Welcome to Thursday, nice to see you again!

It is interesting which posts really grab people's attention and which do not.  My hair/suture was entertaining. My food in the mouth adventure, which I'll address further down, caught a few eyes.  But lots of people identified with the exercise issue.

For me this is excellent news because I'm going to need all the prodding... I mean "encouragement" I can get. I am gung ho the night before.  I'm going to get up and take a long walk.  I'm going to get up and get on the treadmill. I'm going to get up and do Wii Fit.  And then I go to bed.

When I get up, it is cold and foggy and damp and did I mention foggy because we've been socked in for days now.  I can barely make myself go let the chickens out, let alone walk anywhere else outside. Why yes, the treadmill and the Wii Fit are both inside where it is not foggy and cold.  The batteries are probably dead in the balance board. I'll get on the treadmill after breakfast. Where are my tennis shoes?  Oh, I'll just check my email.

Game over.

Once the computer is on, I am usually sucked in.  Some times it is genuinely useful things.  Some times it is somewhat useful things.  And then there is just, "How did it get to be 2:30 already???"

Today was in serious danger of becoming the last one.  I told Lesley I would come over and work on something with her.  I was going first thing, right after I walked (yeah, right.)  At nearly 11 am, I was still in my pjs, being sucked into the vortex of the computer.  A timely text to remind me to exercise forced me from my chair.  I got dressed and went.

Guess what?  I had a nice visit, we got a lot done, and going up and down the small step ladder and reaching up in the pantry was good for me. Why didn't I get up and go sooner?  Oh, yeah, because Al Gore invented the internet...

So those of you who have volunteered to nag, prod, pester and harass, keep it up.  If you are close to me and want to walk, I'd love to go, even if it is cold and damp and foggy.  For those of you looking for some motivation for yourself, I know these great people...

About putting food in my mouth.  Several people were surprised I waited this long to try it.  I'm not.  I can give three good reasons:
1) This is not my first rodeo.  I know exactly what it is like to put food in your mouth and taste nothing.  I know the disappointment of when what your nose and your life experiences are telling you to expect is nothing like what actually happens.  When you have gone months without tasting, it isn't as hard.
2) While the likelihood of me choking to death is very low, there is no terror I have experienced like the terror of not being able to breathe.  There were a few times when the trach got clogged up with gunk and the primal panic set in.  Even now sometimes the mucus settles in my throat in such a way it is hard to clear and that same terror begins.
3) I am basically a rule following nerd.  The SLP said water, so I'm only putting water. It was really hard for me to stop using formula in my tube only because it is what the doctors told me to use.  I blame it on the marching band brainwashing.

Tonight I went to my first Stand for Children meeting since my surgery.  I was very happy to be back.  I was a little nervous about how it would go, but it was good.  There were a few times I wished my Dynavox was here because explaining at length is hard.  Interestingly, the people across the table from me had little trouble understanding me, while those on the same side had a very hard time.  There was some good-natured joking, which I SO appreciated.  Someone asked if I would be the key note speaker at an up coming event.  I said no, but that I would be singing the National Anthem for the opening ceremonies.  If I cannot laugh about this, I can't live with it.

Speaking of the Dynavox, as I was typing my disappointment yesterday, the email came through that my device is repaired and on its way back.  It was interesting because they noted there was "drop damage" that had to be repaired in addition to the software.  We didn't have it long enough to drop it.  We shipped it back in the original packaging it came in.  What the heck was UPS doing that it had drop damage?  A good question since I had to pay over $100 to insure it on the trip to Pittsburgh.

Today is three months since my surgery.  Life is starting to fall back into place.  I may ultimately decide to let somethings go, either due to my abilities, or because if you were ever going to need an excuse to get out of something, this one is hard to beat.  However, I'm not giving up much, and maybe I'll add some new things. Because if I am going to LIVE, then I should LIVE.

Until tomorrow...