Me Versus Knee - Round Two

Last Friday was surgery day and while it went quite smoothly, the pain is much worse than what I first experienced when I injured it in July. Fortunately, I have lots of good medication to help combat the pain, but it has made me very sleepy so I spend most of my days resting, with barely any energy to sit in front of the computer. Today's a much better day though.

So, on Friday morning, I arrived at the hospital at 7am for registration. At 8.30am, Dr. Theo's assistant asked me which knee they were going to operate on. After I said "right", he took a marker and drew an arrow with the letters "ACL" on my leg (see below).

My post-operated knee

I then laid down on a prep bed where two nurses spoke to me simultaneously and quickly, one setting up my IV in my left hand and the other stabbing a needle in my groin. At some point, Dr. Theo came into the mix and started talking to me too. I was then pushed into the OR. I don't remember anything after that (I was extremely sedated) except that I woke up at 11.45am!

I was discharged from the hospital at 2pm and have not stepped outside ever since. My mom has been home everyday to take care of me - thank goodness! My mobility is limited and I'm very reliant on my crutches. I'm hoping that the worse is almost over! If you're curious as to what the stitches look like underneath the bandages, let me know! I took photos ;-)

Thanks for the well wishes everyone!
-ange xx

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Twenty-eight years ago today, Mom and Dad tied the knot at a Japanese temple and Chinese restaurant in Toronto.

Tonight, Chris and I offered to take care of ourselves (i.e. go to Spaghetti Factory for dinner) but Mom and Dad insisted that we join them since they will be away for Thanksgiving in a few weeks. We had a lovely family dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, Messis.

Our family before chowing down

Mom told the story of how she and Dad met just a few days after she arrived in Toronto in 1979. Lots of laughter ensued as we poked fun at their courtship but of course, Chris and I are so grateful for their fateful meeting and love =)

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Love you LOTS!

-ange xx

In Anticipation of Cold Winters

This afternoon, Mom and I went to Yorkdale to return a t-shirt that she had bought for Jeff as a "welcome home" gift when he visited last weekend. Unfortunately, the shirt didn't fit properly so we had to make a trip back to the mall... but who am I to complain about having an excuse to go to the mall?

Summer is not even officially over and stores are already selling clothes for the winter season. Seems crazy right? Who would buy winter coats in early September? The answer: me! I totally splurged on a Soia & Kyo wool coat today!

My classic wool coat by Soia & Kyo (from here)

In my defense, I went through ALL of last winter (the one where we had record snowfall in Toronto) without a proper coat. I actually bought one last December from the Guess store - my store of choice as 80% of my wardrobe comes from it, and it even inspired the name of this blog: now-GUESS-what. However, after two weeks, the zipper broke so I exchanged it for a new one. Then about a month later, the zipper on the new one broke too, but this time, I was out of luck as winter coats were no longer being sold in January. I simply got credit (which I later spent on summer clothing!) and was forced to brave the cold since no other store sold coats either.

Anyway, I was first introduced to Soia & Kyo by Andrea a few years ago while slacking on our Master theses, and last year, when I showed my mom how awesome this Canadian brand is, she bought a coat immediately which made her instantly cooler than me. I've been jealous ever since... but today, I think I've overcome my envy and guaranteed some warmth in the cold months to come - two birds with one stone =)

-ange xx

Labour Day Weekend

I have been so excited to write about this past labour day weekend but in the past two days after Jeff left (that's right! Jeff was home! Yay!), I was determined to finish making 11 second year engineering economic quizzes in preparation of the school year starting today and my absence after surgery in 2 weeks. Admittedly, there might be a slight correlation between my mood and the difficulty of the quiz before (happy = easy) and after (sad = hard) Jeff's visit.

Anyway, we had just the nice relaxing weekend that I needed. After being apart for 2 months since Hawaii, all I really wanted to do was be in his presence and enjoy it!

On Friday, we met with Reverend Ralph at Knox College who gave us some ideas for our ceremony. The chapel, which is located on U of T campus, is classic and beautiful, and even romantic to me considering we met at school almost 8 years ago!

Knox College Chapel (from here)

Knox College walkway to chapel (from here)

That night, we went to the movies and watched "Inglourious Basterds". A bit gory but one of the best flicks we've watched in a while!

On Saturday, we ran some errands and took it easy - enjoying dim sum and Mom's amazing dinner (picture to come!). Actually, she made LOTS of great food for Jeff over the weekend because she, too, was excited that he was home. In fact, we just finished all the leftovers yesterday!

On Sunday, Jeff's mom and Paul came down for lunch and we hit our regular spot: the Baton Rouge at the Eaton Centre. We were all craving the baby back ribs! After lunch, we sneaked a peek of the Arcadian Court and I began to dream about what it will look like in a little more than a year. The stamp of approval from Jeff came from him saying "I like the palm trees - very Californian" as you can see in the background of picture below.

