Week 24 - Falls and Knees

I was looking forward to a fun week with lots of socialization, which is always good. Well, I got all that but with a bunch of other unexpected crap to add to the fun.  

By Tuesday, all was going as planned – I had a nice lunch at Noodles with Connie’s daughter Rachele, who was in town from New Jersey, and then headed to the pool, where I had a fun workout. The weather had finally turned towards summer so it was roasty toasty outside, which wasn’t all bad. Until I turned on the AC and it wasn’t cool. By the time I’d gone a few miles towards home, it was clearly dead so I drove home with all 4 windows wide open and when I got off the highway, I could hear a distinctly different sound coming from under the hood. Not good.

I was at Walker Tire in Wahoo when they opened Wednesday morning and although they don’t do AC repairs, they checked it out and told me it was likely the AC condenser (or was it compressor?) and was OK to drive (who wants to be stranded at the side of the road when it’s nearly 100 and humid?) so I headed home to call around to find someone who could look at it. Well, my only option was Superior Honda in Omaha! They’d fit me in but I had to get there right away so I grabbed my iPad and knitting and ran out the door, ready for some waiting and hopeful they could fix it same day. After streaming and knitting for awhile and test driving my next Honda (the HR-V), they told me they had to order parts. Did I mention it was already in the 90’s? I scheduled the repair for the following Wednesday and headed to Lincoln. I was in play clothes and would arrive hot after an hour of driving 80 on I-80 with all windows open. Oh well. At least it would only be half a vacation day.

I stopped in Gretna to make some phone calls on the way in and when I went to adjust my jeans (can we say hot butt?), I wrenched my knee because the service guys had put my seat further back and I wasn’t prepared for the extra 3”. And yes, it was my bad knee. By the time I got to Lincoln, the pulled muscle had caused my knee to seize up and I couldn’t walk. I pulled my cane out of the back of the car (it’s always there) and hobbled into work, spending the afternoon moving as little as possible. I called my ortho doc immediately and they couldn’t get me in for a shot until next week but put me on a list for cancellations. What more could I do? If they couldn’t get me in, my upcoming weekend in Sioux Falls with Connie wouldn’t be much fun. But then at 4:58, the phone rang with an appointment for the next day. Hallelujah! So I caned down the hallway to head home, stopping at the ladies’ (right next to the elevator) on the way. Well, in the time it took me to pee, whatever floating joint debris was causing the acute pain clearly moved and my knee was much better. But I was keeping that appointment. No doubt. My knee was still sore from the pulled muscle but much better.

I didn’t need the cane Thursday morning but took it with me to work just in case because I was still walking slowly. My plan was to just leave for the shot and go back to work. Right. I had completely forgotten how absolutely painful getting the shot is. Of course it is! They pump a huge amount of liquid into an already swollen joint and you leave with an enormous knee with a walnut sized egg on the top, which will be there until it all absorbs. So I called Nora from the car and headed home to sit until absorption was done. Nancy and I had cancelled our dinner and movie on Wednesday night so I called to see if she could  come for tea and she did. We sat and chatted for a couple of hours and it was lovely. Except for my huge knee that is.

I woke up Thursday feeling like I had a new knee. Love the cortisone shots! Now there was hope for the weekend, which was jam packed with fun, starting with World Wide Knit in Public Day at the library. The Monday Night Knitters were knitting from 9:30 – 11:30 at the library and I had a Friends of the Library meeting at 10:00. Guess where I’d rather be? Yup, in the lobby knitting. I got half an hour of knitting before and after the meeting (they actually had to come and drag me away from knitting) and then headed home for a quick lunch and the 3 hour drive to Sioux Falls to meet Connie, who was there for work. I had tried to rent a car but it was prohibitively expensive and since I’d been assured I would not be stranded at the side of the road, I was chancing it. The weather was cooperating and it was only going to be in the low 80’s for the high so I headed north.

My car made it there but I definitely crossed a line when I had to stop on the way for duct tape to tape down a piece of trim that was adding to the cacophony of noises my car was making. That took care of the extra noise from the back driver’s side but there was something beyond the different engine noise going on at the front too, which I think is the plastic shield under the radiator that I’ve had replaced twice at $300 a pop and was zip tied by Jiffy Lube last time I had an oil change. I think it might be time for the HR-V sooner rather than later. But I digress….

The plan was to stop at Athena Fibers, Sioux Falls’ only yarn shop, and after checking out their yarn, knit on their porch until Connie called to say she was done with her event. Well, they had such a good yarn selection that I was only cashing out when she called so I headed straight to the hotel. While the porch was inviting and there were some nice knitters there to chat with, Connie trumped that. After a big hug and dropping out stuff in the room, we headed out for some shopping because we’d both lost weight and needed clothes. We were on the homogeneous, suburban side of town so it was chain after chain restaurant and when we asked people where we could get good pasta, their only suggestion was Olive Garden. We ended up at an Olive Garden-esque place – Johnny something or other – for decent pasta then hit World Market. When we were done there, I insisted we had to see the falls. We found a sign for Falls Park and took a scenic, non-direct route to get there. It was worth it. They were very pretty and looked like a set from a movie – kinda fake but not. It was a gorgeous night with no bugs so it was a perfect end to the day. We vegged and chatted at the hotel before a good night’s sleep.

Connie’s on mountain time and wanted to sleep in so when I woke up at 6:45, I started steaming Orange is the New Black on Netflix and knitted by the light from the crack in the curtains for almost 2 hours before Connie woke up. We were just grabbing breakfast then heading our separate ways so I wanted something hardy to keep me full for the ride home. I asked where Cracker Barrel was and we didn’t have to wait. I ordered pancakes, eggs and bacon and what came was awful! The food had clearly been left on the grill too long so I struggled to cut through the bottom crust on the pancakes and the eggs were ¼” thick and not fluffy at all. I sent them back and since Connie was almost done eating, just had them bring me a couple of biscuits, which I put the bacon on. The coffee was horribly weak too. BAD MEAL. I had visions of stopping at Starbuck’s, maybe hitting Target and could have knitted at Athena Fibers starting at noon but you know me. I got in the car just after 11:00 and headed home, not stopping at all so walked into my house at 2:00. Nice. There was more rain in the afternoon forecast so after unpacking and starting laundry, I headed right out to mow, which was pretty darn hot to do in mid-afternoon 80’s and humid weather. I also changed the litter boxes, took the trash to the curb and showered before sitting down with a cup of tea at 3:30. I was done!

What a week! It all turned out fine but sheesh. Too much drama! But it feels like summer has finally arrived and I’m ready to continue the fun. Next fun up is Antiques Roadshow in Omaha with Dottie at the end of June then off to NYC then Rhode Island. All good, am I right? Have a good week.