Team Caliente Pantalones: October 2007

The Home of the Knights.

This weekend the Ochos will head to the Great White North to visit HP08's alma mater, Carleton College. To be honest, HP08 is really looking foward to getting out of town. She feels like she needs some grounding, like she's lost her foundation a bit, and where better to find it than Minnesota, the Mother Earth of the US. She's not looking to return to her glory days, but just remind herself a bit of life outside the Belt Way. HP08 also plans on introducing Senor Ocho to her favorite College professor and stop by Hogan Brothers for some Peppermint Bon Bon Ice Cream (known to the outside world as Mint Chocolate Chip.) Unfortunately, Defeat of Jessie James Days are over for the year, but we'll still visit the museum down town. HP08 will bring back plenty of documentation of their adventures, but in the meantime, enjoy some views of the Ocho's old stomping grounds.

The Verdict is In

The Ocho talked to physical therapist today who had just spoken with her doctor and the verdict is in....HP08 and a torn abductor. The MRI results stated, "There is a high signal inferior to the left iliac crest, commensurate with abductor muscle tearing at the attachment of the gluteus medius muscle." The following chart shows the "gluteus medius muscle" in relation to the rest of the hip. I think the chart shows a right hip, so the muscle would be on the inside.

Fig. 1. —Illustration shows normal abductor muscles and tendons in coronal section as seen through hip at level of mid greater trochanter. a = gluteus minimus muscle, b = gluteus medius muscle, c = subgluteus minimus bursa, d = subgluteus medius bursa, e = subgluteus maximus bursa, f = zona orbicularis of hip joint capsule, g = superior neck recess of hip joint, h = inferior neck recess of hip joint, i = vastus lateralis muscle, k = iliotibial band.

So, all in all, this is a good new-bad news situation. The good news is that it isn't a tumor (which they didn't tell me was a possibility really until the ruled it out) and that I won't need surgery. The bad news is that they really can't do anything for me. I have to stop all activity that irritates the muscle, mainly running, and then slowly introduce it back in to my general routine. For now, I can continue swimming and riding my bike, but if that bothers it too, I'll have to figure something else out. (It's pretty much just hurting all the time now, so I know the running sets it off, but I can't distinguish between what other activities inflame the problem.) They've stopped my physical therapy too, because that apparently isn't really helping. I'm supposed to check back in with my physical therapist in a month. They said this thing could take months to heal. So, I'm happy that it wasn't anything more serious, but I'm a little bummed that there isn't something that can be done to directly deal with the problem other than "rest."
So, that's the deal. At least I finally know what's going on.

You better work... Work it girl, do a twirl! Do your thing on the run way...Work!

(yes, in case anyone is keeping track, this is HP08's second RuPaul reference of the year.)

So, even though HP03 will probably kill her, the Ocho has decided to post a photo of her modeling the bridesmaids dress for HP08's wedding. On Saturday HP03 and HP08 met up to figure out the best length for the dress, so you'll see the HP03 has is hiked up a bit. Trust them, the actual length was dowdy and TERRIBLE. It's not totally clear, but you get the idea...

Welcome to the Ocho's blog...

Well, it appears that HP08 is the only one posting anymore. Since that's the case, the Ocho will use this opportunity to air her dirty laundry and give an Ocho's life update. So, here you all go...

After much drama and work, the wedding invitations have been mailed!!! Whoo Hoo! HP08 won’t bore you all with the details, but the wild invitation ride involved $300 in postage and a massive/crazy person crying breakdown in the middle of a DC post office. Either way, they’re on their way now. My parents got theirs in two days, but a bunch of VA/DC people haven't gotten theirs yet even though they went out on Monday. Go figure. If they get lost in the mail, the Ocho is quitting her wedding.

In other wedding news, HP08 had her first dress fitting a couple of weeks ago and it went pretty well. It fit like a glove, though somehow she still managed to spend $150 on alternations. Ugh. Oh well. That’s ok, though, because HP08 will be using Sister Ocho's veil and she bought her hair decorations on ebay (thanks for the suggestion HP04), so that is some money saved. :) On November 5^th, HP03 will be heading back to the seamstress with HP08 so that they can “learn how to bustle.” We’ll see how that goes… Ok, ENOUGH WEDDING TALK!!!
HP08 has one piece of sad new. She had mentioned to a few people that she was looking at possibly taking a new job that would have been PERFECT for her. Unfortunately, even though the person that recommended her assumed it was a done deal, it didn't pan out. The Ocho was pretty upset when she found out (cried her eyes out for the second time in less than a week) and she's still pretty bummed, but these things happen and there are worse places to be than where she is now.

So, the Ocho has been a little distracted for the last couple of weeks and has been deliquent in her exercising duties. HP08 is trying to get her act together and pull herself out of wedding planning hell. She’ll be home for her first weekend in a month this week, so she's going to try to get her head on straight.
That's the update for Ocho's world. She hopes everyone is doing well!

-Ocho Out.

For a laugh...

Visit Niece Ocho's website and watch the video on top...

A post.

Ok, so the Ocho doesn't really have anything to post, but she's painfully bored and feels that the has been blog woefully quiet lately. So, here you go, some photos of recent happenings in my life: