Dear Brent,
I know you will be happy to see that I fulfilled your prophecy as I read a romance novel. That's right, now you can say all I read is romance novels. One in fourteen. But hey, I wouldn't want you to let facts get in the way!
Your lovely wife,
Donna
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
8 Months Out
Well, I had my 8 month appointment with the surgeon today. As Dr. Meade put it, "I'm happier with your knees than you are." True. He believes the right knee is getting 120 degrees flexion and the left is between 110-115. He says that my range of motion will continue to improve up to 2 years from the surgery. He expects the stiffness to disappear between 12-15 months. There's not any fluid in them and the heat has disappeared indicating that the inflamation is gone. The pain I experience on the outside of the left knee is where the fibula meets the tibia and the ligaments that attach there. Patience is warranted the whole way around I guess. Patience that that spot will loosen up. Patience that I'll get more range of motion. Patience that with that flexion I'll be able to actually go down a flight of stairs with some grace. Patience that I can lower my bike seat 2 more inches to the right spot. I'm off now to take a patience pill. Oh if only it were that simple.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wanna Talk About I
One step forward and three steps backward. Just when I think I'm making progress on this wellness journey, I have a major setback. Diverticulitis. WTH? If this crap continues just shoot me now and put me out of my misery.
On a lighter note, I decided to focus some attention to skin care. What I've discovered is that good skin care products are crazy expensive. $72 for eye cream? $40 for cleanser? Yeah, I chose the $25 sample product option. Smooth as a baby's backside!
On a lighter note, I decided to focus some attention to skin care. What I've discovered is that good skin care products are crazy expensive. $72 for eye cream? $40 for cleanser? Yeah, I chose the $25 sample product option. Smooth as a baby's backside!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Musical Recital
Twice a year Mrs. Green hosts recitals with all her little students as the stars. This was the first time that Miss G. actually would announce her pieces to the audience. She's really coming along and sh's been making great progress. As someone who can't read music or play an instrument, I'm always impressed by those who can.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Mountain Explorers
I may have mentioned in a past post that one of Gwen's Christmas presents was a month in Roundtop's Mountain Explorer program. She went four Saturday's in January from 10-3:30. She was with the same kids and had the same instructor each week, so all the kids were at the same level. Gwen is in the 2-tone purple ski jacket in the front.
We can't say enough good things about this program. While some people may pooh-pooh our local ski mountain (or large hill!), this program is superb. The instructors are great with kids, really enjoy them, and are totally excited about skiing with them. I know I would never have the patience, but these people really love working with the kids.
At the end of each session, Gwen was revved up and so excied about her class and what she could do. They played games like follow the leader, Simon says, and had races. The learned skills by, as Gwen put it, "skiing sideways, backwards, and on one leg." I'm not sure about going backwards, but slip sliding sideways and skiing one one leg are fun things that teach you to keep your skis flat and teach you to make correct turns. As you can see from this video, Gwen not only learned her lessons well, but she had a total blast doing it.
We can't say enough good things about this program. While some people may pooh-pooh our local ski mountain (or large hill!), this program is superb. The instructors are great with kids, really enjoy them, and are totally excited about skiing with them. I know I would never have the patience, but these people really love working with the kids.
At the end of each session, Gwen was revved up and so excied about her class and what she could do. They played games like follow the leader, Simon says, and had races. The learned skills by, as Gwen put it, "skiing sideways, backwards, and on one leg." I'm not sure about going backwards, but slip sliding sideways and skiing one one leg are fun things that teach you to keep your skis flat and teach you to make correct turns. As you can see from this video, Gwen not only learned her lessons well, but she had a total blast doing it.This ski experience was totally a Gwen and Grandpa bonding moment. Grandpa would pick Gwen up, deliver her to class and make sure that all was well. He would check in with Gwen on the mountain to snap some pics and would pick her up at the end of the day. Gwen found a new appreciation for her Grandpa and they found joy in each other. It doesn't get any better than this.
Tapas Time
Last Sunday as Kera, Gwen, and I browsed and ate our way through Costco, Kera came up with the brilliant idea to have a tapas party. I started to research vegan recipes, and oh my, everything I saw looked totally yummy. It turns out that tapas has morphed into a general term like sushi; it's more like the Middle Eastern version of dim sum. Lots of little appetizers with delicious ingredients like olives, artichokes, beans, potatoes, chick peas, vegetables, and cheeses. Great stuff to work with even if you're going vegan and leave out the proscuitto, chorizo, and seafood.
Did I mention that it all looked so good that I jus couldn't narrow down what I was going to make? I ended up with 9 or 10 recipes that really appealed to me. Add that to Kera's fantastic brazas potatoes, chick pea cutlets with mustard sauce (to die for), hummus, tabouli, assorted olives, cheese, and nuts, we had more than enough food.
