Last Gasp Autumn

I drove up Camp May Road and parked at Shotgun Shell because I wanted to take photos of some beautiful baby aspens that grow in a drainage there. Imagine my surprise to see a parked car and a middle-aged man in a white dress shirt sitting on a rock nearby and looking at pieces of white paper. I heard his car leave while I was in the drainage taking 21 photos of the aspens that were still in yellow, having their last gasp of autumn colors. I had planned to say hello when I was done taking photos. He had studiously ignored me as I walked toward the drainage. I wanted to tell him that he had picked a beautiful spot to park.

It looks like a system is coming in today because this morning, our turquoise blue skies looked milky blue like they do back east in Ohio and Pennsylvania and small, dark bottomed clouds were forming. This afternoon, we're all socked in with high clouds.

I drove to White Rock this afternoon and, on the way there around 1:30pm, I'm sure I saw a ghost going by...but, then again, today is Halloween so maybe it was just someone in costume! : )

I bought a pair of very long, fiberglass, canary yellow ski poles at the Jemez House Thrift Shop for $2. The lady at first wondered if she was supposed to charge me $15 because the poles still had their tag from the recent ski swap held in town. I'll use the poles for my balance practice on the Fitter wobble board. It gives me confidence to know that I can catch myself if I start to tumble off. It's also good to practice closed-eyes balance.

Saw my neighbor Irma at the thrift shop and talked with her for a while. She recommends glucosamine and chondroitin for my foot problem. I'm afraid to take it, though, because I know a woman in the Wednesday hiking group that took it but ended up having 2 knee operations anyway. Irma also suggested apple cider vinegar and increasing my brewer's yeast. She says she takes a zillion supplements. I don't know her age but she looks good. She was carrying her little dog, Chippie. He had an operation this week but is doing well.

I walked about 2 miles RT on the lower Water Canyon Trail. My right foot felt good enough on the way out, which is slightly downhill. On the way back, as I got within about 1/2 mile from the trailhead, I had to be very careful not to walk too fast or else it would have caused pain. I'm icing my foot now.

I Wasn't Fair

I wrongly doubted the intentions of the staff at Dr. Sauer's office. They called me back this afternoon and said that Dr. Sauer looked at the cd of my right foot x-ray and it was fine. I explained to them that I had just been concerned to make sure they got the cd after going to the effort of faxing a request for it. I thanked his office for calling me back. Anyway, all's well that ends well!

Self-Frazzled

The noon water aerobics had a substitute instructor. He was nice and tried hard but I didn't get as good a workout as from Stephanie. As one part of the workout, he had us do a very repetitive routine with dumbbells. That was good but the rest of the routine intense enough. In part, this is because there were so many people in the class that it's hard to maneuver around them. The other part is that he didn't include any intervals (but nobody's perfect)! It was nice of him to substitute for Stephanie.

Afterwards, I went to the shallow end and water walked 1/2 mile or 18 laps, across the short length of the pool. I think my style needs work as it was hard on my hips because I used too long a stride length and jutted my butt out. That took about 35 minutes. The idea of the water walking is to get my feet ready to exercise walk on land again.

Tomorrow I have an eye exam so I'll just do an exercise dvd in the morning before the appointment. Wednesday, I'll do the shallow water workout in the evening. Thursday and Friday, I'll be back to the noon class and hopefully Stephanie will be back.

I'm not at all sure about getting orthotics from Dr. Sauer's office. This afternoon, I had called the UNM Clinics Film Library to ask if the cd of my right foot x-ray had ever been sent to Dr. Sauer and was told it had been sent on October 16. I then called Dr. Sauer's office and they had no record of receiving it so I called the Film Library again and he tracked the package, giving me all the details regarding the delivery, including who in Dr. Sauer's office signed for it.

When I called Dr. Sauer's office back, suddenly they admitted they had received the x-ray but it was still in the envelope as Dr. Sauer hadn't had time to look at it yet. That wasn't why I was calling, just to check-up on if he looked at it, but what I was trying to do was to follow-up that they had actually received it since the last time I saw Dr. Sauer, they hadn't. This incident gives me a bad feeling like I've done something wrong and I get the distinct feeling that his office staff just considers me a bother. I feel like they told me they hadn't received it when they knew they did because they were afraid that I was going to ask if he had looked at it yet.

More Hopeful Today

Tonight I walked part way toward the Los Alamos Airport and back - almost one mile per the step counter but probably really did walk a whole mile all together if I count the walking up and down the block while monitoring the water hose that was running full blast under the spruce tree - watered the street anyway!

