Monday, April 28, 2008

Roller Derby, Pearl Izumi warehouse sale, and garage cleanup...oh my!

Amber here. I just got back from my 4th trip to Denver for Lasik follow up in the past week. The great news is that the Dr.s at Icon are taking very good care of me.....the bad news is that I'm "not normal." I really didn't need them to tell me this.....but that is another post entirely. What they mean is that it is unusual to have inflammation after this normal surgery, and it is unusual to need to refloat the flap twice....yup, twice. On Wed evening I'll head back down to have the flap refloated (straightened out, un-wrinkled, etc.). Since my refloat on Friday, the eye has been much happier (no weeping or swelling of the eye lids) but the vision has been very blurry because the flap didn't lay down correctly. The next (and hopefully final) refloat should get that flap to lay down like it is supposed to.

Between now and Wed., the inflammation needs to continue to decrease (doing well, just needs to be even better before they go back in). To achieve this I'll keep up with 1 set of eye drops every 30 min, another set every 4 hours, another set on a 4-hour schedule, but offset from the others by 2 hours, and a forth set twice a day. Got that? Luckily, I am adept at setting an alarm and keeping to a schedule (think Ironman feedings.....). Lots of rest will be on tap, too, to speed the healing. Then, after they are done messing around in there, the 1+ week window before training can resume will start.

Ok, on to the topics in the title of this post!

On Friday I went to work, headed home for a short nap, then we drove back down to Denver. Again, you ask?!? Yup, down to Denver for Roller Derby at the Fillmore Auditorium. We were there to watch the Denver Roller-Dolls take on a top-notch team from Albuquerque. The 'Dolls got routed this bout, but still put up a good fight. Especially Slick Vick, the quiet, petite, but tough-as-nails QA manager that I work with. She is one of the top Jammers on Denver's A-team and scored quite a few points for the 'Dolls.

After the bout, we walked the ~ mile to Vine Street Pub where happy hour was just kicking into gear. The owner recognized us and offered a free "amber for Amber" and a free pint of Young's Double Chocolate Stout! Two more stouts later ($2.50 each, compared to the $5 PBR available at the bout) and a large order of fries and we were happy, sated, and ready to drive home. Oddly, we kept bumping into old friends from Boulder at the Pub. Hi JP and Shawn, great to see you again!

The next morning I needed to go back to Icon for a check-up and to have the contact lens "band-aide" removed. On the way we stopped at the Pearl Izumi annual warehouse sale. It is hard to beat $15 jerseys, $20 shorts, and $15 AmFib tights! Especially when there are Sesame Street jerseys to be had (cookie monster, Bert and Ernie, and Super Gonzo!). The checkout-line was nuts, though, and held us up over an hour.

Somewhere in there, Eric decided we should aim for a Mountain Sun weekend tri-fecta and hit all 3 of their pubs, so we swung into Southern Sun for a lunch of Nachos once we got back to Boulder (this post-race recovery can be dangerous!). Then we headed home to cook up some yummy fajitas as we were having a few folks over for a belated-birthday dinner. We had great conversation and a fabulous Mexican feast, thanks for the enchiladas Heather and Alan! It was a great day (even with the snow and cold temps).

Sunday became a "chore day" but we got a LOT done. I headed out for early church while Eric did some laundry. Then he was out the door for his first bike ride since surgery (on the new TT bike!). The weather was turning into a beautiful day. I sorted through my closet, purging un-worn items from the stash and organizing the rest (long overdue!), got more laundry done, and prepped for doing dishes once Eric returned. In the afternoon, we attacked the Garage. It was a big task, but felt GREAT to get so much accomplished. All of the ski and bike tools, supplies, wax, parts, etc. were sorted, organized, and purged of un-needed items. We didn't finish completely, but got the hardest, biggest parts tackled (mostly it is just old, used paint and other house-maintainance stuff still to go through). It was fun to work as a team, too, and to see the fruits of our labors come to pass as the counter re-emerged and to-be-completed tasks got set aside in a spot where we can see them and do them.

The finale to a great weekend was a trip to the 3rd Sun: Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery down on Pearl Street. Great food, great beer, and all just a short bus-ride from home (safety first!). Oddly, it wasn't until we were about to leave that we recognized anyone. We couldn't help but muse at the oddity that we knew two people at the Denver Pub, but hadn't recognized anyone at either Boulder establishment.....until our neighbors walked in. Small world! Not unlike triathlon, really. Again, par for the course in the Boulder bubble!

1 comment:

Marit C-L said...

Sounds like you got a LOT done! Good on ya mate! :) Sorry to hear about the kerfuffle with the eye flap - but better to get it all fixed now, so that you won't have to worry about it later on.

You, my friend, are a pro with the timer-eye drop thing. :)

Hang in there! Speedy recovery vibes your way!!!