Kera says we had too much food and I guess if I did it again, I wouldn't do the mushrooms cooked with garlic and white wine, the fried peppers with garlic, and the white bean with rosemary spread. I always make an appetizer with polenta, goat cheese, and roasted red peppers, and while I love it and it's delish, I think I wouldn't make it for the tapas party again simply because you have to make it at the last minute as people are walking in the door.
I thought the roasted artichokes and shallots were good, loved the spinach and chickpea salad, the grilled zucchini strips rolled with garlic, ricotta, sun dried tomatoes, and roasted red pepper and topped with a mojo cilantro sauce sitting atop a pita. Okay, they looked ugly but they were really tasty. Finally the empanadas with black beans and bananas sounded very strange but were really quite yummy. There was also a goat cheese with paprika cheese spread that was great. I would make all of those again.
Kera invited her friends, the Mehl's and we invited our neighbors to our little party. We fed 7 adults and 3 children, and truthfully could have fed another 10 people. Next time I post we'e having a tapas party, hop in there and just tell me you're coming because apparently we'll have enough food!
Did I mention that it all looked so good that I jus couldn't narrow down what I was going to make? I ended up with 9 or 10 recipes that really appealed to me. Add that to Kera's fantastic brazas potatoes, chick pea cutlets with mustard sauce (to die for), hummus, tabouli, assorted olives, cheese, and nuts, we had more than enough food.
Kera says we had too much food and I guess if I did it again, I wouldn't do the mushrooms cooked with garlic and white wine, the fried peppers with garlic, and the white bean with rosemary spread. I always make an appetizer with polenta, goat cheese, and roasted red peppers, and while I love it and it's delish, I think I wouldn't make it for the tapas party again simply because you have to make it at the last minute as people are walking in the door.
I thought the roasted artichokes and shallots were good, loved the spinach and chickpea salad, the grilled zucchini strips rolled with garlic, ricotta, sun dried tomatoes, and roasted red pepper and topped with a mojo cilantro sauce sitting atop a pita. Okay, they looked ugly but they were really tasty. Finally the empanadas with black beans and bananas sounded very strange but were really quite yummy. There was also a goat cheese with paprika cheese spread that was great. I would make all of those again.
Kera invited her friends, the Mehl's and we invited our neighbors to our little party. We fed 7 adults and 3 children, and truthfully could have fed another 10 people. Next time I post we'e having a tapas party, hop in there and just tell me you're coming because apparently we'll have enough food!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
I Want to Talk About Me....
If you're not familiar with One Little Word, you can read more about it on Ali Edwards' blog here http://aliedwards.com/. Ali Edwards is a scrapbooker/artist from Portland.
The idea behind one little word is that each January you chose one word for yourself - a word that you can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as you go about my daily life. It's like a lighter version of a New Year's Resolution.
I have chosen different words each year, and had limited success. But this year, I chose the word "me". Since the surgery last summer, I am finding a need to be not totally self-involved, but to do some things that are solely for me, for my benefit, things that make me happy or improve my life in some way. I hope that this doesn't make me totally selfish. I have always been all too willing to sacrifice myself for other people and their needs and I think it's time that I spend some time on my own self-improvement campaign.
Right now that means going to the gym at least three times during the week and trying to just do some stretching type things over the weekend. This means that we are not having very elaborate meals during the week - sorry Brent. Brent has been very understanding and helps in the preparation so we're not eating at 10 at night...only 8! This means that we don't do many other things after work in the evenings either except appointments such as hair cuts, chiropractor, etc.
I am doing this because I need to, certainly not because I'm enjoying it. I apologize that I am just not one of those people who get the big rush from exercising. No, I don't feel better after I do it. I am not energized. I am not happier. Quite frankly, it is just one more job, one more obligation. But, I need to do this for me.
The idea behind one little word is that each January you chose one word for yourself - a word that you can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as you go about my daily life. It's like a lighter version of a New Year's Resolution.
I have chosen different words each year, and had limited success. But this year, I chose the word "me". Since the surgery last summer, I am finding a need to be not totally self-involved, but to do some things that are solely for me, for my benefit, things that make me happy or improve my life in some way. I hope that this doesn't make me totally selfish. I have always been all too willing to sacrifice myself for other people and their needs and I think it's time that I spend some time on my own self-improvement campaign.
Right now that means going to the gym at least three times during the week and trying to just do some stretching type things over the weekend. This means that we are not having very elaborate meals during the week - sorry Brent. Brent has been very understanding and helps in the preparation so we're not eating at 10 at night...only 8! This means that we don't do many other things after work in the evenings either except appointments such as hair cuts, chiropractor, etc.
I am doing this because I need to, certainly not because I'm enjoying it. I apologize that I am just not one of those people who get the big rush from exercising. No, I don't feel better after I do it. I am not energized. I am not happier. Quite frankly, it is just one more job, one more obligation. But, I need to do this for me.
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