November Coffee Date- They’re Here!
You guys! The holiday cups have arrived! Rush immediately to your nearest Starbucks, get yourself a festive beverage (I’m having my usual earl grey, but in a festive cup) and join me for November’s Coffee Date! I’m linking up as usual with Deborah and Coco. Let’s get started! The first thing I would talk about over coffee (or, tea) is NaBloPoMo. For National Blog Posting Month, I committed to 30 posts in 30 days, starting November 1st. I have to admit that when I woke up on October 31st my first thought was “Wait- I said I would do WHAT???” I had a moment of serious doubt, but decided to go ahead with it- and I’m so glad I did! Although I’m starting to suspect that there are approximately three people participating this year, I’ve still discovered some new blogs and great bloggers I never would have known otherwise. So far it’s going well! Okay, let’s talk about books. I’m having a serious crisis. Here’s what happened: over the summer my son decided to re-read all the Harry Potter books (we read them together when he was younger, about ten years ago.) He urged me to do the same, and initially I resisted because there are seven of them, they’re long, and there are so many other books I wanted to read. He convinced me to “just read the first one” and of course, I got hooked all over again. The thing is, I don’t even like fantasy. But the Harry Potter books really fall into the mystery genre, and I LOVE mysteries. And they’re so well-written- how can you not be fascinated by time turners and lost prophesies? The third book has one of the best endings ever, the sixth book has that shocking event on the tower, and the seventh book… well. I took a long time to read it, because I didn’t want it to end. Twice towards the end I cried (without giving anything away, the scene where Harry is walking into the Forbidden Forest accompanied by certain… unusual… people, is so beautiful and heartbreaking) and then when I finished it I cried again because it was over. Where in the world do you go from there? I thought maybe I would have to read Proust next, or Tolstoy. Or possibly give up reading altogether. I have two books sitting on my coffee table, but I can’t seem to start them. I feel like I’ll just have to wait ten years and then read the Harry Potter books AGAIN. Back to reality… I’ve had three shockwave treatments on my foot so far (to treat both my plantar fasciitis AND insertional peroneal tendinitis) and… I don’t see much of a difference, yet. I’m definitely able to run- as a matter of fact, my doctor said there have been studies where people received shockwave treatments and one group continued to run, while the other group had their foot immobilized in a boot, and they both healed at the same rate. Yes, put me in the running group! At my doctor’s suggestion, I’m running 3-4 times a week and keeping my runs to 3-5 miles. Way better than nothing! I wish I felt a more noticeable improvement, but my doctor said it just takes time. He said the first two treatments actually increase inflammation- but the good kind, the kind that gets in there to flush out all the waste material from the injured area. Then the subsequent treatments are when the tissue starts to remodel, laying new capillaries and collagen. It all sounds great when he talks about it! So I’m continuing to limp and hobble around first thing in the morning (and anytime I’ve been sitting for a while) but have faith that there’s healing going on. That’s it for today! Check back in tomorrow for thoughts about the long (49 hour) weekend, and upcoming NYC marathon. Sunday will be the weekly rundown as usual. Have a great Friday! Do you like the Starbucks holiday cups? – Some years are better than others. I think the ones this year are really pretty! Have you read the Harry Potter books? Any recommendations for me?