A Week With Emily

My friend, Emily, likes to spend her vacations down here, and she was here most of last week.  I don't know why.  Something about the weather in Syracuse.  Anyway, we had a good time, and got a lot of stuff done.  Here's a recap.

Emily landed Monday afternoon, and Tuesday, she drove me to Chapel Hill for some doctor appointments.  I had one at 10 and another at 3:30, so we had most of the middle of the day to kill.  We used the time to go to the mall and shop for shoes and pants for me.  I wanted to take advantage of my new flexibility by trying to locate some shoes that will fit on my giant swollen feet.  Emily suggested we try Vans skate shoes.  We went and worked with Tyler, who was super friendly and knowledgeable, and it turns out they have a model that fits me wonderfully.

Using my new flexitude

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Working with Tyler was fun

Then we went to Macy's to shop for pants.  We found a couple things that I think will work and brought them home for the fashion show.

Khaki cargo pants with gray Vans

Green cargo pants

Levis jeans with socks and protruding tongue

Of the pants we bought, the khakis are the best.  They are easiest to get on, fit the best, and have a draw string I can tie that keeps them up.  They green ones fit pretty well, but I haven't figured out the jeans yet.  I can't seem to get them all the way on by myself, and once on, they fall down as soon as I move.  A belt might help, but will also further complicate getting them on.  More experimentation is needed.  It doesn't help that I have to buy enormous waist sizes to fit over my huge belly.

I wore the khakis and shoes out in public a few times this week, and it was really nice.  Just psychologically, it feels good to dress like a normal person.  I feel like Pinocchio when he turned into a real boy.  I do still worry somewhat about pressure issues, possibly related to the fit of the shoes, so I'm keeping a close eye on my feet for now, but in general, I'm delighted with my purchases.

We got some other stuff done too.  I have wanted to get a decent table for my balcony for some time, and we were able to go shop for one of those.

 

We used it to enjoy the spectacular weather last week

Thinking about how much I like my new table

Emily also cleaned the heck out of my apartment. My microwave and toilet have never been this clean, but we also had a lot of fun. We ate a lot of really good food at the restaurants around here. I think I put on quite a bit of weight.

Trali Irish Pub right in front of my building

 The other thing we did was go to a comedy show at Goodnight's in Raleigh.  We went Thursday night to see Nick Thune.  Because it was Thursday, there was hardly anyone there, but it was still fun, and I think it was the first time I've been to any sort of event like that since my injury.  I didn't get any pictures, but it was a good time.

It was a really good week, both productive and fun, and I'm sad it's over.