Clearing the roof and where my tkr is now.

Yesterday I came home to a house with a foul odor and tried to find the source. Finally this morning, I realized it was coming from the bathroom and decided that the vents on top of the house must have snow over the top of them and be plugged. Hubby climbed up and started clearing it off, lots of snow, he even had to use the shovel handle to break through one of the vents. I decided a photo of him on the roof doing this was appropriate.


When I took the camera in, climbing over the snow he had shoveled in the front of the house. I decided to gab a shovel and clear the snow on the sidewalk, he was clearing the back of the house. All of a sudden this snow started filtering around me and then there was a plop on my head! Hubby had come across to the front and was clearing more snow off the roof and dumped it right on top me. I ended up with one more shovelful cascading down on me before he heard me shouting. I had snow in my coat hood, all down my back on inside of my coat. What a struggle to remove that coat and unload all the snow in the hood. When I got into the house, my shirt was white with snow on the back and I was very cold. I just snuggled up with a good movie and let hubs finish the shoveling, it was a much better thing to do. My exercise for the day ended up being a 3/4 mile walk to our mailbox about an hour later instead.

The seventh was the sixth month since my total knee replacement. Here is an update on the knee:

1. Depending on the weather, there usually isn't a lot of pain except when I first ride my stationary bike or come down the stairs before I do some knee stretches or exercises.
   
2. Sleeping is usually not a big problem. I sleep through most of the night (about 7 hours) with only one nature call. No more incontinence! That is usually a problem for quite a while after either tkr or thr. The Kegal exercises along with the exercises for improving hip muscle strength helped tremendously with this.
   
3. I sleep on the side which I did not have knee replacement (I had thr on that side) most nights but can sleep comfortably on both sides. I do use a pillow for the knee when I sleep on the thr side. Not between my knees but beside me with the bottom leg straight and the tkn leg bent or straight. If I do not get sufficient sleep, I have more pain.
4. I do my physical therapy exercises about 2-3 times a week, go to the gym about 2 -3 times a week, ride the stationary bike almost daily, rock in the rocking chair every day - several times a day (this is a great help), walk about a mile plus 2-3 times a week and swim at least once a week. I alternate these.
5. My knee on the outer side is still numb or tingly, due to the nerve over the knee being cut during surgery. This is the case with everyone who had had tkr. The area is suppose to get smaller with time.
6. I ice very seldom, only when I feel real tightness and have very little problem with swelling now.
   
7. I continue to take 250 mg Vicodin at night prior to going to sleep.
8. All of the above will vary from person to person.
   
9. Watch my diet and take a good woman's vitamin. I like the GNC vitamin the best, also take calcium, potassium (keeps the Charley horses from torturing me), and a baby aspirin.
10. I basically can do everything I want to do now and usually with little pain.
    

I hope this helps anyone has tkr. Everyone responds differently, but has some areas that are similar.

Museum Trips

Britt and I spent an exciting three days going to Brookings South Dakota for some training on the Smithsonian traveling exhibit Between Fences Monday through Wednesday. We managed to squeeze in three museums and besides the South Dakota Agriculture Museum where the Between Fences was displayed.

About 12 of us met for the workshop which was very enlightening. It will be enjoyable to design exhibits to highlight our area and how fences/borders affect our way of life. Living on the Canadian border gives us a way to expand our exhibit.

Snow fences will be added of course! Monday when we left it was 40 below Fahrenheit. That is cold! We never saw anything below -1 F while gone, and I didn't see snow either although there was ground drifting on the way home most of the way.

For several years, I had been wanting to see the King Tut exhibit but it was always too far away. We were driving in Watertown on Tuesday, after going to the Terry Redlin museum, looking for a place to eat when Britt noticed a sign advertising the King Tut museum. It was on display in Watertown! Needless to say, on Wednesday morning we went to the exhibition. We spent about two hours examining this wonderful collection. I was very disappointed to see we were the only ones there.

The Terry Redlin museum is always an enjoyable experience. They have put a cabin in the lower level now which adds a new dimension. I counted the number of art pieces he did in 1980 and came up with 10. It is amazing to think he could do ten in a year with the wonderful details he places in his work. I purchased a puzzle and will have to set it up tonight.

The thing that pleased me most was the fact that I could be on my feet so much without any back or knee pain. I did get a little stiff and sat in the hot tub on Tuesday night but other than that it was a piece of cake. I can see that both the thr and tkr have made a lot of difference in my quality of life. It was nice to be back in my own bed last night though.


Well today will be spend working on a grant, it needs to be sent off.

Musings

I have a busy week coming up with driving 400+ miles two times so decided to stay home and rest today. Good thing too, I had a very restless night again last night. I often wonder why, is it the hip or the knee, is it age, or is it just the way I am?

