Iceland

We're off to Iceland to see puffins, glaciers, whales, and hot springs! If we have Internet access, I'll post some photos.

Building a fence.

Lou is in Tahoe for the week so I've decided to build a fence. The goal is to be able to let the dogs wander around without being tethered to something. It's a SLOW process considering I have no idea what I'm doing, I've changed the design multiple times, and I'm digging through 2-3 inch roots every few inches as I dig the post holes. I hope to be done by Friday.
I think it's turning out OK...for a beginner.

Moab!

It's Friday and we're off to Moab for the weekend with a group of friends.  It's times like this that remind me of how fortunate we are to get to live where we do.  I won't be taking the mountain bike because no one else wants to ride, but I'm looking forward to some great hikes, photo ops, hopefully some late night card games, and maybe a little offroading in Lou's FJ. 

I was planning on working in the yard this weekend and building a new fence and gate so we don't have to cage or chain up the dogs, but that will have to wait for next weekend.  It's not often you get the opportunity to tag along on someone else's trip without having to do any planning of your own.  So we're taking the opportunity to go play.

Make this weekend great and get outside!!

You're a walking medical bill...

This was Lou's response to my phone call this afternoon after my MRI and doctor's visit.  I can't help but agree with the statement.  I feel as though all I've been doing these last two years is paying medical bills.  Last month, I finally made my last payment for the hospital visit two years ago for food poisoning.  That was almost $4,000 of out of pocket expenses.  Now that I'm on Lou's insurance...which is MUCH better...I'm taking care of nagging shoulder injury I've been living with for quite some time. 

I went to the Valley's highly recommended shoulder doctor last week for a consultation and found out I probably have some torn tissue in my shoulder...and that I get to blame my parents for poor design.  My should joints are too "loose".  The muscles, ligaments and tissue that hold the arm bone in the the rotator cuff are too long and allow for a lot of movement within the cuff.  SO...he scheduled me for an MRI today to find out what all is wrong.

I called my insurance company on Monday to get an estimate of costs so I wouldn't pass out when I received an outrageous bill in the mail.  I was told to expect around $700.  I showed up today to find out that she clearly had no idea what she was doing.  Today's out of pocket expense was $1,358!!!  Fortunately, they were nice and allowed me to pay half and get billed for the remainder.

The MRI was more involved...and painful than I had anticipated.  They put me on an Xray type table where they could view instant snapshots of my bones on a big screen.  Then they proceeded to shove a very large needle in to my shoulder joint so they could fill it fluid and dye.  They did this in small steps...push a little then check the screen to see where the needle was...push some more...check the screen...make an adjustment on the angle then push some more.  It went on like this for what seemed like an eternity.  I must not of looked like I was enjoying the procedure because the nice nurse asked me 5 or 6 times if I was OK.  I realized at one point that I was shaking but I couldn't tell if it was because it felt like an icebox in the room or if it were nerves.  Once the doctor fitted the needle in the perfect position, they filled the joint with fluids.  This wasn't as uncomfortable as they told me it would be...probably because I was so distraught about the process that led up to that point. 

Once they were done filling me with fluids and joking lightly about my reaction being a little better than the screaming baby in the room next door, they took me down the hall for the MRI.  This was a pleasant procedure for the most part.  They propped up my legs, gave me a pillow and a nice warm blanket that felt as if it had just come out of the dryer.  She handed me some earphones and asked which satellite radio station I wanted to listen to.  Of course I chose the 80's station because I wanted comforting music to put me in a happy place.

I closed my eyes as the table started to move.  I figured it would freak me out to watch as I went in to the tunnel.  When I stopped moving, I opened my eyes...  BAD IDEA!  I quickly closed them again and tried to drown myself in the music in the hopes of forgetting that I was instantly feeling VERY claustrophobic by the sight of the ceiling just inches from my nose...if that...and that I would be in the tube for another 30 minutes.

