my lovely lady lumps

my grandmother died of breast cancer when i was young, and almost since i understood what a mammogram was, i've been trying to get a medical professional to deem one  necessary (or at the least, pertinent).  but up until recently, the standard was that insurance would start covering mammograms at age 35.  so, when i had to visit a doctor a couple of months ago (something i very rarely do) for a physical ordered by my company, i asked her about a mammogram.  apparently the age has been upped to 40, but with family history, she went ahead and signed off on it.

it was about a month ago that i went in to the local 'breast center', not having any idea what to expect.  i've heard that for some women (including my mother) it's incredibly painful, but i mostly just found it a little uncomfortable and awkward (the awkwardness coming from the fact that you are not supposed to wear deodorant).  all went swimmingly until about a week and a half later, i received a call asking me to come back in for a re-check of the left breast.  numbly, without asking any questions, i scheduled the appointment. which was quickly followed by a mild nervous breakdown and a return call.  i was told that re-checks were common and that in my case, there was simply a dark area that they wanted to look at more closely.

fortunately, i was on the road for almost three weeks, so i didn't have a lot of free time for fretting.  and, when i arrived at the breast center today, i was feeling optimistic. it took longer than the first appointment, and i found myself trying to read every expression as the nurse first took a set of x-rays, than moved me into another room for a set of ultrasounds (never thought my first ultrasound would be on my breast!).

after she finished, she left the room and returned quickly with the doctor.  and while i never thought i'd hear a man tell me he didn't like my breasts (this is an all adult audience, right?), in this case it was a good thing. he said that he simply wanted to be overly careful since the tissue in my breast is extremely fibrous and has lots of 'twists and turns', but after doing his own set of ultrasounds, concluded there was nothing to be concerned about.

in the end, it was worth a little discomfort, awkwardness, and nervousness to have gained some peace of mind.

 

wardrobe musings

i admit it. this brace is keepin' me down a bit.  my activities are somewhat limited because it just takes so much darn EFFORT to be mobile.  even getting in and out of the car is a challenge,  so, while there have been scattered dinners and movie nights, i've mostly been keeping a low profile.

it's a bit frustrating since i actually get to be home for a good chunk of time, and it would be really awesome to act like i was a member of my ward again and, oh, i don't know, GO to things. but when i do go, i'm exhausted by the time i get there.  then i have to try and be social and stuff when i just want to go home and go to bed!

as a result, i've turned to my cure-all for frustration: shopping.

i make a poor excuse for a shopaholic, but i gave it a shot:)  it started when i went looking for tight pants.  funny, but true.  because when you're wearing loose fitting pants with a brace on...you just can't get that brace tight enough to stay put.  you can completely cut off your circulation, and still somehow, that brace will be sliding down your leg. maybe it's something about surface area, or how much that pant can move (i mean, isn't that why we buy loose fitting pants in the first place?!), but it's a bad deal.

so i went looking for tight pants, of a non-spandex variety.  and what did i find myself in? skinny jeans.  now, prior to last week, just the idea of a skinny jean would have given me hives.  i mean, good for the size 2s and their skinny jeans, but this was not a trend i'd be adopting.

and then it became a necessity of sorts.  so, imagine my shock when i stood in the gap dressing room, wearing my size (not 2) skinny jeans. and
they.
looked.
good.

what started as a search for 'functional' clothing, turned into a feel good dressing room moment.

but, while one part of me has been set on finding clothing suitable for the new appendage, an equal and possibly larger part of my psyche, is playing dumb.  "brace? what brace?  ooooh, these boots are cute!"

i kid you not, the girl in the crotch-to-calf brace cannot stop buying boots!  i mean, the fact that i can't actually wear them right now, well, i can't let that stop me from buying a cute pair of shoes that i WILL be able to wear ONE DAY. especially since we all know that when ONE DAY comes, all those size 11 boots i bought at target (thank you target for carrying size 11 shoes!) will be long gone.  so really,  all i'm doing is preparing for the future.  isn't that something we are taught to do our whole lives?

right now, i'm preparing to wear these:

the irony is that my one 'splurge' purchase has been a pair of uggs.  and i LOVE them.  i can't explain it, since i came firmly from the 'uggs are ugly' camp, but, what can i say, they are so comfortable and easy when an 80 degree day becomes a 50 degree night.

it's possible that these are sleep deprived decisions i'll regret in three weeks when i'm lucid again, but i guess maybe this brace isn't the worst thing in the world. it's definitely getting me out of my comfort zone.

