Das Boot!

Well it's not a boot like I thought it'd be but instead it's an aircast, old-school style and I should be wearing it whenever I'm walking around.  I also have an ankle brace that I can wear when driving or doing any other activities where I cannot wear the boot.  I have to go back in 3 weeks for a check-up and see if it's getting any better but for now it's 0 activity for me, well for my legs, for probably 6 weeks.  I'm gonna go absolutely crazy. I'll post pictures of the boot tomorrow, just wanted to get the update out there first.

So here it is:

It's been just over a week and it's starting to getting annoying already.  The air cast itself is comfortable but walking with it is not.  I don't have any shoes/boots to even out my left leg so I'm walking uneven but hopefully I'll go get some shoes this weekend.  I cannot drive in it so I have to drive in my ankle brace instead and I wear the ankle brace at home too since I'm not walking around much.

5 weeks to go!

Fat Tuesday

Today is Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of lent for the Christian faith.  It is the last day of Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) culminating a celebration that began on the Epiphany, the night celebrating when the three kings came to visit Jesus.  With the end of Mardi Gras begins the lenten season and a time for fasting.  We are supposed to give up something that we rely on heavily in our daily lives so that it is a sacrifice and although we will never be able to duplicate the sacrifice Christ gave for us it is up to each individual to find that vice they cannot live without.

SO!  What is everyone giving up for lent this year?  I'm guessing Dad and Betz are giving up candy...again.  I am torn between giving up Facebook or coffee.  I'm pretty much addicted to both so let me know what you think!

Enjoy Ash Wednesday and good luck with whatever sacrifice it is you will be making.

Pitchers and Catchers

I hope these two get there 'ish' together this year!

Pitchers and catchers have reported to Fort Myers at the Red Sox new Fenway South, officially known as JetBlue Park.  It's already a weird vibe with Tim Wakefield's retirement on Friday and I'm trying extremely hard to get excited about the 2012 season but I cannot get the image of complete failure out of my head as Papelbon blew the last game of the season against Baltimore.

The new additions of Ryan Sweeney, Cody Ross, Nick Punto, Andrew Bailey and of course the managerial addition of Bobby Valentine is supposedly going to turn things around, erase last years memories, and start ahead on another championship journey.  With veteran leadership from Youk, Papi, Pedroia, Lester, Buck, Beckett, A-Gon, and [if we had made the playoffs I woulda been MVP but who cares cuz I still make 8 mill a year] Ellsbury things have the potential to do just that.

Problems...well as of right now we don't have a complete outfield with Crawford out for a bit of time after having wrist surgery, evidently J.D. Drew retired (did anyone notice?), and there are a bunch of back-ups fighting for the positions.  We also got rid of both of our shortstops, good luck Scutaro and Lowrie wherever you are; so now Mike Aviles, Nick Punto, and future phenom Jose Iglesias are fighting for the spot to be the next ex-Red Sox shortstop.

As of now I have no predictions for this year because after last year only God knows how this will turn out.  As spring training begins, progresses, and wraps up I'll continue to monitor how things look and maybe I'll put out a prediction before the season begins.  Until then though the full squad should be in Ft. Myers by this weekend and the first games against Northeastern and BC are on March 3rd.

This is either gonna go very well or just be an utter disaster...no in between.

Chris's Mix

I found a CD in my car today entitled "Chris's Mix" and honestly I cannot for the life of me remember making it.  And I don't think I did actually...I would never put the extra "s" after the apostrophe.  I must have picked out the songs because it definitely has songs that were part of "me" at some point so it was refreshing to reminisce on old music that fueled some emotions.  So what songs are on this you ask???

Eye of the Tiger - Survivor 

Bullet with Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins

Cowboy - Kid Rock (1999)

Way I Am - Eminem (2000)

My Hero - Foo Fighters (1998)

Enter Sandman - Metallica

Guerilla Radio - Rage Against the Machine (1999)

Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff (1999)

Come With Me - P Diddy (1998)
Whatever - Godsmack (1999)
Stupify - Distrubed (2000)
Self Esteem - Offspring
Korn - Freak on a Leash (1999)
What If - Creed (1999)

Looks like it was a running CD and I might even have to throw all these songs together on my IPod.  There are a few other songs that wouldn't play due to the condition of the disc but maybe some day I'll be able to figure them out.  A lot of these songs I had to figure out with just the first 10-15 seconds of them.  Maybe this will be my playlist once I am finally able to run again...MRI Wednesday!

