D's knees

(image borrowed from: http://216.74.18.90/image/122/totalknee/images/Img%205%20Knee%20Anatomy.jpg)

I went to the physiotherapist today bracing myself for the worst. I expected that she would tell me to stop running for a while. This would kill me. Yes, I did go for a *tiny* run this morning just in case she said "no more". And I ran to the appointment... well, come on, I was wearing my running shoes!
Ok, ok, so she had a good look and made me do all sorts of bending and she poked and asked questions and prodded and asked me if that hurt, how about that? I think after a bit she was trying to get me to scream.
Good news! I had an alignment problem of my sacrum that was throwing everything off and ultimately causing my right knee to turn in. And my right butt muscle is weak. She made the adjustment and I have exercises to do. This is so much better than I'd hoped, so guess who will be doing her exercises? She also suggested that I tone down the mileage until I build up the muscle and she's sure that the alignment takes.
I think I can live with that :-)

Sleep would be nice.......

Adventures in girly-girl land: let me nibble your toes

So, on my quest for refurbishment this year, it is now time to focus on my feet with a lovely pedicure. I had my first professional pedicure a couple of years ago with my friend Libby in Vancouver (I know! what took me so long? Not much of a girly girl). I've been getting by with my own half-assed attempts, but when Maggie started asking, how could I say no? Once again, I called up my girly connection Adriana. She told me about this little place called Tami on Duluth. The next week they were in the newspaper because they do the fish pedicures. For someone who is not a girly girl, I DID know about fish pedicures, and am now surprised that so many people don't. Really people, I am normally the last one to find these things out, keep up! The fish in question are these little carp that eat the dead skin off your feet. It's ok, they don't have teeth. I thought this was bizarre, but I'm up for most bizarre stuff. It took us a while to get organized, but Maggie eventually booked us an early morning appointment on a Saturday and off we went with our other friend Lysanne.

We arrived bright and early and were the first meal of the day. They have two tanks that can take two people each. We were three, so Maggie and Lysanne shared one and I got one to myself (mainly because I was taking pictures for posterity). Maggie was first and she didn't scream, Lysanne had a moment where we thought she might bolt, but she held it together.

After watching them, I was eager to try. Maggie described it best, it's like sticking your feet in club soda, bubbly. I don't have ticklish feet, but Maggie assured me that even sensitive feet are immune from tickles. We were submerged almost to our knees and the fish were also nibbling at our legs. I thought it felt great!

I splayed my toes and they got in between, they nibbled away at my cuticles and heels, everywhere.

The only drawback to sharing a tank apparently is that whoever has more to eat gets more attention. There was some fish sharing that had to be performed between Maggie and Lysanne. I stayed in longest and my feet are still amazingly soft and smooth. We finished the experience with fresh polish, I got some great purple toes. Then it was off for lattes at Myriade and pad thai at a nearby favorite. Another great girly experience!

Adventures in girly-girl land: some good conversation and a place to park your plane

I went for for first ever waxing appointment last week. I'm not a huge girly girl, so I've managed to avoid a lot of things that involved estheticians. This year, I 'm giving these things a shot. Let's face it, I'm 40 this year and a general refurbishment is probably due. I'm wrinkly, saggy, hairy, and not getting any prettier. This is not a desperate attempt to regain my youth, it's more a reality check and a “this is the best it's gonna get chickie, better appreciate whatcha got”. I know as well as anyone that I'm a pretty good lookin' almost 40, but I can't compete with the young 'uns anymore.

So I call up my friend, Adriana, the bank of all info I need to be hip and cool and smooth and girly. She gave me the number of her lady and on Wednesday, in the midst of a deadline and a snowstorm, off I trudged to have the hair ripped off my legs and bikini area. The lady is question is a middle-aged Romanian who came to Canada 30 years ago and never looked back. It's her business and she's proud of it and you can tell she loves her work. I walked in and told her my name and she said, “I know”. I knew I was going to like her right away. I awkwardly explained that I was a waxing virgin and had no idea what to expect. She looked at me a little annoyed and explained that she would be removing the hair from my legs and bikini. Well, I knew that! She looked up from her appointment book suddenly and asked, “do you want a Brazillian?” I've watched Sex and the City so I knew what she meant. “Oh no!”, I stammered, “just a regular one!”

