one week later

I just realized I missed my 5 on the 27th (Abigail & I decided that was the limit we could successfully accomplish with regards to the 365 project)so I will catch up on that shortly.

the bandages are off, there do not appear to be any complications externally though the incision site has been a little warm since yesterday and I think I may have a low grade fever - ice ice baby. will keep an eye on it as the last thing that I need now is a suprainfection. el doctoro warned me that i may take a little longer than normal to heal and i need to exercise my patience.
i'm using a cane and can now take small but shuffling steps to get myself around. the knee still feels kind of smushy when i stand on 2 feet so I will take the expert's advice, "if it hurts stop". i also tried to do a couple of stairs - it felt like the knee was going to smuch sideways or collapse entirely and there were some new strange noises emitting from it - which kicked in my fear of falling down the stairs and wrecking my knee entire, so that will have to wait a bit yet - which sucks because the stircraziness is starting to set in.
enough of my whining, suffice to say that it continues to improve.

my belated 5:

Mr. Brown you were the best art teacher I ever had. You saw that I was bored and took the time to teach me all kinds of skills not included in the curriculum - from charcoal, pastels and pen and ink to silk screening and painting with water colours, oils and washes on an unending variety of textures. My creative urge thanks you 30 years later, I'm still adding to the pot.
Mrs.Orsted I can only hope that this generation has English teachers that engage students the way that you did. When someone was having trouble grasping what you were trying to get across, you simply found a different means to describe it. i remember the video productions from that year's novels (before computers) that you had us do as one of the best parts of my education.
Madamoiselle Brezdan you lit a fire under me that still drives me today to better understand other languages and cultures, and it was your influence that led me to enroll my children in French Immersion, which my grandchildren are currently also participating in.
to the nameless Mount Argosy skiing instructor who showed us the basics, put us on the tow rope and did not really explain hoe to GET THE HELL OFF. I ended up at the top of the advanced hill. who had never down hill skied before, and by sheer unadulterated luck and perhaps some assistance from the hundred little gods, managed to make it to the bottom going so fast that i got stuck in the snow wall at the bottom of the hill missing only one pole, 1 mitt and 2 of my nine lives. what the fuck were you thinking buddy?
Dr Ambrosi, you showed me that good science done accurately can overcome ingrained gender bias and teach both old dogs and young pups new tricks (though i still chuckle at the vision of you in your elmer fudd hat).

from the featherbed

as y'all know I had a wee bit of surgery done to my knee Tuesday afternoon, and today I get to have a shower ... if I can get my leg over the edge of the bathtub that is. thank all the hundred little gods for that because there are bits of residual stickiness from bandaids and monitor pads etc that are itching like crazy and never mind that my hair feels like I've been into grandpa's brylcream.

using a nice solid chair as a walker is a gazillion times more useful than crutches and I made it to the kitchen this am - slow but steady. since I haven't been able to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time I decided to forgo the pain meds in the middle of the night. on one hand, I woke up for a few minutes, made the decision and went back to sleep (I'm calling it 5 hours in a row) delightful! on the other hand, i was informed upon waking exactly how much it did hurt (more than I thought it would and yes I know I sound like a whiny baby) and could point to exactly where it hurt instead of just a general ache in the whole knee area. not as bad as I thought, but more than I am willing to put up with med free.

the stairs are definitely out for a while, and until then I am hermitized.

the hospital told me to call my surgeon's office to make a post-op appointment - I was too medstupid on Wed, Thurs there was no receptionist, and this morning when I called, the answering service notified me that the office is closed until Monday. figures. have to call again on monday.

happy bday to amanda, anna, dale and chris - as well as happy anniversary to the A&C. celebrate for me too!

the dreaded hospital

I have had several horrendous visits and in an attempt at optimism, keep hoping and glory be delilah - i was quite pleasantly surprised!
they called me to come in hours early, great home sooner. less than 10 minutes at registration.
with nurses cracking jokes and being kind and doctors who listened (and this was before the silly juice) and tickety boo the show is on the road ...
i woke up in recovery around 1 - I think. successfully found the calcium chunk that was floating - really teeny compared to the pain it has caused and scraped away the arthritis build up - should be waaaay better than the original;) and was discharged by about 2:30 or so - little hazy there.
i am comfortably ensconced in a nest of pillows, tired but eternally grateful for my dotter and my friends who look after me in spite of myself.
going to sleep now.
ciao

heh heh heh

'You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in
America are named Bush, Dick, and Colon."

Chris Rock, comedian2-28-07

all riiigghhtt nooooww ...

it's monday an' ise still singin'. mayn't be in tune, words mightn't be right, but it comes straight from the heart. thankee miss stacy.

