Friday, August 29, 2008

Politics

Today, John McCain announced his running mate. In a bold move to show there can be change, he chose Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska. She is young, 44 and is the current governor of Alaska. She called herself a "hockey mom. I am a bit sciptical but will wait to pass judgement on her and her credential. She has 5 children, the latest of which has Down's Syndrome.

Uncooperative Weather

This past week has been a week of uncooperative weather. It rained the night after we started combining and has done so several times since; not a lot but enough to stop harvest.

Ardmore headed to Steinbach yesterday and picked up another fan for a bin, then he and the guys installed. In the afternoon, after much encouraging from the guys and I, he broke down and ordered an electric heater for one of the bins. It won't heat as well as propane but should help dry the grain a little faster without the risk of fire.

I went into to pt again yesterday. My therapist instructed me on using a stationary bike and the elliptical machine. My range of motion on the tkr knee is not functioning to the degree that I can pedal on a bike yet. They want me to go to the top of my range of motion without going around and then to reverse the process until I get to the top of my range of motion. the other direction. The elliptical machine went well. After pt I did my usual workout and added the elliptical to the mix. No one told me how long to work out on the machine though and I ended over working and had an awful muscle spasm in my right hip afterwards. I massaged the area and iced it when I got home and now I feel fine. I did call my therapist and she gave me instructions on how long to do on it. The bike I will do at home on my stationary bike.

Brian came in with me and went to the school to work out. Afterward, we did some shopping and headed to Badger. It is interesting to hear Brian's comments after he has lived in the city for so long. He couldn't help be comment on the size of the town. With a population of only about 1,000 it really is small.

We enjoyed a supper of grilled salmon, Mediterranean vegetables, and apple pie.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Odds and Ends

We are a busy home right now.

Before I picked up the guys, I did a little shopping in Winnipeg. They have an outlet store area on 90 and I went to the Liz Clayborn outlet. I saw several things that really caught my eye but were not available in my size. I did purchase a brown and green top though. I had planned on going to the bulk food store but q fire destroyed an area of the shopping center where Scoop and Save was located and it was not rebuilt there. I have no idea if it is around at all now. I will have to look for one on line now.

I love to go to the Greek Market on Corydon and so I bought several items so we could go to Assinabon Park for a picnic before we headed home. The food was delish and the guys were happy. We even went back for more to take home.

Yesterday they tried to combine the wheat. They took off about 600 bushels but stopped because it was too wet, about 18% moisture. Our aeration system does well with 16% but not higher. I would like to see us get heater that connects to the fan system and blowshot air into the bin to dry the graun. Ardmore is not ready for that yet, then again, I have a friend lost 5.000 bushels of when in a bin fire last year due to faulty heater. Was a very costly experience. One thing I hope is that the wheat is ripe enough in a few days that they can take it off before the guys head back to LA. I would love to see the wheat off.

Brian is here until the third and James goes back on the fifth. It is never long enough and I anguish over them leaving from the time they arrive.

Michelle and Dave are now in their new home. Their phone is now connected we haven't contacted each other yet. I think she starts school next week.

Thought for the Day
You already have every characteristic necessary for success if you recognize, claim, develop, and use them.
Zig Ziglar

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Fish Fly Hatch and Olympic Closing Ceremony

This evening I took my walk to the Roseau River bridge and back accompanied by thousands of Mayfly fish flies. Two young men were fishing when I got to the bridge and one commented that he had been fishing the night before and there were hardly any fish flies. I had walked almost to the bridge last night and didn't see any either. I think they are the White Wulff as they were totally white and so fragile looking. When they came too close to my face I would blow them away. They reminded me of little angels. James will be excited to see them.

They reminded me of our summer vacations when James and I would head west to see Brian and Michelle. We often would stop in Montana so he could fly fish. He had a couple of places he liked to fish at. One time we went to three different rivers, including the Yellowstone River so he could fish each one. Our favorite place was the Gallitin River along 191. He would fish and I would head up to Big Sky to do a little shopping. Our favorite snack was Focaccia bread with mozzarella cheese and grapes. Yum, I can taste it right now!

