Stamina

Seems I am getting better. I can at least have my foot down for longer periods of time without it swelling up. Took the ace bandage off last night (just to have a look). My this cast really is soft. Only hard part is on the sole of my foot and up the leg. The whole top of the foot is just covered with cotton. My, my. Put the bandage back on a bit more snugly than it was before and had to readjust this morning, much to Jerry's dismay.
Get the soft cast off on Wednesday and the fiberglass one put on. Sure hope it has a walking foot (or the promise of one in the near future). I'm getting sick of laying about on the couch.
On a brighter note, my yoga guru came over yesterday and gave me a "touch for healing" seated massage. It felt sooooo good. She is the greatest.
Aaron, I don't have one.

catching on

Looking back at previous posts, I found I had no one commenting. Bummer. Then I looked at the Moderate Comments tab and found lots of people had commented. Yipee. Looked around in settings and turned that switch off that made me look somewhere else for comments before they could be seen on my blog. If a bad one comes up, I'll just delete it. I think that is more effective. And I'll get to see who pays attention to me easier.

Booring

Day 8. I do not make a very good invalid. I see things around here that need to be done (dusting, bed made, plants to be watered etc.) and can't do them. I get up off the couch to go pee and them scoot back to the couch, exhausted. There is NOTHING on TV. If I try to listen to my ipod for very long it puts me to sleep.
The foot doesn't hurt, I just have no stamina but if I leave it lower than my heart, it starts to swell up - then it hurts. I would love to scoot into my sewing room, but fear I would have no energy to do much in there. Besides, where do I put my foot?
On a brighter note, I just finished listening to "Walk in My Shoes" by Alwin Evans. What a great read. It is about a refugee family from Afghanistan and their trials relocating in Australia. It should be on your short list of books to read this summer. I kept seeing our Burundi family in it. We have so much here and all these people want is a safe place to live and get on with their lives.

I'm getting better

Here you are. A picture of my toe with a metal rod sticking out of the end. It only hurts if I bump it or if I leave it lower than my heart for any length of time. The great toe is now on straight and is not overlapping the second toe like it was last week. I can hardly wait until July when I can see the fruits of Dr's labors

Five years

Anniversaries -- a time to reflect on the time spent with a friend/family member. And so it is with Jerry & myself. Five years ago we went on our first date. How many guys do you know that can recall your first date? For that matter, what did you do on your first date with you present spouse?
Five years ago we went to the Outback Steak House. This has become "our" place. He had steak, I had salmon. So, tonight we followed tradition and he had steak and I had salmon. I dressed up five years ago. Tonight I was in jeans and a T shirt. I guess I should explain that our real first date is the 23rd of May and today is only the 22nd. But I have an evening class on the 23rd so we were going to celebrate on the 24th. Changed our minds at four o'clock today while we were babysitting.
Another tradition of this week is Jerry getting three bird of paradise for me. He brought me 3 bird of paradise five years ago on the 21st of May. So every year he orders the same -- "Tradition".
This guy is not one for surprising me with flowers or gifts. Is at a loss what to get me for birthday or Christmas. Doesn't make much of any other holiday but does like celebrate the anniversary of our first date. Even our wedding anniversary doesn't' get much attention. That's fine with me. I love it that he wants to celebrate May 23rd as the beginning of the rest of our lives.
He says these have been the best five years of his life. I will have to agree that these last five years have been great. Our arguments have been few (we counted up three), our understanding of eachother has been enourmous. Our love for eachother is growing stronger with each passing day.
Five down, pleanty more to go.

Bloomsday

Sunday was Spokane's big race. It is the largest timed race (in the world). There were 47,000 racers and tons of people manning the water stations. Five of the Scarlett O'Hatties doned red boa covered hats (Chicken Hats) and passed out water (one of our ladies left before this picture was taken). We arrived at the watering station (at mile 4) at 7 in the morning filled water cups, danced in the street, started passing out water at 9 ish and contunued through the noon hour. By 12:30 most of the strollers had passed so we cleaned up the street, picked up our tee shirts (our gift from the Bloomsday association) and hobbled home on very tired legs and feet. I even got a sunburn on my right under forearm from holding it outstreached with a cup of water on it.
Sue didn't rest. She went home and worked more hours in her new yard planting, hoeing digging, cultivating etc. I went home and tried to crash but was too achy. I made up for it today.

