Generic update

Whew! It's been a crazy couple of months. The post-surgical limitations to my mobility ended up slowing me down in lots of other ways, too. When you can't get around quickly, or (as when I was still on crutches) have limited use of your hands as well as legs, things like checking email and blogging tend to get pushed aside. This is because everything else takes so damn long to accomplish, the other stuff feels like small potatoes.

Anyway, the knee is much better, thank you very much. Not 100%, certainly, but I'd say about 75%. It still feels a bit stiff, and while I got full extension back, full flexion hasn't been reached yet. But I'm being a good girl - going to PT 3x/week, doing my home exercises on days that I don't and generally working toward normalcy once again.

The kids finished school for the year. N wants to start Kindergarten RIGHT NOW, but I think I've finally managed to get her to accept the fact that she has to wait until September, there's just nothing to be done about it. A enjoyed second grade ever so much more than first, thanks to his wonderful teacher, Mr. Haines. But still, he was thrilled with the arrival of summer vacation. We just spent an unscheduled (except for my PT appointments) week together and are gearing up for the start of summer camp this week.

They'll only be there for a week before they head to Grandma camp for a week while DH and I go to St. Maarten for vacation. We were originally going to Saba, but that island's main claims to fame are diving and hiking - two things I'm not allowed to do right now. So, since our main air tix were to St. Maarten, we decided to just stay there for the week instead of taking our puddle hopper to Saba. St. Maarten's diving isn't as pristine, but it still doesn't suck. So the divers among our group can still get their fix in, but I'll have more to keep me happy top-side while they're under water. While we're gone, Summer will stay with my dear friend, The Crazy Dog Lady. I'm sure she'll have a blast, as she does every time she goes there.

Then it's back to normal life for a while before we head back to Erie again for my *gasp* 20-year high school reunion. How the heck did 20 years go by? I swear, inside my head I still feel like the girl who graduated from Mercyhurst Preparatory School in 1990. Okay, maybe not quite...but if not 17, certainly no older than 25. Alas, I'm less than a month from my 38th birthday! I take pretty good care of myself and am (with the exception of the recently bum knee) in decent shape, so age is not something that freaks me out. But still...the number just doesn't match how I feel. It's odd.

Then, in September I'll be stepping back on stage as Catherine in The Players Club of Swarthmore's production of The Foreigner. I'm so proud to be able to be a part of the Theater's Centennial season - it's going to be such fun!

I think that's all the news that's fit to print around here lately. So, what's up with you? Drop me a line, will ya?

Sometimes there really is such a thing as too nice...

...as in, to the point of stupidity.

So, you may remember that the fam and I went to Disneyland and Legoland for vacation just before Easter. Well, on the flight out, A had to go to the bathroom. But Guy Sitting in the Aisle Seat was asleep. We'd already woken Guy once to let A go to the bathroom, so I hated to do it again. I decided to try to lift A over Guy's lap and into the aisle. About 2/3 of the way over Guy's lap, there was a sickening *POP* and poor Guy was startled awake anyway, because I had just dropped A onto his lap when my knee gave out from under me.

I guess trying to twist and lean in a confined space while lifting almost 50 pounds isn't such a great idea.

But the funny thing is, other than the initial horrific stab of pain, it didn't really hurt that much. I could put weight on it right away, and it just felt a little stiff, maybe slightly out of joint. I was convinced that a trip to the ER upon landing wasn't necessary. Still, the pop was pretty nasty. So, the next morning, before embarking upon our Disneyland adventure - I found the nearest pharmacy and bought myself a brace. I figured just because it didn't hurt much right now didn't mean it could tolerate walking around amusement parks for a week without some support.

And we had a lovely time on our vacation. Managed A's food well, with just one oops on my part that led to an afternoon of hellboy reaction. N enjoyed Disneyland less than we expected because, as it turns out, even though it's supposed to be for kids - many of the rides have some sort of "startle" factor to them that N really didn't like. Legoland ended up being much more her speed.

Anyway, back to the knee. By the end of the week, it felt pretty good. I was still wearing the brace for support, but it was more of a "just in case" measure than anything else. Got home and continued to improve. So, after another week of taking it easy, I resumed normal life, including running.