One time we headed up a mountain to a campsite called Snowbank. It is about 15 miles south of Livingston and was so high that there was snow. An elderly couple had been camp hosts every summer for several years. It was so beautiful with a small stream (Mill Steam) running through the camp ground. We have some wonderful memories of those times when we went to visit the family.

Today I stayed home from church because the check engine light came on in the Merc when I was about 3 miles from home. Ardmore always goes early as he is executive secretary and they have early morning meetings, so I have driving myself.

I had so much to do I don't think I could have gotten it all done. I had slacks to hem, a bed needed bedding washing, and some other odds and ends. I wouldn't have time to be ready for the commissioner meeting if I hadn't stayed home. Plus, I hadn't had time to exercise and really needed to do that also. I decided to try the stationary bike today. I was able to cycle which made me feel pretty decent. I haven't been able to do that in about two years. It wasn't pretty but it is a beginning. I am thinking about buying a 5 speed or having the 5 speed worked on. I loved to ride bike, perhaps I will be doing it again soon.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Olympics and Cleaning House

Today, being Saturday and knowing that our sons would be here on Monday, I decided it was necessary to clean the house. Now don't get me wrong, I clean often enough, I alternate between the upstairs and the downstairs. Last week I cleaned the downstairs and vacuumed the upstairs. this week I did both floors and changed bedding on all beds but mine. I plan to do mine tomorrow.

I wanted to clean the window in the upstairs spare bedroom but didn't think I could handle the wooden step ladder so went to town to purchase one of those two step ones with the larger top step, that worked perfect. Now if the guys will help me clean the outside windows when they are home, I will feel great. My outside windows don't get cleaned very often, we live in a split level and Ardmore is always too busy to bring the tractor so I can clean them. I'm going to hope the guys will help me when they are here.


Every once and a while today, I stopped to watch the Olympics. It was a thrill to see our two US men come in 9 and 10 in the marathon. that is such a grueling race, and to even finish is wonderful. My heart went out to a fellow from Ethiopia who was in third place in the Bird's Nest, he just couldn't run any more at the end and another partner from Ethiopia over came him and came in third. He can be proud to have come in fourth but he must be struggling with the loss. A Kenyan took first and bet the former record by almost three minutes. The women's and men's basketball teams and the US women 4/100 team took gold also. I watched the endings of several of the Olympic coverage games. The highlight of the day was seeing US Olympian Bryan Clay win the gold in the decathlon! That is the most grueling event of the Olympics. It is hard to believe that tomorrow will be the closing ceremonies, well it has probably already taken place.

I have had some tough times with my back in the recent weeks since I had my knee replaced. This am was very bad, but after I did some cleaning it managed to move into place and stop hurting. I wish I knew why it is doing this. I hope it will be ok after my knee has totally healed. My inner knee is also sore where it was sore prior to my tkr last month. I will have to ask some questions about that. I am wondering if I had spurs that should have been removed when he removed part of my knee and he wasn't aware of that. Sometimes, it is very painful.

Michelle and Dave moved into their new rental home this past week. I happened to call her house today and they were moving the last of their things. Leah will be in a very bare home with only a tv and a few other things. I hope her renters are good and take care of things for her, and pay when they are suppose to. She starts school in a couple of weeks now. This must be her last week at the credit union.What a change this is going to be in her life.

I am getting excited to see Brian and James. I hope they aren't expecting too much from me. I tire easily and know it is going to be hard to handle everything that needs to be done without some help from them.

I wish the wheat would ripen and they could harvest it. It is going to take a lot from me if I have to help with the harvest this fall also. The soybeans look marvelous although they are very green and don't look anywhere ready to turn. Ardmore started cutting the canola on Wednesday, then it rained an inch and 1/4 Thursday. He did go out and cut all day today. He had to change the reel on the swather as he couldn't cut the canola as it had lodged and was laying too close to the ground. He said it went very well today.

On Thursday, I received confirmation from the Minnesota Humanities Center that my application for the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit Between Fences was accepted. We will be displaying the exhibit in March through May of 2010. I am very excited to be able to host this exhibit. It is a perfect exhibit for a border county next to Canada. I feel very honored that we have been chosen two times now to host these exhibits.