Women Speak Sunday

The women of the United Methodist church long ago complained that their voice was never heard (what with men in the pulpit exclusively) and they were "given" the last Sunday in April to conduct the worship service. I, as the leader of our local women's group, was in charge of the service today. I must say that was a very tough task. For three months I fussed and fumed over which hymns to sing, which scriptures to read, who would read them and I had to either find a speaker or do it myself. I chose do do it myself (next year I will find someone). My speech was short but, I think, meaningful. And now I am exhausted. That adrenaline is wicked stuff. Jerry's daughter is here for Bloomsday and agreed to sing a solo for us. She is really great.
Tonight it is out for dinner to celebrate 1. Dave (Carrie's significant other) taking first place in his body building competition yesterday; 2. The successful end of Women Speek Sunday and 3. Spring finally arriving.

Polly

I have a great cat. This morning she caught her second bird. Mind you this is not a great feat for a normal, outside cat. But Polly is basically an inside cat. She goes outside only when I am with her - well, that's not really true. Since she has not demonstrated any interest or ability to jump higher than onto the sofa, I feel she can be trusted outside for short periods of time on her own.
Anyway, her first catch was when we lived upstairs and she had gone out on the deck for a bit of fresh air. Soon she came in with a little bird in her mouth. I made her release the bird, which promptly flew (much to the delight of the other two cats) helter skelter through my apartment. I finally cornered it and was able to release it unharmed into it's own environment. That was probably in the spring of 2000 making her about 20 months old. She was more agile then.
This morning - 8 years after the first catch - she came in with another little brown bird. And again I cornered it and released it outside. This time the poor little bird just sat in my hand like it was in shock. Took it a minute or two to wake up and fly off. What a cat.
More good news - Brian has purchased a Shipping World store in Sun City. This is his first day and he has quite a learning curve ahead of him but I am sure he will make a go of it. Now he is not in danger of getting laid off due to the whim of the boss.

Siding

The original shake shingles (circa 1973) on my condo, had been repainted and patched to the point that it was no longer cost effective to do it again. So we voted to have vinyl shake siding installed. They started this morning.
That is my unit on the bottom floor.


By the end of the day they had just finished in the front of one unit. Fronts of five upper units, the backs of the six upper units and the ends of the building to go.
Jerry allows that the cats should be quiet tonight as the noise has kept them awake all day. I just notice the dust.

Crazy weather day

All morning we had snow. As I was coming home from church there were great, large, fluffy flakes.




Still snowing as I went in to watch a play at 2 PM. Came out of the theatre with streets drying, puddles here and there, very little snow built up. What can you expect with 45 degrees?


March came in like a lamb and is really going out like a lion.

dinner

While living in Hawaii when the kids were little, our family socialized often with Ike & Dot. When funds were short, we would pool our pantries and potluck some pretty fantastic meals. One in particular was Corned Beef & cabbage that Dot would whip up with a moment's notice. I thought I could remember what she did so tried it tonight. Disaster. It was tasteless. So, if anyone out there has a tasty way of fixing this dish please let me know. Husband left the table and fixed himself a bowl of oatmeal. I feel so bad for him.
We must have had 3 inches of snow last night. With 40 degrees today it didn't last long. Spring where are you?

Turkey Friday

For the past several months (since November actually) we have been on the lookout for the turkeys that came foraging in our back yard. On a daily basis we are looking out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Nothing. A lady at the democratic caucus told me that her neighbor was feeding them through the winter, so we breathed a sigh but still watched and waited.
Today, as I was about to turn into our driveway, I spied what I thought might be a lone hen trying to cross the road some two blocks away. I did a quick straighten up and cautiously drove down Pettet drive. She of course, being skiddish around traffic, scooted back into the brush. I passed the area I thought I had seen her disappear at and turned back around. Sure enough, there she was. Sure made Jerry's day. We are glad to see the wild life has survived the harsh winter here and glad it is only a turkey and not a moose.

Touch is here

I'm having fun with my new touch. All the work I did to put my contacts and calendar on my PC so it could sync with my iPod Classic do not seem to be carried forward to the Touch. I'll have to read some more or ask the Geek who is coming tomorrow to assist Jerry with his new Mac. In the mean time all my songs and books are on my Touch. I have wiped the Classic clean and am loading one of Jerry's Bibles on as we speak. He is really trying to enter the 21st century.

Spring?

Must be getting close to spring. Saw our first Marmot out sunning itself yesterday.

Tomorrow Fed Ex should be delivering my new iPod Touch. I can hardly wait.

Busy week

As you can see from the previous post, it took me one week to finally post what happened last Sunday. This week has flown by. I remarked at my Monday evening meeting that I needed to go back to work just so I could have some down time. But I guess I needn't complain - the alternative to being busy is being sick or dead.