Gas is edging up again. I keep track of certain commodities, grains and light crude. Light crude has gone up over $7 in the past 3 days, which added 15 cents at the pump, we are now at $1.84. Just when we adjust to one price, it spirals again.

Thought for the Day:
"It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gies us integrity."
Frances Bacon, Sr.

I love Saturdays

Ah, Saturday, a day to watch a movie, read, relax, scrub the kitchen floor, dust, wash clothes, change bedding, so tired...

What a surprise to wake up to another snowy day. I really didn't expect to see it coming down as hard as it did and decided to film it. I opened the door was so surprised to see it wouldn't open more than about 15 inches, the snow had drifted onto the porch and was keeping the door from opening. I did my filming, with the wind swirling around and the snowflakes landing consistently on my sweatshirt. The soles of my shoes were chunked with snow but with my slippers close at hand my feet didn't get too cold. About an hour later, it was back outside to do some shoveling, realizing that hubby would have to snow blow the yard...again, third time this week! It took him about 3 hours to do the driveway this time.

I shouldn't have bought so much plain and peanut M&Ms and sugar jellies for the Christmas candy dishes, they are so tempting. Thank goodness there is only enough to fill the candy dish one more time. We need to put them in a tin and put them in the trunk of the car! With the snow and the cold weather we have had lately, we wouldn't even be tempted to go that far to get them. Ah, the holidays with all their tasty snacks.

Where does the time go?

I have problems sleeping all night. Last night was good though and I only woke up at 5:30 then fell right back to sleep. Sad part was when I woke up again it was 7:30 and I wanted to just lay there a little longer and fell asleep again only to wake up at 8:34. I really had to hustle to get ready for work after that. I had planned to stay home today but decided I had a couple of projects that couldn't be left, especially when two of us will be gone for Monday through Wednesday.

I started our research guru on a new project, copying the photos in the files into pdfs or jpegs so we could put them into our museum software. This is a project that will take a long time but will be very valuable. All photos, not just the cataloged photos will be done, which will give us wonderful access to the photograph collection.

On Wednesday, I started another staff person on the project of making a data base of the files and what photos are in them. When both of these projects are completed, we will be able to locate photographs and replace them in the correct file each time they are used. Our museum software program, PastPerfect, will give their location. An opportunity for a volunteer, someone out there in our area want to help with this project?

There is an endless opportunity to do projects in the museum and none of them seem to be dull. I love to watch a person take on a new project that they were leery about being able to do and then the see the confidence they gain when they find out it wasn't as hard as they thought it would be.

Ardmore
finally
cleaned
off
the
deck
and
the
table.
What
a
lot
of
snow!

Five for Friday

1. Name your favorite TV show - Extreme Makeover - Home Edition, I love the service rendered by this program.
2. Name your favorite author - Richard Paul Evan, he tells the best stories that tug at the heart.
3. Name your favorite winter activity - surfing the Internet. I love to read blogs, especially blogs about books and from friends.
4. Why live in Minnesota? - Spring, winter, summer, fall, we have them all.
   
5. What are you the most thankful for right now - having no back pain.

Have a great weekend!

Beautiful Day!

This morning the snow was falling ever so slowly, there was wasn't any wind to speak of, and best of all, it was warming up! The trees are a winter wonderland with the snow on the evergreens and laying on each branch of the oaks. Breathtaking. I opened my blinds in the bedroom, sat up and started to read, what great thing to do on a New Year's day.

Our family seems to be doing all kinds of things this week. Yesterday, Leah had friends over, including her brother and his friend, they played cards and of course snacked! James was planning on going dancing, I don't know what Brian had planned. He is in southern Utah and had gone skiing the other day, said it was a perfect day with great skiing. Breanne and Josh had gone to he grandparents in Arizona for the week. Michelle and Dave watch movies at home. Although my intentions of waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square, I was sleeping by 10:30 and couldn't even wait another half hour. Today was quiet but relaxing.

I had bought a rump roast yesterday and put it in the crock pot today with a can of Campbell's beef broth and 3/4 can water, onions, carrots, spices (garlic powder, thyme, etc) and lots of dehydrated garlic. When it done, another can of undiluted mushroom soup went in. I really like the beefy mushroom best was out of it. I was able to take about 2 cups to make gravy. Drained and saved the rest of the juices and will take off the fat and us it in some soup with the last of the roast on Saturday. It really was tasty.

It has been very nice to be able to take time off during the holidays. Yesterday and today I went for walks. Ardmore walks about 3/4 mile to get our mile every day.

Michelle has been completing some of her little quilts that she has started over the years. I think she said she has finished three out of five. She will start school again next week so things will surely change for her then, between giving piano lessons and playing for a high school choir and going to school she is very busy.

Thought for the Day

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - Albert Einstein