Musings on....moving, torn rotator cuff and an 80 year old knee

When it rains it pours!

I will try make this post light and cheery, despite the craziness going on.

We are moving. We found a bank owned property in a nice neighborhood that needed a ton of work.  Probably a little more than we anticipated.  It ended up the place needed an entire heating and cooling system.  There were holes in the wall, gross carpet, horrible paint, loose staircase, and probably the worst kitchen layout I have ever seen.  We have torn everything out.  We have a new coat of paint, we will be getting new cabinets, new carpet, and new appliances...but it's still not finished and we are trying to be in before Christmas.

About 2 months ago, I was home and delivering laundry to the girl'srooms.  I tripped on my clogs and fell on the stairs.  I had held my arm out to brace the fall and crumpled with some pretty intense pain.  I brushed it off as a strain, and continued to do all my normal activities.  It just was not getting better.  I had scheduled an appointment with a doctor about my knee and mentioned my shoulder. She suggested that we also do an MRI on the shoulder.

The results of the MRI came back and I have torn my Rotator cuff!  I was not expecting that.
The knee is what it is.  Bone on bone, loose ACL,some cartilage floating around. Basically she told me I was skiing on an 80m year old knee!  But the shoulder was a different thing.  I really though I would be in more pain with the amount of damage.  Do you think my yoga classes have helped me?  I wonder.  I hear of people that can't even raise their arm.  I can.

I have to have surgery on Jan.6th.  Very very inconvenient.  I wont be a able to ski, and I will be in a sling for a month.  I also drive a stick shift.  The recovery is several months.  We are also moving.

Let's see how I swing this one!

Musings on ....a bum knee

This is the post where I whine about my knee. 
I am just so tired of it hurting and limiting me from the activities that I love to do.
I ski, and skiing is pretty much our life. Unfortunately, skiing is becoming increasingly difficult.

I have gone to physical therapy.  I have had a cortisone shot. I have a new knee brace.  I have done the series of Hyalgon shots and I have upped my dosage of Ibuprofen. 
I was feeling pretty good until I tripped on some steps in the garage and "tweaked" my knee. 

Now its huge again and totally painful.  I have tried skiing these past three days, and it has never been as bad as this.  I was actually grunting and barking in pain as I skied down the hill.  I don't want to think what the people on the lift were thought of me! I was absolutely exhausted after a couple of runs. The number of runs didn't get me, but from the energy of trying to keep it all together and work through the pain just killed me.
I even tried my yoga class tonight and just about cried!

The doc said I was 10 years away from knee replacement.  If I have to go through the next ten years dealing with this...I don't know what to do.  I hate the idea of taking so much Advil.

Okay...done whining. 

Musings... on The Grandparent Texting Project

The Grandparent Texting Project

Yes, that's right...The Grandparent Texting Project.

Recently my mother told me that my Dad was feeling a bit bummed that he was not getting as many texts as she was.
Don't you love parents with Blackberrys!

Texting away!

My daughters and I came up with the idea to text a question to him everyday.  It has been so much fun!

The List

We made up a list of questions to ask,  and then put them up on the refrigerator.
Every morning before school, they each pick a question to ask him.
In the afternoon, when they turn their phones back on...they get a surprise!
It's been so much fun picking questions and the answers are so interesting!

My girls also get to learn something about their grandparents,.... and I do too!
The questions range from the ridiculous to serious.


Here are some examples of the questions and the answers:

Do you like to dance?
Sure do  - but only with gorgeous blondes like your grandmother and you!

What is under you bed right now?

Tigger

Who were your childhood heroes?

My father and Syl Apps (hockey Player)

What is your favorite Cheese?

15 year old chedder
My mother used to also make me brown sugar and butter sandwiches and peanut butter and cheese sandwiches.  How bad is that?
 Pretty bad!

Are you allergic to any food?

No known allergies, but I sure dislike pickled beets.

Just an example of the fun we are having!  This has been a wonderful way to keep in touch with loved ones so far away!
I recommend this project to anyone who has a grandparent who uses a cell phone!

My daughter was so surprised when he even said OMG is his last text!

She replied and said:

OMG! I cant believe you just said OMG!

He replied:

Am I cool or what?

Yep...pretty cool

Musings on.....nothing

I know that I will have more to write, but today I just feel like posting some pictures.  I took photos at the barn on Wednesday.  I just liked the angle of them.  Sometimes I like to get down low and look at thinks a little differently!

Chilly November 

 

 

 

Musings on...Halloween

The Puking Pumpkin

It only took me till Friday to get into the Halloween spirit.  I did not wear any of the masks I made, but I did lend them out to people in need of a last minute costume.

I knew that we had a party to go to on Friday, and nothing was going to work unless I found a costume that my husband would wear.  The night before, we decided on Jerry Garcia.  I would find a beard and glasses. The rest would be easy, as we already had the clothing.
I could only find a long brown beard and mustache at the Halloween store.  I trimmed the beard, used the leftover for hair that I glued in a baseball cap,  and spray painted everything a little grey.  I went as a deadhead.  Not original, but it worked.

