When life gives you lemons…..? Now I’ll be honest I do like to eat lemons. I like limon gelato, limoncello, and lemon butter on my salmon. I like lemon zest in a soup or dish and fresh lemon (and lime!) in my Gin and Tonics…but, Team Appino has been given more lemons in this thing called life and we will do with them the only thing I know how - creating something positive and beneficial. (It’s lemonade stand time here!).
The photos are great this time so check them all out at the bottom!!
First up - updates!
We went through Semana Blanca (winter break/ski week) since last time I wrote. We went (as I think is required??) to the mountains and did a ton of skiing (of course, Ashley was unable to join us on the slopes (but her knee is doing great!)). We hit Baqueria-Beret for 4 days and then to Cerdanya (La Molina resort) for 4. Different sets of friends and great time in both places. We ate amazing food, drank great wines, laughed, relaxed, and improved our skiing. Ellory was not feeling great on the front end of the trip so I actually used her instructor for 2 days! I’m not a strong skier but have a big desire to get better every time I am up. I definitely did so for the two 3 hour sessions with Juan. Hayes is getting 5-6’ of air on his jumps and really in love with skiing (I did NOT want to go back up on the last day but he wanted to go so….we closed the resort down on the last run down!). This kid Hayes….mountain biking and skiing are what brings pure joy to him.
So, recall Ashley tore her knee up quite badly over Christmas? Well, great news - with great therapy protocol, an amazing team (the one that serves all the pro futbol players here), and tons of work from her and she will not require surgery. We had 2 Spanish sports surgeons’ opinions and a third from the USA (I was curious if an American doctor would have a differing opinion) and the consensus is clear - 3 for 3 = no surgery.
I’ve not set an alarm clock in over a year! (unless an early flight). I still suck at sleep but am working hard to get better.
I am seeing more and more people at the gym, in our little neighborhood, and in restaurants and the markets that I know. There are at least 6 coffee shops that know my order when I walk in…and I know the owners of at least 5 local restaurants now. This is what I love. The ‘community’ we have here has really come together and I’m proud of the progress we have made.
I’m getting back into reading books (I read 3 books last 4 years maybe) vs articles (but still love the physical newspaper and short articles). I’ve taken down Die with Zero, Stumbling on Happiness, A Man’s Search for Meaning, Range, and am working now through Four Thousand Weeks, The Whole Brain Child (and in ASB bookclub!), and Up From Slavery. All really good and recommended (I’d quit a book pretty fast if I didn’t like it)
I don’t yet have voicemail set up on my phone. Another point of less stress for me.
Dubins are awesome!!!!! (LOL)
It’s so amazing to see 6-year-olds walking alone, stopping for a gelato or croissant on the way to/from school, or playing in a plaza with no sign of their parents. It is so safe here. So safe.
It snowed in Barcelona! It was amazing the people taking photos (I was one of them - seem below) and touching it…it’s not a common sight here!
Travel
We are planning (or trying to plan) travel through the summer. So far we are heading to Madrid, Toledo, and Seville for Semana Santa (holy week - easter break). We then will be here to host my Dad and Vickie (trip 3 to BCN!). Linda, you need to come back and see us to keep even!!! (hey if I can guilt anyone into coming I’m up for it!). Then my buddy Kris from KC comes, and the next week Ashley takes off to New York City with girlfriends. In May we have Ashley’s Texan Aunt and daughter coming for a few days and then Jan (my rock-solid partner at work) and her family (more first-timers to Europe (except their son Alex). Then Team Patrick will bring their kids here in early June (they are going to LOVE Barcelona) and we will go with them and the kids to Paris for a weekend. School is out on 23 June and then the following week the kids have camp….Ellory to the school camp and I found an amazing mountain biking camp where Hayes will be in the mountains for a week, biking 20km a day, elevation, camping, hiking, nature learning, bike mechanics class, etc. No screens and he wanted to do a camp where he had no friends (it’s based in Spanish but they will be 50/50 Spanish English I think). I am super excited for him on this. Ashley and I will have a week here no kids! Unsure what we will do….
We then have a gap in July (likely travel around Europe and relax in the Costa Brava) and in August we will be in America for 3 weeks. KC, Wichita (Ashley’s Gma!), and South Dakota to see my mom/friends and we will go to our Black Hills home for a week or so. September here and BOOM - school. I would love to get out in September for a bit….but we need to fill in July first! We are all super excited to get back to the states but I am NOT excited to feel obligated to tip, overpay for wine and food, and drive everywhere. The kids are excited to eat corndogs and I’m just excited to get back to the cabin and be outside.