On Tuesday we go before the county commissioners to request our allocation for 2009. It is always a nerve racking time for me. I am pleased I will be able to tell them about Between Fences.

Thought for the Day:
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Hip and Knee Replacements

I can see that my hip and knee replacements are going to improve my life tremendously. Today at pt my knee flexibility ratio was 113. PT will be having me climb down stairs this week so I decided to try it on my own this weekend. I found it went better than anticipated. I need more to do it comfortably, but I was able to do it easily without much pain.

Beautiful day again so I mowed the lawn late this evening. It seems our grass doesn't know when to slow down this late summer. Usually by now we are turning brown, not this year. Just when it looks like the weather is going to be too dry, we get a shower to keep it growing. The hot weather we have been having this past week has really helped our crop to work toward maturity. Hopefully when the guys come home we will be able to combine something. Yesterday when we took the truck south we drove past our canola field, that is turning also and will be ready to be swathed soon.

I added a new page to our Roseau Co. Historical Society website. What Minnesota Means to Me. It will probably keep me busy if it catches on.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Savoring the Moment

Ardmore and I took one of the farm trucks to a repair shop south of Badger this evening just before a downpour. It was interesting to go 13 miles south of the farm and see two combines combining where it had not rained and the pavement was dry. I wonder did they savor the moment that was theirs when to the north of them we had about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of rain?

After dropping off the truck we headed to Roseau for our favorite Sunday treat, Dairy Queen, yum! It poured from Badger most of the way to Roseau so hard the windshield wipers couldn't keep up. By the time we ordered our ice cream it had stopped and the sun was starting to shine. We had decided not to go to his brother's when it was raining and changed our minds after getting ice cream and headed over there. I am always amazed when I visit them as my sister-in-law loves watching the Lifetime channel and never turns off the tv when we come. She and I always end up watching a movie and visiting during it.

I watched the US women's volleyball team beat Poland this afternoon. They will now play in the quarter finals. Woo Hoo!
This is a continuation of my earlier blog.

How does one set such a lofty goal and achieve it as Michael Phelps did? Phelps and his coach say it is all part of setting goals yearly and working at reaching them. This applies to all of us, at home, at work, at play. Setting goals and reaching for them is one of the things that keep goal oriented people on top of what they do. It is reaching a goal and the sweet sense of accomplishment that makes on realize how important setting it really is. If you haven't tried it you should.

It is a beautiful day today, the crops are soaking up the 90 degree heat and ripening. Just what we need with two men coming home at harvest time. Ardmore says the wheat is green though and has new growth in it. Where did that come from? It all looked so good. We will now have to swath the wheat instead of straight heading it. What a lot of work and more expense. I hope that we can do this while the guys are here.

I walk down memory lane often my best friends from our teenage years. This past week one of us had a family reunion in Hoyt Lakes. I had really wanted to go down but decided against it. I don't know if I am ready for a 5 hour one way drive myself and can't see Ardmore coming with me at this time of year. My knee is just too sore and my back has also be acting up a bit, more about my back later.

As we chatted on the phone, we talked about how we all wore these nylon black jackets. They were our trademark that we were stick like glue friends. I'm sure we thought we were hot! Oh, but we had such good times together. I remember we walked every where, no wonder we were so skinny!

Things of my youth that I remember most:

1. Country dances at town halls like Markham, Zim, and Britt.

2. Lunch at Allison's cafe, they had the best mashed potatoes and gravy. My three best friends and I (here after refered to as the four of us) would squeeze into a booth and chat the lunch hour away, then leave enough time to run to the corner Standard Gas Station to share a cigarette. Naught! None of us smoke any more, but one of us got caught by smoking long past the time she should have and now has emphysema. She had become a hermit due to how sick she gets every time she goes out. She must take her oxygen tank with her always. Life is just not fair!

3. I was a carhop at Mary's Drive In in Aurora, my first job. I did that for 3 years. It helped me purchase my clothes in high school and learn to get along with all kinds of people.

