I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon this morning.  The synopsis is my Achilles is not torn, but I do have a good bit of swelling on the part of my calcaneus around where it attaches to the Achilles.  So, I start physical therapy on Wednesday, and have to go see a foot specialist at the end of the month.  More doctor visits, I be my insurance loves me.

So enough about me.  Deuce is becoming more and more a kid everyday.  He absolutely loves Spongebob Squarepants and I can’t blame him.  Our bonding time consists of he and I sitting and watching his Spongebob DVD’s.  He turns two soon, which Dana and I cannot believe.   It seems like only yesterday he was born.

Easter weekend was pretty nice.  We had a great time visiting with Grandma and Grandpa G.  Dana and I didn’t do too bad in sticking to the diet, although I had a bit more bread than I should have.  Oh well, back to it with a vengence today. 

It’s getting nice out around here, and Deuce really likes to play outside.  Hopefully, one of us will take the camera out and get some good pics of him playing outside. 

Being that my parents raised me Ukrainian Orthodox and my parents still practice, we are heading over to Grandma and Grandpa G.’s on Sunday for another Easter dinner. I can’t complain, because I like ham.

Dana and I have been doing good in sticking to the South Beach diet. I think we’re starting to realize that it’s not so much a “diet” in the pop culture sense of the word, but a “diet” in terms of one of the word’s alternate meanings: the usual food and drink consumed by an organism (person or animal). In a sense, we are changing the way we eat, hopefully for life. I have to admit that the limitations on South Beach are really more along the lines of common sense: don’t eat a lot of greasy, starchy, or sugary foods. To date, Dana and I have combined to lose almost 50 lbs in 8 weeks. Grandpa G. is also doing well with South Beach, I believe he’s down over 30 lbs already.

By the graciousness of one of Grandma and Grandpa A’s friends, I was able to get an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday. So I went to the hospital today to pick up my MRI results on CD. I’m half tempted to throw it in the computer tonight and check it out.

Other than my tendon, everyone is doing quite well. I think Deuce may be having another growth spurt, which is great, except now we have to be careful because he can reach previously out-of-reach items, like, say, the water and ice dispensers in the fridge door. Oh what fun we will have.

Well, happy Easter to those who happen to celebrate the event. The past week or so has yielded the standard pre-holiday hustle and bustle, although not nearly as bad as Christmas or Thanksgiving. Because most of the schools around here have 3 days off (Thursday, Friday, Monday), Dana has been working mostly at home catching up on paperwork. I even had a short work week last week (Friday off), so Dana, Deuce and I had a nice weekend to relax.

I got my MRI results back. Apparently, I have a small tear and/or tendonitis in my Achilles tendon. My general practitioner suggested that I see an orthopedic surgeon. That’s all well and good, so I called the guy who my doctor recommended. The first appointment I could get was for May 23rd, which was (at the time) six weeks away. Now, I have an MRI and an X-Ray of my foot, so I’m not someone off the street who has a little ankle pain and decides they need to see an orthopedic surgeon. So I called the office where Dana had her knee looked at, and the earliest they could get me in was May 8th. Still a while away, but a good two weeks earlier than the other guy. So I’m stuck with pain until May 8th when the orthopedic surgeon can take a look at my tests.

Other than that bunch of B.S., we’ve been doing good. Grandma and Grandpa A. took Deuce to see Barney Live. Apparently he had a wonderful time, during which Dana and I cleaned the cars inside and out. Deuce got home at about 2:30 and ended up taking a nap from 3:00 to about 6:30, during which time Dana tried to nap but ended up going to the store, and I played about 6 rounds of golf on Tiger Woods 2006.

We got up yesterday and went to 7:00 am mass, came home and had breakfast, and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa A.’s for easter dinner. Dana and I weren’t feeling all that great after dinner, and we came home and crashed. Both of us were passed out by about 9:30.

So that’s it, 10 days in a nutshell. I upgraded the server last week, so if you noticed some downtime, that was why. If you notice any problems, please report them to me.

So, I’m really not all that active. My most strenuous activities are typically golf and bowling, and those are rarities anyway. But, since my ankle is still hurting, I went to the doctor again on Tuesday. Since the X-ray was negative, he went and ordered an MRI on my ankle.

Now, let’s recap: I played volleyball for four years in high school, ultimate frisbee (and various other pickup type games) in college, and never really had this type of problem. Now, apparently, walking has caused me to injure myself in a way that requires an MRI. I’m confused.

So I went for the MRI yesterday. It was an open unit, so they didn’t have to jam my fat butt into one of the tubes, but I ended up laying around for an hour with my foot completely still. I still haven’t heard anything from anyone, although I’m really hoping it isn’t a tear or anything that would require surgery… That’s the last thing I need.

On the weight loss front, Dana and I have lost a combined 45 lbs, and we are feeling pretty good. This diet really isn’t all that tough, and I definitely have more energy now than I did before. Deuce, meanwhile, is constantly learning new words and is really starting to develop his own “personality” (see also: Terrible Twos).

It was a pretty exciting weekend. Dana, Deuce, and I went to dinner at Missa and Kevin’s on Saturday. Since they live close to the mall at Robinson, we headed over there to just shop around for a bit. We came across the Golf Galaxy store that just opened up there. Since I had just broke my driver, I figured “hey, let’s check it out.” I’m glad I did.

First of all, it’s the biggest golf store I’ve ever seen. They have at least three bays to hit balls (one is just for custom club fitting, one is for PGA instruction, and one is to test hit clubs. They also had probably 80 iron sets on display and a ton of drivers and fairway irons on the floor. As I was searching around, I came across a few Mizuno 9.5 degree drivers. They were marked as $350 bucks, but then were marked down to $79.99. Needless to say, that driver is now in my bag.

Yesterday I went to the range to try it out. I got the stiff graphite shaft because I tend to swing like a brute, and it helped tremendously in me not slicing so damn much. My accuracy is still off a bit, but not nearly as bad as it has been. So now I can’t wait to get on the course.