Poor Joseph

I've been really busy these past couple weeks. So busy that I would have felt guilty if I had spent some of it blogging. Last week we sold our house so Aaron was there for a good part of the week directing the movers: what goes to our apartment, what goes to the storage unit, etc. I stayed here because I am only allowed a couple days this semester for doctors appointments and in case I get sick.

Aaron also attempted to dig up one of the St. Joseph statues we've had buried in the yard since last June. For those of you that don't know, burying one of them in the yard of your home is supposed to help sell your house faster. You bury the statue head-first into the ground, facing the street (some say pointing to the house works as well). Once you sell the place, you are supposed to dig up the statue and put it in a place of honor in the new home. If the statue is left in the ground after the house is sold, the house is supposed to continually change owners.

For extra help, we buried two statues. One of them was placed under the For Sale sign which is now gone so there is no way to locate it. The other was in the flower beds in the back yard. Mind you, this was February in Michigan, so when Aaron went to dig him up, the ground was frozen solid. Aaron was determined though and he spent about 4 hours dig and dumping hot water into the hole to soften the ground. The movers thought he was digging up a dead body. Finally, St. Joseph was ressurrected. In the process, he lost his arms and his workbench. He is now sitting on a shelf in the apartment. After all that work, Aaron decided that he wasn't even going to attempt looking for the other statue.

Another new event is that I had my first run since my surgery. It was time. I had thought about calling my doctor and asking him if I was okay. He'd probably say let's wait in see when you come for your appointment in a week. I felt ready and everything that I have read research-wise states that it is safe for me to begin. I have nearly equal strength in both legs, full range of motion, no swelling. I still have a bit of scar tissue in my knee that makes it a bit stiff at times and that has been my only concern. I found a return to running protocol that lasts 8 weeks and gradually moves you up to 30 minutes of running. You start with 5. I warmed up on the bike and stretched and then got on a treadmill. I was scared. First thing, I don't usually run on treadmills. I will run outdoors unless it is below 0 degrees, the roads are a complete sheet of ice or under more than 8 inches of snow. Even though winters in Michigan are rough, there are usually only a handful of days when I am unwilling to go outside to run. The other reason is the fear that my knee wasn't ready and that it would hurt. I have been told that the first run after an acl reconstruction is the worst. Some people do just fine. Others feel like they'll never be able to run well again. My run was kind of in the middle. Those 5 minutes felt like an eternity. My left leg didn't want to keep up with the right and I kept shifting a lot of my weight over to my good leg. It didn't exactly hurt to run. It felt odd though. Like my bones weren't used to the jarring. It got easier towards the end of the run and everything felt a little smoother. That evening my lower leg ached a little bit. I iced the knee even though it really didn't need it. It didn't swell up and nothing broke. Next run is on Tuesday. Another 5 minutes.