Week 17 - Feeling More Normal

It was a much better week. My back was still sore but I had more energy and was not only able to work full-time but was able to do things besides work too. Yay!

Monday was a good day. I made pineapple upside down cake at lunch to take to knitting and then Lacey came that afternoon with gorgeous plants, chocolate galore and a nice card from everyone at work. I really do work with the best people. I had arranged a ride with Nan and it was just us and Heidi but it felt nice to be back at Monday Night Knitting.

I was back to normal at work and was getting caught up again, including rescheduling the training I'd cancelled and adding another for all the other waitlist people. Besides work, I was busy setting up errands and socializing. Lorri was getting me milk at CostCo and dropped it on Tuesday. Andrea picked up some meds at the pharmacy and brought my grab & go lunch on Wednesday, when she was at Mocha C's with Elizabeth for her weekly coffee date. I had the nerve to ask for Friday off as a vacation day because I was going to lose hours if I didn't take some. Ben said it was fine so I made arrangements for a day in Omaha with Helen. I also set up the next Friday afternoon (more vacation time) to go plant shopping in Lincoln with Lorri. Clearly feeling perkier. : )

Helen picked me up at 8:30 on Friday, which was a lovely rainy day. First stop was Vidlak's Cafe, which Helen hadn't been to before. They make the best chicken fried steak I've ever had so I had a hearty breakfast and then the tooling around began. Helen was worried that I'd want to get back home but after being cooped up so long, I was ready to go. We went to Imagiknit for yarn for Helen to make baby things for co-workers' upcoming babies and yes, I bought sock yarn but just one skein and a mini. From there we hit Michaels, Trader Joe's, Le Quartier for pastries then Aldi. Helen dropped me home at 3:00 so I made a cup of tea to enjoy with my pain au raisin and then unpacked all the groceries. It felt great to have my fridge stocked again. I was counting the hours until bedtime again though. My back is still sore so bed is still more comfortable than sitting. 

I got up Saturday and made a list. It was time to catch up on chores and some gardening too. It all waited while I spent the morning knitting and chatting with Carolyn and Connie. Then I went outside and did some light weeding and prepped one of my veg beds for early veggies. I pulled hoses out of the garage and got one set up in the front but I coudn't find my splitter so the back would wait.

Cindy had said she would come up on Sunday and called to say she'd bring late lunch. I made 2 pies - lemon sponge for Cindy and strawberry/rhubarb for knitting - and finished up my chores before she came. She brought quiche Lorraine from Le Quartier and another pain au raisin. After lunch and chatting, she helped me hook up the 2nd hose and unloaded catfood and birdseed before leaving. I had hoped to plant my early veg in my newly prepped bed but with 40 mph wind, it was miserable to be outside so I happily puttered the rest of the afternoon away and enjoyed Sunday night PBS - a nice end to the week. Always.

My back is still sore and I'm taking 800mg doses of ibuprofen to keep that at bay but hope to start taking less next week. I've made my peace with the brace and am hoping it won't bug me when the weather warms up. The not driving is getting old but I'm coping. It's all good. I hope you're all enjoying spring weather like has finally arrived in Nebraska. 3.5 weeks to go until my unmasking. : )

Week 16 - Tweaked a Muscle

It was my first full week of dealing with my back and the neck brace and I was ready to go. Getting back to normal wasn't as easy as I'd hoped.

Monday was Foundation reports day so I focused on those and had them done by 1:30, when I stopped work for the day, spending the rest of the day in bed listening to an audio book. No one offered me a ride to knitting but I wasn't up to it anyway. I had a training class scheduled at 1:30 Tuesday and was hopeful that an early night would set me up for working longer on Tuesday so I could teach.