kneegate: the trilogy (and my trip to florida)

first - an administrative note.  click on the post title to see the trip photo album

my trip to florida began with all the makings of a fantastic experience, and before it's disastrous ending, it was just that.

it started even before the trip did, when a guy i knew in high school saw on my facebook page that i'd be heading to boca raton and asked where i'd be staying.  when i told him, in that small world kind of way, it turned out that he worked at the property, and offered to attempt an upgrade for me.

superfly car for superfly chicks

i wasn't sure if it would come through, but i was hopeful.  and when my friend (and co-worker) melissa and i arrived in ft. lauderdale, i checked in at the alamo desk and was sent to choose my car from the midsize aisle.  what came as a surprise was that i had everything from an suv to a beetle to choose from.   so we agreed on the beetle.  a fun car for a fun trip.

the boca raton resort

when we got to the hotel, i learned that my old high-school buddy had come through for me.  and, in any normal hotel this would have been awesome, but since the event, and our host hotel, was a waldorf astoria property, it was even more happy-dance inducing.  and happy dance i did, when i opened the door to my suite.

the view from my suite

not. kidding.

melissa and i IN the everglades.
and for the record, she's 5'4", i'm 5'9"

the fun was just getting started though, and after melissa and i got the booth setup taken care of, we had some time to kill.  so we decided to head south so that i could check the everglades national park off my parks passport list.  but, we weren't content to settle for your 'standard' park experience, so we opted instead for an air boat tour.  having had such a great time on our new orleans air boat, we were both pretty excited.  and it was....different.  it was worth every penny of the $22, but it wasn't as intense as the new orleans one (which was closer to $100).  in the end we were glad we did it - the everglades is such an unusual place - but if you're ever in that area an considering an airboat tour, we'll talk, so you can go in with the right expectations.

a new stamp for the passport

we made it back from the day's adventure in time for lunch.  some of you may be familiar with the original serendipity in new york, originators of the frozen hot chocolate, and i was thrilled to learn that there was a serendipity at the hotel.  in addition to my lunch, i enjoyed the peanut butter version of the yummy dessert.  

peanut butter and the original

then it was time for work, and we finished out the night at a random chinese place, where melissa tried frog legs for the first time.

ewww.

me, melissa, and the atlantic.

we spent the next day at the hall, and enjoyed a yummy dinner afterwards before heading to the beach club for the conference netoworking event.  truth be told, we didn't do much networking.  instead we spent most of our time dipping our toes in the atlantic, and i gotta tell you, i have MISSED that ocean!  i love california, but dang the pacific is cold, and i had forgotten just how different they are.  if i hadn't been in jeans, i might have gone for an evening swim. --i was definitely tempted.

having a burger at a raw bar

we called it a night - i mean, what could compete with the atlantic?!  thankfully the following day was a short one, and afterwards, we headed to the airport with a diners, drive-ins, and dives lunch stop at the whale's rib raw bar.  since i don't do seafood, i chowed down on a burger, and the whale fries with whale juice  i haven't had a bad ddd experience yet!

and it was shortly thereafter that disaster struck.

we stopped for gas on the way to the airport.  there were tropical storm warnings, heavy rain, and i was wearing flip flops.  i still don't know exactly what happened, but as i was crossing the parking lot, my left knee/leg, 3 weeks post surgery, suddenly moved in a direction that it was not meant to move, and i went down. hard.

i caused a pretty good scene as i lay there in my very own parking spot with a sweater covering my face, as it had been protecting my head from the rain when i went down.  and i stayed down for a few minutes, before i could attempt any movement.  melissa brought the car to me, and we sat in the parking lot for about a half hour while i decided whether or not i was going to the emergency room.

ultimately, i decided no.  while in a lot of pain, i really didn't like the idea of testing out the medical facilities in a completely unfamiliar place.  so we headed to the airport, i dropped melissa off, and made the drive back to the hotel, where i spent the rest of the evening icing and elevating.

the next morning, i was in pain, but i could walk.  i was dragging my bag to the car, and it happened again. same thing.  at least it felt like the same thing, and it didn't feel good.  this time it was the unsuspecting valets who got to watch me go down and wait while i determined whether or not i could breathe, let alone move my leg.

i just kept thinking to myself  'i want to go home. i want to go home.'  i didn't know exactly how that was going to happen, but i was determined to try.  so i tried, and succeeded. and it was by far the most miserable day of my life.

