This little piggy is not going to the market
It's been sort of a rough few weeks for my feet. You all remember the floaties brought on by the hours in the air (strangely enough). Well, it hasn't been a whole lot better since I got back. A few weeks ago, I was playing football in the park with no shoes on. Shoeless football in the park is good times, as long as all the people you're with are shoeless as well. Unfortunately for me, Tarp was not at all shoeless. He was, in fact, entirely too shoed. I went out to cover him for a long bomb and he juked when I jived, and that's when I slammed my pinkie toe into the heel of his Vans. After writhing on the ground for a few minutes, we called the game and I limped off the field. I didn't get a definitive prognosis but it left me limping for about a week. The doctor said it was "most likely" broken (thank you, Kaiser, for this profound assessment. I could have told you that).
The fun didn't end there. A mere six days later, Debs and I headed east to Kah Nee Tah with Gary and Crystal to lay by the pool. It was really hot, but I wasn't worried. The reason I wasn't worried was because I never wear sunscreen. I never wear sunscreen and I always get burned. This time, I wore sunscreen. In fact, I applied twice. I figured, the worst sunburn I have ever had was not that bad, and that was without sunscreen. So if I wear sunscreen, even if I do get a burn, it will not be a big deal. And I was wrong.
I laid in the sun in the desert from about 11 am until about 4 pm taking only a break to sit in the shade during lunch. The heat was nearly unbearable. I was constantly sweating even though I was only sitting and reading. And yet, I was not worried. I knew I had burned after I left. 6 hours after I got out of the sun, my entire body was red (well, almost my entire body). But I wasn't worried. 12 hours after I got out of the sun, I had trouble putting my shoes on to go to work. 24 hours after I got out of the sun, I couldn't walk from my car to my house. I had so thoroughly roasted my left foot that, again, it swelled up like a floatie. My right foot was fine, possibly because I was protecting the broken toe by using more sunscreen, but my left foot was in bad, bad shape. For another 5 days, I walked barefoot wherever I went because I could not physically fit my massive foot into a shoe. Getting out of bed in the morning was a chore that took me a great amount of courage and about 10 minutes. As unprofessional as it was, I walked around the office barefoot all day for the whole week- I even walked through the parking lot in the morning with a flip-flop on my right foot and nothing on my left. After one look, though, everyone understood.
The good news is, I'm fine now. Last Saturday, things turned up for me and I was able to live a normal life. I wore shoes every day this week with no problem. The only problem I have now is when I'm at work helping someone (or getting help) and I notice them not paying attention but just staring at my arms and legs, which look like I have some sort of flesh eating virus taking over my limbs. It's rad!
I felt so good this weekend that Debbie and I decided to head up to Multnomah Falls for some hiking. Wow! I'm outta shape! That's the one thing I've learned. It was gorgeous, but unfortunately I was wheezing to heavily to notice. Seriously, though, I need to spend some time on a treadmill. We did it, though, we made it all the way up to the top and got some great pictures. I think next time I'll be sure to take more pictures before we really start on the trail because on the way down, you're too sweaty to want to be in pictures. It was a lot of fun, though, and I plan to go back in a few months after I've spent some time in the gym (or in my dining room, where my weight set currently collects dust). Hopefully me writing that down will make me feel like I have to stick to it.