Touch of Grey

Macabre Marionette

On Halloween night, my eldest daughter dressed up as a macabre marionette.  She had bought red contacts for last Halloween, and used them again.  I think she looked both beautiful and scary.  Youngest daughter decided to go as Barbie Butcher.  Complete with pink clothing, a bloody apron and a cleaver.  I love  my kids twisted sense of humour!

Barbie Butcher

 I was a vampire, and perhaps a little too much for the younger kids!  It was fun and finished by 8:00!

Vampire

There... I DID get into the spirit!

See you next year!

Musings on....making masks

Halloween is on Sunday.

Normally I would totally be into decorating.  This year I'm just not into it.  I have the pumpkins...but we have not carved them.  I have cobwebs.....but have not put them up. I have decorations...but they are in the storage unit.  We even have a party to go to...and no costume....yet.

What we did do was make masks.  I picked up some simple supplies at the store and the girls and I had fun creating.


This one is a Salmon Run!

Salmon Run

All the masks look more like Mardi Gras than Halloween.  

Scaramouche

Snowfake

decorative

"Mardi Gras Mask"  created by youngest daughter

"Fire"  created by eldest daughter

Musings on....what children say

My daughter made me laugh this morning.  I was driving her to school, and this is how our conversation went.

Daughter: So, you used to follow the Grateful Dead when you were younger? 

Me: No..... that was your Aunt and Uncle that used to follow them. 

Daughter: So.... they were stalking them?

hmmmm....that's a new way to look at things!

Musings on...nothing in particular

Another day that I'm not sure what I want to write about.
I think I will just ramble on about last weekend.

Last weekend was busy!  My daughter played in the pep band at the football game.  I had not been to a high school football game,...well.... since high school!  The game was not that exciting (they lost), the band sounded great, and the high light of the evening was the streaker that ran across the field!  The funny thing was that both my girls missed it!  They were talking.  He ran out, turned to the crowd, had a friend run interference, hopped two chain link fences and got away in the waiting getaway car...apparently driven by his father!  Pretty funny.

The next day, youngest daughter had a soccer game.  We unfortunately lost.  I still thought that the girls played great!   The keep on getting better and better.

Soccer on Saturday

That night my eldest daughter got dressed up for the Homecoming Dance.  She went with a group of friends.  They looked so pretty!  I was really hoping that she would have a great time.  She called at 10:30, ready to go home.  I guess dancing is a little different then when I went to school.  We just bounced around and had a great time.  Apparently it is all about the bumping, grinding and freaking.  I'm sure my daughter was shocked.  After all, the last dancing she did was at the wedding in BC.  We all danced together and had so much fun!  Maybe it will be different at the next dance.

Sunday, we had a horse show to go to.  My daughter was taking her Level 1 and 2 training test in Dressage.   She placed 2nd in both events.  Yea!  She was so pleased with herself.

Taking the test

]

Nice tongue

Good work Jaffa

We were all pretty tired that night!

I have some interesting mushrooms growing in the front yard.  I'm interested in TTV photography, but don't have an old camera.  I decided to fake it in Photoshop.  Cheating...I know.  Still..... the effect is pretty cool.

Mushrooms

Mind Shift by Genki Sudo

Pure art!  So clever!

Musings...on early mornings

The new alarm clock

My youngest daughter is not a morning person.   She can be quite the ornery in the dawn hours. 
Needless to say, these early school mornings have bee a wee bit difficult.  I am hesitant to venture into her room in fear of her wrath!

I had to search for a new alarm clock for her.  Something that she couldn't just press snooze and go back to sleep. Something that prevent me coming upstairs to wake her.
I found an alarm clock that actually has a "bed shaker" that you put under your pillow. It emits a loud vibrating sound and shakes your pillow.   That gave her quite the shock the first morning! 

I think it's something that may actually work for her.


Three days, and I have not had to go into her room.

We will see how this experiment will go!

Musings on ....crocheting

Beret

Although I knit, I have never learned how to crochet.  This weekend, with the help of YouTube, I have been teaching myself to crochet a hat.  I'm so impatient.  I don't want to bother with truly learning how to crochet....I just want the hat! 

2nd hat

The first one ended up looking like a beret.  The second one was more of what I was looking for and the third was in colors that I like.  The fourth is being done with left over sock yarn.  I would like to use a cotton gor the next one.

Sock yarn

I think I'm getting the hang of this!

Musings on...back to school

Back to school

It's that time again!  Back to school!  

After a summer of sleeping in and lazing about...It's time for early mornings and structure!  I have one child starting middle school and another starting high school.  Big changes.  Where has the time gone?  

It was a good feeling to have the girls getting ready for school at the SAME time.  They also rode the bus together. No more shuttling back and forth between the schools at different times.  I liked that.

All of the sudden it was 7am and I had an empty house.  How strange.

They came home at the end of the day, and seemed happy with how everything went.  It was a bit difficult to get the one to soccer practice.  She was very tired.  After practice, she will be even more tired!  No rest, cause we have a game on Saturday!

I love back to school time!

Musings on .... a dolphin and a labrador

I  just had to share this video.
I wonder if Bosco would ever swim with a dolphin?

Hmmmmm....I like to swim with the girls! 
Not sure about dolphins.