when i got to the rental car agency, the 'drop off' guy could see how much pain i was in and told me to get back in the car.  he drove me over to the terminal so that i wouldn't have to take the shuttle (thank you random rental car guy!)  and, once i got there, i found myself in a wheelchair, where i would remain for the rest of the day, when i wasn't actually on a plane.

to give you some perspective, in the 6 week process of tearing my meniscus through having the surgery, i took a total of roughly 20 vicodin pills.  but by noon that day, i had taken 4.  when i arrived at orange county, my sweet cousin was there to pick me up and take me to my car in the longterm lot.  and when i eventually made it home, it was the first time, since this whole thing began in july, that i was forced to use crutches.

based on the location of the sharpest pains, and my previous experience,  i had a sneaking suspicion that it was my mcl --another ligament i had torn some 14 odd years ago.  and after a visit to the ortho, another set of mris, and another visit to the ortho, i learned that i had a bruised bone, and that i that i had indeed torn my mcl.  i had perhaps, been overly optimistic in hoping that it was only a sprain, and while i am very very grateful that it won't require an additional surgery, i was not expecting them to put a brace on my leg (from crotch to calf) and tell me that i needed to wear it for six weeks, and that i could only take it off to shower.

it's been on for three days now, and i am exhausted.  my sleep is extremely fitful and walking takes twice as much energy as it normally would.  i'm currently in texas, and since i couldn't find a cost effective scooter rental place, i rented a car instead (it was cheaper), and i've been driving it back and forth the 2 1/2 blocks to the convention center. seriously.

the thing is. i'm kind of a trooper.  i'm what you call a 'tough cookie' when it comes to bodily harm.  i tend towards optimism and a 'what can you do but laugh about it?' attitude, and this is going to be a challenge.  but maybe that's the point.  maybe there's a lesson to be learned or a perspective to be gained that requires this challenge.  maybe i missed it the first time, or maybe it's meant to serve an entirely different teaching purpose. here's hoping that in the next 6 weeks i figure out what that is!

knee surgery: the sequel

fourteen years ago, when i tore my acl, mcl, and meniscus, i spent six months on crutches, and spent years getting full range of motion back.

while i knew that this meniscal re-tear wasn't on the same scale, i found it impossible to believe the doctors when they told me i would probably not need crutches at all.  but, it has now been almost two weeks since the surgery, and i am happy to report that they were spot on. while they provided crutches 'just in case', i haven't had any cause to use them.

the surgery itself was a breeze.  the nurses were attentive and entertaining, and i was knocked out before i was even wheeled into the or.  i woke up in recovery, and it only took me about twenty minutes to come out of the anesthesia.  jenny and rachel entertained me until they were ready to release me.

i stayed with the donahoos that day waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did, and the next day, while in a little more pain, i was still remarkably mobile.  that mobility has continued to improve on a daily basis.  the biggest post-surgical side effect is that i'm exhausted.  i'm still a little limpy, and i suspect it is taking more energy from the rest of my body to balance the 'weak link.'  my routine this week has been that i wake up, go to work, come home from work, go to bed, wake up, go to work, etc.  i've been averaging 10-12 hours of sleep this week, and my body must need it.

all in all though, it's a very minor price to pay and i couldn't have asked for a better surgery experience. stitches come out on wednesday and i can't wait to get the bandages removed so i can wear pants again!

warning: whine zone

so, i'm 95% sure i have salmonella.  on saturday morning, after a really fun spontaneous trip to joshua tree (about a two hour drive) to watch the perseid meteor shower (where i, for the first time in my life, slept out under the stars) i talked my roommates into making a stop at the cabazon dinosaurs and having breakfast at the wheel inn.

both gained notoriety in 'pee-wee's big adventure' and they have been on my hot list since arriving in california.  and since i don't go out to joshua tree on a regular basis, this was my best opportunity for check-marking that little item.

big mistake.

don't get me wrong. the dinosaurs were fun and kitschy, as expected, but the breakfast was the worst meal i've ever consumed in my life.  in fact we all agreed on that point.

the rest of the day, my stomach felt a little off, but i mostly chalked it up to lack of sleep.  afterall, we had left for joshua tree at 10pm, arrived a little after midnight, watched meteors until 3, then got up at 5am to head out.

eventually i got my stomach under control and my roommates and i joined some others from the ward to go see the last performance of twelfth night in the 'shakespeare by the sea' season.  the play was held outdoors at point fermin park n san pedro, and as heather used to teach in that area, she made sure we took the route winding along the fantastically beautiful coastline.

