sling cast no more

i'm officially cast-free! i had my follow-up appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon and he gave me the okay to start walking without it. and while i still have some work to do on my ankle, he was very impressed with my progress. i've got 3 more physical therapy sessions and then i'm completely finished. i'll still need to continue with the exercises on my own, but things are looking pretty good. i'm walking without a limp and i can actually go down a flight of stairs. yea for the little things.

new things

i'm very excited because i'm going to be starting yoga classes on feb. 18th. while i've had a sort of on again off again home practice, i've never taken a proper yoga class. there's a new yoga studio that opened in new braunfels, two rivers yoga, that really seems like a good place. so, i'm very excited.

also next month, i have my first jury trial since starting this job. i've done a handful of jury trials before, but they always make me nervous. i think i'm good to go, but now it's just the nit-picky things. hopefully, the artist's way class that i'm starting in a few weeks will help keep things in perspective for me.

for march, i've signed up for a beading class, which i'm so excited for. i've been looking for either a beading or painting class, and this was the first one that i came across. it's a a neat little bead shop in san antonio, and i can't wait!

in may, pink martini is coming to austin. interestingly, john is the one who told me about the concert. pink martini isn't really his style of music, so i thought it was sweet that he asked if i want to go.

anyway, don't know why i felt like giving a rundown of my calendar, but i find it so inspiring how all these wonderful opportunities are finally coming.

frustration

bonjour! i'm a bit overwhelmed by my french class. don't get me wrong, i'm still loving it, but i just feel like such a dummy when i try to speak. like any language, or anything new, it just takes a lot of practice. i certainly didn't learn english overnight. i'm trying to think of some ways to practice during the day - either make cards to post around my office or at least start using french salutations with my co-workers (won't they just love me). so, i guess on that note . . .

bonsoir!

bonjour!

today was classe deux in french. it wasn't quite as overwhelming today as it was last week. i definitely need to practice more between classes, so my friends and co-workers better be prepared.

right now i am at work, supposedly working. as expected, it is not going well. so much for good intentions.

on a livelier note, check out these curtains. they are so going into my pink suite.



love them!

love 3 day weekends

after a wonderful 3 day weekend, i'm back to the old grind, aka work. this weekend was lots of fun. saturday morning i had my first french class. so, i had to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to get dressed and drive one hour to the class location in austin. so far, i'm pretty lost, but i'm hoping it gets easier over time. after my class, i drove to dallas to visit a dear friend. she was the one who helped/laughed at me when i had my car "incident" this past thanksgiving. we had dinner on saturday at a french restaurant called mignon. it was great, but i was so sick the next morning and the rest of sunday i was achy and had a fever. i'm not sure what happened, but it kind of freaked me out since i don't get sick too often. but, of course i wasn't so sick that i couldn't go shopping. so sunday we browsed around north park mall. my friend bought some shoes for a steal at barney's and i got tons of new makeup at nordstrom's. afterwards, we saw the movie 27 dresses, which was just adorable. having been a bridesmaid numerous times myself, i definitely saw the humor. since my friend is not smart like me, she works for a private law firm and did not have monday off. so, off to work she went and i met up with her for lunch before heading home. all in all, it was a good weekend.

i had physical therapy again for my ankle. i'm very happy with my progress. when i point my foot, it actually points now. i've also grown to enjoy the one-on-one time with the therapist. i'm going to miss having that little luxury when i'm finished, but it's gotten me to thinking about how i can find something similar. there is a ymca next door to the rehab center and i found its website this afternoon. not only does it have yoga and pilates classes that i can attend after work, it also has pilates reformer personal training. i thought that might a great opportunity to get some personal attention on my fitness.

2008 lookin' good

today was a bit yucky. not only was the weather cold and rainy, but i came down with yet another cold. so, i called in sick to work and fully intended to do some legal research while sitting at home, but slept instead. this afternoon i had my 3rd round of physical therapy for my ankle. it really seems to be working, so i hope to be in cute shoes again soon. i even got a foot massage during today's session! another positive is that i found a local yoga studio today that actually looks normal, AND i think i'll finally be starting an artist's way class soon. what with this and my french classes, i really feel like this year is going to be special.

so, this weekend is my first french class! my teacher's name is brigitte. how awesomely french is that? i've tried looking at the texts for the class, but everything is in french. this is nothing like my high school spanish class. after my class this friday, i'm driving up to dallas to visit a friend for the weekend. so excited!

weekend

yea! i officially signed up for my french classes this past saturday. every saturday i'll be driving 1 hour each way to austin for my class, but i think it will be worth it. after i signed up for my class, john and i met some friends who live in north austin for lunch. they brought their two little kids, which made me kind of nervous at first, but they are very well behaved. almost made me wish for one of my own . . . almost.

alliance francaise

i am mucho excited, as i am officially taking french classes. the french alliance in austin offers classes and i will be starting on january 19. france, here i come!

back to the grind

well, things are starting to look better, health-wise. my cold is pretty much gone, just a little drainage every now and then. wednesday i visited an orthopaedic surgeon for my ankle and he took me out of the huge air cast i'd been sporting for several weeks and put me in a much more discrete sling cast thing. which means that i can wear normal shoes, albeit only flats, and the cast part is hidden under my pants. he also reassured me that i would not need surgery, just some physical therapy. so i'm now on the hunt for a local physical therapist that i'll have to visit 3 times a week for a month. i feel much better because i had a feeling all along that that was what i needed. yea!

yesterday, one of the other attorneys brought her daughter to work and we had such a good time together! she even encouraged me to finally buy a pair a heelys. they should be sent to me some time next week. i can't wait! i also bought a few pics from kodak.com of the vegas trip. john took a beautiful one of the eiffel tower that i had blown up to 16x20 in black and white, as shown above. it is going to look so awesome in my office! viva la france!