Sometimes I experience groin pain in the leg that I had tkr on. Today is one of those mornings. I always lose my range of motion over night and experience some pain in the knee. The only way to help that is to get into the rocking chair and rock. Monday when working out on the bike I did not have a rocking chair to limber in prior to riding. The experience is always painful at first. I have to do some bike rocking by going back and forth and then coming up as high as I can on the bike with the bionic knee. Finally I go backwards and then can go forward but not without pain for the first 10 to 15 rotations.Once in the swing of the rotation, the pain becomes tolerable, I speed up and my leg limbers up. I am waiting for the day when I have no pain, will it ever come?
We live in a split level home which means we are always climbing stairs. Going up is pretty good, coming down is another story. Once I have rocked for a while and/or rode the bike, climbing is much easier. Most things are better though. Walking is no longer a problem and I don't think I limp any more. Range of motion is a huge problem for me. I believe weight, swelling and varicose veins to be a major problem when it comes to managing pain and range of motion following total knee replacement. The day I can put my leg back and comfortably put my foot on the base of a folding chair at church, I will say, yes, success!
I started reading the book The Shack. It sounds like a compelling book.I asked my librarian friend what he has heard about it. He said people either really like it or don't like it at all. I will have to see what I think. I also order the first book in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series and American Lion (the Andrew Jackson book), which Ardmore is now reading. I read The Host by Stephanie Meyer about a month ago and would highly recommend it to anyone.
Here's hoping for a warmer night. The temperature fell to -23 last night. It was fascinating to see it change on my way home from Roseau at 7 pm. When I left the museum, my car read -13 by the time I had driven about 8 miles it had fallen to -26. We had -22 when I arrived home.
Life on the Haugen Farm
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Snow again yesterday
We woke up to snow again yesterday. I thought it was only about a 1/2 inch until I went out to start the car before heading to work, the car had about 3 inches on it. The drive and the road past our house was ok but the road going east 3/4 of a mile from our home was very drifted over. I was really looking forward to getting to highway 89 thinking it would be good, no such luck. The road was totally drifted in and there were only two tracks down the highway all the way to highway 11. It was the worst it has been in many years. The wind must have really blown to drift it in that bad, which means I must have slept well as I never heard it. Everything but the road 3/4 of a mile from our house was plowed when I went home in the evening though.Winter is NOT my favorite time of year!
I will have to finish this later!
Later... made arrangements for Britt and I to stay at a motel in Brookings, SD on Monday and Tuesday night. We have a meeting for the 2010 SITES exhibit Between Fences. Brookings is quite a distance from Roseau, about 400 miles and with the winter we have had, we decided we had better drive during the day only so decided to go down on Monday. I think it is at least a six and a half hour trip if the weather is good and we can't count on good weather so need to allow more time.
It is always enjoyable to go to these meetings. We have plans to visit a couple of museums on the way down and back. We learn something new on exhibit designing every time.
I will have to finish this later!
Later... made arrangements for Britt and I to stay at a motel in Brookings, SD on Monday and Tuesday night. We have a meeting for the 2010 SITES exhibit Between Fences. Brookings is quite a distance from Roseau, about 400 miles and with the winter we have had, we decided we had better drive during the day only so decided to go down on Monday. I think it is at least a six and a half hour trip if the weather is good and we can't count on good weather so need to allow more time.
It is always enjoyable to go to these meetings. We have plans to visit a couple of museums on the way down and back. We learn something new on exhibit designing every time.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
Well that is what the song says, right? We must have gotten about 4-6 inches this morning and so for the third time this week, Ardmore will crank up the snow blower and head out and do the driveway. Good thing it happened today and not yesterday, we order 2,500 gallons of diesel for the farm yesterday and the fellow had absolutely no problems turning around in our yard. Today would be a different situation; one can't even see the driveway!
I love when we have a heavy snowfall and always have this desire to go out walking, so this morning I did. It is totally different from walking in Hoyt Lakes. When we lived in Hoyt Lakes I would love to go out walking at night when it snowed. The street lights always seemed to be shrouded and there was no wind because of all the houses. Here one is comfortable in their yard but get to the road and it is a totally different story. This morning it was great walking south and I felt warm but the return trip was against the northwest wind and having a scarf around the face was a necessity. I didn't wear my down coat and my legs were cold even though I was dressed for what the weather was like. I had purchased a pair of flannel lined walking pants and wore long underwear, still not enough. My bionic knee was a little cold too so I put on my flannel pjs when I got in. It is a little stiff now.
Yesterday, I decided to go swimming at AmericInn. It felt wonderful, the hot tub limbered me up so I was ready for exercising in the pool. I followed the swimming protocol set up in the Total Knee Replacement & Rehabilitation book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is undergoing tkr, it has the best exercises and techniques to get one's knee rehabilitated. I am going on my sixth month and can say the process is long and requires a lot of work. Riding a stationary bike is another important thing to do. I rock in a rocking chair a lot and bring my foot back as far under the rocker. Rocking really helps prior to going on the bike. It limbers the knee.
