Average Grod's Average Blog

I know it wouldn't take a crystal ball for you to make the same prediction but I mean that I am going to take this blog to the next level. I am going to start making it available in more than one media type. I am going to start podcasting! I was up til 3 last night learning some XML to make a RSS feed. I am hoping to get out my mic and have this up and running in the next couple days. The good news is that I got a couple mp3s to work last night. If I can get that to work I can get anything to work. The other reason I haven't got it fully functional is that it will probably require anyone interested in this blog to download, install, and setup a new program. Don't worry. I am making a tutorial and this is the slowest part of the enitre process.
So why bother with this extra stuff? Some of you are probably still asking what is all this new stuff I am talking about. It will be a better way to keep in touch. You will actually be able to listen to Shanna, Emma, and I rather than just read. And I think it is a pretty cool skill to have. I like learning and using all this stuff!
Anyway, just stay tuned over the next couple days and keep your ears open. You should be able to hear some Emma coos soon.

I look like a dork here but at least I have a cool new iPod mini. I got it for my birthday. I am totally stoked about a couple new albums coming out too! Billy Corgan and Foo Fighters have albums out in June. If this wasn't enough I looked at itunes.com and they have a couple of rare INTERPOL songs that I don't! I will soon. I was also able to check out the Jimmy Chamberlain album. I think he is my favorite drummer of the 90's. This is the first time in a couple years I have been so excited about new music WOOT!
P.S. Thanks to Boone for this picture.

I updated the address and style of my Top Ten Band list. This is the link. I will continue posting the list this week.

...the hot get naked and lay out in the shade! It is getting above 85 degrees inside our house these days. Since we don't have a Whirlpool this is how Emma and I keep cool during the heat of the day while Shanna is at work. I won't be posting the pics of me laying out like this so don't ask me to.

This is what our yard looks like now. I haven't been out to care for it in over 2 months. What a mess! Here are some before and after pics.

No this isn't more Daddy Daughter fun. Mommy accidentally dipped Emma's face in some of spitup. There are more picture here. We took Emma on a boat ride with Grandpa yesterday. It must have been relaxing because she slept a lot.

P.S.
I am using Flickr because it is easy to upload a lot of pics. I am not getting all fancy and naming them or tagging them...whatever that means. Someone email me and let me know. I have decided to start sorting them by date posted with a description of what the set holds. That way people can easily tell if they have seen a set just by knowing what the date is.

Shanna and I got to go see Episode III last night. It was pretty cool. I have to say that some of the story seemed to come out of nowhere. You know that whole scrolling text intro that Lucas opens all the SW films with? This one doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It does make sense but he introduces characters and events through the text. This text is all the backstory you get regarding the current war and the droid general. If you can stifle your need to know what has gone on between Episode II and III you will be ok. I can't. I am a Star Wars junky. Shadows of the Empire took place between Episode V and VI. It is one of the better SW stories out there. I like the new trilogy but I thought there would be more to the Clone Wars. I really enjoyed the final chapter of Darth Vader even if it did move a bit fast. Hayden Christensen seems to have hit his stride as Anakin. Either that or he didn't have as many single line dramatic outbursts in this film. He really only has one way to deliver all lines and it gets old fast. Can anyone say Keanu? I am not surprised that Natalie Portman wishes she never did these films. She went from playing a strong character, able to protect herself and her friends, to a real cheesy maiden in distress. Her lines have been reduced to "Oh Ani I am so scared." Star Wars was fun to see and my biggest disappointment is that they will never make any more of them. The Star Wars Universe is pretty cool.

Shanna is at work tonight so Emma and I had a little daddy daughter time. She told me she wanted to have her hair done. Emma likes the new rat tail look I gave her. I don't think her mother will be so happy. 

Star Wars is starting RIGHT NOW. My PC clock says 12:00AM. I am not in a theatre. Darren and Dave are. I wish I could be. I will get to see it in a couple weeks. I know how Episode IV begins so I know what needs to happen in this film. But I swear if any of you spoil this one for me we won't be on talking terms for a while. Consider this a heads up because I am going to try and make it down to The Manor later on tonight(Thursday).On a lighter side I did add another band to my top 10 site. I am getting a bit long winded so I am going to look into devising a more navigable way to post them.

I got a couple hours of sleep and my temperature has returned to a normal 97.8 degrees. One thing I left out on that earlier post is that the Dr. did mention another option I will have once I lose some weight. He will go in and harvest some cartilage. Its not as bad as it sounds trust me. That is basically what he did this time except he put everything he got into a biohazard waste bucket. Next time he will send them to a lab to be cultured. Then they will be grown on a plate so he can put new cartilage back into my knee. Maybe I will have the knee of a 50 year old then hah!
I have been playing a LOT of World of Warcraft. Anyone who has played can back that up once they hear that I have gone from level 52 to 57 in less than 1 week. Too bad I have done most of it alone since I never see any of my game buddies on anymore. I started digging around and I found that my best online companion has been spending a bit too much time in the real world. Actually it looks like Darren has been having a lot of fun. I am happy for you bud. Maybe someday I can go on a big hike. Maybe not too big though.

