Hey Friends!
How's '23 treating you so far?
Last we chatted, my second knee replacement had been postponed due to a late Covid flex 3 weeks post illness, I wallowed in the depths of despair for a bit, and mom and I enjoyed some Xmas-y island activities before she left to spend her winter in California.
Ev and I flew out Christmas day for our RV Southeast coast adventure. We managed to experience Florida's "coldest Christmas in 15 years!" Lucky us! I know my fellow Canadians would look at the temps and think, "+6 is like a beautiful spring day here. What could they possibly be complaining about?" I was not prepared for was the lack of heating inside Florida businesses. The airport was freezing. The train was freezing. The restaurants were freezing. People in Florida don't use heaters on a regular basis, so when faced with suddenly switching from air conditioning to heat, many homes and businesses had huge issues. Luckily our sweet little RV had a kickin' furnace, which ran full blast the first 4 days of our vacation!
We picked up our RV rental in Jupiter, Florida. It's a beautiful little town in Palm Beach County (North of Ft. Lauderdale). Ev's newly acquired gym, MADabolic Jupiter, is located here and we were able to stop by and meet up with his partner, Zac, and his wife, Bonnie, and daughter, Mackenzie. It was great to finally meet up after hearing so much about them. We ate brunch, donning toques, mittens, and scarves! haha. Poor Mackenzie, aged 3, had never been so cold before!
We jumped in our 30 ft "tenement on wheels" and began our drive up the east coast of Florida.
Here's the thing. I was not feeling well. I sustained a hamstring injury doing my second 20 lb hamstring curl at the gym - yes, for real. That's how 43 year old knee replacement recipients injure themselves these days (at least I wasn't tying my shoe!). Although my physio assured me that my prosthesis was fine, Courtknee, who is obviously a team player, felt such terrible sympathy pain for my hamstring that she freaked out. To say that she put on some Christmas weight is an understatement! She was so hot, swollen, and painful that I was just kinda...bitchy. So you know, I wasn't at my best. The first thing I noticed about our new abode was that the bathroom was TIGHT - like the door wouldn't quite close unless my knee was bent at a solid 90 degrees whilst sitting on the toilet. This was upsetting, as Courtknee was not into bending...at all. So, whatever, we had an open-door bathroom policy for a few days. It was fine. Everything is FINE.
We drove north to St. Augustine, a historical city on the northeast Florida coast, claiming to be the oldest city in the United States! Who knew? We did a modified tour of the downtown area - which was really cute cobblestone streets and quaint little shops. We then drove north to Georgia and spent two days in Savannah. I've been to Savannah before, and always thought that it was a cool place. In Savannah, we found a beautiful state park campground filled with massive oak trees donning the ghostly gray hanging Spanish moss. Although it was freezing (literally, it was below zero), we enjoyed a campfire outside in our layers of clothing and Courtknee remained as hot as an iron, keeping me warm and toasty. Thank God for Courtknee (dripping with sarcasm).
Although our RV had 2 large slide out smart TV's, we were either without wifi or did not have a strong enough connection to stream shows. But...get this - we had a DVD player. Remember those? Magically, Redbox DVD rentals STILL EXIST. For real. So, we pretended it was 2001 and rented DVD's on a regular (begging them not to skip). Very nostalgic.
We caught the hop-on, hop-off tour in Savannah. If you ever visit, I highly recommend the tour, as the city is very spread out. Our guide was really interesting, and you can sip a little wobbly pop whilst enjoying the history of Savannah. Ev and I eventually found a section of hotels on the river that had roof-top bars and created our own rooftop bar hopping event. Thankfully, all of the rooftops had heaters and it was great location to check out Savannah views. I LOVE a good cocktail on a rooftop bar!
Our plan was to continue north to Charleston, North Carolina, but I looked at the forecast and could see that it was warming up in Florida. We forego the Charleston adventure and decided to head back towards warmer weather.
