Let me preface this blog by saying that I know that there are people out there who are in much worse shape than I am, and they have my heartfelt sympathy and respect.

That being said, I still intend to whine just a little.

Thanks to my recent injury and surgery, my mobility is severely impaired at the moment. It has been for three weeks, and it will be for at least another three weeks. I have been away from my house exactly twice in the last three weeks. After one week of home imprisonment, I convinced my mother to take me to the grocery store. It took me days to recover from that adventure. One thing I will say is that anyone who steals a handicapped parking space should be shot on sight.

Navigating my house with a walker and one good leg is an adventure, but so far I have managed to avoid running over any cats or dogs. Something as simple as moving my car for street sweeping has become a neighborhood project.

Arthur and I have both missed the more social aspects of my job. Arthur was so happy to see the mailman yesterday that he nearly knocked the poor man down the front steps.

I especially missed being at Northgate's football game last Friday, and I'll really miss being at Avonworth tonight -- here's a shout-out to my favorite stick guys, Butch, Dave & Rege! We generally meet at the first home game to discuss which of us has been hospitalized since the end of the last football season. I hope all of you guys, at least, are healthy and on the job.

Now, for the good side of all this.

People have been bringing me food. Real food, cooked on a real stove or in a real oven instead of in the microwave. It's amazing!

Because I can't get down to my basement, my mother has been doing my laundry, a sizeable portion of which, I must admit, predates my injury. Yesterday she was ironing my sheets and my sweatshirts, none of which have ever felt a hot iron. That's probably above and beyond the call of motherly duty, especially for a woman who quite clearly adopted me from gypsies at birth.

Tom Steiner has been risking life and limb to take football pictures and anything else I need. We would be putting out a pretty bleak newspaper if not for him!

I have really appreciated the cards and e-mails, and especially the kindness of the people who have added me to the prayer chains at their churches. You know, it doesn't matter what you believe or what religion you practice, there is something comforting about knowing that people are praying for you.

So...maybe this reality doesn't suck quite as much as I originally thought, thanks to all of you!