Terrific Tuesday

Hours of sleep: 5
cheesy title, right?  but it's true!  except for the fact that my marshmallow headphones are officially dunzo... we've got the fray and I ain't talkin the band.  There's always something fraying in my life- my ligament, and now my beloved headphones right when you plug it into the jack.  that's jacked.  they were the only ones that delivered the best sound, but i'll get over them.  Today is the day my coworker, Erin, is having her ACL repair.  I remember working with her one day and explaining what I did to my knee.  Then she came back from a skiing trip and I found out she had to stay out of work because she had injured my knee.  She didn't know her ACL was torn until a couple of PT sessions and diagnostic testing!  I wish her a speedy recovery.  Anyhoo, I ended up falling asleep at 2am last night (er morning) because I got so into the korean drama!  here's another still fav:

So after finishing the episode that I had fallen asleep to, I got ready for lunch.  I was invited by Jillian (hair boss friend) to eat at her mom's restaurant at the Cordon Bleu culinary school.  The school's restaurant is called, "Technique" and the students cook your 3 course meal for a great price!  Very similar to the hair schools that give $10 haircuts.  Darlene (Jillian's mom) is done with culinary school this May, and one of their courses is to take the order and cook the meals for this restaurant.  Here's what our early lunch entailed:

"technique salad"- avocado, spinach, romaine lettuce, rasberries, tomatoes, eggs, cucumbers, bleu cheese, and a special dressing with chicken

salmon!

our desserts:  apple pie with caramel ice cream, pumpkin brulee with cranberries and ginger snap, and pear with butter pecan ice cream

Chanel, Jillian and I with chef Darlene :o)

the hardcore menu

Lunch was so nice, and the weather for March was quite inviting.  It was good to catch up with Jillian and not discuss hair business.  After we parted, I ran a couple of errands and then headed home.  I caught a couple more episodes of the Korean drama while digesting, then started to work on the knee.  I always start with a massage.  I wish I could post how this massive ball of scar tissue feels.  It's something that could create body dysmorphic disorder but I actually have fun massaging it down even though it creates a ginormous dimple.  did some knee exercises on my back, then proceeded to go upstairs to bike and try out this for the first time:

just call me speedracer

In the elevator i ran into my building manager.  She's so sweet everytime she sees me because she knew what I went through, and she herself had her ACL repaired a couple of years ago.  The first thing she said today was, "look at you go!"  Hearing her say those words lifted my spirits and put a smile on my face.  I remember when I came home the day of surgery, she was one of the first ones to greet me in my lobby.  For my workout, I did almost a 1/2 hour on the bike and 6min on the treadmill at 2.0 speed.  This is so different from my history of running 6.5+ with at least a 2.0 incline for 30min-1hr.  I've got a long ways to go.  After a nice workout for the knee, headed back down to my place and did some stretches until my date with Shar and Lis to frank n'dawgs, a place we had wanted to try out for a while.  It seems like when all of us can go, it's on a Monday, and they're closed on Mondays, like thai restaurants.  Think gourmet hot dougs.  

burger dawg, krazy kimchi dawg, and turdoggin' dawg with waffle fries.  not pictured: truffle mac n'cheese

dizzert: sweet home chicago, a log of chocolate ice cream replaces the sausage portion, as it's topped with caramel, kiwi, bananas, almonds, and strawberries, all enclosed by the same bread bun idea which was apple cinnamon flavored

afterwards we hit ann taylor next door cuz Lis wanted to check out what they had.  But guess who ended up making purchases?  me and shar.  Lis came out empty handed.  We hit trader joe's across the street, then headed to Stanley's for some great fruit and veggie deals.  Tonight I actually fit pants over the knee robobrace, but at Trader Joe's, while in the pasta aisle, the padding of the inner knee started to dig into the scar tissue mass/Dimple patella that I had to go back to the car to take the thing off.  It felt like such a relief but I felt like I was breaking the rules for not wearing it.  I'm now back home, braceless, and watching the Charlie Sheen special on ABC.  I think his best work was during his Hot Shot movies, especially part deux.  I'm physically exhausted so I will end my day with a deep scar tissue massage and a lil drama :o)

update pic: post op day 20