After the driveway was cleaned out, I went for another walk. It had gotten a bit colder by that time but I wore my down coat and that kept me warmer on the legs. I enjoy walking but sometimes it is just too cold to go far.
Thought for the Day
I have had lots of things to do this weekend and am reminded of the saying "don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today."
I love when we have a heavy snowfall and always have this desire to go out walking, so this morning I did. It is totally different from walking in Hoyt Lakes. When we lived in Hoyt Lakes I would love to go out walking at night when it snowed. The street lights always seemed to be shrouded and there was no wind because of all the houses. Here one is comfortable in their yard but get to the road and it is a totally different story. This morning it was great walking south and I felt warm but the return trip was against the northwest wind and having a scarf around the face was a necessity. I didn't wear my down coat and my legs were cold even though I was dressed for what the weather was like. I had purchased a pair of flannel lined walking pants and wore long underwear, still not enough. My bionic knee was a little cold too so I put on my flannel pjs when I got in. It is a little stiff now.
Yesterday, I decided to go swimming at AmericInn. It felt wonderful, the hot tub limbered me up so I was ready for exercising in the pool. I followed the swimming protocol set up in the Total Knee Replacement & Rehabilitation book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is undergoing tkr, it has the best exercises and techniques to get one's knee rehabilitated. I am going on my sixth month and can say the process is long and requires a lot of work. Riding a stationary bike is another important thing to do. I rock in a rocking chair a lot and bring my foot back as far under the rocker. Rocking really helps prior to going on the bike. It limbers the knee.
After the driveway was cleaned out, I went for another walk. It had gotten a bit colder by that time but I wore my down coat and that kept me warmer on the legs. I enjoy walking but sometimes it is just too cold to go far.
Thought for the Day
I have had lots of things to do this weekend and am reminded of the saying "don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today."
Friday, December 26, 2008
2009 Christmas is a past event
It was a very quiet Christmas this year. Ardmore and I were "home alone." We did have the full fledged dinner and we opened our gifts in the afternoon on Christmas day. I think I actually enjoyed the peacefulness of the day after all the busyness of work over the past several weeks.
Today is warm enough, 25 this morning, and swimming sounds good. It has been so cold lately that I have stayed away from the pool and have been working out at LifeCare therapy instead.
I have a problem and would like some help. I have a great assistant at work. I decided to give her a gift at Christmas as a way of showing appreciation. Two days later she reciprocated with a gift to me. I didn't want her to do this as I feel she felt obligated. How does one handle a situation like this? I think, perhaps, I should have given her this at a different time, not the holidays, then she would have no reason to feel she had to reciprocate. Perhaps I answered my own question.
James and Michelle's family spent Christmas at Michelle and Dave's. It sounds like they had a wonderful time. They said Damien is walking very well now and was too busy to even stop and eat. He is like the energizer bunny, he just keeps going and going and going. I couldn't help but laugh at Breanne the other day when she told me she thought he was ADD. I just think he is a little boy who is very enthralled with all the things he sees. Imagine life when you first become aware of new things, it must be almost overwhelming! They all think he is adorable, and of course, he must be. James took several photos and videos of their time together and will download them. I can hardly wait to see them.
Breakfast is calling, I am eating candy and surely don't need to eat that! A turkey sandwich with mayo and lots of lettuce is calling!
Today is warm enough, 25 this morning, and swimming sounds good. It has been so cold lately that I have stayed away from the pool and have been working out at LifeCare therapy instead.
I have a problem and would like some help. I have a great assistant at work. I decided to give her a gift at Christmas as a way of showing appreciation. Two days later she reciprocated with a gift to me. I didn't want her to do this as I feel she felt obligated. How does one handle a situation like this? I think, perhaps, I should have given her this at a different time, not the holidays, then she would have no reason to feel she had to reciprocate. Perhaps I answered my own question.
James and Michelle's family spent Christmas at Michelle and Dave's. It sounds like they had a wonderful time. They said Damien is walking very well now and was too busy to even stop and eat. He is like the energizer bunny, he just keeps going and going and going. I couldn't help but laugh at Breanne the other day when she told me she thought he was ADD. I just think he is a little boy who is very enthralled with all the things he sees. Imagine life when you first become aware of new things, it must be almost overwhelming! They all think he is adorable, and of course, he must be. James took several photos and videos of their time together and will download them. I can hardly wait to see them.
Breakfast is calling, I am eating candy and surely don't need to eat that! A turkey sandwich with mayo and lots of lettuce is calling!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Lazy Snowfall
This morning we woke up to another snowy day.About a week ago, we receive an agriculture magazine that predicted snow every few days for the next month. This is definitely the case. Ardmore blew out the yard with the snow blower yesterday and it looks like he will be doing it again. So far about 2 inches have fallen and it continues to fall.
There is an endless list of things to do at work and I am picking at it one at a time. Here I thought I would go out to California the first part of January and my staff reminded me that we had a Between Fences meeting January 6 and 7. I will have to change my plans to the middle of January. We start working on the exhibits for Woman's History Month sometime after the first of the year and my staff can do quite a bit so I should be able to go for a while.