Eventually I relaxed so much that I fell in to a light sleep.  It was very nice and the procedure was over before I knew it.  I woke as the table started to move again...and I kept my eyes closed until it stopped moving.  There's no sense in freaking out when the worst is over.

I ran some errands and ate some lunch.  Then it was back to meet with the Orthopedic.  It turns out the cartilage around my arm bone is separated from the bone.  There is also a small cyst...which he explained was a fluid filled sac...under the muscle that probably developed because of the poor design I get to blame my parents for, and the dislodged cartilage.  He said surgery is the only way to repair it and it's up to me when to have it done.  We decided on fall because I won't be doing much in the fall other than hiking.  And I don't need to move my arms around much for that. 

I asked how much I should plan on having to save between now and then.  He said with my 80% copay, I should "ONLY" be looking at 2 to 4 THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!  Clearly he is accustomed to dealing with much wealthier clients.  He was nice and gave me the number to his billing lady and said she could work some options for me to help with the cost.  He was also quick to explain the majority of the cost was not for his services but for the facility services...because our hospitals need to look like resorts now...for some reason...and we as patients...and our insurance need to help pay for these luxurious facilities.

Of course I called Lou as soon as I was back to the truck.  He asked how it went...listened patiently...then asked how much today's visit cost...silence....silence...."how much will the surgery cost?"....silence..."I need to save 2 to 4 thousand" I said..."YOU'RE A WALKING MEDICAL BILL!!!!!"

Girl Scout Cookies In January?

It's been a gloomy day here in the Rockies with no new snow at our elevation.  I've been struggling with my energy levels and motivation all day.  I walked down stairs a few moments ago and SURPRISE!!!!  Our Managing Broker brought three boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in for us to eat.  I took it as a sign that I must eat a dozen or so because they were my three favorite types...Samoas, Tag a longs, and Do-Si-Dos.  Bring on the sugar high!

Oh...and it just started snowing!! YAY

I can race

Well...Suzanne inspired me to post something new...and post the draft I created 3 weeks ago. 

Our company decided to sponsor a team for the Aspen Times Recreational Race Series.  When I heard the term "recreational", I immediately threw my name in the hat.  BIG MISTAKE! 

I showed up early and eager to participate last Saturday, paid my $20 to park and proceeded to walk around Aspen Highlands for an hour looking for other race participants.  I discovered that things don't neccessarily operate in the mountains like they would anywhere else in the world.  The registration desk that was to be open at 8am was finally located...in a completely different location...at 9:10am.  After I registered and paid my $15 for the racing bib, I was told that this would not be a race day but a race clinic day.  That calmed my nerves considerably.  I rode up the chair...alone, and skied down to the course where I found a handful of people gathered around the starting gate.  When it was my turn at the gate I was told to take a practice run to familiarize myself with the gates.  The next time down would be when we received instructions.

As I was strapping my free foot on my board, I realized there was a bumps course to my right that a bunch of teenagers wearing race bibs were flying through.  I looked to my left, and there was a slalom course with a bunch of pre teens racing through.  WHAT WAS I DOING HERE?  I saw the first two gates and skiied towards them.  They were fairly easy!   This is going to be fun!!  Then....the course dropped over the side of the hill.  The turns were so tight and the run was so steep, I blew through the next couple of gates...all the while being watched by all the "kids" racing on either side of me.  I WAS MORTIFIED!

I did my best to make it through the course and proceeded to the lift line.  Once there, I saw that the shorter, slower lift to the course had a line of at least 50 people who were boarding the chair 1 or 2 people at a time.  I made the brilliant decision to ride the quicker, longer lift towards the top of the mountain that had no one in line.  I got to the top of the lift and felt good about my decision...until I realized I was below the trail that would have allowed me to ski back to the race course.  After an extremely quick ride down the mountain, I rode the slower, shorter lift back to the race track.  That was a nice waste of 30 minutes of my "clinic" time.

