My March Madness

Well, I have to say, I have not watched any basketball games this month. Nonetheless, I do feel like I’ve experienced my own March Madness - what a busy and great month it has been! I’ll start from the top and hopefully not leave out anything important.

The month started out with the end of a long run of assignments, tests, and presentations. The last few reports were due on March 7, and I left class that afternoon prepared to have a little fun for the next few days. I had a hair appointment a few hours later with my new hairdresser, Joe. Joe is very cute and also very gay (a tragedy in every way), and his left arm is entirely covered in tattoos. I felt myself cringing ever so slightly as he ran that hand through my hair, so I had to keep reminding myself that he was in fact clean, which he was. Joe passed the hairdresser test with flying colors: he didn't mess up my hair, his salon is about two miles from my place, and the cost was reasonable. So I am happy to report that I have officially found my hairdresser for the next year. Hopefully he won’t move. After that hair appointment, I met Lesslie, Liza, and John for dinner at The Loop for pizza. Then I met up with some classmates for trivia at Dark Horse Tavern in Virginia Highlands. We didn't win, but it was still a good time. All in all, March 7 was a great start to my few days of fun, but it got even better!

The following day, March 8, was my birthday, as it is every year. This particular year was different than all the rest, because this is the first year that I have known my birthmother. Because of that, this is the first year that I have known anything about the day I was born, who was there, etc. I have had a lot of time over the last few months to reflect on all of this, as you have probably read about. I didn’t have any huge new thoughts or feelings around my birthday, but it was special to hear from Marcia and her parents and a few other members of her family on that day. I had a great day with many other phone calls as well from family and friends, and my classmate Missy made a chocolate chip cake to celebrate. After an entire day of class, a few of us went out for margaritas and Mexican food at a great place called Nuevo Laredo.

The next night, Julie arrived from Augusta for a weekend visit. We met up with a friend of mine at the Fernbank Museum that evening for Martinis and IMAX, which takes place every Friday night. We unfortunately didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy the band that was playing, but we did each enjoy a drink and then filed into the theater to see Hurricane on the Bayou. This film was about the effect of Hurricane Katrina as well as previous hurricanes on the Louisiana wetlands. A little Cajun music was mixed in with many great views of the beautiful land that is wasting away. After the film, Julie and I moved on to Blind Willie’s blues bar for several hours of great blues music and dancing. The place was small but full of life, and the music was a perfect follow-up to the film about Louisiana.

That Saturday we took Kelsey to the dog park at Piedmont Park, then we relaxed in the Meadow for the remainder of the afternoon. A U2 cover band was playing at the Park Tavern on the corner, so we could hear the band from the Meadow and thoroughly enjoyed them as they sounded remarkably like U2. In the evening we rented a movie, Facing the Giants, and watched that as a nice fire blazed in my fireplace. This is the first movie I’ve ever seen where Christianity is not only openly but also realistically portrayed. I found it interesting that not once did the movie show any of the Christian characters in church, and I liked that fact. Most other movies try to portray people’s relationships with God to be only in church, but this movie broke that mold by showing how to live life with and for God every day. Kudos to the writers and producers for that.

The following week was our last week of class before Spring Break. Oh the joy of having Spring Break again! We had one more midterm and then a guest speaker for two full days at the end of the week. He took our entire program (18 students + instructors) out to dinner Thursday night, which was hopefully the first of many other free meals at the hands of big O&P companies over the next year.

To start off Spring Break, I picked up Marcia from the airport on Saturday morning, March 17. She came to town to belatedly celebrate my birthday, and we had a great weekend and nice visit. During the day Saturday we went to Lenox Mall so I could run a few errands, and then we came back to my place to get rested up and changed for the evening. We went to see Les Folies Russe (translation: Russian dancers) at the Fabulous Fox Theatre that night and had great seats. I have not been to a real show there since I moved here last May, so it was a nice treat for me and Marcia’s first time in the Fox. The following day we went to Waffle House for breakfast and then to church at St. Paul’s. After church one of my friends was throwing a surprise wedding shower for another friend of ours, so we stopped by there long enough to mingle a little, drop off a gift, and grab a bite to eat. Then we drove up to Dunwoody for my tennis match, which I am happy to say I won. While I was playing, Marcia called an old friend of hers who happened to live right up the street from where I was playing, so she stopped by for a brief visit and I was able to meet her. That evening we enjoyed a nice dinner at Buckhead Diner (thanks to John for the gift card!). After dinner we rented and watched Flightplan. Monday morning we ran a few errands, grabbed lunch at one of my favorite little restaurants in Midtown (Fresh to Order) and then I took Marcia to the airport. I know what you are thinking - what a fabulous month, that must be it, right? Well, not quite, the Madness continued…

