Week 29 - Released and Discharged

What a great week! So many good things in one week.

I had scheduled 2 PTs instead in 3 so was going Tuesday and Thursday, which are super slow days in their office. I also had my 8 week zoom check in with my knee doctor on Wednesday afternoon. I met with the PA and since everything was all good, they released me. I hope I never need to see them again. Wish me luck. And with the doctor pleased with my PT progress, I was discharged from PT on Thursday. Yay! I was officially done with my knee. It's still a bit swollen, which could last for months, and not 100% straight but that will come. I'm thrilled with my new knee.

Another happy thing was my internet. I'd been having trouble zooming with my slow DSL so I'd called Windstream during the week for help. They did some stuff over my line and got me a bit more speed but said I could upgrade to high speed for no additional cost. The tech was scheduled between 1:00 and 3:00 on Friday but came before lunch to start and was finished up in no time after lunch. And the good thing was I didn't have to take vacation time because my internet was down for only about 5 minutes. They more than quadrupled my speed and the test zoom I did with Cindy after he left worked great. Yay!

Saturday was a Christmas in July potluck for my spinning group. I brought Italian pasta salad and a sheep picture for the gift exchange. We met in a park and the weather totally cooperated - cool and the rain held off. Afterwards Nan invited Andrea and me to see her garden, which was lovely. After a stop at Goodwill and Aldi, we headed home. I had hoped to have tortilla chips with the Mexican layered dip I'd bought and a beer for supper but the back seam of my chip bag wasn't sealed and they were stale. Oh well. That was the worst thing that happened all week so a great week, right?

I can't recall anything happening on Sunday, which means I watched more Game of Thrones and knitted between doing minimal chores because I'd cleaned the back of the house Thursday night in preparation for the Windstream guy coming in. Game of Thrones is 73 episodes and I was already on Season 5 so had become the poster child for binge watching. I did manage to finish the pair of socks I'd struggled with early in the month and my sister's birthday socks, which she'd picked out the yarn for when she was here after my surgery. Aren't they pretty? The green socks (my sister's) are in the mandavilla that I scored at the local farm store because its pot was cracked. I repotted it and it was blooming within days. Just another happy thing in a great week. I hope you had a good one too.

Week 28 - Return of Energy

Gotta love a week that starts with a Monday holiday. And to top that off, I was finally feeling like I had my old energy back.

I started Monday morning going through all of the clothes in my house - 2 closets, 3 dressers and 4 totes. It took hours and hours but I had a big pile for Carolyn, a huge pile to donate and my closets were no longer stuffed full of clothes that didn't fit. I had those all put away in totes (I hope to lose weight again and have an entire wardrobe ready if I do) and I had a laundry basket of shirts to try on over the course of the week. I even found a random basket of clothes in the craft room, which included the denim capris and blue shorts I'd been looking for. All good. 

Rather than struggle to fit 3 PTs into 4 days, I had scheduled PT for Monday afternoon. The library was closed so there was no knitting but I needed a rest anyway after working all day. I made a big to do list of little things I could get done before work, during lunch and in the evenings. I felt like I'd turned a corner energy wise and had some to spare. And I did manage to accomplish most of those chores over the course of the week. Nice.

In addition to my usual cooking Tuesday night, I managed to go through the stacks of paper that have accumulated since my surgery. One thing I was looking for was my campus parking pass, which I'd called to cancel but needed to return. I did find it on my desk and so called Wednesday morning to arrange to return it. Well, I was not a happy camper when they told me I would be prorated for each day I had it, despite having called to cancel it and not having been on campus in months. Long story short, I arranged to drop it in the Bursar's drop box on Wednesday night before swimming because Parking had no drop box and mailing it would cost me $4 more per day for every day it took to get to them. I dropped it between PT and swimming on Wednesday night. Thursday I got an automated email saying I wouldn't be charged for July. I kept it and will see if I get any parking deduction in July's paycheck. Sheesh!

By the end of the week, I was in desperate need of milk, having used frozen skim milk in my coffee for 2 days, so I did a Fremont run with Andrea after PT on Friday. It was a pretty quick one - just Aldi, where I scored this adorable cat bed, and Goodwill - so we were home pretty early. I was ready for the weekend and had done most of my chores over the course of the week so the world was my oyster. It rained on Saturday so, you guessed it, more Game of Thrones and knitting. At least I got a few WIPs (works in progress) done. The weather was gorgeous on Sunday so I hung some laundry on the line and did some gardening, including some long overdue weeding in my veg beds, which was easy after the rain softened up the soil. I picked my first handful of wax beans too and they'll be more beans and zucchini soon. Life is good!

