything holding me back from doing my job.

Work travel goes like this for me: When I'm in the office, I look forward to getting on a plane and heading to another city to print a project. When I'm out of the office on press for a few days, I can't wait to get back to the office and be back into the loop with everyone! Yeah, it's a never ending cycle.

My last two trips where back-to-back weeks in the middle of September, 2-3 days in So Cal each week. During the first trip I stayed in Santa Monica, the second visit I decided to try a hotel in downtown L.A. When I was a kid, my Dad used to go to Los Angeles on business trips. I don't remember how often he went, but I do remember when he stayed at the Bonaventure Hotel downtown. I had seen photos of the hotel and thought the elevators that ran up the outside of the four towers were really "neat." My Dad would bring back the cute shampoo bottles as little souvenirs for my sister and me. I don't remember what we did with them, but I know we thought they were really cool! These days, the hotel is the Westin Bonaventure and I decided to give it a try to see what it is like just a *few* years later. ; ) The downtown location of the hotel ended up being quite convenient for me to drive to the places I needed to be each day. I would say the interior design of the hotel is a little old and tired, but they are doing some renovation. I was impressed at how nice and genuine the people were who checked me in, brought my oatmeal in the morning, or simply passed me in the hallway with a smile. Of course, most people in the service industry are cordial, but I think it's pretty hard to fake being genuine. The people who work at the Westin Bonaventure seem to like what they were doing! I think that's great.

The view from my room over downtown L.A.

My next trip? I'm off to Minneapolis next week, straight from a visit to Spokane to meet my niece Piper and spend some time with Morgan Boo. I'm hoping I can teach her to say "Auntie."

Pop!

I'm guessing you may be curious about what's going on with my bum knee lately? Well here's the deal. After I returned from my trip to New York, I limped around for a few days. It wasn't a bad limp, but it was there. I noticed it and my coworkers noticed it too. To be honest, I wasn't really worried. I knew I walked around way too much in Manhattan, but I actually felt as if my knee bounced back pretty well each day. Although after multiple days of wandering around, it had it's toll on my knee. I took it extra easy (if that is even possible) the week after I returned and my knee seemed to get back to normal. The current norm for me anyway.

I cannot deny that it's been a tough Summer. This second knee surgery really took it's toll on me, mentally and physically. The recovery period during the first 3-4 months was much worse than I imagined it would be. I have not been on the "sunny" side of life over the last 6 months or so. It's more like "clouds with a chance of rain." Not good. Back around May I got to the point that I wondered if I would ever be able to return to an active lifestyle again. It was sad for me. I didn't realize it at the time, but around July, shortly before I went to New York, it dawned on me that my worry was getting me nowhere. I can't say I entirely stopped worrying, but I drastically reduced the amount of it. I figured the surgery was behind me and there was nothing I could do to change it. I better just settle in and be patient. Dr. Dye said my knee would heal and I figured it may be good to start believing him.

During my trip, I did worry a little. I really had not walked that much in a long, long time. I thought to myself, "Should I be taking this trip? Maybe a stay-cation would be better for me right now." The need to get-out-of-town took over and I was pleasantly surprised how my knee handled the trip. That the achy feeling in my knee did not escalate to full pain and throbbing as it had when I did too much a few months earlier. In the mornings I would wake up and, while my knee didn't feel great, it wasn't holding me back. That was good to learn. I thought, maybe, just maybe my knee is on the road to be able to withstand some activity again.

A week and a half after I got home, I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Dye. I hadn't seen him for about 6 weeks. He looked at my knee and said, "It looks better than the last time I saw you!" I laughed. What? How many knees a day does he see? 12... 20? Could he actually remember what my knee looked like 6 weeks ago? Dr. Dye does not take photos, but hey, maybe he has one of those photographic memories. Hmm. I thought it was interesting that during those 6 weeks since my last follow-up I had hoofed it around NY and he still thought my knee looked better! Dr. Dye told me to keep doing whatever I was doing and come back in 4 weeks. I've had to move that appointment out a few weeks due to some work trips, so we'll see what he has to say in mid-September.

There is one especially interesting thing to note. A few weeks ago, I was lounging on my couch (as I do more than I would like to admit) and had my leg propped up on a pillow. I do this often, especially when icing my knee. I had an urge to stretch and bend my legs, so I did. I heard a "pop!" in my left knee, honestly the loudest pop I have ever heard come from that knee, before or after surgery. The pop wasn't painful, it was just a noise. Well, something must have come "unstuck" because suddenly my knee didn't feel as tight. I swear, for the last few weeks it has felt significantly better and I can lift my leg straight with minimal pain in my knee. I would say that's progress! My guess is that one of those synovial "fronds," as Dr. Dye called them, stopped catching. All a part of the healing process, I guess.

I realized it's been a long time since I've taken or posted a range of motion photo. As you can see, my ROM is not back to normal, but has improved. It's all I can ask for as the Summer comes to a close. Hopefully Fall in San Francisco will be a little more "sunny" for me.

Welcome to the World Piper Rylee!

I have a new niece! Morgan is now big sister to baby Piper Rylee. Meg is doing well and Grandpa and Grandpa B are up in Spokane, Washington helping with all that second-time parents Meg and David need in these early days.



Piper arrived around 4:00 PM on Thursday, August 27, just one day shy of Meg's due date. She was 8 lbs. 5 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Apparently, Morgan caught onto the name Piper right away and is saying it quite a bit. I'm planning to visit in early October.