4. The four of us sitting on the grass by the Hoyt Lakes community center peroxiding our hair. I was a peroxide blond for years. Now I dye my hair the natural color to cover the gray. So much for that!

5. Chocolate or cherry cokes from Sunny Cherro's store.

6. Working at Cherro's during my lunch hour when I was in high school. The crowd and the smell of fried hamburgers was overwhelming.

7. My tumor surgery when I was 17. The doubled over pain I suffered with before I finally went into the doctor. I must have scared my friends to death. Poor Nancy, when she visited me in the hospital and I had all these tubes running out of every part of my body, she almost passed out and never did come back and visit me! I had so much company it made me sicker and I finally told the nurse that I only wanted my parents and Ardmore to visit me. After my surgery I had some stomach pain and ended up back in the Virginia Hospital and nothing showed up. I think it was from the scar now. No, it wasn't cancer.

8. The four of us listening to the same song at whoever house over and over again. It must have driven our parents nuts. We, of course, had phonographs and listened to vinyl 45 records by the hour. Now I have an Ipod and I still do the same thing, only listen to the same album over and over! No one hears what I am listening to and I use it to lull myself to sleep at night listening to Bach in the Bath (Michael Maxwell) and Come Away with Me (Norah Jones).

I will have to finish this list at a later time, there is so many wonderful things to think about. I need to shut down, I hear thunder and where there is thunder there is lightening.

"Not to Look Away" Oprah Magazine

Today I read a short story in the Oprah Magazine about a man who had died. Many of his friends rallied around to do special things with him. One friend took him to Provincetown and walked the beach with him. "Walking slowly through the fog on the beach in the very early morning she said, We will always remember this day. And Jason, who was pretty well practiced by then, said, I am remembering it now."

This moved me and made me think do I take advantage of each thing I do and see it as a gift and "remember" them? Do you? What a profound statement Jason comment was. What a great gift life is and each day brings us close to death. Savor the moment!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Remarkable...

The US Olympic team 4/100 relay of Jason Lezak, Brendan Hansen, Aaron Piersol and Michael Phelps took the eighth gold, making Micael Phelps the only Olympiad to have ever won 8 medals. What an exciting moment that was to see this group work so well together to win this final chapter that gave this young man this honor. Kodus to you, Michael!

I'm very sore tonight. A common occurrence when I over do. I didn't want to put off cleaning the basement until next week, so beside finishing mowing the lawn this am I cleaned the basement. I will have some problems sleeping tonight as my leg and ankle are sore.That is one thing about have a hip and a knee replacement, well I was sore after just the hip replacement if I worked this hard, it is a little harder when I have had both. Pacing myself is very important.

I also walked down and up the stairs one foot after another, with was a feat. I hope I can handle having both of our sons home at once won't be more than I can handle.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Champion of Champions

Ardmore and I have leasurely watched all of the evening Olympic competitions until I get too tired and need to hit the sack. Needless to say, that happened a bit too soon last night and I missed the women's gymnastics. Micky told me we took first and second this afternoon. WooHoo! I am very disappointed that I missed that. I will have to find it on the internet and check it our. One more plus for having the internet.

We did see Michael Phelps pick up his 6th and then tonight his 7th Olympic gold. I think that the gold he took tonight is always going to questioned by some people as it was so close, a 100th of a second close. He now joined Mark Spitz in holding the most gold medals in swimming. On Sunday, he will go for number 8. He has been fun to watch. Ardmore was so nonchalant when the games first begain and didn't think anything about Phelps. Now he is as excited to see him as anyone else.

PT today was pain and torture but I think I am moving forward and the pain wasn't as bad as in the past. I started at 95, my highest first try ration and ended at a little over 111. That really made me feel wonderful. Next week I will be going in only two times and we will work on climbing down stairs. I have no trouble going up but am concerned about going down. I am short in the legs which means the steps are high for me. We will see how this goes.

Michelle and Dave are moving this weekend. They found a house in Modesto to rent and she has rented our her home. She starts school in a couple of weeks at UC, Stanslaus. She applied for a pt job at a music store and was offered $26 an hour. I am not sure what she will be doing but I assume it will be teaching piano. This will be a good suppliment to her Pell grant.