But when it still didn't feel 100% after a month, I figured I should do something about it. It just felt slightly out of joint - so a visit to my Chiropractor seemed in order. Dr. Cole moved my leg around a bit, felt the knee and asked me to let him know what hurt. After about 30 seconds of this he said, "Yeah, I can't adjust you. You need an MRI."

I was shocked! "Why??" I whined.

He informed me that, "I think you may have torn your ACL."

A flurry of expletives went through my head. The only thing that saved Dr. Cole from hearing them was N's presence in the room.

So anyway, I scheduled the MRI for a couple of days later. I had the report sent to both Dr. Cole and to my primary doc. Primary doc's office called first to tell me I needed to schedule an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon because, yeah, I tore my ACL and possibly the meniscus as well.

Isn't that just peachy?

We have a dive trip scheduled for the beginning of July, so I wanted to be FIXED ASAP. So, the surgeon scheduled me for the procedure last Friday. I was supposed to be able to put some weight on the leg right away, with the assistance of crutches. I was supposed to start physical therapy less than a week after surgery. I was supposed to be working on strengthening my leg right quick, so I could be strong enough to dive.

But my bones seem to have other plans. Turns out, they're soft. I'm not exactly sure what this means in the big picture (though you can bet that I'll be finding out as soon as someone in the Orthopedics office calls me back), but the short-term effect is that I have to keep weight completely off the leg until after my post-surgical follow-up, which is a week from today. This delays the start of PT, which means I won't be strong enough to dive in six weeks.

Blech.

Still, a week on a tropical island won't suck - even if I can't dive.

In the meantime, my Mommy flew in from Erie to help out for the next few days. Thank goodness! With the unexpected extra limitations, I'm not sure how I would be managing, otherwise.

The moral of the story? Wake the Guy up!

The week of family, friends and food

So, last week was kinda crazy. Tuesday, my Sister-in-law, L, came for a visit with her 3 kids (G, H & C). They were on spring break and hadn't been here in a while. It's always a joy to hang out with those guys. L and I became such fast friends when M and I got together that she was my Matron of Honor at our wedding. And of course, the kids love playing with their cousins. The timing worked out pretty amazingly - her kids are all about three years apart, with my kids perfectly sandwiched in about halfway between each, so they really play well together (most of the time). While they were here, we went to the Franklin Institute, which was fun, but exhausting. Seems like we usually eat out a lot when they come, but this time I mostly cooked. The soup I made for dinner on Tuesday wasn't such a hit, but I redeemed myself with a much-appreciated beef and noodle stir-fry on Wednesday and homemade pizza on Thursday. Friday morning, we gave hugs all around as L and the cousins headed out for the next stop on their week of visits and N and I headed to her school, where I was asked to fill in for one of the teacher's assistants for the day.

When we got home, I cleaned as much as I could before Friday night, because we were welcoming friends from Binghamton (our best man, P, and his family - wife C and kids A & H, plus their two whippets - Zinger and Comet) and from Syracuse (S & J - our SCUBA diving buddies). Saturday all the grown ups met up with another couple (C & K - college friends) for dinner at Amada. For the past few years, we've gotten together for a splurgy meal in Philadelphia each spring - usually in April, and called it Philly Phood Phest. Past excursions have taken us to Roy's, Le Bec Fin, LaCroix, Morimoto, and others. M and I had a dinner at Amada last year that we really enjoyed, so we thought it would make a good Phest choice. Basically, it's an upscale Tapas joint. Tapas is the perfect cuisine for people like me who like to try lots of different foods, because it's small plates, meant for sharing. Think of it as an entire meal of appetizers. And Amada does it really, really well. The table got the chef's tasting menu - three courses of chef-chosen specialties, with several plates in each course. I didn't take a bite of anything I didn't like, but the standouts (for me) were the Ensalada de Jamon, the artichoke and wild mushroom flatbread, Parmesan Artichokes, lamb chops and the Leche Frita. My biggest complaint is that the place is very loud. Also, the first time we visited, (when it was just me and my husband) we felt that our 2-top was squeezed in too close to other tables (it was difficult to get up to use the restroom without bumping the people seated near us). But this time, our group of 8 got us a large table with lots of room around it...much better!

But I think the best part was just hangin' with family and friends for the week. We love these folks, and wish they all lived closer so we could see them more often. Ah well, still don't have enough money for that family compound where they can all just live with us. Someday...

