I Totally Forgot to Tell You Something!

Hey guess what.  I convinced my mom that I needed an "I broke both of my feet" present.  I also convinced her that the present I needed was a bedazzler.  So she got me one!!  She's the best.  Care to see the result?

There ya be.  I even picstitched it for ya.  I added some sparkle to the toesies and some bows on the back.  And yes.  I can put my foot behind my head.  Even in a boot.  Because I am a boss.  Deal with it.

Sorry to Disappoint

Hey Mary Kate, remember when you created that blog and you called it "Defined by the Dance" because you were obsessed with dancing and you danced all the time and you never thought you'd stop and you wrote blog posts relating everything in your life to dance?

Yeah.  I remember.

It kinda isn't happening anymore.  How can I be defined by the dance when I'm not allowed to dance?  I hate this.  I know I'm generally peppy but let's take a moment to be depressing.  I broke both of my feet and I'm not allowed to dance.  Fuck.

Okay done.

So basically.  I'm going to have trouble relating all of my posts to dance anymore.  Because I don't get a whole lot of dance in my life at this point.  I am still teaching at a dance studio, so I suppose I can incorporate that, but it's only one day a week.  It's no substitute for actually being a dancer.  But at this point it's all I got.

So while I still consider myself a dancer and it's still my favorite thing in the world, I guess the tone of this blog is going to have to momentarily sway from the original intention.  Until I can dance again I'll just occasionally describe my life and whatever mess I'm currently in the middle of.  Sound good?

So now, for today's anecdote:

I forgot my AP Chem materials in my locker today, so my teacher said I could go get them.  It was during class so not many people were in the hallway.  I passed two girls who were sitting outside of a classroom, probably making up a quiz or something, I didn't know the girls so I just kept walking.  Then I heard one girl say "What the heck happened to her feet".  I don't think I was supposed to hear her, and I just kept walking.  Then the other girl, again...a complete stranger, very matter-of-fact-ly explained to her friend that I had broken both of my ankles.  Yes, she said ankles.  Because obviously it's possible to walk on two broken ankles.  Dear lord.  This world needs more common sense.

Three Days Later...

Ah it's warm again!  Thank goodness.  Here's what happened...

About an hour after I finished my last post (Monday, Oct. 29) the power went out.  And stayed out until this afternoon (Thursday, Nov. 1).  It was dark all of the time and chilly all of the time and super duper boring.  But it definitely could have been worse.  Here is what helped my family out...

Number 1:  THE GENERATOR.  My dad had our generator ready to go as soon as it started raining.  When the power officially went out he got 'er going and only used 'er to power one thing.  The refrigerator.  Seriously.  You want to have access to a fridge during this.  Hypothetically, the generator could power the whole house, but ours (and I think most generators) runs on gasoline and it would talk a whole bunch of fuel to keep the whole house going.  We have an extra freezer and we condensed as much as we could into the fridge/freezer combo guy in our kitchen.  Whatever didn't fit we defrosted and ate, and whatever we thought we wouldn't eat we threw out.  If we had needed it, the generator would have powered our sump pumps, as well, to keep our basement from flooding.  The rain was so violent though that it just kind of hit the ground and rushed away.  It didn't really sink into the ground so we didn't even need our sump pumps.  It obviously wasn't ideal but it put us in a much better situation than people without a generator.  Also, by the third day with no power we were going so stir crazy that my dad ended up plugging in a laptop and somehow rigging up the internet (don't ask me what he did...seriously...I have no idea how any of that works) so we could watch us some hulu.  Good call daddy.

Number 2:  Because the generator runs on gas, we needed to have a steady supply.  My town actually ran out of gas for a day (because I live in hillbilly country and everyone was was preparing to fuel up their generator...seriously...it was so noisy outside because everyone had a generator humming on their back porch) but luckily my daddy planned ahead.  We had gas in all of the cars, which we weren't using because it was hurricane-ing, and we had some extra fuel tanks filled up.

Number 3:  Another benefit to living out in the sticks is that my house gets it's water from a water tower.  Yes, those mythical things that always get vandalized in order to defend someone's honor by the end of a country song.  So as long as that sucker had water in it, we had water pressure and therefore could wash our hands and flush the toilet and take a shower and, uh, drink.  Just in case we also had several gallons of bottled water as well as some 30 gallon tanks that my dad had filled with hose water.  We were lucky though and the water tower held out for us.

