Here is a quick and excellent explanantion of the newly expanded Homebuyer Tax Credit that now applies to Exisiting Homeowners in addition to 1st-timers.

My wardrobe has a stylish new addition…the lovely robotic-looking boot you see at left (insert your best Transformers, Lego, or skiing joke here.) Yes, I’m injured; I was walking my dog on Saturday when I fell into a booby trap. Well, OK, it was a hole–but a deep, grass-covered, perfectly foot-sized hole! I heard (and felt) two pops, and then I was on the ground, fully expecting a broken ankle. However, after dusting myself off, I realized that the damage wasn’t as bad as I’d initially thought, and I misguidedly tried to “walk it off”–that is, until a misstep onto the outside of my foot induced nausea.

I practiced the RICE method over the weekend (for you non-athletes, that’s Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) and on Monday I saw the very nice, super-professional, accommodating folks at Texas Orthopedics (who, by the way, got me in within about 4 hours’ notice and out in 40 minutes, almost none of which was spent waiting alone in a diagnostic room) and was diagnosed with an inversion sprain and subsequently fitted with the aforementioned robo-boot.

As my husband can heartily attest, I am a terrible patient. In fact, you might call me an impatient, because I’m sick of this boot already. However, this being the season of giving thanks, I’m trying to keep my mind on the positive, and I figured what better way to do that than publicly? So here goes…my list of “boot benefits.”

It’s a conversation starter. Everyone, from neighbors to agents in our office, to the cashier at HEB who always rings me up, wants to know what happened. Although initially this was a little disconcerting, I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to meet and greet a whole bunch of people I didn’t know, or didn’t know well, with the boot as conversational fodder. Who knew that an injury would make me so approachable?

It’s a good deterrent to holiday indulgence. As you may know from my previous posts, I love the outdoors, and hiking is one of my favorite ways to exercise. This boot will prevent that for 3 weeks, and I have to be careful on the ankle for an additional couple of months, so that doesn’t bode well for strenuous hikes this winter. Therefore, I can’t justify that extra slice of pecan pie or spoonful of mashed potatoes (or tankard of eggnog, for that matter!) by saying I will exercise harder later. Darn it! But also, way to avoid the seemingly inevitable holiday scale creep.

The sympathy factor. Chivalry abounds, it seems…being the independent woman of the 21st century that I clearly am, I certainly don’t expect special treatment from the opposite sex. Except, of course, when I’m injured and therefore at a distinct disadvantage. Want to open that door for me? Thank you kindly.

And the whole less fortunate thing… Speaking of holidays, it’s a great time to remember, injured or not, that I’m very lucky to have a job with a great company, and insurance to help with the costs of the robo-boot. So what if I have to clump around for a few weeks, dogged at the heels, literally, by the rasp of Velcro? Really, who am I to complain? Except about the unfashionable ensembles I may have to sport in the weeks to come…I reserve the right to be a baby about that.