Diving in Monterey

Yesterday I got to finally get in the water for a dive completely unrelated to work and it was a lot of fun!  I went with a guy that is from Zurich, Switzerland who is over here for a few weeks to work with us in the seahorse gallery and learn a thing or two about what we do.  He's a bit frustrating to work with at times because he doesn't really understand what it means to have 100 different things to do and thinks we should all just be focusing on one particular aspect of the job and do that really well; if only it were that easy!

Anyway, we decided to get in the water off of Cannery Row just down the street from work.  There is a beach called McAbee beach behind the Mexican restaurant El Torito.  So after we got his gear rented and I got a tank we hit the beach.  It was a nice, sunny day when we got in the water but it was kinda windy.  The waves were coming in strong but not nearly as big as the ones over by Lover's Point where we first thought about going.  Once we got in we headed south-southwest along the rocks on the right then cut over south-southeast and came back north to finish our dive.

It was extremely surgey underwater and we were getting tossed around, back and forth a good 15-feet at a time and with visibility of maybe 10-12 feet in 52 degrees you'd think this would have been a horrible dive but it wasn't.  I needed to get out of the house and do something, pretty much anything that wasn't work related and since I can't run, not completely into biking yet, and I stopped drinking this seemed to be the perfect outlet!!!  And I didn't care that I was getting flung around like a ragdoll underwater I was enjoying every minute of it.  The sun was still shining through the detritus, sand and kelp and the fish were still swimming.  We saw a bunch of rockfish, a couple of monkey face eels, a bunch of inverts and even a school of about 100 or so tubesnouts!

Overall a great dive...we were down for about 65 minutes and hopefully I'll get back in the water again soon!

LIG!

RIP Whitney

Whitney Houston died yesterday and it seems to be a sad day for everyone.  I know you probably won't believe this but Whitney's music was a big part of my childhood growing up.  I know all of the words to her songs (her singles anyway) and I will sing them loud and proud from here on out.  How, you may ask?  My aunt Rita listened to her religiously so every time I hear ANY of her songs I think of her...and now I hope Rita is up there with a front row seat to Whitney's first heavenly concert.

In memory of Miss Houston I'm gonna wanna dance with somebody, but how will I know without getting so emotional if that one moment in time is why I will always love you??

Drugs or not 48 is still too young...for anybody.  Rest in Peace Whitney, tell Rita I miss her terribly.

Pro-Am

1st hole at MPCC...our view from the breakfast window!

Went to the AT&T Pro-Am yesterday and it was incredible!  Megan had a hook-up with one of her patients who is a manager at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club.  We got to eat a complimentary breakfast overlooking the first hole of their course (picture above).  I had a delectable serving of blueberry pancakes, sausage, eggs, toast, hash browns, OJ, coffee and a virgin bloody Mary!

We took a shuttle over to Pebble Beach once we were done feasting and it was packed with everyone trying to find Tiger.  We got really lucky as we headed straight for the 3rd green and got to see Tiger and Tony Romo on their second shots.  "Is that Tiger?" "No that's Tiger!" "Was that his shot?"  Nobody could see far enough up the fairway but then we all looked more to the right and everyone in unison said "Ooooh THAT'S Tiger," as he hit a beautiful shot up onto the green.  He was in all black and of course sporting Nike and at that point had come from something like 16 back to sneak into 2nd place.  

Tiger showed absolutely no emotion outside of what looked like anger and frustration...or maybe just pure determination, but either way he wasn't smiling.  Romo on the other hand was having fun and even when a fan yelled out "Go Niners!" as he was putting he managed to laugh about it.  They then walked right by us as they went to the next hole where we watched Tiger tee off and then we went to find other, more appreciative players.

I'll put a list up at the end of this of the celebs we saw but the highlights were getting a fist bump from Phil Mickelson and an autograph from Clyde Drexler!!!  Getting to see Belichick play golf was also pretty cool and he was in a Pebble Beach hoody per the usual attire.  It was a marvelous experience and I cannot thank Megan enough for hooking us up with these tickets.  We were also fortunate enough to have a ticket to a business tent where we had lunch and some warm drinks!  The weather wasn't exactly the greatest with the wind blowing pretty hard, the mist coming from all directions, and the clouds covering up that big ball of gas in the sky!

List of spotted celebs in no particular order:

Bill Belichick

Bill Murray

Clyde "The Glyde" Drexler

Tiger Woods

Tony Romo

Phil Mickelson

Aaron Rodgers

Don Cheadle

Andy Garcia

Nick Saban

Darius Rucker

Huey Lewis

George Lopez

Ray Romano

Chris O'Donnell

Herm Edwards

Matt Cain

Jim Harbaugh

Harris Barton

Sorry Betz no Josh Duhamel, maybe next year!!!

Fun Day at the Doctor

Cyst is the black circle in the heel.