“Oh thank God”, she said, “I don't think you're ready for that”. I think she was right.

I followed her to her waxing area, a couple of repurposed electric fondue pots simmering with green wax and a reclining chair with a comfy stool in front of it. My pants came off and I got comfy in the chair and she started doing what she does, starting with the bikini area. Keeping in mind that I am new to this, I watched as she took more and more off. More than I have ever shaved. I now have what is called a “landing strip”. She worked very diligently to get the sides even, and even implied that she could have taken more off. I'm thinking that I'd like to keep it as is at least. We will have to have a discussion the next time about shapes and such.

Next came the legs. I'm not particularly hairy, so the legs went pretty fast. She told me that a few more visits before the summer will probably have me nearly hair-free for the summer. I have thin hair, she knows these things.

During all the waxing and ripping, we talked about books and politics. When she started a sentence with, “I was reading last week in The Economist”, I knew why Adriana loves this woman so much. She made me promise not to shave and to come back in five weeks. She refused to take a tip because she's the owner, which may force me to bake for next time. I may like this girly girl thing!

My body

Perhaps in the spirit of getting back into the blog thing I should tell the one or two people who still wander through what's been going on for the past couple of years. We'll start with my body.
When Naomi turned one and I returned to work I was over 190lbs and pretty down about it. Now, I've never been skinny, but having kids and staying home for a year with each had really taken its toll. I was in nasty shape and fat as a house. A couple of months before, I got back in touch with my old friend Deb. We had lost touch when she and her boyfriend split. We invited her over for dinner one night, and when I opened the door to let her in, I took one look and said, "Cripe Deb, where did the rest of you go?". She had easily lost 30lbs and looked fab. She told me that she followed Weight Watchers. I remembered doing WW in my early twenties with a bunch of my friends and losing 10lbs. I also remembered how hard it was to keep track of the breads, milks, etc. After being reassured that it was not like this anymore, I signed up online for a trial free membership, downloaded all the info I needed to do it on my own, then cancelled and off I went. So that was two years ago. Since then, I've lost more than 50lbs and am down to a healthy weight.

I don't follow WW, but I eat reasonably and I continue to eat the normal, healthy food I have always eaten. Last year I returned to the gym and now I have a routine of 4 or 5 days a week. I started running, which now feels amazing because my knees don't hurt and I no longer feel winded. In short, I'm happier with my body than I've been in 10 years. My goal over the winter is to work with a personal trainer on my upper body and train for 10k.
I think my success is in part to do with the fact that I wasn't in a hurry and I never obsessed about the scale. When I reached a point where I wasn't steadily losing, I just kept doing what I was doing until my metabolism caught up. When it comes to your body, patience is the best thing you can give it, and a cute new pair of jeans of course...;-)

stop when you hear the crunch

After living with back pain for the past 18 months, I finally decided to do something about it and booked an appointment with an osteopath. The trouble all started a month after Naomi was born. I would wake up at night and have to pile all the pillows up so that I was nearly vertical to get enough relief to go back to sleep. The pain has dulled significantly over the year and a half, but I still wake up somewhat sore, and that ain't right. A friend recommended her osteopath who has done a good job on her, so I swallowed my fear of all people who manipulate your body and went in. I'm not sure what I was expecting (cracking, breaking, crunching), but she was really nice and figured out that the problem is probably that my hips weren't aligned, not uncommon after birth, especially one that's so freakin' speedy (thanks again, Naomi). I felt fine right after, but now my hip is achy. It would be great if this gets me back to normal, and I'm not afraid anymore! Well, of her anyway.