The world of fantasy sports has grown exponentially since people have been able to play online. All the stats are updated in real time, and every sport seems to have a fantasy option now a days. They now have online drafts also, but the best part of fantasy sports is to actually have a draft day where all the people get together, talk trash, drink a few beers, and tell people how horrible their last pick was. Anyways, today was that day for my fantasy baseball draft, although things were quite different this time around. Our draft was scheduled a couple of months ago, and I must say I’ve been looking forward to it. However, it seems the Wives of the guys in the league seemed to have conspired against us. To give you a little background, over half of the league (12 guys) now have kids under the age of 2, which means in order to get a day off for most of us, the 2 month planning was necessary to get the “day off.” Well, as of Thursday, everything seemed set for most of us, but that quickly changed. Barbie came down with strep throat on Friday, which meant it was too late to get a babysitter, so I had to stay home and watch Kyle while drafting. My other friend’s wife also mysteriously got sick on Friday, another wife apparently didn’t give my one friend the day off, and another wife was out for a job interview. All of these seem like good excuses, but when you add them up… let’s just say conspiracy theorists would have a field day. So, a good amount of the league was at home, watching kids, all the while trying to figure out who was last drafted, marking the player off, and then deciding who to draft. Of course, there was the feeding times, diaper changes, crying, and everything else going on during this, so it was quite the Event. Never before have I heard so many kid’s voices during a fantasy draft. I guess it just means we are all getting old, and the women still rule the roost.

For those that haven’t noticed, there are new pics of the Kitchen in photo gallery (link on the left). These were taken on 3/24/08, and it shows the new floors along with 98% of the kitchen complete. Below is a video taken from that same day, and should give you a very good feel of what the kitchen now looks like and what it feels like to be in it. I’m amazed at how much walking and play space we now have, and it is great for Kyle, as he has his own little play room/area now. There will be one last update once the tiles in the backsplash are complete.

 

 Kitchen (3-24-2008) [2:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here are a couple of recent videos of Kyle motoring about. The first one is taken at Daycare. They say he loves the tricycle, but doesn’t like to wear the helmet, which is required. It’s cool to see him on a tricycle.

The second video is of Kyle playing in our driveway in the neighbors toy plastic car. He only knows how to go backwards right now, but I’m sure that will change shortly.

 

 Kyle on the Tricycle (3-19-2008) [1:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Kyle in the Toy Car (3-19-2008) [2:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Well, last night we had our first official dinner in the kitchen. Barbie was able to use the oven and cooktop, so it was just great. There are still some quirks that are delaying the kitchen like the canned lighting that need to be flourescent, and also the oven which can’t fit all the way in b/c the granite people didn’t leave enough room, but it is getting there. Today and tomorrow the floors go in, so hopefully we’ll be back to normal in no time. The latest pictures have been uploaded (click on the Kitchen Redesign image on the left), and the latest movie is below.

 

 Kitchen on Mar. 17, 2008 [80:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week I finally got my stitches (aka sutures) out on Tuesday. When the Dr. first walked in I was leaning back on the exam table with my arms just resting on my waist. As he is getting things ready he is explaining that he wants me to start getting my shoulder moving and possibly go to a pool and start with a breast stroke. I then showed him that I could already do that along with rotate my shoulder in other ways. He was quite impressed and didn’t realize my shoulder was already so mobile. He said I either had a really high pain tolerance or that I waited way too long to get my shoulder fixed in the first place for it to be moving so much so soon. I’d have to go with the latter on that one as I’m probably a wimp when it comes to pain. He also said I had what they call an “active shoulder,” which means there was a lot going on in there, which I think is a bad thing. Anyways, he removed the stitches and gave me a prescription to go start seeing a Physical Therapist, and also asked that I come back and see him in a month. I was somewhat disappointed to have to come back again given my $25 co-pay, but as I went to schedule it they didn’t collect my co-pay for the current visit and said any visit within 90 days of surgery is considered a post-op meeting and co-pays are not required…Sweet!

