A long overdue trip to the blog-o-sphere.

So it's been pointed out that I have not blogged in forever. I feel like there is so little and so much to write all at the same time...

My knee has been healing very well. I am walking without aid of a cane or anything (although I have a rocking cane! It is Lucite and often described as "pimping"). I still seem to have a limp, which I try really hard to not have and it's under control unless I am walking fast - not that that happens often - or have been holding my leg bent/straight/still for too long. I am getting stronger at work and can work more than 1 or 2 days in a row without needing to sleep for 3 days to recover. I am also standing for much longer periods of time, I have a stool at work but we've been so crazy busy I haven't been able to use it as much and am handling it pretty well - even Wednesday when I stayed for almost 2 hours after closing trying to get things finished up so I didn't feel bad leaving too much for April to do the next day. It's still hard day-to-day but I know that I am improving and really finally feel like a real full-functioning person again.

Lots of crazy things have been happening with the family: Nikki was laid off at work 2 weeks ago and it has been really hard on her. She was pretty much laid off because her boss decided that she "couldn't work" with Nikki (my personal theory is that Nikki had too many original ideas which intimidated her mediocre *at best* boss). I think the thing that was hardest for Nikki is that none of upper-management supported her, even though she has given her life (usually 60+ hours a week) to them for the last 4 years - this new person came in and wanted her out they just rolled over and let her treat Nikki like crap. I would write more of my feelings here but Nikki will probably be upset I've said so much on something that is publicly visible, but I should get to state my opinion since they have let everyone else put in their 2 cents (as long as it was against Nikki). Nikki just wants to let it go, learn all she can from this betrayal and go on with her life; which she'll be able to do. However her family and loved ones will have a very hard time understanding or forgetting about what has been done to such an amazing woman.

My brother-in-law, Travas, has finally been released to job retraining since he's been on L&I for so long, they have finally accepted how screwed up his back is. Due to the retraining starting in the fall, the Walker family is gonna spend some time in Southern Utah, visiting family and showing the kids where we all came from. I am excited for them but very sad to lose the random visits we get from the kids (and seeing the parents too of course). I love living a block away from them, the kids stop by if they are near our place or if they have something they wanna show us. There are no words to describe how much a hug from one of my favorite kids can fix. Trust me: when you've had a bad day, one of their "ride by huggings" can improve your outlook on life so much!

My brother Travis is also out of work right now due to injury. He needs surgery on his arm due to damage from a car accident. The surgeries are called pronator and supinator release - ya, he needs it on both sides of his forearm. He also has carpel tunnel in his elbow (all in his right arm) and it looks like he needs surgery there too. Poor guy, we get to keep him after all the cancer problems and then his body just breaks down. He's a super tough guy, and it's a good thing he is. His family is doing pretty good, his girls are super active as ever, we even got to go see Alex play a wolf and a dancing fork in her Middle School's production of Beauty and the Beast (Disney's version).

My Daddy is still working, at least until this job is finished, though their hours have been cut back. So with him and me (who'll soon be back full time) working we have a total of 2 people working in my whole family, although Cassie works a couple of days at a chiropractor's office and Adam works occasional shifts doing game testing. There is money still coming in for everybody, but it certainly is a scary time in this world.

There have been some great times too: spending time with family and friends is my favorite thing, and though I haven't been able to do it much it is always the happiest times. I have also been enjoying a lot of music (and expanding horizons when it comes to some music). There is a local band that I have mentioned on here before, Man Without Wax, that I adore! In the last few weeks, I have seen them perform twice (I sadly missed one of their concerts). I hope to see them more this summer...

This Tuesday I will be seeing Rent (with Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp!!), in a couple of weeks, we're gonna see No Doubt, with Paramour opening for them. We also have tickets to see New Kids on the Block (I know you're jealous!), that same night is the American Idol concert that Mom and Dad are going to and I'm totally sad that I'll miss it, especially seeing my adorable parents at it. I have bought tickets to see Blue October when they are here the end of July, and (I don't care if you call me a square) the tickets are on the balcony at the Moore theatre because I am not a "mosh pit person" even if I wasn't still recovering from a broken knee! I also have tickets to see Wicked when it is here in September (I bought 15 tickets and a few are still unclaimed...). And of course the most exciting thing is the 3rd annual Stephenie Meyer Day in Forks September 13th (Bella's birthday, duh!) I will be going for the 3rd year in a row, it'll be my 5th trip out there, unless I go out there earlier to prove that I am no longer scared of the waves. Hehehe.

I guess if I don't have the Percocet to encourage my blogging I guess my being up in the middle of the night can also help it... I could talk all night but I'm sure most of you haven't held on for this long as it is, so I'll just do more later (hopefully). I love you all, goodnight! <3