On Thursday the Minstrels (the small group of singers I'm in) went to a local nursing facility to sing for our director who is recovering from pace maker implant and diabetic regulation problems. He looked so frail. It broke my heart. He didn't have any energy and was wiping his eyes frequently. About half way through the concert we asked him if he had a song he wanted us to sing and he started calling them out, directing and singing with us. My tears were flowing steadily. Have you ever tried to hit a high F while crying? Can't be done. I was down for the rest of the day. Woke this morning feeling hung over. We all hope he can come back and lead the group but after seeing him yesterday I have my doubts.

Sydney is on a swim team. We went to see her meet tonight. She came in first in the backstroke event. She is the best on her team (that is not saying a lot) in her age group. I think she only joined the team because two of her friends were on the team. Hope she keeps up with swimming. She is quite a little competitor.

Three sisters

When was the last time all three of us were in the same place, all gussied up, with cameras available? Just so happened at Sara's wedding last Sunday.

The wedding was delightful. Small, family only. Just enough tradition to be very memorable. The bride was lovely and the groom was handsome. What more do you want?

Chiropractic exam

Having continuing problems with my back. I mostly attribute it to stress like sewing, or hunching over the computer. I try to be back healty by staying active, doing water aerobics and yoga. But I thought I'd give Chiropractics a try to see if the kinks in my upper back could be worked out.
The exam consisted of several spinal x-rays. The results were quite interesting. The best one being that the film of my neck showed the C3&4 and C5&6 are fused together. When/How that happened is a mystery. But there is nothing to do about that now since I have not lost any function in my hands.

Paula Poundstone

Went to see Paula Poundstone on Friday. She is one funny lady.

The event was held at the Fox theatre (now named The Martin Woldson Theater). This poor building was once the "best" theatre in town. It slowly went down hill and was divided into a multiplex. I never went there when it was in such a state. The owners were going to turn it into a parking lot until the money in town (with a lot of little people's money) purchased it, refurbished it and now it is the home of the Symphony. It is really lovely.

On the way in to town Paula saw a sign saying "Inland Northwest". She mused that we need to be reminded where we live. lots of laghs (Lol). She talked to a lady in the audience who is a union rep here in Spokane but has a secretary in Auburn, WA. See, we can't even unify in Washington state, how can we hope to unify the nation? Lol. Viagra - Lol. Kids - Lol. Memory - Lol. Just thinking about her routine yesterday got me grinning. What a wonderful gift she has.

Her book was being sold before the show, so I bought one. Proceeds from this sale go to the Spokane Library.


After her two hour stand up performance she came out into the lobby and signed my copy (as well as the copies of lots of other people). She was most gracious and bantered with the people as she was signing. All in all a very fun evening.

Caucus day

Went to the democratic caucus for my district today. Lest you fear I am becoming political, don't. Both Republican and Democratic caucuses were held today. Here in WA we spend $$$ sending out ballots to every registered voter. We all know that when you get a mail in ballot you mark it and send it back before the "Election Day", right? And those votes means something, right? Not in Washington.
If you marked Republican on your ballot, 50% of the delegates chosen today will be voting at the next level using the Feb 19th results. Today 50% of the delegates will be assigned by the caucus vote. (Hmm Seems to me that if I were a Republican, I could vote twice - once in the primary, once in the caucus.)
The Democrats on the other hand will choose all their delegates and assign the candidates today. The primary means nothing. My ballot is just going to get tossed after they see that I voted Democratis. That's why I went to the caucus today.
So why the ??? do we taxpayers need to spend all that money on a Primary? Because the legistature says it is more fair. What????
By the by. The 10 delegates from our precinct will be divided 4 for Hillary and 6 for Obama (Yeah).

My Wonderful Subaru

Last night, in order to avoid the slow down on 29th, I took a side street that would get me to SE Blvd. It was HORRID. But my little Subaru made it to the queue at SE Blvd. and we waited ...... The first car trying to get out needed two strong backs (not mine) to get going. Next up was a Suburban. He had trouble negotiating the slippery, rutty corner - fish tailed all over the place. Then a small Ford decided not even to try and turned around. It's passenger advised me of the conditions of the street and urged me to turn around also. I said, "Well, let's see how a Subaru handles it" and promptly "walked" my little car right up the incline and around the corner like there was no problem. Yeah! Subaru!!!
Then, we get down to the street in front of Office Depot. I see the light is red a half block away from the corner and start to apply the brakes. The street is a sheet of bumpy ice. The brakes do that clackity thing but slow the car to a stop right at the corner. I didn't even enter the intersection. What a car!.