So, on Thursday I went to Physical Therapy at a place close to work. I wanted to go back to the same place I went last year b/c there was a full workout gym and pool, but given that I can’t take Kyle, it is much easier to do my therapy close to work. Looking at the website of the PT place I was somewhat skeptical as there was an older guy who was the therapist. Sure enough, when I got there the place just seemed older…almost as if it had been there with the same furniture and equipment for 20+ years. When the guy came in I was somewhat short with him as I expected to hear some crazy old ideas, but as we got to talking and he began explaining in detail what the surgery had done and what the reason for it was, I became absolutely convinced he knew what he was doing. In about 5 minutes he gave me a better understanding of what my injury was, what the surgeon had done, and how we were going to go about making sure it didn’t occur again. What helped tremendously is that he had one of this mini skeletal shoulders (similar to the image here) and he could show me the muscles, their purpose, and what was going to happen.

To give you the brief summary, the rotator cuff muscles are there to keep your shoulder within the socket, somewhat suspended. As you raise, lower, etc., the muscles work to make sure the bones don’t touch. However, sometimes the muscles get weak due to age and/or lifestyle, and then they are not strong enough to hold the shoulder centered. So, this was my problem…mainly due to age and computer use and slouching. Then, when the rotator cuff muscles weaken, and you throw a ball for instance, the rotator cuff muscle begins to hit the Acromion bone and Clavicle (collar bone) above it, and that begins to irritate the muscles, thus weakening them even more. Basically, it become a vicious cycle until you get to where you can’t do it anymore without serious pain.

To combat this with surgery, they “raise the roof” of your shoulder by sawing the bottom part of your AC and Collar bone thus allowing more room for your shoulder to operate. Once surgery is done and you have your motion back, you have to begin working on strengthening your rotator cuff muscles so that they are strong enough to keep your shoulder centered. The other thing that is needed, and something I didn’t know or understand after 4 weeks at the first PT place is that your shoulder blade muscle also helps to “raise the roof” of your shoulder. He basically showed me that if you stand in front of mirror, and push on your shoulder blade, your shoulder will actually move up slightly, which means it is allowing more room for the shoulder to rotate. I spent 4-6 weeks at the last place working out this muscle and I had no idea why, and with a 10 second demonstration by this guy I could completely understand and see why this would work. He said a lot of people, especially computer users who are always leaning forward, feel that muscle getting tight b/c it is constantly being stretched forward as you type or work. Since it is so tight, people feel they need to stretch it by pulling their arm across their chest or something, but this actually isn’t good for you. Once stretched, it is now weaker/looser and you will lean more forward and slouch more. So, what you need to do is strengthen it, which will actually tone and tighten the muscle, and thus cause you to slouch less. Basically, it is the same thing as demonstration he gave me. Tighten the muscle, which pulls your shoulder blade closer to your back, which thus pulls and/or lifts your shoulder for more room for the rotator cuff. Simple.

Needless to say I was thoroughly impressed with this guy by now. Then, to top things off he says I don’t need to come twice a week, but come as often as I want or need. My prescription says to come twice a week for 4 weeks, but I am going to go once a week and do the exercises at home. Each week he will see where I am and give me harder exercises to do. The amazing thing about the exercises is that he doesn’t want me to have any pain during them. He wants the top of the rotator cuff to heal first. If we try to work it out while it is healing, it won’t get better. So, we are working on the other rotator cuff muscles, and then will get to other one. The exercises are not what I would call tough, but I understand them and what they are doing, and I do get tired, which he says is the key. Get tired, but no pain. So, I go back next week, and hopefully I’ll be a little stronger and be able to do a few more of the exercises.

Finally, the name of the place is Milpitas Phycisal Therapy (http://www.milpitaspt.com), and the physical therapist name is David Severson.

