One step at a time.

I met with Nerdy Girl and we did our shorter route, starting and ending at CB Pub, and then we adjourned to a local pizza restaurant for food.

It was good because the advice that the consultant gave me last week seems to already be paying dividends. Usually by the end of the short walk (roughly 3 miles), I'd start to feel pain in the foot, but not last night. The pain is still there, but the stretching, insoles and splints do seem to be working. There's less pain in the mornings, for example, even though I'm not wearing the splint all night.

I did manage to fall asleep while wearing it last night, which is a first, but I woke a few hours later and couldn't get back to sleep.

And the chat with Nerdy Girl was as good as it usually is.

I've also spent the past week or so trying to manage my portion sizes with my food (reasonably successfully), so going for pizza was the first time I've had a "big" meal in probably two weeks. I've not weighed myself yet, but seeing as the injury treatment seems to be progressing, maybe I should progress my weight loss efforts, too?

Bend me, shape me...

One of the accessories advised by the consultant is an inflexible splint. I ordered one off Amazon and it arrived yesterday. I'm not gonna lie, going to bed with that thing strapped to my right foot  was extremely off-putting, to the point where, at 3 AM, I removed it because I wasn't getting any sleep.

I'm already knackered this morning, but I hope that when I strap it on again tonight, that I'll be too tired to let it keep me awake. The consultant suggested I use it nightly for like three weeks. Oooft.

As I said in my last post about the injury, there's a possibility of surgery. I think that might be a little more probable that the consultant realises because, despite the fact I've basically sat on my ass for the past year, I am actually quite flexible.

Timing.

After my dream and semi-memory of an old classmate in this post, she almost inevitably pops up in my Facebook feed and time has been very kind to her. I still never really knew her well enough that I'd reach out or add her on Facebook, but I thought it was worth the comment given the timing.

Stuff to look forward to.

The clinic have been in touch and my MRI scan is due in two weeks. two weeks yesterday, in fact. That also means that it's two weeks today until KfW2 and I go out. Never had an MRI before, so while I'm not saying that I'm looking forward to it, it is intriguing me.

Step one.

So, I guess the good thing is that the consultant told me what I expected to hear: Plantar Fasciitis. He's recommended an MRI to rule out any lasting or permanent damage and a follow-up consultation in a few months time.

He's also given me some stretching exercises that I've been kinda doing anyway  and effectively told me to bin off all of my shoes and buy new ones. The brand he recommends are, on first look, about three or four times more expensive than the shoes I tend to wear. Hmmm...

Oh, and also some aids - insoles for shoes, splints and stuff like that.

He hopes the splints, insoles and more importantly, the stretching should take care of the issue, but if not then we'll have to look at other treatments that might include surgery. But at least the healing journey begins.

Rear ended.

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned in the past that I think Quiet Girl has a nice ass. And if I've not mentioned it, I'd definitely said to USHW. QG's a thin girl, so not a lot of curves, but a nice ass. I love watching her walk. She wears jeans well.

And so, at the work event tonight, I positioned myself behind her when we were walking from the office to the venue for 20 minutes, and thoroughly enjoyed the view as she ambled along, then climbed a few sets of stairs.

Of course, better than that, she's also good company. We found ourselves sitting beside each other during the event, making silly remarks and just having fun.

A good night.

Oh?

For the first time in a long time, I remembered a dream I had last night. The details are long gone, but I didn't get a chance to blog about this until now. Some of the basic components were that it was at a Christmas party, I was looking for someone. During my search, I bumped into CH and a girl that I went to school with, and some HR girls, including GM's ex.

The girl, who I don't think has been mentioned on the blog before, was a thin girl with a huge rack. We were were in the same class, friendly, but not close. As I think back, she gives off Judy Greer vibes.

Anyway, the girl from school pulls me aside and talks about how we'd hooked up (this never happened in real life), pulled up her dress to show off her g-string and impressively flat stomach, and asks for another go. When I turn her down to find the person I'm looking for (unidentified), she throws a huff and leaves.

And that's pretty much all I can recall from the dream.

Can you do me a favour?

I had another, out of the blue, text message from KfW2 on Friday afternoon. Could I do her a favour?

No other details, so I was a little reluctant to reply, in case she wanted something that same evening. I did eventually ask for details though, once I'd had some food.

"Can you babysit tomorrow night?"

I can't remember the last time KfW2 asked me to babysit. It must be a couple of years. It feels longer.

She typed up a huge explanation of why she was asking me, but ultimately, it didn't matter. She needed a favour, I had no plans and I hadn't seen her face to face in 15 months, and longer for her kids. I've also wanted to do more stuff, to stop sitting in front of the TV or PC and be more social. And I guess I need to add my usual reference from USHW about being a sucker for a pretty face.

I regretted it the next day.  That had nothing to do with KfW2 or her kids, but more me and my reluctance to leave the house. Laziness? The weather (it was awful)? Something else? Who knows.

However, I did force myself out of the house, on the bus and down to KfW2's. I had a great time with the kids. They adore me. And KfW2 and her hubby returned home early, so I got a little bit more time with them before I returned home for the best night's sleep I've had in weeks.

Yeeehaw.

D picked me up and we arrived at the gig. Despite the venue being half full, we were both of the opinion that the crowd probably wouldn't get any bigger. After all, she was (is?) an unknown, only releasing her first album a few weeks ago. And, sadly, she only played about 45 mins, and a good chunk of that was her interacting with the crowd - she was really quite good at that.

To be fair, the tickets were probably only around £20, but still, I'd expect an up and comer to try and stand out a little. It's not a complaint, just an observation. I don't think I'd feel hard done by if I'd spent the money myself.

But, long story short, I had a good time, catching up with D was great and the music, though not really my taste, was good.

And then, just as D dropped me off home, I got a demanding text message from KfW2 about doing dinner. So once again we have a date agreed upon: 11th April. This was KfW2's idea, so here's hoping that means that she's not going to forget.

Bloody hell.

The last time I weighted myself was, I dunno, maybe early in the pandemic. If memory serves, then I was roughly 2.5 stone heavier than I'd like to be. And that's heavier than I perhaps should be.

Today, for the first time in years, I stepped onto my new scales. i bought them in Black Friday sales, with the plan originally to step on them at the start of January and see what my goals were going to be for this year.

Various illnesses and other life stuff has meant that I didn't get around to doing that until today... just now. And I am officially the heaviest I've ever been. I'm about 3 stone heavier than I'd like, but I'm a little surprised I'm not heavier given that I've been eating crap and pretty sedentary for the past year.

Next week, I got to finally have my foot looked after. I have to go private because I cannot get through to my GP, and I am lucky enough to have health insurance with my employer.

All the things I've done before are my plans for weight loss - exercise in the form of walking, cycling and yoga. I'll have to start calorie counting again, too, which I dislike a lot but is a necessary evil.

Let's see what I can do in the next three and a half months, and what the numbers are like at the end of June.

Where did you go?

It's ten years to the day that GM brought Foreign Girl out for an afternoon's drinking and partying. I don't think her and GM talk any more - nothing wrong per se, they just drifted apart. She's disappeared off Facebook too. We were Facebook friends for a couple of years. I don't actually think I can remember her name.

But I recall that being a great day, somewhat drunken, and then GM admitting a few days later that Sports Girl had thrown an almighty huff later at FC's house because she assumed, rightly or wrongly, that GM and FG were getting it on. I know they had in the past, but I don't know if it was an active thing by the time she came to visit or if it was happening that night.

But I seem to recall it being a great day.