Monday, February 18, 2008

Miniscule Monday

Just little stuff today.

1. We had weekend guests, for a welcome midwinter break. Their names are Linda and Michael, and they brought with them Dudley, their six-month-old golden doodle (a poodle-golden retriever mix). That's Dudley at left--his baby picture from six weeks ago, actually. Right now he's bigger than our black lab, Callie. Can't wait to see how big he is when he makes his summertime visit in August.

The cat was not impressed with Dudley. She spent the weekend in the cellar, now and then poking her head out her little cat door to see if the coast was clear. It never was, so back she went for six more weeks of winter.

2. The 2k8 blog has an entertaining contest involving cover mutilation and multiple-choice questions (my favorite in high school). The Unnameables doesn't have a cover yet, so remains unmutilated. Should be getting a draft cover any time now--an unnerving thought, since having a cover makes everything so final, like a coffin lid. (My, aren't we in a cheery mood today? Too much wine last night, perhaps?)

3. I went to an orthopedist Friday to see why my knees hurt so much. I ruined them several decades ago running down a mountain-ette in the Lake District in England. (Waving my arms in the air and singing "The Sound of Music," as I recall.) Ever since, I've been doing what I can to keep my quadriceps (the front muscles in our thighs) firm and strong so the tendons attached to them will keep the kneecap from wobbling around like a weak frisbee throw. Turns out my quadriceps are now so much tighter than the rest of my thigh muscles that the tendons are shoving the kneecaps backward. Plus the inside thigh is much weaker than the outside, so the kneecaps are set crooked. So I have to have physical therapy to undo it all. Good going, Ellen.

Interesting bit of trivia: When you sit down and do ankle-lifts, the outside thigh muscles do the work from floor level to half-way up, and then the inside thigh muscles take over until you straighten your leg. Who knew.

5 comments:

Nancy Viau said...

Ellen,
You crack me up. When we get our covers (sooooon????), let's hope we're not Too Late to be Great in
2k8. Just kidding.
It'll happen. The best comes last, and all that hoopla.

Anonymous said...

Aww, poor kitty.

*tries out ankle-lifts and gets weird looks from Martje* Do you have to balance a weight on your feet? If so, I bet McGonagall would happily let you use Dudley.

If you chuck him out the door with each lift, that is. :>

Ellen Booraem said...

Maybe they're not called ankle lifts. You strap weights to your ankles while sitting in a chair, feet on floor, and lift your ankles (feet?) to knee height.

McGonagall the cat was nuts for two days after Dudley left, getting back at us.

*Hears Ruth say, "And with good reason!"*

Barrie said...

Ellen, that is crazy about your thigh muscles. And not fair. I am so sorry.

Anonymous said...

That photo is adorable! We had a dog visiting for the weekend, too, and it was so hard to let him go home when his mommy and daddy (my brother and sister-in-law) left. As for your knee troubles, I'm so sorry to hear about them. I hope they get worked out soon.