I attempted 3 more runs through the course.  The whole time I was trying to ignore the semi professional racers who were participating in the clinic with me, and I tried to give myself a pep talk every 30 seconds when the self doubt would come crashing over me like a tsunami engulfing crab on the beach.  The course was becoming icier and tougher with each pass.  Craters started to appear in some of the turns where the skiiers had swept every little bit of snow away and the ice had began to chunck away.  It was my turn at the gate!  As I strapped my free foot in to my binding, the clinic "instructor" informed me that this run would be filmed from below so everyone could view it at the end of the day....GREAT!  Turn one...good, turn two...still Ok, drop off the side of the hill towards the third gate and I blow through it.  I missed the next gate completely because it took me so long to finally catch an edge and make the turn.  Forget it...just ski towards the next gate...blow through that one, fall on butt, hurt arm, pretend not to care and race towards another gate...there it goes...WHY AM I EVEN ON THE MOUNTAIN!?!?!?  Forget it, throw hands up in the air, ski straight down the middle of the course, force a smile at the camera man and tell him that should be entertaining when we view it at the end of the day.  AND that's the end of my racing career.  I headed for the truck and drove to town as quickly as possible.  I need to comfort myself with some McDonals....

Christmas Fun

Lou and I had our Christmas on Christmas Eve because we had to get up early the next morning for our hut trip.  Lou prepared a very nice dinner of pasta, asparagus, and Ahi Tuna.  We opened a bottle of wine, put on our Santa hats and dove in to the pile of presents.  People were VERY generous this year with gifts.  I take that as a sign of increased confidence in our economy.  :-)  We both received clothes, gift cards to Chili's, Itunes and a sporting goods stores, and prepaid debit cards.  Lou received a Nook and a Cuisinart food processor so he can start using the Paleo cookbooks he received last year.  I received several new board games that I'm super excited to play, a steam mop that will make life a lot easier with two dogs and two cats running around, and Apple TV which I was excited to receive until I tried to hook it up to our outdated audio/video equipment.  I'm beginning to think electronic manufacturers invent new connections so you're forced to buy new equipment so everything will work.  Needless to say, we were thrilled with all of our new stuff.  The cats were thrilled with all of the wadded up wrapping paper we had thrown around the living room, and the dogs were content with their large rawhide bones Lou's mom sent to them. 

After fighting with our electronics and various cables for a awhile, I realized I had better get to bed because 6:30 am was approaching quickly.  When Lou's alarm went off at 6 am, I about cried.  My body did NOT want to get up and prepare for our excursion.  I allowed myself an extra 15 minutes of sleep while Lou showered then drug my lazy hind end out of bed.  It's amazing to me how I can pack a backpack the night before and manage to tear it apart the next morning and add/delete so many items.  I've come to the realization that packing is not one of my strong points. 

We rushed out of the house to meet at Karen and Doug's house at 8.  We got there at 8:03 only to find Karen, Doug, Tammy and Harlan slowly moving around the kitchen, making breakfast, fitting skins to their skis and packing the sled Harlan was going to use to tow the beer, whisky, and food.  Karen realized they were running "a little late" and decided she would occupy Lou and I with as many PB&J covered pieces of toast as she could.  About an hour later, we were all off to pick up the 7th member of the caravan, Kurt. 

Kurt was a little late getting to the Park and Ride at the bottom of Snowmass, so we finally arrived at the GondOla around 10.  We unloaded all of our stuff in to a big pile, Lou and Doug parked the truck and we boarded the GondOla for a quick trip up Aspen Mountain where our treck would begin. 

It was a georgeous day!  There were no clouds in the sky and it was a comfortable 37 degrees.  Everyone skiied to the hut while Lou and I snowshoed.  About 2 miles of snowshoeing later, I realized it was rediculouse to continue to snowshoe because the snow was packed by all the snowmobiles that had used the trail.  Once I removed the shoes, the route was much easier.  I had also purchased a $10 round sled and used it a few times on the steeper downhill sections.  That was fun!

.......I figured I'd better just post the book I started writing becuase I'll probably never finish it.  After all, it's been 3 weeks.