Breanne and I had a good visit today until my cell phone died. I didn't even hear a beep so couldn't tell her it was going to go. I will have to call her tomorrow. Josh worked from home this past week. His company gave him a computer and so now he has that ability. They were able to spend some quality time together and took Damen for walks.

Josh received an award from his employer for his work. It was the only award anyone received from this employer at this time. He also received a $250 bonus. He must be very good at his job. It makes me feel proud of him.

I have worked to get funding for platforms in the museum lately and today the final amount was donated. It has taken me about 3 werks to reach this level and I am so pleased with the donor. Wayne Holmgren, a former Roseau shop teacher, made them for me according to a design we receive from another museum. I am excited to have them put into place. We sure have our work cut out for us though. I hope we can meet our goal of having exhibits up and into place in two months.

Our two sons have decided to come home and help with harvest. This takes a tremendous burden off of me. James will be here for two weeks and Brian for nine days. I hope that the wheat is ready and that the canola will be ready before James goes home. Our crops look wonderful. It is very exciting to know they are both going to be here. I wonder how we will put them all up? Perhaps I need to find a good air mattress for myself!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Wide awake and cruising the web

Well, here I am at 3:00 am, wide awake and cruising the web. I had a a tough day at PT today and was only able to get my knee to 105. Perhaps that is not bad but then I am impatient person right now and want to see results every time I go to PT.

Yesterday was such a busy day, perhaps that is why I can't sleep. I went to PT at 10:30, worked afterwards, had a massage at 1, went in for knee xrays at 3 and back to work where I sat in on a 4:00 meeting with the women in education exhibit committee. While walking around the museum with them without my cane, I left it in the car having forgot I had the meeting, I was trying to remove some instant pain in my tkr knee by crossing my other foot and putting my toe on the floor, oops, not something to do with tkr! I changed that position immediately. Its funny how one does things so automatically without any thought of the repercussions. Good thing the brain works so fast and sends out an alarm.

Found an excellent blog tonight, http://booktoots.wordpress.com/ This is from a womanw with a tkr who tells it like it is. She is also a hockey enthusiast, which for someone from Roseau gives her status.

One of the major benefits of pt is having the use of the machines free, although our hospital pt department gives access to all of their machines for as little as about $30 a month to anyone. I find that in the winter it is wonderful. I walk on the treadmill daily as well as use several other machines. Right now with the tkr I am limited to the recombinant stepper and a few other machines at this time. I am waiting to hit the treadmill again. I am up to walking about 3/4 of a mile a day. I would like to do it every day but I just get too busy.

I went to the kitchen and heated some milk and checked to see what it was doing outside. It is raining outside and the air had that marvelous fresh smell. We need a little rain right now so the soybeans can fill well. We are very concerned about the weather and an early frost. May was so cold that the crop really is late this year. Our wheat is about two to three weeks late which means the canola and soybeans are later by far. With the price of grain what it is right now, we sure don't want to see an early killing frost.

I have a Dr. appointment with Dr. Schall, my orthopedic surgeon today so better ice my knee, it feels like it is exploding with swelling and try and sleep some.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Weight loss & Exercise

I have decided to take the plunge and tell about my weight loss. Although I am not going to tell what I weigh or what I weighed, I will say that over the past two years I have lost over 60 pounds. In the past 4 months I have taken off 15 of those pounds. The most interesting thing about this weight lost is that I didn't regain it back even when I wasn't watching. I stayed pretty close to a low carb diet with lots of fruit and vegetables many that were high in carbs. Examples of high carb fruits: orange juice and bananas. I usually avoided breads, cereal, pasta, and rice unless it was at noon or I sacrificed something else to eat it. I also did not eat very much butter and cooked with spray. I watched the sweets, but do have ice cream at Dairy Queen at least 3 times a week, sundaes or cones. My favorite DQ treat is a Buster Bar and I can't remember the last time I had one, I just order something with less calories and carbs. Ardmore & I often go to DQ Sunday evening for a cone or a Sundae. Yes, I know that is breaking the Sabbath, but it is the only time he and I do anything together except go to church, periodically visit his brother and sister-in-law, and work.