it's sad to say, but the drive ended up being the highlight, as shortly after the play started,  heather and i realized we had had far too little sleep for shakespeare!  since neither of us had driven though, we were stuck. so we found creative ways to catnap in our camp chairs.

other than still being extremely tired, sunday passed normally, until about 4am, when my stomach decided to go to war with itself.  and four days later, that battle still rages on.  what was initially confusing to me was that other than the inability to keep food down, and the tiredness (which could be attributed to a number of explanations) there were no other symptoms.  and i don't know about you, but when i get the flu, i GET the flu.

i knew it wasn't your standard food poisoning, which onsets almost immediately, but i also felt that this was not a 'normal' sick. it wasn't until i was talking with a co-worker yesterday and he asked me if i thought it could be salmonella that i did a little digging, and all of the 'symptoms', including the timeline are right on.

so now i'm on day 5 (they say recovery between 4-7 days) and i haven't been able to keep anything down since sunday.  i've dropped 8 pounds this week and i'm flippin' HUNGRY.  but i know what will happen if i indulge that hunger, and it ain't pretty or pleasant.  and really, i'm pretty annoyed,  i feel like knee surgery should meet the quota for crappy health stuff in any one month, and now this.  i feel like i'm losing control of the little things and i can tell that my boss is less than enthused about all my recent time off - first for the knee, now for salmonella.  even i have a hard time believing it.

it all feels a little overwhelming at the moment and i'm pretty grumpy about it. cordy is in desperate need of a bath...easy, one might think, but being on my knees is one painful and two will induce vomiting.  i need new brakes, need to research new car insurance, cancel my september work trips (since i'm not allowed on a plane for two weeks post-surgery), clean, attend a wedding this weekend, and get my job responsibilities back to a manageable mess.  needless to say, this is not exactly how i hoped my birthday month would turn out.  i even had to forgo the chocolate spa thanks to the stupid knee. gah!

kneegate update

as my co-workers keep reminding me, if i were a dog, i'd have had surgery and spent the last several days recovering. but, as i'm not a dog, i've been working through doctor's appointments and insurance authorizations.

i've been back at work since monday, and thanks to the drugs, it has been mostly manageable.  i find myself more tired than usual, primarily because it takes so much energy to avoid those natural movements that might yield an unnatural pain, and the swelling from my knee to my toes has felt somewhat extreme.  but every cloud has a silver lining!  in this case, there is a silver AND a gold.

silver first.

i'm single-mindedly focused on hiding my fat ugly leg, and wearing pants is difficult due to the necessity of having to wrap, unwrap, and ice on a regular basis.  as a result, i've been pulling my maxi dresses out of the closet.  i am mildly ashamed to admit that i have four or five of these that i have never worn.  there's a rational explanation for that, but i won't bore you with it.  instead, i'll just say that i can't believe i've never worn them. rational shmational!  i LOVE them!

so, this week i was scheduled to be in atlanta for a conference.  it's a politically important conference, and i'm a little nervous about not being able to go, but there was absolutely no way i could drag luggage through airports or move boxes at the booth or average the 10 mile per day walking that is typical. so i'm home, while my co-workers are off to eat peaches.  but here's where the gold lining comes in!

my cousin laurie and her fam are in town!  as i was supposed to be leaving yesterday and returning home on the 2nd, and as they arrived yesterday and are leaving on the 2nd i was going to miss them entirely. but now we get to play:)

jenny, nic, laurie and i hang out poolside at the local embassy suites.

before we get to the serious playing though, i was finally able to go in today for the mri.  since i've got staples in my knee from the previous knee surgery, they also wanted to do a ct scan to make sure they got clean images.  and can i just tell you, there's nothing like being told not to move, then being slid into a tube for a half an hour, that makes you want to just get up and dance.

i managed to fight the urge though, and now i just have to wait until monday for the ortho follow-up. i snuck a peek at the films, but i don't really have a clue what i'm looking for, so i wait.

and then came the BRONZE lining.

anne and i really like our sonic

many of you are familiar with my sonic obsession (see picture at right).  but, as is my lot in life, the closest sonic is always just  a little to far away.  and then today happened.  as i was leaving the imaging center (just a few miles from my house), i took a wrong turn.  as i tried to get my bearings, there, on the opposite corner, was a radiating glow.  i think there may have also been a choir of angels singing. because there, on that corner, was a sonic.

after i snarfed down my strawberry limeade, popcorn chicken, and chocolate banana cream pie shake, i stopped for gas and my conversation with the attendant confirmed that it is brand new. do you know what this means?  it means i can snarf down a strawberry limeade and or a chocolate banana cream pie shake WHENEVER I WANT TO.

gold, silver, and bronze, folks.

gold, sliver and bronze.

kneegate 2010

it's the left knee - in case you can't tell.
swollen and bruised and ugly!

get it?  'cause it's my KNEE, and it was injured jumping off a tailGATE. right?!?

after giving the knee a chance to rest overnight following my big day at del mar, not only was it not feeling any better, it was even less weight-bearing and more swollen.  i called in sick before calling my health insurance provider to find out what urgent care i could visit to 'maximize my benefit'.

remember, i've been through this before.  and the last time, it happened only three days after my health insurance had kicked in. i hadn't even gotten my medical cards yet, so i called my then boss to find out where to go, who to call, etc. she was so sympathetic that she came and took me to the hospital herself.

an out of network hospital, as it turned out.

three words that now terrify me: out of network.  instead of the 20% portion i would have been paying in network, i ended up with the 80% bill, which took years to pay off, fairly destroying my credit in the process.

this time, i was/am determined not to make any similar mistakes, and was glad i was overcautious, as the urgent care i would have gone to, would not have been covered.  and at 8:30am when i arrived at an urgent care that WOULD be covered, i immediately saw the sign that said walk-ins were accepted between 1pm - 9pm.  i guess nothing urgent happens before 1pm.

so i made an appointment. the receptionist was quite nice, and was able to fit me in at 10:20. okay, not too bad!  she suggested i go ahead and check-in upstairs, even though i would be quite early, and when i made it to the upstairs receptionist, i was called back while still standing at the desk filling out paperwork.  as i commented on the speed to the nurse, her response was, 'well, if people are late and other people are early, that's just how it goes!'.

the largest bottle of pills
i've ever been prescribed

there was a little more up and down as i was sent for x-rays, but i was in an out of the urgent care with a mere $20 copay and within ONE hour, which, let's face it, is pretty miraculous.  the diagnosis was more ambiguous however, as i suspected it would be.  i'm fairly certain there is a ligament tear, and x-rays can't see ligaments.  they did confirm that there were no sprained, fractured, or broken bones, but i already knew that.

i was sent away with a prescription for the serious ibuprofen and vicodin, as well as being informed that they had run out of, but had ordered crutches and an 'immobilizer' for me.  they also submitted an ortho referral, and i was told that i would be contacted by phone or mail with more details. but, of course, after sitting on that overnight, i was more than a little confused.  by mail? really?

when i called this morning to follow up, i was transferred to ortho, where i was first informed that i could have and should have contacted them myself, and second, that the earliest i could be seen was august 19th.

after i stopped crying, i informed them that they could take me off their 'list' and that i'd find another place to go.  so i did.

monday afternoon was the earliest anybody could see me, but i was happy to take it. particularly since i'm scheduled to be on a flight to atlanta on wednesday, and will have to do some serious staff prepping if i am not able to go.  the truth of the matter is that i'm almost 100% sure i will no longer be attending this conference, but at least if i have an actual diagnosis, it will make it easier for my boss to swallow.

stay tuned for more kneegate news - i suspect that there will be a fair amount of it.

day at the races

while my familial readers will know this, others may not know that i LOVE horses.  i attribute it almost entirely to my maternal grandfather who was not only a large animal veterinarian (horses, cows, etc.) but also bred and raced quarter-horses.

as a child, summer vacations to the farm always included horseback riding, and visits to the racetrack.  every year, i'd select one of the race horses and claim it as my own, then get regular updates from grandpa as to the success (or failure) of 'my' horses on the track.

i've never been entirely certain whether i literally inherited some of my grandfather's 'horse blood' or if it's just a passion that resulted from experience, but regardless, any opportunity to be around horses is a good opportunity.

after mentioning to my friend vicki that i'd had the chance to go the breeder's cup a couple of years ago, she asked if i'd be interested in driving down to go to opening day at the del mar racetrack with her.  i immediately took her up on her offer, and it went on the calendar, along with my vacation request.

and the day finally arrived!

i've actually been in san diego quite a lot in the past couple of weeks for work, but this time i was actually excited to make the hour+ drive.  vicki and i met at the nearby outlet malls for lunch before heading down to the track.  what should have been a 15 minute drive took an hour, 45 minutes of which was spent on the exit ramp. fortunately we'd given ourselves enough time so as not to be too concerned.