Number 4:  My family is just fortunate enough that we have a lot of gas powered things.  We have a gas stove so we were able to cook, and in the even that the stove would have malfunctioned we also have a gas grill.  The best thing ever though is that we have a propane water heater.  Which means that we could shower and wash our hands with hot water!  Some of our neighbors weren't so lucky.  Any one without a gas stove or water heater suffered a lot more than we did.  It's a close knit community though, so no one was left cold and hungry...everyone who was able to help offered their services.

While all of that was going on, here's what we actually did.  Mostly we sat around and fought with each other.  Ha.  I'm only sort of kidding.  My mom and I did go out shopping once the whether cleared up, just to get out of the house. My friend and I spent a few hours at the library enjoying warmth and wifi because it got power back before our houses did.  That same friend and I eventually sought out refuge at the house of our other friend, who was fortunate enough not to lose power.  We stayed with her Wednesday night.

At this point I think most of the town has their power back.  It was a cold few days but we all made it through.  My high school has been closed all week but I do have to go back tomorrow.  Although I question the point of a one day week...what exactly are we going to accomplish?

Thanks for the memories, Hurricane Sandy.

Quickie Post Before the Power Goes out Forever

Okay, maybe not forever.  But I heard on the radio earlier that "we can expect millions of people to experience power outages for several weeks".  I somehow feel like that's not true.  And I seriously hope that I'm right and the whether people are wrong.  Because if they're right, my town is exactly located in the "lose power for a few weeks" region of this whole mess.  Great.  So I haven't really been productive today because I'm convinced that the minute I begin any worthwhile task the power will go out.  So  far we've been lucky though, we haven't lost power yet.  It looks like the storm is going to hit here at around eight tomorrow morning...and then hang out for twenty four hours.  Yes.  The storm is planning on hanging out right on top of us for an entire day.  Thanks Sandy. 

I know this wasn't really a dance-related post.  Hmmm, how can I spin this.  I know...I don't think I'll have to work (at the dance studio) tomorrow.  They already cancelled school tomorrow...actually, school was canceled for today and tomorrow at five o'clock last night.  I guess they were worried about losing power and not being able to get in touch with us. 

Eeek.  The lights are flickering.  I'm outta here.

Franken-boots

Stock up on milk and toilet paper...Frankenstorm is coming!!  I guess depending on where you live that might not really matter to you, but I live in an area that's supposed to get hit pretty bad.  That's the current prediction anyway.  I get why it's being called Frankenstorm...because it's scary and conveniently close to Halloween.  It's also ironically similar to something else that's happening in my life...

I broke both of my feet.  And now I have to tramp around in these Franken-boots for a month.  Cuuute.

So when I say "I broke both of my feet" it sounds like there was some tragic accident that caused the sudden breaking of both of my feet.  That, however, is not the case.  It just turns out that the foot pain I've been experiencing since June was actually broken-ness.  I feel like I should explain further...

So.  The reason a fracture was initially ruled out was because of something called a bipartite sesamoid.  Which the doctor thought I had.  Here's how this happens...

There are two little bones in the balls of your foot called the sesamoid bones.

See those two orb shapes in the middle of the picture.  Those are the sesamoid bones.  A bipartite sesamoid looks like this...

See how one of the orbs is in two pieces?  So anyway.  A bipartite sesamoid can be caused by a fracture, but it also can be a genetic thing.  It's just the way your bones formed and it doesn't cause any problems.  The doctor had an x-ray of one foot that she had taken when I was having arch pain.  That x-ray was where she first noticed the bipartite sesamoid, and when she took an x-ray of the other foot there was an identical sesamoid situation, which caused her to believe that it was simply inflammation of the bones. 

After time off didn't help (I know this post is just repeating information I've given in the past, but I'm trying to keep it flowing in a logical manner) she wanted to take an MRI to rule out fractures.  The treatment for inflammation is cortisone injections directly into my feet, which would be detrimental to any fractures.  So I did that.

Okay, new stuff.  I saw the doctor for my MRI results on Thursday and she told me that BOTH of my feet are broken.  I couldn't believe it.  I was 100% positive that my feet were not broken and that the MRI was a waste of time and money.  I mean, my feet don't even hurt all the time.  It's completely random.  But I guess I'll have to trust the medical professionals on this one.