I just got back from my post op appointment. The Dr told me just what my wife and mom did the other day. I have the knee of a 55 year old and if I lose 50 lbs I'll have a much greater chance of an ACL graft succeeding. As I am now he can't justify doing the surgery because there is too much risk that it will fail. I should also mention that on Friday he didn't just say "Too fat. No surgery for you!" He cleaned out all the floaters and loose cartilage in my knee. My knee is fine now. I can actually walk on my own already. Truth is, the itching from the stitches is the worst part. They are driving me nuts. I have a killer cold or flu as well. In fact I have a bit of a temperature right now. So there will be no spell check on this post. Maybe I'll edit it later. I am going to bed. It is our second anniversary today. I hope I remember it tomorrow lol.

P.S.
I spell checked and cleaned this up a bit but I didn't do too much. If you caught the original post there were some funny mistakes in there.

I forgot to post this site. Both my brothers offered me a flickr pro site so I posted some more Emma pics. I don't know about the quality, I didn't name many of them, and I don't know if they are ones that we took or someone else so they may not be new to all of you. I'll bet you look at them anyway!

I have started my Top Ten Bands List. You can read it here. In other news, my leg doesn't really hurt anymore. I haven't had to take any pain medication for half a day and I can already walk on it. I do wish I could get the bandage off because the stitches are itchin me something fierce! My brother Gabe gets to go to E3 this week! If you don't know what it is then you obviously don't play enough video games. I hope he has a good time and gets to check out some good games.

I had fun last night. Boone came over and watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou with Shanna, Emma, and I. It moved a little slower than The Royal Tenenbaums but was still entertaining in a way that only Wes Anderson can achieve. It has a great soundtrack. David Bowie songs are always good hear and these versions were really interesting. The quirky kooky upbeat underwater music was fun as well. I don't know that I understand the entire point of the movie but I didn't give it my full attention. Boone and I talked during the movie and so did Emma. She makes little animal sounds that can be cute and distracting.
The pain in my knee is starting to become noticeable. The good news is that it subsides completely if I lay down, elevate it, and watch a movie or distract myself in some other way. Shanna and her mom are going to go hang out today to get a little mother daughter time and celebrate Mother's Day. I should be able to get a lot of rest. She is going to buy a scale so I will be able to keep track of my weight loss. I slept on it, re read my earlier post, and am still as optimistic and positive as I was last night. Now I can be sure it wasn't the meds making me feel that way. Thanks for your prayers.

Pictures of my knee from today's surgery. The left one is my ACL. On the right we have one of a dozen pieces of cartilage that were hanging loosly or just floating around in my knee. I have the knee of a 55 year old man and arthritis to boot! Regardless these are some pretty cool pics. 

This is gonna be a pretty long and personal post. I may even need to continue it tomorrow. I have thought about what to say but I haven't written anything out in advance. I am kinda shootin from the hip, or maybe writing from the heart would be a better way to put it. I hope that it will all make sense and not just be a jumbled mess. I am trying to keep it all together but it is emotional and I am on a couple meds. Now that the warning is out of the way let me get the show on the road.
Hi, my name is Garrett and I have a weight problem. If you have met me before it should have been apparent to you while I was still across the room. If not you are blind or larger than I am. I did have surgery today and I knew going into it that there were a couple routes the doctor was going to take. Either he would take out the old screws, get a good hold with the new ones and replace my ACL, or he would give me a bone graft to create new holds for a future ACL replacement. He did neither. My doctor had no idea exactly how torn up my knee was until he was in there(See the post above for more info). I haven't spoken with him. I was told I had a conversation with him about what he did and about my post op instructions but as far as I can remember I didn't even see him once today. I have an appointment with him on Tuesday. My wife and mom told me that what he needs to say is that he will not replace my ACL until I lost weight. At least 50 pounds. With my knee and my weight a new ACL just won't cut it. I need to lose weight or I will just end up with the same injury again. This doesn't surprise me and I am not upset with him. I am not even upset at myself. I am a bit disappointed but overall I am really excited.
I am a bit loopy from meds, my knee is starting to throb, and to top it off I had someone tell me that I am too overweight to operate on. Yet I am having one of the best days of my life and looking forward to this year. I have been doing a lot of praying lately. I have a lot of things to talk to God about. I ask for wisdom, patience, and guidance. I ask God to remind me he is near me when I am tempted. Excitingly, I have more things to thank him for than to ask for. I have been at peace today. No, this was not brought on by any sort of drug I have taken either. I have never been so in love with my wife or my daughter than I am today. I have never been so thankful for family or friends. I even got to chat with one of my oldest and dearest friends today.
I want to ask all of you for prayers and I am open to emails, letters, encouragement, or cards in regards to my weight loss. My goal is to lose 50-100 pounds within one year. I would love to be back in the operating room one year from today. I have so much to live for and I don't want to leave any of you before it is my time. Another thing I am thankful for is that all of my vitals and lab tests are normal. Other than my knee and my weight I am healthy. It is encouraging to know that if I get down to a healthy weight I can have a pretty long and healthy life. I will even be able to be rather active once my knee is repaired.
These things aren't easy for me to talk about in person so I am writing it down here. If you ask how my surgery went I will probably just answer "good." I don't know that I will want to go into the details. It isn't easy to tell people that I wasn't able to be operated on because of my weight. Once I start losing I will become more open to it.
I am anxiously looking forward to this year. I have NEVER felt so calm or optimistic about something that could be so daunting. I know that God has been active in my life before, but at this point I feel him with me so often I can almost see him next to me. Once again I want to ask and thank you all for any prayers for my family and I. Please don't be offended if I shy away from the subject in person, but feel free to ask how I am doing, encourage me, and help keep me on track.
Thank you and bless you
-Garrett