Lemons
So, I broke a bone. 44 years old and never broken a bone before. Long story….but a funny one (what else can I do but laugh and smile?). I’ll not write it here as it would take too long and you likely don’t want the details (call if so!) but I was on the ‘last run of the season buddy let’s make it count!’ with Hayes in Andorra early March and after a jump (which I landed, thank you!) something went wrong and I crashed. Collarbone meet patch-of-ice. Ice win. Collarbone loses. It’s a great story from there but I’ll just say we made it down the mountain on skis, up the lift, down all the way to Soldeu, grabbed an X-Ray to prove what I knew, convinced the doc for a big shot, drove back 3 hours one arm level 8 pain, went to the hospital, confirmed it’s fucked bad, next day met with 2 surgeons, chose one (he called it a ‘rockstar fracture’, convinced them same-day surgery, and was home the next day. So, I have a new metal plate and 9 screws in my shoulder and am rehabbing aggressively since. ‘Treat me like I make 40MM per year playing soccer’ I say….so, they are being pretty aggressive. So much to write - so many emotions (and physical pain to boot!). I’ll not write it all here but I do:
Feel grateful it was the end of the season and not the beginning.
Am glad it’s not worse (nerve damage, loss of a sense, etc).
Am clueless about how it happened. (replayed 1000 times over and still can’t)
Agree with you!!!! (I know you are thinking it!) that it’s hilarious/funny/pathetic/ironic/etc (pick your word) that Ashley and I both went down with big injuries while skiing this year. However, I can’t wait to get back up and crush the slopes with the kids next year.
Continue to smile through the boring therapy (Magno and Game Ready ice sessions are taking 3+ hrs a day) and lack of wine (I’m not drinking much while the body recovers).
Am glad I had a good baseline of health.
I missed my Portugal wine trip!! The surgeon did think it entertaining when I asked ‘Can I go to Portugal with my buddies tomorrow?’ right before the anesthesia kicked in Wednesday night before surgery.
I get to brush teeth with my left, cook with one hand (flipping eggs like a pro here!) and many other things (think of wiping your ass with your non-dominant hand! (grateful for the bidet! jajajajaja)). I drink with my left, eat with my left (can’t cut my steak!) and chopsticks?? oh hell no! I learned to tie shoes with one hand and have had a blast improvising on how to do as much as I can…
The surgeon thought it would take 45-55 minutes and it took over 2 hours. The scar is 2x+ the size he thought (and I wanted) but said they had to open me up quite a bit to manipulate the bone back to a place with the ‘tightly wound musculature he had’ according to the post-surgery talk with Ashley. All in he said it was a great surgery (he is the chair of the department that cares for all the professional horse riders (think shoulder injuries) and recovery should be just fine. It’s a broken clavicle, not a femur or jaw…so again grateful for where I broke. I assume I’ll be in the sling for another 1-1.5 weeks (stitches came out Monday!) and strength will come back quickly as will joint flexibility with the shape I was in pre-surgery. I LOVE LEMONS!!!!!!
Friends
We are so surrounded by active friends here. There is a daily opportunity to do lunches and dinners, coffee and happy hours, events and parties, festivals, and outside activities. The people we have met here are amazing - and one couple that lived here when we moved recently came back. SHOUT OUT TO Scott and Laurie Dubin!!! They made solid on their ‘we will be back’ promise last year and came back to visit for a month or so. My father and Vickie met them when they were here last time, we have done dinners and parties, and I’ve played padel with ScottieD many times. They are just amazing magnetic people and I feel honored to have them as friends. The kind of people I 100% wish to be like when I am 50 or 55 (or however old they are!). Cody organized a big lunch for 16 of us and it was amazing - same great people and same great time.
This is just one example of how grateful I am to the community here and those around us. Our “Sarria Crew” is going to a big calcotata this last weekend, having my best friend Alex close and seeing him for lunches and coffee weekly, seeing all the coffees and lunches Ashley can do with her friends as well and the big lunches and wine-trips with our friends. I’m grateful I can work remotely when I wish with the flexible schedule I have.
I’ve reflected this past year on what is important and come up with the same things - relationships, time, health, and being able to afford a level of life you require (not by comparison). Happiness is not a function of what we have, it’s a function of what we have divided by what we want. If the ‘wants’ go up, the happiness number goes down. My recent injury re-emphasizes this.
Next up - the Semana Santa trip is to be truly one of a kind for Holy Week in Spain. I’m confident I’ll be 90% healed and back to lifting weights (lightly of course!) and Ashley will be getting ready for her NYC trip with girls to bike/walk/eat/shop! Kids will continue to grow, I’ll continue to reflect on life and what the future looks like….regardless, I’m excited.