It would be good if, before the appointment with Dr. Miller next week, I could walk a full 2 miles. Six weeks ago, I could walk about 2 miles before the foot pain would begin.

I'm not entirely pain free and can't really give all this rehabilitation effort a fair evaluation until I can try a longer walk. Will work up to it by next Tuesday.

Daughter and son in law enjoyed trip to Durango, Colorado. Apparently it's a very liberal town and much support of Obama was in evidence during McCain's visit on Friday! Spouse joked that with all we've lost in the stock market crash, we could have bought a condo at Durango Mountain Resort!

Recovery Lasted One Day

I was so happy yesterday when I tried a mini-hike ( probably less than a quarter mile) and it seemed that my right heel and medial instep wasn't hurting. I used two ski poles and only took careful steps.

This morning in White Rock, I walked from the White Rock branch of Mesa Public Library, crossed Rover and started down a gravelled path that runs beside Cañada del Buey. I hardly went very far at all, less than a couple of blocks, and realized that there was the same "twisting" feeling in my right hindfoot and that it was causing pain under my medial arch and in my ankle. I used my ski poles for support but that didn't seem to make any difference.

This is very disheartening. It's been 6 weeks since I've exercise walked or hiked. I'm wondering about the suitability of the Dean Karnazes SOLE heat moldable insoles for faster paced walking. They are very comfortable and very supportive to wear around the house but, once before when I tried walking to the end of our block, they seemed less comfortable when using a normal, brisk walking gait. The green Superfeet seemed more comfortable.

I was in White Rock to go to the Jemez House Thrift Shop to look for more ski poles but didn't realize they close at noon on Saturday. I missed that deadline by 1/2 hour. Then I went to the White Rock Mesa Public Library to check the non- return box.

I drove to the Española Walmart Supercenter instead of driving to Santa Fe. I bought some foot related items, including an Mueller adjustable ankle support, a PediFix arch bandage and a MediTemp ice pack. Both the ankle support and the arch bandage are too tight, even though they are one size fits all. I'm evaluating the ice pack (one treatment for tendon damage is to ice it and this was suggested by Dr. Sauer to help the posterior tibial tendon heal).

This evening, I also tried out the Hapad posting heel wedges and the longitudinal metatarsal arch pads. I'm trying to recycle all the Hapad Comf-Orthotic Sports Replacement insoles that I have by modifying them with the Hapad pads to make them more supportive. The posting heel wedges seem to work well but I couldn't get the arch pads to be comfortable so I may need a smaller size.

Tomorrow I'll try a mini-hike using the green Superfeet. I really am not overdoing it but need to have some normal, brisk walking to evaluate how the foot is doing so I can report that to Dr. Miller on November 4.

Wild Woman Wishes to Embrace World

Today I brought the Tina Turner "Simply the Best" cassette to water aerobics class because Stephanie plays music on Thursdays. Everyone seemed to like it. They thanked me and the instructor for the music.

Fortunately for them, I didn't have a whole lot of breath leftover for singing although I got in a few breathless lyrics. Certain songs made me want to exercise like crazy while others were forgettable. Her "Tina Turner Greatest Hits" cd is better but I didn't want to bring a cd to class - I'll stick to cassettes.

Kate might bring in a Ricky Skaggs album one day. This afternoon I'm previewing various cassettes to determine how fun they'd be in water aerobics class.

I sure am going to miss the class when I finally start walking and my pass expires! My skin, however, won't miss it. Right now I'm stinging from all the places where I've scratched myself to death. I'm not sure if it's the chlorine or the coconut oil. I'll wash the chlorine off thoroughly tomorrow (usually I just give myself a rinse) and apply the coconut oil and if I still feel itchy, I should switch to the olive oil next week.

I saw Barbara swimming laps at the deep end. She's the one I always run into at the library. She went for a dip in the therapy pool afterwards. She told me she's hard of hearing in both ears and should wear hearing aids but doesn't.

I ate 3 squares of unsweetened chocolate this morning, spread with peanut butter and topped with a medjool date. Chocolate is like speed for me so I'm fairly supercharged at this point. Problem with it is that you have to keep taking the addictive substance every day because otherwise, you crash the next day. Unfortunately, I'm out of chocolate so it will be black tea tomorrow. Hmmm...I do have some cocoa! : )

I'm so supercharged that I'd like to just keep typing and typing but either I've ran out of things to say or I don't remember what I wanted to say!