My plan was to take a shower at lunch and to let my hair dry while I was eating without my brace and then teach at 1:30 then be done for the day. I had a full class and had even let extra people in from the waiting list. I got into the shower at noon but when I reached for the shampoo, I pulled a muscle in my back right at the problem area. The pain took my breath away. I called Cindy to cancel the class, got back into my nightie and spent the afternoon on my back on a heating pad. I did NOT need this. Denise from the library, who had offered help, picked up some lydocaine cream for me at the pharmacy and I started slathering that on that evening. It was a long day.

I was able to sit up some on Wednesday so listened to a zoom tranining session in the morning and then took the afternoon off for more heating pad time. I was antsy as all get out and couldn't seem to focus on anthing - not knitting, not streaming, not reading. Finally in the evening, I cast on a complicated pair of socks and having that to focus allowed me to settle down. 

After a good night's sleep, I was feeling much better on Thursday. Rene was on her way to the airport in Omaha so offered to bring lunch and picked up my favorite grab & go from Mocha C's. It was a nice visit and after doing grad allocations and a meeting that afternoon, I called it a day and put in a couple of hours of sick leave. It was a rainy day, which feels like a treat after so long in drought and wonder of wonder, all my scabs came off by the end of the day. That meant no more vaseline and bandages under my brace. I call that a good day.

I had hoped to work all day on Friday but after finishing the final Foundation reports, I called my week done at 3:30. I hadn't made it a single full day of work but 6.5 hours by the end of the week wasn't bad. I needed the energy because I had big plans for Saturday.

Anne was coming up to take me out of the house to run errands. I had only been out to the spine doctor's since the fall so was looking forward to a dose of normal. I was up in the wee hours but fell back asleep and the cats didn't wake me up until 8:22! Anne was there not long after and we started our run at the farm store for birdseed then hit lots of the shops in downtown Wahoo - the bakery, Warehouse Surplus and a couple of others before driving thru BK for lunch. Anne filled up my birdseed buckets and emptied my compost, neither of which I could do with my lifting ban. It was great to hang out but when she left, the afternoon dragged. I couldn't wait for it to be bedtime and went to bed early.

I woke up at 4:11 a.m. on Sunday and with no luck falling back asleep, got up before 5:00. Payback for my early bedtime. It ended up being another busy day with chores and then the 100th anniversary party at the library that afternoon. As soon as Lorri dropped me home, Tim called and wanted to come over to see what yard work I wanted done and while we were walking around, his son did the first mow and edged the driveway and sidewalk. I then spent time reconfiguring my laptop and screen setup on my desk because without being able to bend my neck, I needed the screens to be lower and the laptop was in the way. I ended up with my laptop opened flat and standing straight up between a stack of cookbooks and a brick so the camera is above the lowered screens. It works.

Talk about a full weekend after a week of part-time work. Clearly I was feeling better and planned to work full-time next week. I even cooked for the first time, having been eating out of my freezer for the past week. It was only some doctored rice but it felt good to cook and eat something different. The spring weather was cooperating too and I had flowers in bloom all over the yard, including these mini daffodils that were only 3" tall. 

So I think I'm on the mend, at last! Still only pain in my back where I landed but I'm wearing the brace like a good doobie. 4.5 weeks to go. I can do it!

Week 15 - So This Happened

The week started off great and that's a good thing because it all went to hell on Tuesday night. But first the good stuff.

Lori called on Monday to say she'd be in Wahoo on Tuesday and asked if I wanted to do lunch of my deck. Of course! That was just the push I needed to get some cleaning done so I did some at lunch, after work and again before bed. I went to bed feeling good about my house being picked up and cleaner. The weather was perfect so the knitters sat outside at the library and it was glorious. Lunch with Lori (Chinese food, as usual) was also lovely. It's always good to see her.

My first ever library board meeting was at 7:00 on Tuesday night. I wouldn't be an official member until June but there was a professional development program they wanted me to go to. I was on my way out the door to go, got distracted by the first fly of the season on my door and in looking up at it, I somehow lost my footing and fell down the basement stairs backwards. It happened so fast! I landed on my back at the bottom and had hit my head hard enough that I had double vision. Luckily I was able to get myself up the stairs but immediately called the library to say I wasn't coming and then called Andrea to ask her to take me to the ER. She was at my house in minutes and off we went to Saunders Medical Center.