Arcadian Court (from here)

On Sunday evening, we had a BBQ with Jeff's friends who live in Corsa Italia. After that, he went to Labour of Love while I stayed back to nurse my knee. Side note: last week was the first that I no longer used my crutches!

On Monday, we slept in before going on a lunch date and walk around the city. The weather was perfect all weekend (albeit humid) but it was a luxury we haven't gotten in Toronto all summer. We picked up Wii Resort, as I mentioned in a previous post, so we spent the evening laughing a lot while trying to set records and unlock mini-games.

Then came Tuesday morning, and the inevitable drive to Pearson. However, this time, I maintained a bit more strength knowing that we will see each other again in 4 weeks for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, that's the story of our lovely and comfortable weekend - just like old times! Now I have to get ready to go to the hospital for my pre-op blood test and on Tuesday, I will see Dr. Theo who will give me clearance for surgery... or at least he should since I've been working so hard on my physio!

-ange xx

Back to the Scene of the Crime

Last Wednesday, I returned to the field that took out my knee to watch my team play in the championship game. Unfortunately, we lost but I did have fun being a cheerleader... well, as much as I could have being a cheerleader as opposed to a player.

The Floppy Discs - 2009

Since my injury, I have tossed the disc several times, mainly with Chris. It is great target practice for him since I cannot chase the disc down, and it keeps me from losing my ability to throw - especially flick: something I just recently learned to do consistently on Mauna Kea beach on the Big Island, Hawaii.

I also plan to get some practice from playing the Frisbee game on the Wii after buying "Wii Resort" with my Future Shop gift card from my Dad-to-be and Cathy. And I have a goal: you see, in just a few minutes of trying, Jeff set the high score to be a ridiculous 1000pts (keeping in mind he NEVER has played ultimate) whereas Chris and I have yet to crack 400pts :-| This means that I have more exercises to do on top of the ones that Neena gives me, on a given day hehe =)

-ange xx

Say Yes to the Dress!

As Andrea has said, my mom and I are wedding dress shopping MACHINES. Almost everyday in the past two weeks, we have visited at least one bridal store in the afternoon - a nice break from working in the morning and working in the evenings (side note: these days, I'm making hard quizzes for 2nd year economics and coming up with benchmarks for thesis which I'll blog about tomorrow).

Rewind to May when I tried on my first dress in a small shop called Jolie on St. Clair. The first dress I put on ever, I just absolutely fell in love with. But at that point, I was obviously not ready to commit. Plus, a girl will only be engaged once in her life so she might as well try as many dresses as possible. So, since then, I scanned through A LOT of magazines but didn't start going to stores again until about 2 weeks ago. Crutches in hand, I was determined to find my dress before surgery because the order takes up to 8 months!

After going from shop to shop, I got more confused because (without sounding vain) every style and fabric looked great on me: lace, tulle, mermaid, poofy, etc. But, for some reason, I always thought back to my first dress. Then yesterday, while at another store, I tried on this first dress again and knew it was the one! I wanted to be faithful to Jolie, so my mom and I drove back to St. Clair and today, we bought the dress, for over $550 less than the retail price. Amazing! I'm in full support of helping the local community ;-)

Anyway, I'm THRILLED and though I cannot post the dress on my blog (because I want to keep it a secret from Jeff), I thought that I could share some of the dresses that I did like when I tried them on.

By Jai Bridal: a very elegant silk dress with flowers
that looks almost identical to the dress below.

By Ines Di Santo: I didn't try this one on but just wanted to share
that Jai is probably $5000 cheaper.

By Sophia Tolli: A real princess dress with tulle and lots of beads

Anyway, I'm happy (and proud) that my dress is much more fabulous than what I've shown here! Now onto the next item: photographer!

-ange xx

CNE

Every year, Chris and I have to go to the Ex to win huge prizes that are bigger than me. Past teddies include: Taz (the only one we kept and did not give away to family friends), Scooby-Doo, Grover and more! However, each year, the carnies make the games more difficult: the rims on the basketball game are more oval; the rings for the ring toss game are smaller; and so on. A lot of the games probably just require 15 minutes to master but considering that each attempt is increasingly expensive, winning a prize would cost much more than it is worth.

Anyway, last night, Mom, Chris, Karen and I went to the CNE with the mindset that the best "games" are the food stands: you really can't lose. You pay $5 for a tornado potato or corndog or a dozen Tiny Tom's donuts and you're an instant winner.

With one crutch under arm, I admire the craftsmanship of the tornado potato
Photography by Karen

Chris can't wait to bite into this potato that has been peeled to maximize
deep fry surface area goodness
Photography by Karen

Mom's free princess bat is only slightly larger than the footlong corndog - delicious!
Photography by Karen

We had a great time: you can obviously see the joy that food brings =) And by the time we got home, I had been up and walking for about 3 hours. I totally crashed and my knee and belly couldn't be happier.

-ange xx