I know, I know...I watched the PBS show, American Masters last night. It featured the life and career of Charles Schulz, the Peanuts creator. This was a complex man and I'd like to read a biography of him one day. He died of colon cancer at age 77, in part because he didn't believe in getting regular checkups. (I'm glad now that I have scheduled a colonoscopy.) After having a stroke and the colon cancer, he had decided to put away his pen and end the Peanuts comic strip. He died at home, in bed, while his wife thought he was napping. She commented in an interview that she was amazed at how he had managed to die the day before the last Peanuts comic strip was to appear.

Passage Through Autumn

I drove up to Pajarito Mountain Ski Area to see Fall before it passes me by. I enjoyed seeing the blazing baby aspens along Camp May Road. I was amused by a chipmunk pair that leapt from boulder to boulder, disappeared under my car, and then chased each other through the golden grass at the Los Alamos County Camp May Park. The sun was very bright and I got warm in the car even though the outside air was chilly. When I stepped outside the car briefly, my breath created smoke. How cold does it have to be for that to happen?

It was with regret that I left to drive back home. When I started back, the sun was low over the top of Pajarito Mountain and the lower ski slopes were in shadow. I drove very slowly in low gear on the way down, not wishing to leave the mountains and the beauty of the autumnal colors. I was filled with intense longing, wishing to be traipsing through the golden grass alongside Camp May Road.

I read a newspaper article today about children nowadays not getting outdoors enough and spending too much time on the computer and in the thrall of electronic playmates. The author fondly reminisced about how in his youth, he hardly ever spent time indoors if he could help it. He referred to himself and his buddies as semi- feral children. That's what I felt like as I took a "Sunday drive" down Camp May Road and watched as all my former haunts (pre-foot injury) rolled by me - semi-feral, longing to abandon the car and disappear into the forest.

It's important, though, that I heal as well as I can and when I resume hiking, that I go about it in an intelligent way - use hiking poles, don't ever hike on a foot that hurts, get orthotics, and get supportive hiking boots for the rough hiking that has infected my blood and for which I hunger right now.

I did see a truck parked at Camp May and I inwardly blessed whoever it was that was lucky enough to be trekking the mountain when I couldn't. I'll be back, though, hiking those mountains one day!

Need Foot Transplant

Just kidding but that may be easier than getting my foot to heal. Dr. Sauer took the time to study the MRI, along with Dr. Lee, a radiologist. He concurs with Dr. Miller that I don't have a calcaneal stress fracture.

As a side note, he says I have a ganglionic cyst which is somehow connected with the posterior tibial tendonitis. He's not worried about that.

He says wait to get the orthotics until the foot is healed and suggests a cast or cast/boot to rest the foot. I'm going to research cast boots. Dr. Miller says that he'll put on an air cast/boot if it's not healed by November 4 (it isn't). Dr. Sauer could also outfit me with a cast boot but his looks much like the monstrosity that Walgreen Home Options has. Dr. Sauer says it might heal in a month if I wear the cast. He says that the removable casts often don't work because people only wear them 50% of the time. I don't want a real cast because then I can't even go to water aerobics. One advantage of getting the cast boot in Los Alamos is that if there are problems or adjustments with it, I could go in to see Dr. Sauer. Guess I could do that also with the air cast/boot from Dr. Miller - have Dr. Sauer follow me. Then, what's the point of going to Albuquerque?

Next week I'm going to start going to the Therapy Fun and Fitness on Monday-Wednesday-Friday because I read that doing range of motion (ROM) movements in a hot shower is a good thing. The warm therapy pool might help me to heal. Dr. Sauer also suggested ibuprofen and ice. Everything I read, though, says ice is best in the first 72 hours of an injury and that time period is long past. He says no stretching or strengthening but I was reading that for rotator cuff tendonitis, stretching and strengthening help the healing process as long as no pain is caused. I'm not going to take ibuprofen. I will stretch and strengthen in the Therapy Fun and Fitness class and the water aerobics.

All this infuriates me because in the meantime, while I'm not doing any weight-bearing exercise, my bones are going to decay. Only thing to do about that is to make sure I do some seated and floor weight lifting to try to maintain my bones.

Kick Butt Water Aerobics Workout!

As I was going into the Walkup Center today, I saw a woman who's in the water aerobics class and she said that yesterday's workout, which I missed because of the chimney sweep coming out, had "accelerators" which are 2 minutes fast intervals.