I was most concerned with my head, which hurt all across the top. The double vision had only lasted a few minutes but I didn't want to be like Miranda Richardson or Bob Saget - dying in my sleep after hitting my head. They did a CAT scan and proclaimed my head fine but the x-rays showed a spot on my T1 vertebrae. After consulting with a spine specialist, they put me in a neck brace and sent me home, telling me to wear the brace 24/7 and encouraging me to take some of the pain pills left from my knee replacement. Good thing I had those because they have no way to give out drugs from the ER after hours. Small town living. They were great though.

I slept badly that night, alternating between the recliner and my bed. The drugs helped but the brace was awful with very little padding and a big plastic and metal nut right at the thin skin under my chin. It chewed a hole in my neck and gave me a big blister, which popped, so my neck was a bloody mess (the pic is the bad brace and you can see the first bandaid). I was also barely able to open my mouth so was living on yogurt. Not fun. I did absolutely nothing until Friday morning when Helen took me to the spine doctor (the same one who consulted when I was in the ER, who is yet another doctor in Nebraska Ortho where my knee, shoulder and hand docs practice). They did more x-rays, gave me an upgraded brace, telling me I had to wear it for 6 more weeks but could take it off to shower, eat and happily, sleep as long as I wasn't an "active sleeper." I took Helen to my favorite breakfast place - Cook's Cafe - and when I got home, I was in the shower before Helen even drove away. I hadn't showered since Monday so it felt wonderful to feel clean.

The doing nothing continued and I took 2 naps (I never nap!) on Saturday, mostly because I wanted to be in bed with the brace off. While that was lovely, I couldn't fall asleep that night and so stayed up all day Sunday but was antsy all day. Not even knitting and streaming was keeping my interest. I finally cast on a pair of complicated socks that I had to pay attention to and that worked. PBS Sunday helped too.

Did I mention that I can't drive for the 6 weeks I'm in the brace? You know how I struggle to ask for help but clearly I was going to have to rely on friends and family for awhile now. Bummer but everyone has offered so I'll have to spread the help around as best I can.

I know I was SO LUCKY. I could have been dead or paralized so am grateful it wasn't worse. I'll survive, clearly, and will have the brace off right before Memorial Day so shouldn't be too behind on my garden. Send healing vibes my way please.

Week 14 - Ignoring Dog Attack

Well, it was a good week with finally some spring weather and that's what I'm focusing on. Friday night was an abberation.

It was a busy week at work with monthly reports on Monday and training on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. We had a welcome back breakfast on Wednesday and even having to go in a second day, which was Friday for me, wasn't too bad. There were only 4 of us in the office but I had a nice lunch with Darla (spring rolls at Pho Factory) and we got out early for Good Friday. Nice.

The weather finally cooperated and we had sunshine and spring temps. I couldn't stay inside so found myself raking a veg bed at lunch on Tuesday and going out just to do one bed after work on Thursday only to find myself outside long enough to rake out 3 beds, coming inside for supper and the first Backyard Farmer. 

My evenings were full too. I had knitting on Monday, of course, a Ripples zoom Tuesday night, grocery shopping after work on Wednesday and then yard work on Thursday. Then there was Friday.

I had made plans with Anne for pizza after work on Friday but when we got out of work early, I called to say I had a couple of errands to run but would be there early. We'd have to order the pizza later and go out for it, which worked because I wanted to hit the pop up garden center for panseys and Aldi for more of the yummy shrimp and scallops in champagne cream sauce. When I got to her house, I opened the door and said "I'm here" and stepped into kitchen. Now she had warned me that she was dog sitting for her sister's dog but I didn't think anything of it. Until the dog attacked me. 