The day that wasn't

So, a couple of entries ago, I told about an open call I went to. They were looking for background talent for a movie that's shooting in town, as well as an NBC pilot. Well, less than a week later, I get a call. They catch me in the middle of grocery shopping and ask if I can be on set of the pilot the next day. Much as I want to, I can't just immediately say, "yes." Why? Well, there's that pesky child care thing to arrange. So, I tell them I'll make a few calls and get back to them as soon as I can.

First call is to my across-the-street neighbor and good friend, P. You may remember P from my power-outage entry - they're one of two families that let us bunk with them when our house got too cold to be habitable. Anyway...P was available to watch the kids - which is fantastic on a number of levels. She knows them almost as well as she knows her own son, since our two boys have been playing together since they were less than two-years-old and before my daughter, N, was born. Plus, since she lives right across the street, the whole school bus thing is a no-brainer. And we have given each other keys in case we lock ourselves out (which we have), so she has easy access to all of our Feingold-friendly food for A. Brilliant!

Call the casting people back, yes, I'm available. Cool, get the info on how to retrieve all of my call information for the next day from their web site and I'm good to go. Mind you, all of this is happening while I'm racing around Trader Joe's grabbing groceries so I can be done in time to Pick N up from preschool.

Finish shopping. Check. Pick N up from school. Check. Oh crap! There's a dentist appointment and a parent-teacher conference the next day. Okay, these acting opportunities don't come along very often, so the dentist and teacher will have to wait. Reschedule the dentist appointment for THREE MONTHS LATER, sheesh! Luckily, teacher (Mr. H - the BEST!) was much easier. Simply rescheduled for the next day, perfect.

Hubby comes home and announces that he's decided to work from home while I'm off earning money as human set-dressing. So, wonderful P is off the hook. Still, I'm awfully grateful to her for being available. The kids are excited to get to hang with Daddy on a school day, although I remind them he still has work to do, so he won't be able to play much.

Now, it's just a matter of waiting until 9pm, when I'm supposed to log on to the casting site to find out when I'm called, where I'm supposed to go and what I'm supposed to wear. Wait, wait, wait... 9pm - site says come back at 10. When I spoke to them that morning, they said call could be as early as 5:45am. Don't they know I don't work well without much sleep? *sigh* Wait, wait, wait...10pm - site says come back at 10:30. AAArrgh! Wait, wait, wait... Finally, info! Luckily, I'm not called until 9. Still, with getting the kids ready, getting myself camera-ready and driving in during rush hour, I gotta get up pretty early.

The next morning goes a lot smoother than I expect. Although I'm asked to wear a suit. My suits are pretty old. Not worn-looking, but definitely a bit dated. Still, they're suits, so I wear the one that fits me a bit better and keep my fingers crossed. Mental note: should probably have a more up-to-date suit in the wardrobe for just such an occasion.

The place we're told to park is about 18 blocks from where we're to sign in, but I arrive in plenty of time. I decide to walk. But as I'm leaving the parking lot, one of the PAs tells me there's a shuttle, but it won't be here for another 20 minutes or so. Okay, I'll wait. The weather's not bad, but it is breezy, and after standing there for 10 minutes I'm starting to feel cold. I'm regretting not walking (or taking the subway) just to keep warm. But eventually, I get on a shuttle and am on my way!

There's a background PA to report to. This poor woman's job is to literally wrangle all 30-40 background people to make sure we wait where we're supposed to, eat when we're supposed to and don't leave the room (even to go to the bathroom) without letting someone know where we are. Much as waiting around is boring, her job is both stressful and boring at the same time.

We get approved by wardrobe, the makeup lady tells me I look good, but keep my lipstick on me and refresh often, the hair lady fixes me up a little, I fill out my paperwork and I'm good to go. So, then we move from the holding room to a hallway just outside of the stairwell where they're shooting to be ready for when they need us. The stairwell, by the way, is large and ornate - if you've seen the film Law Abiding Citizen, you've seen it. It's part staircase, part atrium.

So, we wait, and wait, and wait. While we wait, I get to see Jimmy Smits, David Ramsey and Jesse Bradford walk by. Cool! After a lot more waiting, we move into one of the nearby unused courtrooms, so that we can at least wait in chairs. At one point, about ten of us get pulled into the aforementioned stairwell and we think we're about to actually get to do something. Oops, sorry, no. False alarm. Back to the empty courtroom. More waiting.