I did manage to kill the flue virus thursday night though there was some question for a bit there if I would survive the cure ... deb is still laughing ...

do you remember/know a band called War? they wrote spilled wine, low ryder, and why can't we be friends along with a shwack of tunes i had forgotten were theirs. late 60s early 70s - hornsdrumsbass funkadelic getyourgrooveon shakeyourbooty can'tstopmenow music. the sound they have is the sound that djs seek using vinyl instead of instruments. i almost wasn't sure if i wanted to go to the concert - based on the destruction of some REALLY great memories after I went and saw April Wine a year and a half ago - kind of like open casket funerals - that last visual overshadows all the rest for sooo long.

HOWEVER - i had a damn fine time, and the larger part of a crowd that ran from twenty something to hmmmm - I'm guessing late 60s? caught the groove and was stompin' and clappin and snappin' and chair dancing for the entirety of the show(they had tables where the dance floor is supposed to be which really sucks). and there was simply no going home once the feet were in gear so it was off to the pub ...

all night long i was getting flashbacks of history that I hadn't thought about in forever. i remembered names for boyfriends from over 30 years ago whose faces were the only things i still remembered and along with it came how they made me feel - all spring chickeny. whole conversations sprang to life in my brain and i could follow those decisions i'd made and where it led me - so i could actually see where i had made the WRONG choices and distance let me see why. the whole thing was really funkin' cool.

when i was a child (4-12) i was HUGE on sunday morning church. mostly it was a sense of belonging that drew me - i usually went to whatever church my current set of friends went to (we moved cities/provinces every 2 years or so while i was growing up). denomination didn't really matter, i was great at memorization and most of the messages were the same. in fact i remember for a while when we lived in Fort Frances Ontario, i was in the United Church choir and the CGITs (Christian Girls In Training- kind of like girl guides) while at the same time i attended the RC church for 8 oclock mass with my friends the Forans, and myself and a few friends (Grade5&6) created a free/modern dance club on Saturday mornings in the small basement hall at the Baptist church. (i was baptized presbyterian) .... getting lost here....

focus: sunday i went to church with Miss Stacy. and i rediscovered that sense of community that i usually only access when i'm with the crew, in a place where joy and release are the goal and music is the path. i was given confirmation that so many of the things that i have set aside remain set aside. i have not picked them back up and that is a huge goal attained for me. and it was FUN and JOY filled, and i am quite looking forward to next week. now i will have to work on the few stubborn ones that i just don't seem to really want to give up... by the hundred little gods we people are stupid! let it go girl!

so here it is monday - and like James Brown says - I feel goood!!!!

finally back to work

you know i'm sick when the blog lays lost in the interwebs and the crackbook status line doesn't change, and i get behind in my scrabulous games.

semi human today - part rock, part wookie

ttyl

day 2 of the newest year

the crew all chipped in and had a New Year, Darrell's bday, Dana's bday and tossed in KevinH's bday for good measure new year's eve. hosted at D&J's, they invited us all in and Jillie even lifted the "don't smoke in the house ban" on account of the cold. the hot tub was a wash but the guitar hero competition in the basement raised both the floor and the roof ;)

plenty of tasty bits and horse durvers - snacks and salads - great company and fun with the family we got to choose. like any other family we have our own dysfunctional members (most of us) and we look after each other when there is a difficulty. there were about 30 of us before the kidlet count and there were over a dozen MIAs!(and sorely missed they were)

man - it was LOUD! and the basement was even louder (like a wedding at the farm) ... heh heh heh - must be gettin' old. the birthday songs were sung, if slightly off key (like many of our jokes) and WTF? - we couldn't find a count down on the TV at midnight. so we improvised as usual and did it twice, with extra midnight kisses all around. when I left around 3am, a few people had roused from their little power naps, the upstairs crew were chillin, the kitchen was like a campfire chat and the basement was still rockin' out.

up early round 8 or so and got the laundry done, started on making arrangements for when i go in for the knee fix, put away my presents THANKEE THANKEE & made the traditional new years day calls. waited for my ride to show up at noon to go to Earl's for margarita's - but no go, must have been catching up and I was not going to be the one to wake her. decided to start the new year with a clean house and washed some floors, cleaned my room, & took the tree half down (you need to realize that it takes 2 people over 3 hours just to hang the decorations never mind the garland and the lights) which i will attempt to finish tonight.

went to be early but could not get to sleep so i read until some ungodly hour of the morning... and now it's off to the first day of work in this new year (1 more and I get an extra week of paid vacation) and i cleared most of my desk before I left on Monday. yay me!

the best of years to everyone in 2008!