I really enjoyed driving along the A1A ("BEACHFRONT AVENUE"🎵). We meandered through coastal towns, hugging the Atlantic Ocean the entire way. We stopped when we wanted to stop. We didn't have to use public washrooms, and I may have snuck some wine in my travel Yeti while enjoying the view. It was a good solution, given that I wasn't very mobile.
There were a few hiccups along the way. Our slide-outs (you push a button and the RV expands), stopped working and Ev had to manually push our RV back together. I pushed the button while Ev alternated between leg pressing the wall and yelling "Stop! Go! Stop!" That was fun. Also, the one day Ev left me alone to work at his gym, I locked myself out and had to climb through a window, while the seniors at the RV park speculated that I was a hoodlum. Other than those incidences (which are funny now), it was a great little trip.
My favorite part of the trip, however, was the hockey game. Can you believe it?
I've watched my fair share of hockey games over the years. I remember thinking, "When Ev retires, I will NEVER go to another hockey game ever again."
So, you know, I took like 20 years off, and now I'm ready to throw myself back in the game. Cue the Kirstie comeback tour!
We saw the Panthers play the Rangers in Sunrise, Florida (near Ft. Lauderdale). We attended with Zac, Bonnie, and their friends. It was so much fun!
To be fair, I spent most of Evan's games locked in the bathroom, as I couldn't bear to watch Ev get scored on. It was a huge problem. Although awesome, Ev often did get scored on at least once in a game. Those were very stressful days, as losing a game could mean a trade, a loss of a job, or a loss of a contract. Games were not "fun," my friends. This time, however, with nothing on the line, I stayed in my seat the entire time and thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment! Cheer dancers! Live interviews! Incredible 90's jock jams! Strobe lights! This place was lit!
I immediately recognized the name of the Rangers goalie - Halak. Ev reminded me that Jaroslav Halak attended training camp with him back in the day. "Wait a minute? This guy is still playing? He's pretty old to be butterflying about with 37-year old hips!"
And then it happened. My irrational hatred of the opposing goaltender reared its ugly head.
You see, when Ev played, I HATED every single opposing goaltender. In my mind, regardless of who he was, I envisioned him as a puppy-kicking, wife-slapping, tax-evading jerk. When the opposing goaltender so much as touched the puck, my internal filter failed miserably and I vomited horrible things out of my mouth.
"Garand - You're full of holes you f#$king sieve!"
"You're a F#$ing loser, Murphy!"
"You are a piece of S#$T on the bottom of my shoe, Bronsard!"
I know, I know. Embarrassing. I couldn't help myself. I don't consider myself an angry person, but those goaltenders made me see red. Watching another goaltender make a save caused a volcano of emotions to erupt in the form of horrible insults (In retrospect, I probably need therapy for this).
So, you know, I did what I do, and I began sputtering insults at Halak.
"Shoot low! He's too old to go down!"
"Don't hurt yourself, Halak!"
Evan looked over at me in shock.
"Kirstie. What are you doing?"
"I don't know. I can't help it!" I replied, covering my hand over my mouth while realizing that I might be embarrassing myself in front of my new friends.
I managed to tone it down a bit and, despite the Panthers loss (Old man Halak is still pretty good!), I really enjoyed myself! I will definitely be attending more hockey games in the future (Ev may not agree?) Haha.
So, overall, it was a nice little trip. I needed a change of scenery, and I got that daily on my vacation by simply looking out my window while Ev toured us around in the RV.
I'm now back at work until the rescheduled knee replacement on March 7. Although my endurance is not what it used to be - it's challenging to navigate pain, decreased mobility, and a demanding cognitive load - I feel like being back at work is really good for my mental health. I forgot how fun the kiddos are. I'm enjoying being reunited with my fellow Specialists, and it's a good distraction from the knees. I'm sure you are all SOOOO sick of hearing about my knees, and trust me, I'm sick of thinking about them!
Cheers, friends!