Eventually, we got to stop waiting for a while to have "lunch" which was actually after 4pm, so it was almost dinner. Good food. We finish - go back to the original room where we signed in. And those of us who are non-union (that would include me) are told we're done for the day, we can go. WHAT?!! Seriously, I covered child care (twice, really), rescheduled two appointments, stayed up late and got up early to wait around all day and never step in front of a camera? You've got to be kidding me. No, sadly, they weren't.

Mind you, I got to spend the day talking to some interesting people. Nearly all of them have a lot more experience with TV and film than I do, so I learned a bit. But still, it really wasn't worth it. Especially since, getting the non-union rate - my pay for turning my family's life upside-down for the day and waiting around for ten hours for nothing was, after taxes, a whopping $68.36. No kidding. Of course, if I had gotten into the scene, I wouldn't have cared about the measly check. But as it stands, I'm a trifle disappointed.

Sorry to have this entry be a bit of a downer, but there you have it. If it makes you feel any better, last year, when I got onto the set of Law Abiding Citizen, I got a union waiver for the day, which means I got the union rate (that day's check was over $300 after taxes). Plus, I not only got into the scene, I'm easily seen right behind Girard Butler. Guess you win some, you lose some.

Sorry I've been away so long...

...There's been so much going on, I don't know where to begin.

So, what would you like to hear about?

The day I got called onto the set of Garza - the new NBC pilot that was shooting downtown?

Our trip out to CA for spring break, my ridiculous knee injury (and aftermath)?

Our time in Disneyland?

Our time in Legoland?

Our low-key Easter?

A's potential opportunity to have a speaking role in a film?

My much-delayed trip to the tax preparer's office?

Any other requests?

Seriously, a little guidance could go a long way, here.

Actually did something for the acting career today!

So, despite my desire to build some kind of part-time acting career for myself out of the local projects that are available - I've been terribly lax about pursuing it. While it's something I want, I'm always terribly nervous about making the child care arrangements work out right. That tends to make me hesitant. And when things get complicated, well...let's just say we become a less-than-happy family for a while.

But if I really want this, the only way to make things go smoother is to get more practice. It's hard to get better at something that only happens once or twice a year. So this morning I went to an open call for background talent for a film that will be shooting locally in April and May. The call said to come either dressed in upscale business attire or trendy nightclub attire and to bring a photo of yourself in business attire. Well, some of the headshots that were taken of me last spring are in a suit jacket, so that covered the business attire. I wanted to show them both looks, in hopes of doubling my chances at getting cast, so I decided that I would show up in nightclub attire.

There was, however, one problem - I haven't been to a nightclub since before I had kids. Since my oldest is 8, not only did I not own any appropriate clothing...I didn't even know what would BE appropriate. Thank goodness for Facebook! I posted my dilemma as my status earlier this week and was informed that all I needed to do was go to Forever 21 and buy a cheap shirt. Good to know.

So yesterday, after picking N up from preschool, she and I took a little trip up to the King of Prussia Mall - where the closest Forever 21 is located. Normally, I hate going to the KoP Mall - the traffic is generally awful and I'm not a fan of crowds. But it turns out neither is very bad in the middle of a weekday (I'll have to remember that for future reference). Score!

Of course, N was hungry, so we hit the food court first. She got herself Chick-Fil-A (a special treat, since we can't go there as a family, with A on the Feingold Program). And I hit Salad Sensations. N finished all of her lunch and I didn't finish mine - I was very proud of both of us.

Then, we were off to Forever 21. Of course, since I'm 37, I felt a little silly. But I valiantly tried on a selection of cheap tops. Now, I've lost some weight recently and am feeling pretty good about my body right now. But many of these shirts were not only tight, they were nearly all the kind of unforgiving knit fabric that shows every little bump and bulge. Definitely not cute (at least on me). But I finally settled on a cute satiny top that had boning in the bottom half that pulled double duty of adding interest to the garment and hiding flaws. To complete the nightclub look, I got some cheap bangles to go with it. All for less than $20 - double score!