Stephanie, our water aerobics instructor, did the accelerators again today and all I can say is "Oh, baby!!" These fast intervals are just what I need to feel alive and what I should have added all along to my former land-based exercise routine. I'm going to enjoy these accelerators because they are an aerobic challenge and good exercise.

The hardest accelerator is the one where we pretend we are on a bicycle, with no assistance from our hands - we hold them out of the water like we're holding a bicycle steering wheel - going up and downhill. On the uphill, we bicycle our legs slower but with bigger circles which creates more resistance and on the downhill we bicycle with smaller, faster circles. I didn't think it was possible to overheat in the water but my face felt hot! Needless to say, I didn't bother with swimming laps afterwards as I was exercised thoroughly enough during the class today!

The teacher was late. It turned out that she has a gas leak at her house. She said she wondered why she was getting headaches. She didn't have time to bring out the boom box poolside to play music, a Thursday tradition, but she will next week.

Twice this week, high school ROTC members have taken up half of "our" deep end during part of our class. They practice jumping in in their clothes and retrieving an object from the bottom of the pool.

There's a woman in the class who has taught water aerobics and, even though she's overweight, she is very, very fast. I complimented her on that. She has plantar fasciitis and likes Dr. Blake, another podiatrist who comes up to the medical center.

Coincidentally, I found a book on water fitness in the Mesa Public Library non-return shelves today. Even more coincidentally, it was from the Walkup Center, having LRWAC written on the cover (the full name of the Walkup Center is the Larry R. Walkup Aquatic Center, named in honor of a Los Alamos County recreation director who died at a young age)! It's more about swimming for fitness, though, than water aerobics.

Blogger Outage Scheduled - I'd Better Speed-Blog!

I have a new paradigm for water aerobics. Yesterday when I did the laps back and forth, I enjoyed the aerobic effect so much that today I did the aerobics back and forth with the noon class but when they switched to toning, I excused myself and water walked and jogged laps on the short course at the deep end.

I did better today than yesterday - I water walked and other strokes for 20 laps (wonder if I over-counted - that sounds like a lot and 35 on the short course is a mile) on the short course in a half hour. I wasn't actually in a lap lane but swam right beside the last lane. The Master swimmers are amazing to watch. It's like watching the Olympics!

I hope I didn't insult the teacher. I explained that I would be doing my toning at home with my weights for the health of my bones. I really, really like the teacher and I like the toning and stretching but, in order not to stay in the water so long, I have to use the last half hour of the class for aerobics. I stretched on my own and was out of the water by 1:15pm.

I came home and did a Kathy Smith tape with weights.

I made a potage of black beans, onions, garlic, acorn squash and cabbage. I'll freeze some but I'll be eating it for a long time!

The acorn squash seeds were delish - especially since I didn't burn them this time.

Grandson came over for an hour while daughter went to the Y to exercise. He lost a tooth while he was here so the tooth fairy gave him $2. He'll collect more from his Mom and Dad.

Will Be Peaceful Here Tomorrow

Spouse will be going back to work after the 4 day weekend and the TV won't be on blaring political commercials, bad news about the financial institutions and tidbits I don't care to know about the presidential campaign. I prefer to get my news on the radio in the morning. Mostly I have it on to keep me company because I manage to tune it out when I read during breakfast or get on the computer.

I have to start getting up at 7am. I ate my breakfast smoothie right before going to the noon water aerobics class and it didn't sit well. I almost felt earlier like I was going to get the usual bowel obstruction but fortunately, I escaped that fate.

Going to cook acorn squash tomorrow morning. That will warm up the house and I'll get to feast on the toasted squash seeds!

Need to mail return back to Gaiam and buy stamps. I kept the foot pain dvd but am returning the strong bones and spinal alignment one. I should have only bought the foot pain one to begin with. The others are well produced and have nice props for the exercises but I'm more likely to use weights for strong bones than the rubber tubing props. The spinal alignment one seemed too subtle for me to want to do it on a regular basis. The foot pain one has a strap for stretching my foot (and hip and hamstrings) and a foam dome for stretching my calf.

Also, need to stop by Los Alamos Medical Center's Radiology Department to pick up digital copy of my right foot MRI and then go to Medical Associates to sign a release that they can fax to Dr. Miller's office to request the doctor's report. He never sent it to Dr. Church. I finally figured out this morning, after a flurry of phone calls, how the system works at UNM for getting the medical records and x-rays. It's more complicated than just requesting them from Dr. Miller's office once he has sent them to medical records and the film library.

