Thumbs up for Frank!

To explain the title, when I found out I was going to get knee surgery, I originally thought I was going to get a cadaver part to reconstruct the ACL. My friend started calling it "Frankenleg", which then got shortened to Frank. Above is a picture of Frank in all of his glory.

I just got back from my doctor's appointment and considering the last time I was there I started to cry, it went soooooo well. He said that the graft is healing up nicely, and I just need to work a little bit more on my range of motion and building the muscle mass of my quad back up. So I have another month of physical therapy, then I see the doc again and hopefully get cleared to run. All in all, I give it two thumbs up. Way to go Frank!

Whomp Whomp

Good Lord, I am terrible at this whole blogging thing. Sorry about that. (Because so many people are clearly reading this)

ANYWAY.

So what's been happening in my life? Well, here's the not knee related information:

* I finally heard from the guy that had been ignoring me, and I got super excited and answered because I forgot that my plan was to ignore him. Whoops. He invited me to a block party he was throwing, which actually ended up being a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the block party was technically as a goodbye party because he's being deployed in September. Whomp whomp. 

BUT. I got this super pretty picture of a sunset.

* I am loving my job. I went out with a bunch of my coworkers recently and it was way too much fun.

* I am struggling so hard to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. But that's a story for another time.

* Weird people have been hitting on me like its their job. I don't know what the deal is, but apparently I'm what the crazies in Hawaii are looking for. Its been an exciting couple of weeks.

* I'm actually being sort of responsible with my money. So that's neato.

Knee related information:

* I finished my last physical therapy appointment! So that's exciting.

* My doctor's office back home and my doctor's office here had a rare moment of successful communication, and I was finally able to schedule a doctor's appointment like a normal person. Granted, its a three month check-up and I never did the six week one, but that's not the point. After spending months playing monkey-in-the-middle with doctors, this was one of the best moments ever. At this appointment I find out if I need more physical therapy to make it stronger, and when I can start running and doing other physical activities again. This is exciting stuff, people!

* I was a big old dumbass at work the other night and squatted down to help someone fix a table. My knee was not a happy camper, and I've been trying to take it easy for the last couple of days. Stooooooops.

I can't think of anything else to write. I hope everyone's having a fantastic life, and I'll catch you on the flip side.

Next time:

THE PINK POWER RANGER, OR WHAT DOES HANNAH WANT TO BE WHEN SHE GROWS UP? 

Hooray.....ish.

Whoops. Sorta forgot that I had this blog. My bad.

So what's been happening in my life? Quite a bit, actually. Here's the lowdown.

I got a job as a hostess at P.F. Chang's. It doesn't sound super great, but I am seriously over the moon about it. They had absolutely no reason to hire me. On paper I looked awful. A month out of knee surgery and no restaurant experience to my name, I wouldn't have hired me. But I turned on the charm 1000% and was hired on the spot. Holla! I really like it so far. Its a little bit overwhelming since I have no experience in restaurants and its a super popular place to eat, but everyone is really nice and I'm slowly picking it up. Hooray!

I turned 23. 22 was not a banner year in the life of Hannah. Yeah I moved to Hawaii and that was rad, but for the most part it was not so great. I got hurt, ruined stuff with a guy that I really liked, ruined stuff with a very close friend, Dakine closed and I wasn't offered a job at Honolua, you get the picture. It was definitely less than stellar. But my 23rd birthday was an incredible day filled with a fabulous physical therapy session, a little time at the beach with my roomie and her friend, I was cut early from work when my manager found out it was my birthday, I jammed at karaoke and even got a little life lesson that night. I found out something not so great about someone I thought was my close friend, but instead of being super shitty, that gave me the final push to get out of the weird headspace that I've been in for the last couple of months. I've also just been in a fabulous mood since my birthday, so again.......Hooray!

I've been trying to actually be smart with my money and not eat out all the time. I still need to work on cutting down my stupidly ridiculous Starbucks addiction, but I actually grocery shopped like a normal person the other day, so we're making baby steps of progress. Oh and speaking of being a grownup, I also applied for my first big girl job. So we'll see how that goes.

Just so this isn't one of those nauseatingly happy posts that are often found on blogs, not everything has been all sunshine and rainbow pooping unicorns. My knee is tired constantly and it is frustrating. At work I'm on my feet for 6 or more hours at a time, and I still can't walk up and down stairs normally which is pretty embarrassing. I have the "oh are you OK?" "Oh yeah, I just had knee surgery about 6 weeks ago so stairs are still a little awkward" conversation on the daily. Yesterday I went to the canoe races in Waikiki (which involved a lot of walking) and then went to work for 6.5 hours and I haven't been able to straighten my leg for all of today. Physical therapy this morning was rough, to say the least. Its frustrating, but I'm trying to remind myself that its a healing process. Also when I'm not on the stairs, nobody can tell that there's anything wrong with my leg. So that's nice.

What else? I met a guy. I don't think it'll be anything, but it was certainly a much needed ego boost. I bought a super rad hat with a T-Rex painted on it, I just painted my nails a really pretty blue, and Shark Week is on Netflix. Neato!

Workout Blues

Fun fact about me, I HATE working out. Yeah I played some sports in high school and I've always been decently active, but actually working out? There is absolutely no love. I hate every single part of it. Starting out, that middle bit where you feel like you're about to puke your brains out and die, the sweating, I hate it all. Well, I like one part. The part where you get to stop working out is my favorite. On the real, thank goodness for good genetics because with my eating and workout habits I should weigh about 300 lbs. Yeah, I know its good for my health, but so are avocados and I hate them too.