Got home and put them on with my black skirt. $#!+ - the skirt in question is definitely too long to look nightclubby. That little detail made it look like I was going for business attire and missing, rather than succeeding at looking like a trendy chick going out for the evening. Now what? It occurred to me that my friend, K, is pretty close to my size. I called in desperation asking if she had a short black skirt I could borrow. Luckily, she did! She would bring it the next morning on her way to work. But since she's thinner than me, I wasn't sure if it would fit - so I decided on a pair of tight jeans as a backup in case the skirt was too small.

A short while later, the doorbell rang. K had kindly sent her hubby over early with the skirt in question, plus an extra one, just in case. Thank goodness, one of them fit and looked perfect for a night on the town!

So this morning, I got myself all dolled up like I was going out dancing. This felt a little silly, since it was about 10:30 am. But I did it, right down to the FMPs. The casting director rounded a bunch of us up in the middle of the room and gave us the low-down about what to expect in terms of when we might be contacted and how we would get all of our info. Then she indicated where we would put our photos and said we could go. For a second I was crestfallen - I had gone through all that effort for nothing. There was no way anyone would notice how I looked in the split second it took me to put my photo on the pile. But as everyone else was moving to leave their photos, one of the other casting directors who works at the agency was pulling a few women off to the side. He took photos of us right then, holding a board with our name. Triple score!

So, I left feeling pretty good. I did everything I could do to get a chance at the gig and someone noticed that I looked nice. Now I guess it's just a matter of keeping my fingers crossed and my cell phone on!

Who knows, perhaps six months from now, I'll be blogging about where to look for me in the background.

Speaking of where to look for me...if you happen to rent Law Abiding Citizen, look for me behind and to the right of Girard Butler in the bail hearing scene, I'm wearing a gray turtleneck.

Not as hard as it sounds

So, a couple of posts back, I gave a bit of an explanation of The Feingold Program. In short, it's a diet (although it's more, since it also involves cleaning and personal care products) that eliminates artificial additives (colors, fragrances, flavors and certain preservatives).

Having to follow any special diet takes some getting used to. And it's certainly more difficult than walking into the supermarket and buying whatever you fancy. But following Feingold isn't really as difficult as it might first sound.

Of course, I'm lucky. I live about ten minutes from a Trader Joe's. While only a few of TJ's products are officially on "The Foodlist" (see "The Medless ADHD Son" for more on the Foodlist), all of their private label products are free of the offending artificials. Admittedly, many hard line Feingolders would say this isn't following the program. But I'm not really a hard line kind of girl. When I learned about the artificial-free nature of TJ's in-house products, I was cautious at first. I knew what a reaction would look like (short temper, impulsiveness, more fidgeting than usual) and kept a sharp eye out. The only TJ's products that elicited any such response were off-list breads. When we started on Feingold, I learned that cooking spray is often laced with preservatives, but isn't considered an ingredient. So, I assumed that the offending breads used inappropriate sprays. Now we stick to the breads that are on the list. But otherwise, TJ's makes our life on Feingold pretty easy.

If there weren't a Trader Joe's nearby, my second choice for shopping would be Whole Foods. I know what you're thinking...EXPENSIVE. But here's the thing, their in-store private label brand (365 Everyday Value) is actually quite reasonable and of good quality. Plus, most of their products are on the Foodlist. In fact if a Whole Foods were closer to my home, it might be my first shopping choice, just because as much as I love TJ's - they just don't carry everything. As it stands, the nearest Whole Foods is about 30-40 minutes away, so second choice it remains.

If neither of these were available, I'd be leaning much harder on my darling Foodlist and hitting a conventional Supermarket. When I first started Feingold shopping, before I learned about the magic naturalness of TJ's in-house brand, I did this quite a bit. I would hit the store with my shopping list in one hand and the Foodlist in the other. Doing the weekly grocery shopping this way easily takes twice as long (and I learned early NOT to do it with the kids), but it certainly can be done. And it can be done for not much more money than pre-Feingold days. I did a bit more cooking from scratch, but I enjoy cooking, so this was no big deal for me.

So, does Feingold take a bit of effort? Yeah, but not nearly as much as I thought it would be going in. Does it cost a bit more? Sure, but not as much as a prescription would - and nowhere near as much money as dietary measures some others have to take (gluten/casein free, for example). But the joy of having a kid who's on the high-energy-end of normal rather than out of control is more than benefit enough. Add to that that we get it without the side effects of drugs and you got yourself one satisfied Mommy.

So, what should we talk about next time?