For the first time this summer, I went swimming; and I went to the Vassar out door pool. The pool at Vassar is usually not crowded, it wasn't today. I am rather sore this evening as I did every stroke I know. Swam for about three-quarter of an hour. The water felt wonderful. They have a solar pool and the water is never cold. There is only one more week of swimming, so I will try to go as often as possible. I can tell it was very beneficial.

Thought for the day:

"Between you and every goal that you wish to achieve, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties and challenges that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else."
~ Brian Tracy

Friday, August 8, 2008

5:00am and in pain again

I have to say this first month (Monday I passed the month mark) following knee replacement has not been easy. Now, I wake up about every 2.5 hours in pain on both the hip and knee sides. I know I am improving but being the impatient person that I am, this is getting to be too much! So much for what I commented on following my hip replacement on April 20th.

I will say I tend to overdo. I have spend an average of 2 - 4 hours a day at work during the past 2 weeks. Yesterday, I decided to stay home and mow the lawn. I started at 11:30 and took a break at 1:30. After eating some lunch and taking a rest I heading into town to see what was up with Crazy Days.

Crazy Days was rather disappointing. The streets didn't have their usual tables setup from one corner to the next corner and I didn't find anything to add to my clutter. I was the last of the big spenders. I did stop and have cake at the new Wild 102 Radio Station.

The historical society will begin the annual scavenger hunt for children next Monday. Dairy Queen is a sponsor with us and each Friday we will draw for a Blizzard. We didn't do as much advertising this year, so I hope it is successful.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Week in Review

Last week flew! I had my staples removed on Tuesday in Grand Forks. It went very well. My stitches look very good, I think most of the area will not show much scarring. I massage with olive oil and a lavender extract lotion hoping that will help eliminate scarring.

I also had to go shopping, I've lost an additional 15 pounds and some of my clothes are just hanging on me. "Oh, happy day!" Found some cute carpi's at Penney's and felt so great when I went to zip them up and it just slide up, wow! I wore them the next day to PT and even was able to tuck a shirt into them.

Today is the fourth week since my knee replacement. I wish I could say it was without pain or swelling, or numbness, but I can't. I do sleep fairly well at night though so that helps. Last week at PT, my range of motion was up to 105 but after all I have done this past weekend, I was only able to reach 99 today. Anyone who thinks that knee replacement will be a piece of cake needs to think again. It is work and pain and attitude adjustments daily.

After PT, I went to Pam for a massage then returned to work to finish the deposit I had started before PT. I have a hair cut tomorrow afternoon so will go into work at about 12. I went for a walk again this evening for about a half mile. My knee does give me some pain though.

My brother and wife arrived last night at about 9. They have about a 5 hour drive from Hoyt Lakes and like to stop for dinner along the way so never arrive very early. We visited until about 11 over a fresh blueberry pie I had made to help him celebrate his b-day on August 1. He is now the ripe old age of 59, one more year and he will be 60. We had breakfast together this am and then they headed up to Winnipeg to the horse races and for some time together. They will be back tomorrow and spend another night before heading home. He didn't think they had been up for about a year. I thought they were here at Thanksgiving last winter.

I picked up an Oprah Magazine the other day and read a wonderful article by Martha Beck in the Advice, etc pg, 46, called One Stroke at a Time in the August 2008 issue.

"6. Do discover the power of calm
"People consistently offer me large sums of money just to say. "You'll be fine." They do this even though I tell them it works almost as well to say it to themselves. Kind self-talk is an incredibly effective way to calm fear and motivate action.
...Try it right now, so you can use it the next time you're scared. Silently tell yourself simple things like "Its okay." "You're all right." "There's no rush." "You can do this." You'll be amazed at the power of this humble mental-management technique to help you turn knowledge into action."

I found this to be very useful and remember doing a smilar thing many times in the past. Thanks Oprah for helping us women learn to be kinder to ourselves and yet be strong and vibrant too! Your magazine helps us become better people and understand who we are and what we can become.