My High School 20-Year Reunion

Montclair Cultural Arts Center

I can't believe I just attended my 20-year high school reunion. Has it really been that long? No way. I learned about the date that was set for this Summer way back in February, shortly before my knee surgery. I had little doubt at the time that I would attend, although I did reconsider a few times before the actual event.

You see, I didn't have much fun at my 10-year reunion. I'm not sure why, but I really didn't take it that seriously. Once I got there, I didn't feel dressed up enough and got really tired of people saying, "Why would you do that?" when they learned I was moving to Salt Lake City, Utah for a new job. Yes, I knew it was not the most common place to relocate, but I was tired of the So Cal life I was living and was looking forward to my new adventure. Also, people were still just too clique-y at the reunion for me. Not a lot had changed since high school. You see, I always considered myself somewhere in-between the "popular" kids in school and the "not-so-popular" kids. In hindsight, I was definitely one of those girls that worried about whether I was wearing the right clothes and was taking part in the right activities so people accepted me. I did do things I wanted to do, but I was more of a goody-two-shoes than a someone who wanted to be "different." 20 years later? I'm pretty sure that hasn't changed! Anyway, one thing I was a little concerned about was the fact that I'm still *single.* Thing is, what can I do? Was I going to let it keep me from seeing old friends and familiar faces? No, it wasn't.

So I got my plans together. I was meeting my friend Melissa and her husband Matthew at their home in Oakland. Another friend from high school, Chris, was traveling all the way from his home in Singapore to attend the reunion. He was staying with Melissa and Matthew, so we would all go together. Great! I had decided a while back that I thought it would be fun to get my hair and make-up done for the event. Why not? I never had my hair done for anything other than when I was a bridesmaid and I always to the same old boring routine with my make-up. I thought it would be a little treat to myself. Well, the day of the reunion arrived. I was rushing around some errands and finally sat down for my pampering around 2:00 PM.

An hour and a half later, I was on my way home to change and get to Oakland. To be blunt, I was now in a completely different mind set. Rather than feeling pretty, I felt like I was trying too hard. I had never worn so much make-up in my whole life! I don't think I even wore that much make-up while performing in the school musical. Uh oh, this is not how I wanted to feel before seeing my old classmates. When I was finally on my way to Melissa's, I called her and voiced my concern. I asked her to promise to tell me if I had too much make-up on. I arrived at her house, and she said I looked fine, but I was still a little worried. That's just what I do. We looked through some old photo albums and toasted each other with the champagne I brought along. Then, we called a cab and off we headed to the reunion.

Chris waiting for the cab on the front porch

I was nervous heading into the event, but relaxed after a short time of chatting with people I hadn't seen in a really long time. I noted that pretty much all of my classmates who attended looked great! Some people were dressed up a lot more than others, but in the end, it didn't really matter. I had a much better time than at my 10-year reunion. People were kind and laid back. They just seemed genuinely happy to see each other whether they hung out in high school or not! The evening just flew by and suddenly we were off to an after-party at Crogan's in Montclair. I'll spare you the details, but during the evening, there were great stories told, a whole lot of reminiscing, and even a little drama at the end. No, the drama didn't involve me, but it was sure fun to watch! I never thought I would be one of the last people to leave my reunion, but I was. The evening went by so fast and, unfortunately, I hardly took any photos. Here are the few I managed to take:

Melissa, me, Jennifer, Liz and Kathy

Matthew and Melissa

Ryann, me, and Rene at Crogan's

Will I go to my 30-year reunion? I can't answer that right now, but based on the nice evening I had this time around, I don't see why not. : )

My New Couch

I finally bought a new couch. I had been thinking about it for over a year, maybe more. I had loved the couch that I bought over a decade ago when I lived in Virginia. It was so well made and so comfortable. I got it at a place called Greenfront Furniture in Farmville, Virginia. I learned it was much lest expensive to buy furniture on the East Coast. Half the cost we pay on the West Coast is for shipping the furniture across the country.

Unfortunately, my old couch had it's day. It was a plaid pattern that was quite outdated and just worn out. I had it cleaned once, but now it just looked dingy. I considered having it re-upholstered, but found out that would cost even more than buying a new one. It was too bad, since it's hard to find a couch with soft, down pillows and such a sturdy construction today without spending an arm and a leg. After looking around Macy's and a few other stores earlier this year, I decided it was time to finally bite the bullet. Obviously, you can tell I was concerned about how much money I spent. After my knee surgery and planned vacation, I didn't want to buy something in a high price range, although hoped I would find something to stand the test of time. I decided on a fairly standard couch from Macy's, but chose a specific neutral fabric, a more casual option than the velvet in-stock version offered. That cost me a little more, but I figured it was worth it if I am going to have this couch for years to come.

Just before I left for New York, I received a call that my couch was ready for delivery. I was surprised! Macy's said it would take 6-8 weeks, and it had only been 3 weeks since I placed the order. When I was on my trip, I called and scheduled the delivery for the Sunday after I returned from New York.


Isn't it nice? I am liking it so far. The guys who delivered it were very professional. I asked if they could take my old couch out to the front of the building when they left. I had scheduled a Salvation Army pick-up for the next day. Luckily, I don't live on a high floor in my apartment building, so they were nice about doing this for me. I gave them a big tip and they were on their way to their next stop. To be honest, I still miss my old couch a little. It was a great one through the years. I couldn't even look at it out in front of my building when I left for work the next morning. Listen to me, I sound like I've given away a puppy! I guess you never really know what you've gotten attached to in life until you have to let it go. That couch was my cushion for many an iced knee over the last several years. I hope it has found a good home.