After the water aerobics class, I water walked 10 laps (back AND forth) on the pool's short end. That took 40 minutes and is a little over a quarter mile. I'm going to try to do that at least 3 days a week so I can get some quality exercise. I was using various strokes learned in the class - sitting froggie forward and back, standing side stroke, flutter kick, cross country ski and water jogging. Mary, a women in the class, was also there doing some strength work and stretching. I suspect that we are two of a kind in that we both try hard to maintain our bodies.

Feeling a Little Sad

Sometimes it really gets to me that I can't freely walk or hike without pain. Probably I'll feel better tomorrow after getting some water aerobics in. It's not the water aerobics per se but just the act of moving my body that boosts my spirits.

I finally made it to the Santa Fe REI and returned some items. I bought another pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8. At first the poor employee thought I was looking for size 14 in women's and told me they don't make them past size 11. He took it well when I told him I needed size 14 in MEN'S!

Another embarrassing incident was when I went to the restroom, I must have had a lot on my mind because I forgot that I had placed my REI gloves in my pulled down pants so I didn't have to put the gloves on the floor. Well, I forgot totally about them until I saw, while I was speaking to the aforementioned employee, that the gloves were peeking out of my lower pants leg. I hastened to show him the holes in the fingers to make it known that I hadn't shoplifted the gloves!

I also bought a pair of SOLE Heat Moldable insoles to try them out. I'm not going to heat mold them but will try to wear them a little bit each day to get the idea of how a custom orthotic, with its higher arch support, will feel.

Maybe tomorrow daughter and grandson will meet me at the pool for the open swim after my class.

Son in law, daughter and grandson will come over for supper tomorrow night - mahi mahi, swordfish, shrimp, rice and salad. I'm going to kid grandson that we have red beets for him for dessert!!

Foot Frantics

I could make researching how to help my foot a cottage industry as it takes up so much of my time. I can tell, even after 4 weeks of no hiking or exercise walking and taking up water aerobics in the last 2 weeks, that my foot will go back to hurting exactly like it did before. If I walk normally, like putting out the trash and recycling last night, the foot hurts. All I can do is keep researching how to help myself. I feel fairly sure that I have posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD) which is something that will hang on forever and ever and just get progressively worse unless I can figure out how to help myself.

I called Dr. Sauer's office and will see him next week to discuss how he would treat someone with PTTD. He said that whether it's that or plantar fasciitis, the treatment would be the same - orthotics but I think a critical component is missing - at least according to a few papers I have read on PTTD - some kind of rehabilitative exercise to strengthen the feet .

I am devising some foot exercises with the water aerobics "noodle" at the pool that involve plantarflexion, inversion and eversion but I have to figure out how to do dorsiflexion. Perhaps, though, when I hang my heels off the edge of the pool ledge, it's dorsiflexion.

After today's swim, I went to the therapy pool and stretched my feet and massaged them with the water jets in the side of the pool. Tomorrow I will go to the 11am Therapy Fun and Fitness class to see if they have any ideas on how to help my foot and afterwards I'll go to the noon hydro power class. Spouse is deserting me for the WRSC hike which is in Santa Fe.

I called Foot Solutions to ask about their orthotics. They cost $395 but it may be worth it to go in so they can evaluate my feet.

Noon Hydro Power (Deep) Is Best!

I like that she didn't make us go into the therapy pool to do stretches. We exercised in the deep water for the full hour. Maybe it's because the therapy pool was closed. Also, this class gave me the best exercise because it was more vigorous and consistent. In addition to aerobics, we also did abs and stretches. I "jogged" around the perimeter of the deep end several times after the class ended. I guess in some ways, it's good to go into the therapy pool afterwards because it helps you to warm up. Today's teacher will play music on Thursdays. She's excellent!

Yesterday evening I tried the Supreme Water Workout (Shallow) but that's more impact and I stayed on my tiptoes to protect from hitting my heel on the pool bottom. I really liked the shallow water teacher and the music that she played but it may be best to stick with the deep water for a while.

I walked from the senior center parking lot today to the County Clerk's office for early voting. My foot did OK but when I tried to walk completely normal, it didn't feel entirely healed.

I'm going to go to the LA Fitness Center a few times on a day pass to try out their classes and cardio machines.

Had grandson over briefly this afternoon. He was good.

A Regular Esther Williams!

I went to the 8:30am Deep-Water Fun and Fitness class today. It was more vigorous than the Hydro Power. We stretched again in the therapy pool. Afterwards, I went back into the deep end of the pool and dog paddled, back-stroked and side stroked back and forth over the short width of the pool for 20 minutes. I would occasionally try swimming (like freestyle but with my head above water) but didn't want to get my ears and eyes full of water so that didn't last long. Swimming may not build up your bones but it requires some strong cardiovascular effort.

