gloating: part 2

very blessed.

gloating

i try not to on facebook. cause it makes me roll my eyes when others do.
but if you can’t gloat on your own blog...well, then why have it. right?

last saturdays 5-6th grade rec basketball game was burton vs. burton. sammy’s team of his friends vs. a whole other team of his friends. nobody really cared who won (at least i don’t think so) as long as it was a good game and not a blow-out. we’re all friends. and it WAS a really good game. both teams were really evenly matched. and all the boys played really good ball.

it was down to the end and sammy’s team was up by one point. every one was yelling at them to slow it down...let the clock run out. but it’s hard...they just wanted to make that next basket. then one of sammy’s best friends on the other team, Jake, made a basket at like 5-6 seconds to go. we cheered, but yeah...my heart sunk a bit. with 4 seconds to go, sammy got the ball. and from just past half-court threw the ball and made the most beautiful 3-pointer i’ve ever seen. yes, most of the ones i’ve seen are on NBK2013 and no, i haven’t seen very many. but this was nothing but net...and it was my sammy. truly, it was like a movie. everyone was standing and screaming...his whole team, and his buddies from the other team, ran out onto the court. it was so freakin’ awesome. i can’t imagine how happy sammy must have felt...i felt like bursting for him. i wish someone had videotaped it, but i don’t think i’ll ever lose that picture in my head.

(thanks to dan for sending me the picture above from before the game. of all days to forget my phone!!!)

under appreciated

when i worked on the Kelly Tires account it was explained to me this way: people spend so much money on their cars and then they sit in them along with all the people they love and drive really, really fast. yet, they’re willing to buy the cheapest tire they can for all that to ride on. it does sound kinda crazy when you think of it that way.

i think it’s the same way with feet.

We walk, run, dance (well, some of us don’t dance), skip, stumble, play basketball...you get the idea. and all that with our full body weight on our feet. it’s no wonder people complain about their feet hurting a lot. They are so thin...it’s amazing that they even do what they do.

and i ramble on about this because i had bunion surgery last week. and i’ll be the first to admit (or rather that status probably belongs to my friend, jimmy) that when you say it it, sounds like nothing. something really old people do...shave a little bit off their big toe. (no comments about my being really old)

so,  a little primer on bunions. all stuff i didn’t know before.

A bunion is a structural problem of the big toe joint causing a boney prominence. Surgery is commonly performed to correct the problem. Surgery for bunions involves more than just simply shaving the boney protrusion. It typically requires that the deviated bones to be structurally realigned. Milder bunions are corrected with bone cuts close to the big toe joint. Larger bunions typically need a more "involved" bone cut or a fusion procedure to completely realign the structural problem. Bunion surgery usually involves breaking the toe bone (metatarsal) to correct the alignment problem that caused the bunion to form, this part of the procedure is called an osteotomy. The surgery also involves tightening the ligaments on the outside of the toe, and loosening of the ligaments on the inside, so the tension on the ligaments holds the toe pointing in the proper direction. Some surgeons opt to use pins, plates, or screws to hold the broken bone while it is healing. Others opt to allow the bone to heal without metal holding the position.It takes approximately six weeks for the bones to mend in the corrected position.

so what i need to do when people ask me from now on, is tell them i had an osteotomy.
it sounds so much more impressive.

the before shot. not a great shot...but shows the bunions on both sides of my foot 

and my toes starting to curl up onto themselves.

the during. one week after my surgery. it always cracks bri and me up how even at the cleveland clinic...the pinacle of world class care...they still write on your body parts with a black sharpie. YES! but even swollen, i couldn’t believe the difference in my foot shape. my bunions started forming when i was 19. so i never really thought they looked that odd because i’d lived with them for so long. i actually thought my feet were pretty. my kids thought otherwise.next appointment, ill take a picture of the x-rays. 

pumpkin seeds

tried something new this year. my friend ruth told me that her family recipe was to basically brine the seeds in saltwater overnight, then just roast in the oven. no olive oil, no extra salt or spice. no butter. 

crazy, right?

so, the ones on top are done that way, the ones on the bottom...same way, but then tossed with olive oil and fresh rosemary. in fairness, i probably didn’t have enough salt for the brining...that might have tipped the scales more. (and the process was good...the soaking washed some of the pumpkin goop off...not all. i like a little for flavor) both really good, just different. and both went really fast...so hard to tell which one everybody else here liked.

anything new to try next year?

my son, the saytr.

the original concept...

molding...

posing...

  nourishment...

painting...

more painting...

the happy saytr. 

or, devil with ram horns as sam tells everyone. 

you can’t really see them, but the fur pants are a work of art. 

 (thanks, amy...for the extra pictures!)

halloween was a little crazy(er) this year with the weather, postponement and my foot surgery, but it was really fun to put together a costume again. i love that sam did that drawing...he really knew in his head what he wanted. we’re already planning for next year!

homecoming

finally! it was so late this year. and we were spoiled by the last couple of years’ indian summers. huge thanks to the horvath family for letting everyone invade their home. olivia’s “shirt” (a dad-ism) looked beautiful. and despite the last minute hair crisis...i think it all went together beautifully. check her twitter...she has lots of cute pics. trying to find the one of sammy doing what else...photobombing olivia and josh.

powderpuff

 good photobomb!

so, maybe not the stupendous return-to-blogging post that i envisioned...but that was part of the problem. i kept thinking about it and not doing it. ta da! the burton high school juniors powderpuff team. they lost...i guess they’re supposed to. but they looked awesome doing it. LOVE this group of girls. for the most part...they always have each others back. next year?

happy memorial day

i never take enough pictures. very fun day.