A week of awards and a boot in Tea at the Cabin in the Woods

The week began as any other, grading papers, getting ready for classes, helping students decide on next fall's courses - typical advising stuff. I had made an appointment to see a Dr. about the sharp pains in the top of my foot, which literally took my breath away only to be told, "I am not sure what to tell you. How about I make a referral to a podiatrist." Okay, that would help, I supposed. Hubby went with me and was not impressed with the young resident, trying to convince me to change medical practices. The professor in my is stubborn and insists I remain where I am... Not a pleasant conversation. Anyway, he takes me back to campus and I get a bit more work done before heading home.

I know it sounds boring and like a waste of time, but as I was driving home another "Attack" came on. I steered the car off the road and let out a blood curdling scream, until it passed about 30 seconds later. The recovery time tend to take about an hour... Okay, now I have had four of these attacks in less than 24 hours. All I can think of is, what happens if it comes on while I'm in class?

First thing Tues. morning I called the podiatrist to make an appointment because I was not going to wait to hear from them... it could take days. The woman on the phone found me a time for that afternoon and I was very thankful. It meant canceling my afternoon class, but that was okay. My 9:50 AM class was about to start, so I grabbed my bag and headed out, got through about an hour of the class when it hit again. I dropped my head, held my breath and turned away from the class. The students were a bit nervous, thinking I was having a heart attack or something. When it passed, I told them it was fine, probably a little nerve damage. My lecture took a turn south and within 5 minutes I excused the class.

My colleagues in the office reminded me we had to be in the Great Room for the student's awards for faculty and staff & lunch. We all walked over, got a salad and found a place at the back table. The President of the Student Senate went to the podium and began the presentations. The Staff person of the year, The Unsung Hero, The faculty member of the year... and my colleagues all start looking at me... Yeah, right... So one of my advisees goes to the podium and begins talking about a faculty member who has inspired her, helped her focus and has kept her on track to graduate with hopes of graduate school. She says, "This faculty member convinced me to go over to the Dark Side and be a psychology major and she bakes really good cookies as well." Now I am confused and she announces my name. It must have taken a few seconds to register and I walked up to receive my award. The tears welled up in my eyes as I hugged her. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

Yep, yours truly was voted by the students, Faculty Member of the Year. It means so much more that the students voted for me... I felt like Sally Field, "They like me, they really like me."

I left the awards luncheon, threw some things into a bag, including the award and headed out to get hubby to go to the podiatrist. I handed him the bag as I ran into the house to use the little girls room and told him to open the box. "What is it?" he asked. "Just open it, I'll be out in a minute." I heard a "WHOA! That is so cool!" and we were off to the appointment. The entire trip he kept congratulating me...

At the Dr. office, three x-rays and an ultra sound, he says, "It is probably the nerve that runs across the top of your foot along side of the artery. Usually there is spurring and arthritis but your foot is clear of those things. Let's put a boot on to stabilize the foot for the next three weeks and see if we can settle it down." So, now the boot... it's very awkward but I have not had another attack since it's gone on.

So now the next day I get an email from the Softball Coach inviting me to be the Honorary Coach for the home opener on Thurs. Which was great fun and I sat on the bench with the girls yelling encouragement and talking to girls. They won the game! That made it even better.

A roller coaster week. So today, we go to another game, they lose 2 - 0 and Hubby gets all bent out of shape. It's going to be a long day. Oh, well. Not everyday can be stellar. But I will cherish the ones that are.