Birthday Surprise

You may perhaps remember a previous post that began with a picture of birthday cake.
Some of you thought that I might have decorated that cake, but sadly, it was just a picture I grabbed off the internet. Here, in all its glory, is a picture of a birthday cake I actually made and decorated myself. The barely legible scrawl, the carefully-constructed icing border sliding down the ganache and off the side of the cake... this is why I'm not a cake decorator. Oh well, at least it was yummy.

My schemes for Max's birthday went off without a hitch. Secretly, I conspired with his brother to come up from Austin and surprise him on his big day. When Rob showed up at the door, Max was shocked! He had no idea! Also, I had covertly organized (via facebook) a small gathering of friends at the Flying Saucer, one of our favorite haunts. I gently suggested to Max that we could go there for dinner, making him think it was almost his idea! When we arrived, all our friends were waiting for us, and when Max walked in, they all yelled "Surprise!".... it was great. The "party" was really informal - just a bunch of friends getting together to drink beer and hang out. I think it was exactly what he would have wanted had he planned it himself. At any rate, a great time was had by all, Max was totally touched that everybody turned out for him like that, and I was just floored that it all worked out so well.

But alas, every stroke of clever genius in my life is balanced by a moment of abject stupidity. On Monday, I was practicing front-kicking drills in the mirror in the bathroom (like a good little martial artist). I was wearing socks, because it was COLD in the house. And every time I kicked, my base leg would move a little, inching me closer and closer to the bathroom counter... and my doom! I was concentrating on my form, so I didn't notice that I was moving forward ever so slightly... until I kicked the bathroom counter with full force and exploded my big toe. Luckily, I didn't break anything, but the very tip of my toe is badly bruised and I have a 1/2-in. long tear in my skin from where the pressure of the impact ripped through my toe. It bled a lot at first, but now it just kind of weeps occasionally. It's healing nicely now, and fortunately, there aren't a great deal of nerve endings in toes, so it doesn't hurt as much as it looks like it should.

That being said, it is SOOO inconvenient! I really took my big toe for granted before, but it's completely vital for things I do all the time, like walking or wearing shoes. Even though the tip of my toe is not a walking surface, I still can't walk on it because when I put pressure on the pad of my toe, it compresses a little and moves the skin just enough to re-open the wound. Anyway, it's really gross looking, and I haven't been able to train in almost a week, and I feel retarded.

Moral of the story? Practicing at home is good; being aware of your environment is better.