Yesterday I mentioned that intensity was missing from my 4 mile a day walking exercise program. I read last night in a book called Exercises for Osteoporosis by Dianne Daniels that intensity is what helps to strengthen bones but duration is what keep our cardiovascular system healthy. She mentioned 1 hour of exercise a day as being the standard to aim for.

I bought a 3 month pass that allows me to swim or attend classes for 3 months. I've developed a real system of all the stuff I have to bring to change into afterwards so I don't freeze. I bring coconut oil to rub into my body after soaking all the moisture away from my skin in the pool. I had to get my photo taken for my ID - that was pretty scary.

There's two more water aerobics classes to try next week - Therapy Fun and Fitness and Supreme Water Workout.

I think that the full range of motion that I can attain with my foot in the water will help it to heal because it will bring better circulation to the area. My foot felt good last night after the class.

Swimming Fun!

I went to the deep water Hydro Power class. Although it was a little underpowered for my taste, it was a lot of fun to be in the water and be able to freely move around with no pain to my foot. We wear flotation vests. There were 7 women.

The water gets cold after 1/2 hour but the class is one hour long. I won't say the time flew by but I did enjoy it. We finished with stretches in the 94 degree warm water therapy pool. I felt faint when I got out of that warm water which I attribute to being hungry as I took the class over my usual supper time. The large pool water temp was 81 degrees - big difference.

We didn't use the water dumbbells today but we used the noodle. The idea is to always stay as upright as possible in all the water aerobics moves to create more resistance against the water and to work the core muscles.

I asked spouse if he'd ever want to go swimming but he declined. Daughter and grandson might be interested one day. There were a lot of people lane swimming at the pool. The warm water therapy pool has its own coed dressing room. I'll go again tomorrow for an 8:30am class, maybe buying a ten class pass until I decide how long and how often I want to go. I want to try each one of the 4 different water aerobics classes. It will be interesting to see how many people are using the pool in the morning.

One good aspect of my foot injury is that it's forcing me to rethink my fitness program and make it a little more varied. One feature that was missing from my walking 7 days a week for 4 hours a day was any intensity training. I never did intervals or really pushed myself. I'm looking for that kind of experience now. I'm not sure that I'll find it in water aerobics but it's certainly a fun change of routine. I used to love playing in the water!

I'm going to return the swim cap and swim goggles that I bought from REI. The cap is so tight and so are the googles. I tried them on this evening but didn't use them.

Boy, you can really give yourself a good manicure and pedicure after soaking so long in the pool!

And the Diagnosis Is...

I saw the local podiatrist, Dr. Sauer, today. He thinks that I have plantar fasciitis and I tend to agree with him. He'll get digital copies of my right foot MRI to look at it further. I have an appointment with him on October 30 to get cast for othotics. (That's the same day as the north rim trip with Dorothy and Annie Apodoca so I'll have to forgo that trip.)

If orthotics don't work out - and I'll work for him until we can get the best fit and comfort - then I'll try out Foot Solutions in Santa Fe. I'm willing to try because Dr. Miller said it would take trial and error when I asked about orthotics and insoles. Dr. Sauer says that even if I did have posterior tibial tendonitis, another diagnosis that he considered, the treatment would be the same - orthotics.

This afternoon I'm going to try to go to the 5:30pm Deep Hydro Power water aerobics class at the Larry Walkup pool. I loathe getting wet and cold but suspect I'll actually enjoy the class a lot. Water aerobics would do the most to help my foot heal because I wouldn't be putting pressure on it. Getting some aerobic exercise would also do wonders for my psyche!

I'm considering buying a mini trampoline that I can use for circuit weight training which is alternating sets of weightlifting with aerobics. I'm guessing that a mini tramp wouldn't put as much pressure on my foot as weight bearing on the floor. I'll buy one from Walmart as they have a good return policy if it turns out that my theory is full of water!

I called Sun Precautions and asked if it would be all right to send in email size photos and a description of how I customized my Sun Precautions face guard. They said yes so I sent it in this afternoon.

I was distressed to find out that daughter's upper blood pressure number is 130. I always assumed, because she told me her blood pressure is always low, that she had my 110/72 numbers. We loaned her our blood pressure monitor so she can track her numbers.

I got a flu shot today at MANNM.

It's cloudy, cool and drizzly now - just the way I like it!