I was pinned between the door and the counter and he was vicious. If I hadn't been wearing jeans, he would have hit bone when he bit my knee but the pants protected me. Anne dragged him off and I went into the bathroom. I could see teeth marks and the bruising was already starting but no broken skin. At least there was that. I tried to sit and knit to calm down but when I reached down to adjust my sock, the dog went nuts in his cage. I was outa there. I did stop at Aldi then went home for beer and snack supper. That dog needs to be put down!

My knee was no worse in the morning and only sore if I touched it so I put it aside and had a lovely weekend. The weather was gorgeous and I just kept going outside. My goal for the entire weekend was to finish raking my beds but after going out 3 times on Saturday, I was done with the beds and had made a run to the city burn pile. My intention was to stay inside on Sunday and do chores but I found myself outside clearing the brush pile by the garage where I'd had the trees taken out. After another run to the burn pile, I finally went inside for a cup of tea and made some comfort food for supper. That's a perfect Easter in my book - working outside communing with nature.

So setting the dog attack aside, it was a wonderful week. It felt great to be working outside and have made big progress early. I have high hopes for my gardens this year with the trees that shaded my veg beds too much gone. I have seeds popping up in my DQ sundae container greenhouses and my overwintered geraniums are happily blooming. Life is good! Happy spring.

Week 13 - Has Spring Sprung?

The week started with what has been the norm lately - chilly and gloomy - but then the roller coaster began. The weekend finally brought some spring weather and I went immediately into garden mode. 

The work week was uneventful and was our last week of only working one day on campus. As usual, I crammed Wednesday full with lunch with Dodie and a movie after work with Cindy - The Quiet Girl at The Ross. Go see it if you can but it'll be fine to stream when it's available. It was a quiet, beautiful movie and I was crying at the end.

Thursday, which had a freaky high temp of 78 after starting out chilly, was pretty full too. I got my grab and go for lunch and listened to a lecture on why young people are opting out of religion mid-afternoon. After work was book club and then Helen, who has recently joined book club, and I went to DQ for ice cream and chatting. 

Friday started warm but a front came through at 9:30 and the temp dropped 30 degrees in minutes. Gansey found one of my socks and chewed a big hole it in (not easily fixable) and after a frustrating bit of work, I headed to the Senior Center Thrift Shop at lunch to decompress and picked up BK for lunch. The afternoon was spent doing an online training class for a project I have zero interest in at work. It's 8 hours learning something I hope to never use but I couldn't get out of it. I did it at 1.25 or 1.5 speed so got through more than half of it and will finish next Friday. At least the time flew by and I was enjoying a Guinness and chatting with Connie right after work. The weekend had begun!

I had no plans for the weekend and the weather was better than expected on Saturday so I went outside after a nice morning of knitting and chatting while I drank my coffee. With it being the first warm day (hopefully of many), it was too soon to start clearing beds so I raked the entire lawn, front and back, filling my winter compost heap with all the grass/leaves. I then raked out back by my neighbor's chain link fence and using some of the cement scalloped edges the were moved when they had to drive the tree crane truck over my old berry bed to make a bed along a section of the fence and planted peas, covered with branches to keep the cats out. Yay - veggie gardening has begun!

It was a perfect day on Sunday - 74 and not too windy. I was sore from Saturday's efforts but raked the 2 beds that have southern exposure so are warmer - the parking (the strip between the sidewalk and street) and on the south side of my deck. Then I pruned my roses, which left me bleeding but it felt good to drop those thorny branches at the city burn pile. I was done so made a cup of tea and called my sister for her birthday and then talked to Deanne. PBS all night was a welcome rest.

It looks like this spring weather may be here to stay. We still have frosts but no 40 degree highs in the long range forecast. I hope to do a bit of raking each day and finish clearing the beds by next weekend. As usual, I'll spend Easter communing with nature. Happy spring!