Christmas is just two days away. I really would like to go out to California for Christmas but will make that a priority for next year. Ardmore does not like to leave our house in the winter. He fears frozen pipes, etc so I go alone. I have a wonderful time when I go though as there are so many things the grandchildren and I do when I am there. I think we went to about 5 movies the last time I went.
Last night I went to see Four Christmases. Can't say how I would rate it. It was about four dysfunctional families. Fairly amusing but a little over the top. Perhaps a 5 or 6. I enjoy Christmas movies, they get me in the spirit so look forward to the new ones each year. There always seems to be one that focuses on dysfunctional families. I prefer Home Alone, the Santa Claus, etc. as this type of humor is easier to handle.
There is an endless list of things to do at work and I am picking at it one at a time. Here I thought I would go out to California the first part of January and my staff reminded me that we had a Between Fences meeting January 6 and 7. I will have to change my plans to the middle of January. We start working on the exhibits for Woman's History Month sometime after the first of the year and my staff can do quite a bit so I should be able to go for a while.
Christmas is just two days away. I really would like to go out to California for Christmas but will make that a priority for next year. Ardmore does not like to leave our house in the winter. He fears frozen pipes, etc so I go alone. I have a wonderful time when I go though as there are so many things the grandchildren and I do when I am there. I think we went to about 5 movies the last time I went.
Last night I went to see Four Christmases. Can't say how I would rate it. It was about four dysfunctional families. Fairly amusing but a little over the top. Perhaps a 5 or 6. I enjoy Christmas movies, they get me in the spirit so look forward to the new ones each year. There always seems to be one that focuses on dysfunctional families. I prefer Home Alone, the Santa Claus, etc. as this type of humor is easier to handle.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Saturday, Ahhh...
What do you do with your Saturday's if you work outside of the home? Saturday is always a day to do some cleaning no matter if you want to or not. Today will be a cookie baking day with some cleaning and resting, and getting my Primary schedule ready to be sent off.
This was supposed to be the week I went to St. Cloud to a meeting but after the snow on Wednesday I had some "road fear". There was talk of icy spots and I don't like icy roads so I opted not to go. I sent my list of things we discussed about the amendment that just passed instead. I hope that they are added to the list of ideas as they weren't just my ideas.
So that meant I could put up the tree and do some decorating, right? Wrong! My right hand person was sick on Wednesday, Thursday I had our volunteers doing a project and needed to have that accomplished, Friday my right hand person was still sick and so I headed to work.
Well we did get the tree up last night. I was disappointed in finding out that some of my lights were not working. This is a tree that has the lights on it already so we had to hang some in that area. Then I love red lights on the tree too so I put on three other strands of red lights on. I looked at it again this morning and added additional decorations to the areas where there it looked a little bare. No light and motion on the tree this year. First time in about twenty years I will put them someplace else with a garland instead.
Are you a reader? If so here is a game for you to play:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence. "Sometimes finding the right balance is relatively easy."
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Haven't read enough of the book to add a couple of other sentences.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
http://lovethejourney.blogspot.com/ Friday 56
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.
Now if you like book blogs here is an excellent book ring: http://bookblogs.ning.com/
This was supposed to be the week I went to St. Cloud to a meeting but after the snow on Wednesday I had some "road fear". There was talk of icy spots and I don't like icy roads so I opted not to go. I sent my list of things we discussed about the amendment that just passed instead. I hope that they are added to the list of ideas as they weren't just my ideas.
So that meant I could put up the tree and do some decorating, right? Wrong! My right hand person was sick on Wednesday, Thursday I had our volunteers doing a project and needed to have that accomplished, Friday my right hand person was still sick and so I headed to work.
Well we did get the tree up last night. I was disappointed in finding out that some of my lights were not working. This is a tree that has the lights on it already so we had to hang some in that area. Then I love red lights on the tree too so I put on three other strands of red lights on. I looked at it again this morning and added additional decorations to the areas where there it looked a little bare. No light and motion on the tree this year. First time in about twenty years I will put them someplace else with a garland instead.
Are you a reader? If so here is a game for you to play:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence. "Sometimes finding the right balance is relatively easy."
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Haven't read enough of the book to add a couple of other sentences.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
http://lovethejourney.blogspot.com/ Friday 56
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.
Now if you like book blogs here is an excellent book ring: http://bookblogs.ning.com/
Thought for the Day
Cock-crow at Christmas
(from Hamlet)
by William Shakespeare
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night night long;
And then, they say, no spirits can walk abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
A Christmas Treasury of Yuletide Stories & Poems
Edited by James Charlton & Barbara Gilson
Cock-crow at Christmas
(from Hamlet)
by William Shakespeare
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night night long;
And then, they say, no spirits can walk abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
A Christmas Treasury of Yuletide Stories & Poems
Edited by James Charlton & Barbara Gilson
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