Week 27 - 4th of July

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the 4th of July? It's not the holiday. It's the fireworks. The amount of money spent on them is crazy and my neighborhood does their part to support the fireworks vendors so sleeping is iffy for the whole week before. Hate it! 

Otherwise it was a normal week with 3 PT sessions and swimming on Wednesday. 

I was watering my neighbor's containers while she was away and that was almost the only time I left the house most days. I did get my grab and go lunch and bought a 3 pound chub of frozen hamburger at The Warehouse afterwards, which meant I spent the end of the week cooking all things hamburger - taco salad meat for the freezer, meatballs and a taco pie that I ate for supper. I also made potato salad, which I'd been craving for awhile and Anne requested it. She was hosting a cookout on Sunday evening so I'd take some there. 

They came and got my PT bike on Friday. I had been using it 3 times/day (less on PT or swimming days) for 6 weeks and had actually enjoyed it. I had everything set up perfectly with a fan pointing at me, a cord to charge my kindle and a plain pair of socks to knit right next to me on the table. The minute I powered the bike up, Gansey would come running and sit on the chair next to the bike so I could pet her. All in all, it had been a good thing and I credit it with the fact that I hadn't gained any weight after surgery. Now to figure something to replace it.

Saturday was the start of a 3 day weekend (always nice) but I was antsy that morning and couldn't settle on what to do. Part of the problem was that I was hating the pattern of the socks I'd cast on on the 1st for my monthly challenge. After a discontented morning, I dug through some patterns and found the perfect one for the yarn I was using (some I'd dyed myself ages ago) and sat down to rip back to the cuff. Since I had a bit of knitting ahead of me, I decided to give Game of Thrones a try. And that was the end of my productivity. I was completely sucked in by the 3rd episode and pretty much did nothing else for the rest of the weekend until I left for Anne's Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday, I tore myself away from the TV and my fabulous new socks long enough to make a batch of my Mexican cottage cheese dip to take to Anne's along with the potato salad. I drove down for 5:00 and finally got the grilled hot dog I'd been craving since Memorial Day. Rene and I enjoyed some Vanilla Bean Blonde (my fave beer that I'd also brought) and dinner on Anne's deck. 

While I was dismayed at the amount of fireworks in my neighborhood, Anne's was like a war zone! There were times we couldn't hear each other across the table. I figured it would only get worse as darkness fell so I left just after 9:00, which meant I was getting home just as city fireworks displays were starting up so I watched some as I drove north on Highway 77. That was enough for me. I went home to more Game of Thrones since fireworks were legal until midnight. I'd be tired on Monday but it was the holiday so I'd cope. And I have 51 weeks to go before fireworks start up again. Nice.

Week 26 - Wahoo Turns 150

Actually, it was 150+1 because the 150th anniversary celebration was postponed last year due to covid. That was absolutely the highlight of this week. Plus one more.

As usual, PT was Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I'd been stuck with my bend for a couple of weeks. On Wednesday, Kyle was working on me and I told him I wasn't happy with my bend. He had me do a completely different move to increase my bend and it worked! I got 10 more degrees that day and couldn't have been happier. Then from there I drove to Lincoln and met Darla at Big Lots before swimming. It was a banner day.

The Wahoo fun started on Friday. I took a bit of vacation time before PT so was off work at 12:30. My first stop was the Hoot and Sadie's sale. They used to have a store front in Wahoo but closed during than pandemic and now were only doing pop up sales and had one this weekend for the Wahoo 150 celebration. Then I hit the senior center thrift shop and found all kinds of goodies before driving through BK for some late lunch. I had a bit of time at home before PT so got inspired to try solar dyeing some yarn with kool aid. I left it in the driveway when I left for PT, where I kept my degrees at so was super happy with my Friday afternoon.

Andrea and I were volunteering at the library's book sale on Saturday morning but first had a pancake breakfast at the senior center. It was bag sale day at the book sale so we didn't have much to do - just handed out bags and answered questions. I got lots of knitting done. We got relieved at noon so went downtown for the vendor fair and lunch from a food truck. It was misty and we felt bad that Denise was all alone at the book sale so we headed back there to eat and keep volunteering. I thought customers would die down after lunch but it was steady all afternoon and we stayed until it closed at 5:00. Most of the books were gone and clean up was on someone else so I was happy to just leave. That was the longest day I'd put in since surgery and I was exhausted.

Sunday was chores and getting ready for another work week but also recuperating from my long day Saturday, which meant knitting and streaming interspersed with chores and some cooking. It felt like I was getting back to normal in my 6th week post surgery. I'll take it!