Sorry for the lack of posts, but there really hasn’t been too much going on on a daily basis. It’s been a lot of waiting around since I last updated the photos on March 1st. However, now the kitchen is really coming along and should be done by next week. We’ve got the granite installed, along with the backsplash. There is an older video and the latest video below, along with new pics in the Kitchen Gallery.

p.s. Remember, these are large files, so it might take a while to download.

 

 March 7th Kitchen: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 March 14th Kitchen [1:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This past weekend was actually quite enjoyable. You know the normal routine on a Monday morning when you walk into work and everyone asks you how your weekend was you simply reply “good,” or as my colleague always says…”remarkably adequate as always.” Well, this week I got to say my weekend was great. On Saturday Sara from Sweden, who is Barbie’s 2nd cousin through Alan, came into town. We all went to lunch, including Kyle, and then the girls headed off to get their hair done. Barbie came back with short hair, which was a shock to me, but it actually looked really good on her. After that we all headed to the beach house for some relaxation and also so Sara could see Alan, who is her great uncle. Alan and Jeanne cooked us a great dinner of Steak, Fries, Artichokes, etc., and then we spent the majority of the night just relaxing and enjoying the conversation.

Sunday rolled around and we got a great breakfast from Jeanne, then in somewhat of a spur of the moment decided to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Kyle and I were the only ones who had never been, but Sara and Barbie and Jeanne hadn’t been there for many years. Alan and Jeanne ended up getting the Member pass which allows themselves, their grandchildren, and two guests to back any time all year long so I have a feeling we will be going back often. The Aquarium was actually really cool, and Kyle had a great time, which I wasn’t sure was going to be the case since he is still somewhat young for it. He enjoyed watching the fish swim by and touching the sea life and pointing at the Sea Otters. After a few hours we left and had lunch at a restaurant over looking the Bay, and the food was surprisingly good. Sometimes you get places that are close to tourist attractions, have a great view, but then don’t deliver on the food. But, all of our food was great. Afterwards, the Gravers headed back to the house so Kyle could get a nap, and Sara, Alan and Jeanne went on the 17 mile drive.

After Kyle woke up and Sara got back, we headed back to San Jose. We decided to get a babysitter so we could take Sara out to dinner and stay out a little later than normal. She was in the mood for Mexican since there isn’t good Mexican in Sweden, so we decided to try a new Mexican place that had a Zagat rating. Unfortunately, the place was closed when we got there, so we settled for Chevy’s which was nearby. As luck would have it, the Chevy’s was close to Santana Row, so we went there afterwards and went to a Sushi place that had a bar. The bar was amazingly full for a late Sunday night. Apparently, the restaurant people and all the cool people go out on Sunday nights b/c Friday and Saturday are too crazy. Needless to say, we fit in great with all the cool people.

As you can see, it was an event filled weekend and not just the same norm. We’ve added a ton of pictures to Kyle’s Gallery, so be sure to check it out.

The best part about this video is how Kyle really wants to go down the slide, so he puts his on foot on, but then won’t “pull the trigger,” but instead keeps reaching out his hand for help. The slide is quite steep for the little guy so I understand his concerns, but after going down, all he wants to do is get up and go down the slide again. Enjoy!

p.s. This a large file, so you may need to download instead of playing through the web.

 

 Kyle at Daycare (2/26/08) [6:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Well, my Dad has been giving me a hard time recently about not getting the latest videos of the kitchen up, but hopefully some of you noticed that the pictures in the photo gallery have been kept up to date. Also, one thing I noticed while looking at some of the older photos is that the pics of the cabinet crack have a different color tone than the rest of the pics. The reason for color variation is that most of the pics are taken from my cell phone’s camera, and the ones about the crack are taken from our digital camera. The digital camera seems to bring a lot more of the true color, so I took the most recent ones using it along with the latest video. So, here are the latest kitchen videos, but don’t cheat…watch them in order.

 

 Feb. 20, 2008 [1:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Feb. 21, 2008 [0:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Feb. 25, 2008 [0:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Feb. 27, 2008 [0:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 March 2, 2008 [2:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download