Two days later, I boarded a plane with three of my classmates and headed to San Francisco for the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists Annual Meeting. A mouthful, I know. My hands are getting tired, so I will write about that trip in another post soon. In the meantime, here are a few photos to get started…

What My Dog Has Taught Me Lately

Interestingly, in five years of dog ownership, I’ve never really found any of her actions to be profoundly representative of my own. Lately, however, I’ve noticed several times that I could stand to learn a few things from her about myself and how I relate to God. Of course, in Kelsey’s world, I represent her god. I provide for her every need, though maybe not everything she wants. I protect her when she wants to do something that might be harmful to herself or others. I control her environment. I also pick up her poop every day, sometimes twice a day. Now, I know that may seem kind of irrelevant, but stick with me on this one.

A few weeks ago, I was walking Kelsey, and she finally got around to doing her business. Right afterwards, she took a few steps away from her newly formed pile, and she kicked her back legs in an attempt to cover the evidence. The problem was that she was standing right next to me by this time, so instead of kicking some grass, she kicked me right in the leg – quite forcefully actually. In her inadequate attempts to clean up the mess that I intended to clean up for her, she not only missed the mark but insulted me in the process. I think if she had the ability to feel emotions as a result, she would have felt pretty silly and ashamed when she realized what she had done. Isn’t this exactly what we do with our sin before God? He is there every day to pick up our “piles,” to cover what would otherwise bring us shame. When we try to cover it up ourselves, we are never successful, and in the process we insult the work that Christ has already done to pay for that very sin.

I’ve also noticed recently that despite the previously described flaw in my dog, she absolutely never fails to delight in me as the god of her universe. She might be disappointed in me sometimes if I do not act as she expects me to, but inevitably she wants more than anything to be with me. She is bursting with excitement every day when I come home. Even if I leave and return several times a day, it is the same excitement every time. She follows me around constantly from room to room, always at my heels and looking with interest to see what I am doing. She does not withhold affection from me but unreservedly approaches me and seeks my affection in return. Wow, what if we loved God like that? What if every day I was constantly looking for Him in my midst, constantly watching to see what He is doing, constantly offering my affection to Him and seeking His affection in return? Isn’t that what He desires of His children? I admittedly am annoyed with my dog sometimes when she acts like this, but God is never annoyed with us. He delights in us and finds joy in our affections for Him.

And lastly, Kelsey also takes her positive attitude outside every day. We go on two walks a day, usually only ten minutes in duration. To me, this walk is usually a chore and quite boring. To Kelsey, every single time we go for a walk, she might as well be going outside for the first time in her life. She is thrilled and excited and overcome with the world around her. Seeing other dogs and people is always a treat and adds to the adventure, but the fresh air and grass alone are enough to give her a thrill every time. Do I approach the daily constants in my life the same way? Not hardly. I eat three meals a day, often very quickly and out of necessity. I drive around in a car that is reliable (most of the time) and see beautiful buildings on my way to school, I sit in class or go to clinics and learn new and exciting information. Oftentimes, though, every day is a bore, or at least that’s how I treat them. What if every day was like a new day? What if I embraced every meal as though it were my first and could muster up the eagerness every day of class that I had on the first day?

As you can see, I could certainly stand to learn a thing or two from my dog: how silly it is that I try to cover my own sin, how short I fall in truly adoring my God, and how easily I am bored with my surroundings each day. She may be simple minded, but I think I could use a little bit of that simplicity in my life.

Stuck on You

A picture worth a thousand words...

We learned last week about a certain type of prosthetic suspension system that provides a solid vacuum hold of the prosthetic socket to the residual limb. This picture was not staged, and those guys are not acting. They are seriously trying to pull the man's socket off of his leg. As you can see, the hold is in fact quite good.