So I went to the doctor last week to get the results from my x-rays and WOW what an adventure that was.  I hate going to the doctors for several reasons but a big pet peeve of mine is when I have to sit and wait...and wait...and wait.  Well of course on this journey it was no different.  After calling them several times on Thursday and Friday and getting nowhere I called back on Monday while I was on my lunch break.    I was told that the doctor would look at the film and call me back by the end of the day.  At 5:03 as I'm just about to leave work I get a call from Janet.  She pretty much has no information for me except that I have a bone cyst...that was it.  Then she asked if I'd like an MRI as if I knew what the hell she was talking about.  I said I'd like to talk to the doctor and so I set up an appointment.  But of course she first tells me there are NO appointments in the afternoon until Wednesday February 15th...yeah lady that'd be perfect.  OR maybe we could try and fix this problem NOW!  So I got an appointment for Tuesday morning at 11:00.

I walked into the office, told the girl with the accent I'm unfamiliar with I had an appointment and sat down to wait.  Immediately after I sat down I heard the three girls whispering about how one girl didn't put me into the computer for Tuesday but instead for Wednesday, but she'll just put me in for today anyway.  Now I'm not being told any of this I'm just overhearing it.  11:20 or so comes along and finally I get brought into the actual room where I supposedly was going to see a doctor.  11:30...45...seriously?  11:50...12:00...12:10 she finally walks into the room and hurriedly starts to tell me what's wrong.  The only problem is that I don't speak a word of doctor, I speak fish and I made it quite clear to her that she needs to explain this to me as if I do NOT work with people and bones.  

She goes through the information and tells me I have a bone cyst in my heel, not my ankle and by twisting the ankle I could have aggravated the cyst and that could be why I'm still feeling so much pain and discomfort 6 weeks later.  The cyst in the heel radiates pain along the outside of the foot (check), across the ankle (check), and up the achilles (check).  But I also have pain on the inside of the foot...lucky me!  Her recommendation was to get an MRI to see if I did any damage to any muscles or other soft tissues before she can figure out what to do with it.

Before I left though I had to bring up with her my experience of waiting for over an hour and how ECSTATIC that made me!  I told her I didn't appreciate the whispering and that they should have just told me they screwed up and that when I was told on Friday that I was getting a call by the end of the day but that didn't happen and that her "being in a meeting" was a bunch of b.s.  I also told her that sitting in a room for almost an hour didn't put a smile on my face either and as she proceeded to tell me she had an emergency I told her that's fine but somebody should have told me I'd be waiting for that long as I was ready to walk out.

Anyway...now I'm just awaiting an MRI appointment so I can figure out what happens next.

That Sucked...Again

Short version of what I'm feeling right now: Truly pissed, royally disappointed, utterly confused, despising work tomorrow, and disgusted that now I have to drag through the months of February and March only to get my hopes up yet again for what I'm sure will be another failed Red Sox season.  I'm finally remembering what it's like to truly be a New England sports fan.

Till next year...and Tom, you haven't been looking so terrific lately so you better figure it out quick cuz you've only got a handful of years left.

Go Bruins and Celtics!

Just another day...

Chillin at the beach, reading a book on Spaceman Lee and enjoying the beautiful weather!

"Ish Boston Girls Say!"

This video is absolutely perfect...I miss Boston and the Boston attitude!

Ankle Update

Finally went to the doctor yesterday and ended up having to get x-rays.  I have not heard back about the results yet but will post them when I find out.  I was told I would have heard by now but of course that is coming from a doctor's office and God forbid I interrupt her busy schedule.  The doctor I saw is a sports medicine doctor who also runs and she wasn't sure if it was fractured but thought it definitely had some potential.  When I called today the receptionist said it wasn't fractured but there were some other issues and that the doctor would call me back...that obviously hasn't happened and probably won't until Monday.  So now I wait patiently and focus all of my energy on the Pats game!  After a really long and crappy week at work I could really go for a Pats win and no fracture in my foot...here's to hopin'!

Anticipation and Anxiety

Is it Sunday yet?  I'm practically pacing around the apartment I'm so excited about Sunday.  I'm more nervous about this Superbowl than any of the others.  This one will solidify both Belichick and Brady as the greatest ever!  But we also have the worst defense in Superbowl history so I'm not as confident as I have been in the past.  I'm pretty sure Brady has NEVER wanted anything this badly in his career so I know he's out for blood. It'll be a great game but mostly offense I'm guessing and I think if we can stop the run and make Peyton's even more retarded brother Eli have to throw he'll eventually start making some mistakes.

Brady does NOT have 2 bad games in a row, Gronk is fine, Myra is watching down and Pats win 31-24...it's been said.