Musings on....what children say

Kids say the funniest things

As I mentioned in my last post, we have just come back from a wonderful wedding in British Columbia.

I wanted to write this down before I forget.

We were driving back from a barbecue at our cousin's place. They were staying at Kicking Horse up at the mountain.  My cousin who was getting married, was having dinner in town with the wedding party.  As we were driving through town, we saw everyone out on the deck of the restaurant.  We honked and hooted and hollered as we drove by.

It was at that moment, that my youngest daughter declared that we had "totally sabotaged their moment!"  This left us in a fit of laughter....I'm not sure why.

The rest of our time we chuckled about sabotaging moments!

Musings on.....a dance off

Golden, BC

Recently we came back from a wedding/family reunion in Golden, British Columbia.
What a wonderful time we had.  Definitely too short for all of us, but a most quality experience!

I had not seen my parents and brother and sister for an entire year!  Aunts and uncles and cousins had been even longer!  We were all excited to see one another!

Harvesting

We packed up the car and started our drive on Monday.  Along the way we passed through some incredible wheat fields in eastern Washington.  It was around 7:30 at night and so interesting to see the trucks coming from everywhere, filled with wheat for the grain elevators.  I of course made my my husband stop, so I could get some pictures.

Running through the fields

We arrived at my Uncle Red's cabin in Panorama.  There, we were able to spend some time with my parents and my brother.  We had a  swim and canoe in Lake Lillian.  My Dad pulled toes...a bit of a tradition!  We played competitive  Scrabble, and my uncle showed off his cool Kilt Coozie from Scotland!

Toe Pulling

Beer Coozie

Home Lodge, Golden, BC

Then it was off to Golden.  Home Lodge was wonderful place to stay.  The girls enjoyed the jacuzzi with their aunt and uncle.

Jacuzzi Time

The vista was fantastic!  The mountains are so close, and rise up so steeply.  We were even able to watch my cousin take off in the helicopter to get married at Table Rock.  Might have to save that for another blog!

Off to get married!

The reception was so much fun.  We danced and made wonderful fools of ourselves!  The band played everything from Abba to country!  The mosquitoes were fierce, but the dancing kept us moving!

Dancing Fun!

Now to get to the "Dance Off".  I'm not sure how it happened, but I know that Tom Jones "It's not unusual" was playing.  Someone "my husband?" wanted to know who was the better dancer.  Was it Dave or Timmy?  My brother decided to text his wife and ask her opinion.  All of the sudden a "Dance Off"  was declared!  My husband and brother in law in a "Dance Off!"  Too funny!  Problem was, that we had different opinions of who won.  The band had played their last song.  We had  plans of continuing inside, but it was just too late and we were were all too tired!

A very unique and funny moment.  We had a grand time and know that another "Dance Off"  will be in our future!

Michael Franti, FrantiV: Bend, OR (08.05.10)

Here is the video from the show!  I love how he gives Bend a plug!  A tiny bit of my girl singing.  You got to love the boy talking about tornadoes!

Musings on...Michael Franti and Spearhead

Michael Franti

On Thursday we went to see Michael Franti at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend.  I had seen him before in VT with my sister, and we were right at the stage.  Up close and awesome!  That was a great experience, and I wanted to have one again! 

The girls and I decided if we were going to see him...we were also going to be right at the stage.  My eleven year old wanted to be there at 3:00.  The doors open at 5:30.  We got there at 4:00.

When the gates opened, and they ran down to stake their claim at the front of the stage.

front stage

Flobots were the opening band.  They were great!  The one guy (not the lead singer)  was an amazing dancer.  He did all sorts of crazy robot moves!  Very impressive and very athletic!

Flobots

Then Michael hit the stage!  Barefoot as usual and full of energy!  We were doing okay in the front, but towards the end of the night I had to really fight for our space.  I took a step back and just acted as a barrier for my girls.  He went out into the crowd for "Yell Fire."  Check out the video!  Very cool!

 At the end of the night he invited all the kids up for the last song.  My daughter was up there and about five people away from him.  All of the sudden he called her over and asked her to sing a verse!  I was so shocked that I didn't get video or a photo!  I'm working on finding something!  What an experience for her!  I asked her about what happened up there.  She said that he asked her if she knew the words.  She said that she didn't think so.  He said that he was watching her sing and she knew them.  So...she sang!  In front of three or four thousand people!  Way to go!

He's looking at my kid!

After the show, he came down to the stage and shook hands and hugged everyone.  You don't leave early from a Franti concert early...because he always does that!  He gave me a hug and I thanked him for letting my daughter sing.

A top concert in my books!

The crowd

Dancing kids

Shake it like a tambourine!

Franti and his son

Awesome show!

Kids on stage

Musings on....Sunset Dinner

Sunset

Last night my husband and I had a date night!  We rode the chair up the mountain to enjoy the Sunset dinner.  The last time we did this, the weather was cold and cloudy and there was no sunset.  Tonight was different.

I had the most delicious trout dinner and my husband had the halibut.  We enjoyed a fine bottle of wine and watched the sun set.  It was beautiful!

Enjoying some fine wine.