P.S.
I will be posting as normal but also using this blog as a journal to help keep me on track as well as keep anyone interested up to date on my progress.

Today one of the scheduling ladies from the hospital called to let me know that I didn't need to arrive until 2PM tomorrow. This was a bit of the surprise as I was supposed to have my surgery at that time. She told me that the doctor had a couple emergency cases and that I was going to be on the "maybe" list. "Maybe" I would have my surgery lol. Fortunately, about 30 minutes later I received another call letting me know that I can go in on Friday at 10AM for a noon surgery. This gives me an extra day to relax and also lets me get the hard part done earlier in the day. Now I need only fast for half a day rather than 75% of it. Cool.
I am pretty excited about something else as well. I got The Full Cupboard of Life paperback today. Shanna and I really enjoy these books. Also, the author's new book is out too. It is available here.

I have surgery on Thursday so this may be my last post for a couple days. My plan is to go through my CDs and see if I can come up with my own personal top ten band list. If you are reading this then I would be interested in hearing from you. You can email me your list and I will post them along with mine if you like. It would also be interesting to compare lists with some of you. Like I said I hope to have mine done sometime next week. Of course I will post it ASAP. Send your list here. Let me know if you would like me to post it.

But at least work went by quickly. I am sitting here at 10:40 with no work YEAH! This shift stinks but there are some benefits. Kinda like old underwear. They stink but they still stay up and get the job done.
I am starting to get a little nervous about my surgery now. Not really scared but about the same level I get when I go up on an airline. The thought "I might die" crosses my mind. But then logic hits me and I realize I am only slightly more likely to die on Thursday than I am tonight on my drive home. Sobering when you really think about it. Overall I am more excited to get back to having a whole leg once again than scared of eating it on the operating table. Especially since it is just surgery on a joint done through centimeter openings in my skin. Just the same they always have to put that little clause in the heads up you sign that contains "and possibly death." The really freaky thing is that I am going to have someone else's ligament in my leg. "Donor Tissue." Strange to think that this is even possible. Really strange to imagine where it comes from.
I am also really looking forward to watching The Life Aquatic. It comes out tomorrow and I hope to watch it on Friday. I loved The Royal Tenenbaums and if you haven't seen it you should go out and watch it tonight! Hope you have a good night. I have emptied my head of all thoughts and am now going to sit here til midnight rolls around.

Here is a picture I took of an Emma Totem I made the other day. It is a bit blurry but still cute. This is a special Mother's Day Post. Let me turn it over to my wife.


Today was my first mothers day. Garrett and Emma made sure that is was really special. Garrett made me brunch and Emma gave me my very first mothers day card. Then they were both very quiet while I took a nap. The best part of all is that Emma just went to sleep for the first time all on her own and it only took twenty minutes. She did not even cry, she just talked to herself for a little while then fell asleep. This did not last and now I must go and get her.

-Shanna
 

It was a fun weekend. You can read more about it on my brothers' blogs. I am sitting here at work. Boring. It is 11:30PM and I wish I could leave. At least they haven't blocked us from accessing this site. I have surgery on Thursday. I still miss Henry. Shanna is happy that the outlet mall opened near us. She has gone 3 times in 2 days. Lucky for me she has only spent $11. As you can tell, there isn't a whole lot going on in my life these days. Emma is cooing and which is pretty cool. Other than that I just sleep and then sit around waiting for 3:00. It is inevitable! I have tried to avoid it but nothing seems to work. Then I spend the next 8 hours waiting for 12:00. Geez! Who created this shift? QUE HORRIBLE! Voy a ir loco o voy a la cantina para tomar! No, no, no! No es possible porque mi esposa me lo dije "Come home." Truth is she is ready to come with me but then we would have to find a sitter. lol that is wierd to say. Someday I will find a job where I can be more productive. Til then I can spend part of it blogging. Til Next time...