we met up with vicki's friend tim, who works 'the gate'.  in this case 'the gate' means the starting gate, and tim is on the team responsible for getting the horses loaded into the starting gate.  he had gotten us free tickets and entrance to the backside of the track.  we caught a lift on the back of a pick-up truck, and when we got to where we were going, i straddled the tailgate and hopped out.

that was when i heard the sickening 'pop' in my knee.

roughly 14 years ago now, i had a bad landing off a lay-up during a basketball game, which resulted in severe acl, mcl, and meniscus tears, and required surgery, physical therapy, plus about six months of recovery time.  when i heard that pop, i recognized it. and it was not a happy remembrance.  i took a second to collect myself and gingerly determine whether or not i could actually walk.  i could. barely.  which was better than the last time.

for better and probably worse, i decided i was going to ignore the severe pain i was in, and make the best of the situation.  i hobbled along with vicki and tim as we headed into the grandstand and tim 'dropped us off' with plans to meet up again later.

i won't bore you with the details and challenges of actually finding a place to camp out for awhile, or mention how miserable i was, or how many times i cried, just trying to find a place to sit down for awhile, other than to mention one my favorite conversations of the day.  it came after we had been wandering around trying to find a seat, and one of the ushers told us we were probably going to have to stand.  the pain, coupled with my feelings of pure stupidity and not wanting to have ruined this experience for myself, or for vicki caused me to have a total emotional breakdown.  (poor usher didn't have a clue what his response would yield!):

Vicki: I can go get an EMT. Do you want an EMT?
Me; No
Vicki: Seriously, I can go get one.
Me: No. I didn't shave my legs today.

and with that, i pulled myself together - as best i could anyway- and we made our way downstairs where we (thank heavens!) found a place to sit right in front of the fence.  we watched the first four races from that bench, with vicki making periodic runs to place bets or get diet cokes and ice cream.  it should be noted that while we did make a few small bets, the only ones we 'won' were races we picked but didn't bet. figures.

the first self-portrait of the day. post 'knee-gate',
and i'm so happy to be sitting down!

after the fourth race, tim called to say that he would probably be able to take us out on the track before the 6th race, so after the 5th, we slowly hobbled along to meet him.  for those of you not familiar with a racetrack, typically the dirt track (in this case, shredded carpet) is on the outside, so spectators can see easily, while the turf track (faux grass) is on the inside.  a race day typically includes both type of races, and turf races are a little harder to see since they are on the inside.  the 6th race was a turf race.

me, tim, and vicki in the winners circle

we met up with tim and he walked us over to the winners circle, where we waited for the horses to come through the tunnel before making our way across the dirt track to watch the next turf race from the inside.  as you might imagine, this is not part of the 'standard' race track experience. you absolutely HAVE to know someone, and lucky for me, i knew someone who knew someone!

before making our way to the fence, and just minutes before the horses would take their positions, we walked through the gate, where tim snapped a couple of pics for us.  super super cool.

we watched the six race and headed back to the grandstand for the 7th and 8th, before rejoining tim on the 'backside' of the track for races 9 and 10.  again, we were almost on top of the gate, and it was pretty spectacular.

my knee was still killing me, but i was pretty proud of myself for hanging in there.  and with the final race concluded, tim put me in a car with a couple of the other guys so that i wouldn't have to walk back to their rv.

as i would learn, this crew of about 12 guys work together pretty regularly during the race season.  they are mostly from other parts of california, but for the duration of the season, they'll bring trailers in and set up their home away from home.  i wasn't complaining about the ride, or the fact that one of the boys was pretty cute.  'cause hey, bryan or no bryan (and there's no update on that) i can still appreciate a supercute boy.  especially one with a country twang;)

we hung out at the trailer for awhile, killing time, waiting for the place to empty out, and just chatting.  while there, a miniature man came over to say hello to the two tims (our host and the supercute boy), and introduced himself to us.  as you may have surmised, he's a jockey by the name of tyler baze, and he'd had a pretty good day.

after a little while, we started smelling something delicious from the trailer next door - the owners of which, are also a part of tim's crew.  the smell was followed by an invitation to join them for dinner, and we happily accepted.  boy were we in for a treat!  bbq'd spare ribs, corn off the grill, watermelon, potato salad, and coconut cake for dessert.

the food was insanely good, and i was just so.....content.  i've mentioned before that periodically the 'country' side of me needs satisfying, and this absolutely fit the bill.  i was grateful for the events of the day and for the opportunity to  experience this obviously tight-knit community from the inside.