Home Sweet Home

And we're back in the car.....driving again!  It's not our preferred method of travel, but it is the most affordable method.  We headed to Milwaukee for the weekend for some quality time with our friends and family.  My weekend turned into a very easy-going-laid-back weekend.  It was remarkable!!! 

Friday's driving dragged on and on through the endless burnt green grass fields of western Wisconsin.  We drove for most of the Olympic opening ceremony, but thankfully my parents have DVR.  Not a minute was missed of the Opening Ceremony.  My favorite - June and Frankie - great video montage and tribute to English bands!! It would make for a really, really, really good playlist.  Hm...next car trip may have to have an English theme?  

Saturday morning my brother and I had a date with destiny...maybe that's an exaggeration.  We did get out on the tennis courts for some friendly competition (There is no such thing as friendly competition in my family.  See Fourth of July post).  I am a below average tennis player to his better than average, practice all the time, tennis summer league ability.  Needless to say, he became "bored" with playing against me.  Ta-Da....My dad showed up to "teach us a thing or two".  The game is now balanced....me and my dad versus my brother.  It's always better to be on the winning team!  After a long deuce/advantage in/advantage out game six, my dad decided to call it a day and became more of a spectator while we played on for another match.  My dad's version of a spectator is constantly coaching and helping me to improve my game.  It helped - a lot, but I felt like a 10 year old girl in every sport....Yes, I was a coach's daughter.    

For the rest of Saturday we hit up pool side to bake in the sun.  Saturday night, I tried my hand at my first shrimp boil  ---- It was a total SUCCESS!!  I had some harsh critiques too.  Dinner was served to my aunt, two cousins, and my brother and sister.  Let's just say honesty reigns with this group, and I would have been the first to know if dinner sucked.  Thankfully, I passed the test, and everyone enjoyed their dinner.  The corn, apparently, had the most flavor.  I thought the peppers picked up more of the spice, but I also ate most of the peppers.  My aunt and I may have enjoyed it more than everyone else with a crisp white wine pairing.  We also enjoyed some of the best dessert Wisconsin has to offer: butter pecan from Kopp's.  They do deliver outside of Wisconsin, but it's a 7 quart minimum so I've refrained from doing it, for now at least.  

Sunday was a little bit less exciting since we were on the road by 2:00 pm.  I did fit in some quality time with my parents for a nice, leisurely walk around the park near our house in the morning.  For those from a large family like me, you will understand how it is very important to have time with your parents' undivided attention.  

And sadly, Sunday ended on a low note since my soccer team lost in the championship again....just like last season.  It was disappointing, but it was still good to be out there running around and getting exercise (especially after having Kopp's ice cream this weekend).  

Head Above the Rest

Last August I had a concussion from playing soccer.  It was a strong blow to the back of my head by a soccer ball at close range that did me in.  I went to the sports medicine urgent clinic, Tria Orthopedic, (they are the best) the following morning for the diagnosis.  I failed miserably at the standardized concussion test.  


The test consists of memory recall and balance.  1. I am a clumsy person, so I'll never have full ability when it comes to balance.  2. This happened August 29th and when prompted with the question, "What month is it" I replied, "July, no September"...wrong, wrong, wrong.  For the balance testing, I was asked to raise one foot off the ground (minimal distance - few inches) and close my eyes.  I felt like I was in free fall and couldn't do it.  


Adam - who drove me to the appointment - looked on in the doctor's office just horrified by the incident.  There are several issues with having a concussion:


1. You can't drive
2. You can't read or watch t.v. or be on the computer - you're suppose to reduce all stimuli as much as possible (Just sit has never suited me well)
3. No transportation - no work.
4. Your memory and speech and visual ability are all impaired.




After two days out of work, I attempted to drive to work (40-45 minute drive on the highway), which was a disaster.  No accidents, but I felt sick and shouldn't have driven.  A strong sense of vertigo and no response time was very foolish to even think I could have attempted to drive.  After meeting with HR - a short explanation of my condition and ability to work - I spent another hour or so trying to work (the company I was with accommodated to my condition by letting me sick in a dimly light room to help with our marketing promo rather than sitting by a computer all day) before throwing in the towel.  I was in and out of the office temporarily for most of the month of September.

The problem with an injury like a concussion is that there are no visible signs of being sick or having an issue.  My concussion has left residual effects - I now get migraines.  They were almost monthly or ever two weeks.  Now they are more spaced out - every couple of months.   The issue is the painfulness has increased and a migraine just isn't a headache.  It has all sorts of other symptoms - mine includes: loss of vision, blurred vision, vertigo, lack of balance, loss of depth perception, and delay in word queues.  Writing or typing something during a migraine is hilarious because there are a million typos or I cannot spell.  Any guess what part of my brain is most effected?  Here's some help from the head injury website.  


The purpose for this post is to explain why I had nothing to write about this week, since at about 3:00 am Tuesday morning I've been on migraine lock down!  Meaning - listening to the t.v. while burying my head under the pillow or taking Advil PM to both rest my brain and try to reduce the headache symptoms.  All the while, trying to stay hydrated and trying to supplement the migraine symptoms with caffeine.  Funniest moment - missing the entrance to the bathroom and smacking straight into a wall.  I have now learned to walk with my hands out in front of me.  


Sorry for the scientific and less than exciting post.  I'm doing much better. I'll be home this weekend in Milwaukee for a little R&R, and I'm sure that'll be just what I need.