Umm....super cool Hannah, but what was the point of that little rant against a healthy lifestyle? Well, I am so bored because of all the restrictions on my knee that all I want to do is workout. Whaaaaa?  Yeah that's right. Its all I can think about. I want to surf, I want to hike, I want to run. You heard right, Hannah wants to run. I just want to take off and sprint up Koko Head, or even just run down the street. I'm not even allowed to swim (kicking is a big no-no) or just sit on a paddle board and doodle around (I asked my physical therapist today. Too much of a risk of tweaking the knee if.....when....I fall off).

Two more months and then I'll at least be cleared to run. Until then, the most I get to workout is physical therapy. I got add squats and stepping up onto a stool today. Woooooooooooooo.

What I would like to be doing. 

What I'm actually doing. 

Monster effort.

I am in a not so great mood right now, so here's a list of things that I have going for me. I'm hoping to pull some Psych 101 magic and make myself feel better.

* I have my health. Yeah knee surgery is a bitch, but there are people out there a lot worse off than me. I could have hit my head and given myself brain damage, I could have lost the leg, I could have cancer.....there are a lot worse things that could have happened to me.

* I have wonderful family and friends who are willing to help me out when I need it. I could be facing this business alone, and that would have been super duper shitty.

* I'm pretty. Yeah its vain, but whatever. I'm trying to make myself feel better. So hooray for being pretty.

I can't think of anything else and this really didn't help me very much, but hey. At least I tried. This monster thinks I did a good job.

Well that's just fine.

Big things are happening in the life of Hannah. You ready?

1. Hot damn, I KILLED it in physical therapy today. I used the exercise bike for about 5 minutes. It sounds super lame, but I felt so badass, especially since it took me a little bit to even get my leg to make a full revolution. Once I finished up on the bike, I moved on to the normal leg exercises, and Kevin my physical therapist was super impressed with how well I could straighten my leg and how much I could flex my quad (I know, I know.........I'm pretty much the cat's pajamas). Plus the view from the exercise bike was pretty. If you're going to rehab an injury, I guess paradise is the place to do it.

It really doesn't sound like a huge deal, but I have been busting my ass since my last appointment, making sure that I do all the exercises that I'm supposed to do at home, and it was cool to see that I am actually making progress. This is especially nice since the workouts are SO. FREAKING. MONOTONOUS. Holy crap. Straighten the leg with weights, stretch with the band (straight and bent knee), quad stretches, leg lifts (front, side back), lather rinse and repeat. But they're clearly working, so I just gotta keep on keepin' on.

2. I went ALL DAY without my crutches! Whaaaaaaaaaaaat. I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to walking (walk with a limp like an old school pimp a real O.GEEEEEE.....anyone? Anyone??) but it was so satisfying to blend in with the crowd. Society is so focused on standing out, but I can't even express how much I just want to feel invisible for a bit. Today was glorious. No pity looks, no questions, nothing. SO. WONDERFUL. I'm sore as shit and my hip hurts like a bitch, but it was totally worth it. AAAAHHHH words can't even express how stoked I am. No brace, no crutches, just a normal girl cruising around minding her own business. LOVE IT. 

3. I got a part-time job at a coffee shop downtown. I start in a couple weeks. Its not much, but it'll be nice to have some sort of income while I look for something else. Hooray!

4. I got a free drink from Starbucks today. Win.

All in all, I am a super sore but happy panda. :)

Made this bike my bitch today. Not a big deal. 

Blue hair, don't care.

Oh my goodness, I was not a happy panda in that last post! But today was 10000x times better, and I am the happiest fish in the sea. Well, I guess that might be a little extreme, but it seemed good to stick with the animal thing. ANYWAY.

Today my KBFF (kayak best friend forever, keep up) Hailey and I went to Sandy Beach Park, and it was way too much fun. Pro tip: if you ever come to Oahu, make sure you spend a day here. The beach is beautiful, its on a beautiful part of the island, and the people are beautiful. Hot damn, there are some hotties at Sandy's. Pro tip #2: if you do go to this beach, be super super careful. The lifeguard was telling us how its the number one beach for neck and back breaks because the waves are so big.Yikes. There are some mad body boarders there, and they're really fun to watch.

Speaking of body boarding, I wish I could have gotten pictures, because some of these guys were absolutely ridiculous. There were the standard people with their regular boards who were pretty talented and entertaining to watch, but there were some slightly less conventional ones as well. There was one guy who tried to body board with a pool floaty, and he was not successful. The floaty got some serious air though and he never gave up, so props to that guy. There was also a kid (maybe 12) who was using a tray as a body board. Like stolen from a school cafeteria tray. He was doing pretty solid for a bit, but then the ocean claimed the tray as its own. And we saw a monk seal, which was rad.

My leg actually felt really strong when I was on the beach. I don't have to wear my brace anymore, and I didn't use my crutches (duh. Could you imagine crutches in the sand? Not a good look.) and it was so so so wonderful not having anyone staring at my leg. I was limping a little bit and the muscle atrophy in my leg is pretty significant, but nobody cared. It sounds weird, but it was amazing.

Then Hailey and I went back to her house and I dyed part of my hair blue, because why the hell not?

Technically this picture is from a couple of days ago, but its still Sandy's so whatever. Notice how normal the leg looks.

My new monk seal friend. He was just posted on the beach like he didn't have a care in the world. Which he doesn't, because he's a monk seal. 

Before and after. The blue is kind of hard to see, but I promise its there! I think I might add some more to it.