Walking A-boot & Chocolate Cake

So, I went from being a half-caster, to "walking-a-boot"!  

"...it's almost healed, but the boot is just in case a Jack Russell Terrier decides to knock you over"--JR hospital doc.  
Anna: (bursts out laughing)
Me: Or, my own dog
JRdoc: What kind of dog?
Me: Black lab/German shepherd cross
JRdoc: Oh, in that case, you need a super big, steel-toe, reinforced Samson boot.
Me: lol
JRdoc: The x-rays look excellent. You have excellent genetic bone healing material.
Me: Cool. Relieved. This is week seven and they originally said I'd be in a cast for 12 weeks.
JRdoc: (laughs). Average time is 22 weeks, actually   (thank goodness they did not spring that number on me when I was in excruciating pain). You have very good bones and great genetic material. There's a lot of bone growing.
Me: Cool.
JRdoc:  So, before you die, make sure you sign one of those cards so we can use your bones,  and put them in other people. 
Anna: Lol. Who knew there was a "bone donor" card.
JRdoc:  Yes. We do bone transplants all the time.....(upon clearing me to go on my dissertation trips sans boot)....oh, and say hello to La Belle Provence for me!

John Radcliffe Hospital (nhs.co.uk)

I'm sorry to say my Oxford Hot Doctor Hypothesis from my experiences at the JR hospital has been disproved ;0.  This one was not. The previous four I met at my four hospital visits were. 4/5 = not bad!  They were all SUPER nice to me, though, and have a strange but funny sense of humour (#British humour?) The nurses and x-ray techs are a gamble; some very nice, others grumpy. The docs = super nice. They even come in, introduce themselves, shake your hand and ask how you're doing before they start. And they always give you a chance to ask questions before they go, instead of rushing off. Weird.

I still maintain that hospitals SMELL HORRIBLE. Nauseatingly horrible.
 P.S.Thanks again to Alexandra and Anna, who have patiently waited with me for two hours every time, despite the smell.

 Gorgeous Puppy: "Uhh..come on, aren't we going for a run yet?"

I'm so excited for normal stuff, like being able to carry a plate to the table without hopping, having a stand-up shower, not a bath, kinda sorta walking without crutches (most of the time), and in about another month or so, finally going back to the gym and, especially, running my gorgeous puppy.

 Perhaps I'll take up Kung-Fu or some martial arts that's more "artsy/technique oriented" and less combat driven.



Realistically, all I'm doing for the next three weeks is finishing my essays and probably more cooking. So far, thanks to BBC Good Food, I have mitigated by boredom by making: 

• Crispy Greek Pie
• Roast Potatoes   (takes a hell of a lot longer than you'd think)
• Spinach Salad
• Key Lime Pie
• Healthy Banana & Blueberry Muffins
• Tiramisu
• Custard Trifle---well, the custard was from powder and I didn't have cake, so custard and fruit and light whipped cream

Since my first two essays (first drafts of them anyway) are done, I'm celebrating by baking my friend Anna's  Mocha Chocolate Cake with icing (yum!). I have been drooling over this recipe (and this goal) since I planned for it over a week ago.

Can't beat the success of meeting a goal!  (especially when your latest essay is all about goals and self-efficacy in language learning).

It it definitely past midnight now, but I did it. YUM! (sorry for the low quality phone pics!)

Now, for some Netflix with a piece of cake...and then, BED (and more essay writing early in the morning!)