December 4, 2007

I drove back from Abilene this morning, dropped my mom off at her house and headed to the office to see patients in the afternoon. I had a lot of fun at the Hastings book store in Abilene. People were very friendly and there was a lot of interest in Endings. Some of you may be asking the question, "why Abilene?" And I would say, "Why not?" Abilene is the place where the majority of Endings takes place. I did a lot of horse showing there and my memories of Abilene are, for the most part happy ones. I had no experiences like the one I describe in the "Rider Writes" section of this website. That's not to say every single experience there was a win. Let's just say I learned a lot. Yes...learned a lot. That's what you have to say when you're totally blown away by the awesome power of humility. I learned a lot. You would prefer the prostrated position, the kicking and cussing, maybe even the awesome power of crying in front of someone. But gather the strength to come out and say "I learned a lot today." Now that's really something...

Okay, that was something very tangential, because I think I was talking about my wonderful experience in Abilene. My book signing. The people who came to buy a book were really happy to be there. They were all smiles. Many of them had read about the signing in the paper. Some were related to people I know here in Austin and it just seemed as if they were all old friends of mine! I thank them from the bottom of my heart, because here's the deal. They bought MY BOOK. That's what they did. And that's what it's all about. They bought my book. Now they're going to read it. If they like it, maybe they'll tell someone else about it. Someday, someone who has no connection to me or anyone I know might buy the book because those folks in Abilene bought my book and told someone else about it. It's incredible to think about.

So here's the next incredible thing. I was in Austin for about 15 minutes and I get this text message from my husband. Endings is number one on the BookPeople best seller list in Austin. It was in the Sunday paper. Number one! THEY'RE BUYING MY BOOKS!

And I thank them.

December 3, 2007

I'm just going to go ahead and enter today now because I'm driving to Abilene for a book signing later on and I won't be back home until tomorrow. Yes, I know I'm going to have to learn how to do this on a laptop from a remote sight. But not today.

Let's talk about feet. Women's feet specifically. Remember I flew out of bed a couple of minutes ago. Try not to do that. If your house is on fire or there's someone in your room who you think might be trying to kill you then haul ass and worry about your feet later.

In all other circumstances, if you're older than 40, try to make getting out of bed a ritual of tender loving care, because more than likely there's something wrong with the bottom of your feet. I don't know why but for some reason the bottom of women's feet are especially sensitive. The plantar fascia is a structure that starts at the base of our heels and stretches like a bow string across the bottom of the foot. When we sleep the bow string shortens because our foot is relaxed and pointed down. Trust me, no once sleeps with their feet pointed straight up. Guys, if you ever look over and see your wife with her feet pointing straight up, then either she's stretching her foot or she's dead. Give her a foot massage or start CPR, which ever seems most appropriate and which ever she will allow you to do. If she's alive and you tilt her head back and start blowing down her throat she'll probably bite your lips off and then you'll know she has plantar fascitis. You'll have made the diagnosis. You don't even need to go to medical school.
When you sleep with your foot pointed down and it stays pointed down all night, the plantar fascia contracts. When you get up, put your foot down and stand up, you force the plantar fascia to stretch out acutely. This sometimes will tear the fascia, sending a searing pain across the botttom of the foot. Keep doing it and that eventually leads to plantar fascitis. If I see a hundred patients with plantar fascitis in my office, 99 of them are women over the age of forty. Why? Who knows? There must be some hormonal factor or something.

So when I turned 40, the next morning when I got out of bed like I was 39, there was a searing pain across the bottom of my foot. Of course I knew exactly what it was and from that day forward, except for last night, I always stretch my feet before I get out of bed. Just stretch your toes and feet upward, like you were stretching your Achillies tendon. Of course I told my husband I would be doing that from now on so he wouldn't try to do CPR on me and you would be wise to let your husbands know that too.

And those of you gals who are already 40 and have not experienced the pain...well you must have young feet for your age...