My doctor said she was shocked too.  She told me that when she got the results back she double checked them herself in case the radiology techs were seeing things.  When she came to the same conclusion she had a colleague look at them too.  Everyone agrees that both feet are broken.  My doctor told me that neither she nor her colleague had ever seen anyone break the bone I broke, the way I broke it, in both feet simultaneously.  Which is why she never suspected the break initially.  I asked her how long she though they'd been fractured and she told me probably since I first started being bothered by the pain.....which was about four months ago.  Crazy.

As for the Frankenboots.  I have to wear them most of the day although I can take them off to sleep and shower.  It's against the law to drive with them on, even the one on my left foot, so I take them off for that.  I'm also allowed to continue swimming since it doesn't put any weight on my feet, I just need to take a few weeks off of flip turns and starting block usage. 

All in all it could be worse.  I pretty much just laugh at it.  I mean, who the hell breaks both of their feet at the same time and doesn't realize it for four months?  My life is a mess.

The MRI Machine

I got an MRI yesterday.  It was terrible!  Have you ever gotten an MRI?  No?  Well, my friend, let me enlighten you on some rules that I wish I had know.

First order of business.  When you go to get an MRI do not wear a bright blue thong under your jeans.  Why?  Because the MRI machine is a giant magnet (I was aware of this, just not thinking when I got dressed.  Always think.) so you are not allowed to wear anything metal inside of it.  Pants zippers included.  So, when you have a zipper on your jeans the doctor will give you a pair of scrub-type pants to wear.  And if they happen to be a white-ish, see-through color, everyone will gain the knowledge of your bright blue thong.  Similarly, the hooks on a bra count so unless you wish to free-boob it through the hospital, you might want to consider a sports bra.

Next.  The doctor will probably tell you that the machine is "a little noisy".  She is lying, unless her definition of "a little noisy" means the same volume as a jackhammer jackhammer-ing on a bus full of pre-teen school children who are on their way home from the soda and marshmallow factory.  The machine basically makes the same buzzing sound that a drier makes when the clothes are dry, only much louder and pretty much non-stop.

Finally, just be aware that it takes a long freaking time.  I was in there for an hour, which is probably standard.

So why in the world did I have an MRI?  It's to hopefully clear up once and for all what is happening to my feet.  The doctor wants to completely rule out fractures (I highly doubt they are fractured) before proceeding with any course of treatment.  I see her next week to go over what's happening, so I'll update again then.

When I Grow Up...

When I was a little girl and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I told them I wanted to be a mama.  No joke, I wanted to be a stay at home mom when I was little.  But I'm not little anymore.

Exactly one month from today I turn 18 years old.  I don't even know how to handle that.  I know 18 is far from grown up, I still feel like a baby, but it is legally an adult.  Crazy!  So now that I only have a month left until I'm "grown up"...what do I want to do?

Everyone kind of assumes that I'll be going into the dance field.  Welp, they're wrong.  I did want to dance forever when I was younger, but not anymore.  People just don't know me like they think they do.

Well I certainly won't be a stay at home mom anytime soon.  Obviously.  Maybe someday, but as of now I have different aspirations.  As for college I'm still kind of unsure.  Definitely something medical.  Possibly physical therapy or nursing.  Hopefully through ROTC.  Probably in Pittsburg.  Although there is a lot of uncertainty still left in those choices.  Eeek.  Then from there, who knows.  But that's just one aspect of my life.

Do I ever want to get married?  Probably.  I mean, I have nothing against marriage.  If I find the right guy and he wants to get married, I'll probably let it happen.  But do I want a wedding?  As of right now, almost-18-and-tragically-single Mary Kate says no way.  That's not me being bitter, it's just me being realistic.  All of the decisions and planning and perfecting and organizing and inviting would really just stress the shit out of me.  I wouldn't enjoy that at all.  Not to mention the expense.  It's a waste.  I told my mom I was getting hitched in Vegas. 

Do I ever want to have kids?  Yes.  No.  I don't know.  I love children, I really do.  And the idea of having my own to love and cherish until they grow into their own person, that sounds super rewarding.  But it's also a giant project that's permanent and lasts for years.  Scary.  I mean, I really do believe that I'll be a good mom someday, but I don't know if I can tackle a project like that...I can barely focus on one set of calculus problems!

So basically I have no idea what the hell is happening in my life.  And with only one month left of my childhood I really hope I figure things out.  Like, soon!