Can You Believe It - I'm Home!

24 hours after my right knee was replaced I am home. Incredible. And you know what did it? My 4 months of "Rocky" behavior - 90 minutes of knee exercises in the pool every day. I passed every physical test with flying colors (the test you had to pass to be able to go to a rehab center and then home).

There was one funny moment. When the PT came to my room she was concerned when she saw my walker. You have probably seen both types of walkers out there - one is aluminum, has no seat and wraps around the front of the user. The other style has a seat but, because of the seat, you walk further back. She wanted me to have the first type, I brought the second. After voicing her concerns I answered with, "You don't understand. I have been using this walker for 4 months. I can win Olympic events in it. I can do twirlys (she was not impressed), stop on a dime, do quick corners, push it with the seat piled up with my stuff or my grandsons, run it down stairs when necessary (not with me using it for support, mind you) - I KNOW this walker." And then I proved it. I walked up and down the hall next to her, balanced, using the brakes properly, standing correctly, applying little pressure to the arms of the walker so my legs did the work.  I was quite perfect, I think,

She smiled and agreed.  I can use it.

Then we walked, did stairs, completed the 3 exercises she wants me to do each day (so easy after the 2 hours per day I now spend on them on my bed and in the pool). I can't get back in the pool for 6 weeks but that's okay.

The other reason I could come home (and not go to a rehab center as many people do) is that everything here is done for me. I don't have to fix meals, do the type of cleaning that is hard (washing floors etc), my Physical Therapist will come right to my room for treatments, etc.  Phew.  Thank goodness.

So I am sitting on my bed in my wee apartment typing this. My knee is covered with a pad connected to an ice machine to keep the swelling down (the hospital gave it to me). I have figured out how to have enough ice to keep it filled given that I have a tiny freezer. I am in business.

I can't quite believe that I am walking as well as I did before the surgery and can now progress further.  Apparently during the surgery the doctor bent my knee all the way back so that my heel touched the back of my thighs (kind of makes me queasy thinking about how VERY much that would have hurt if I had been awake) and with continued exercise I will be able to do that myself. A new goal.

So, it's over, my new life commences, I now know I CAN make my trip to the East.

Life is good.

The Year of the Knee

My knee replacement surgery is tomorrow. I'm calling 2014 "The Year of the Knee." It started in January with that cortisone shot that apparently introduced staph into my body (an absolutely freak occurrence according to all) and proceeded through many months of knee strengthening and learning to walk again.

So now I will go back a few steps - use a walker for a bit. However the knee will be stronger and the arthritis gone.

I hope to travel to the East coast, swing down South, back to the West and then up to Oregon for the months of October and November. I look forward to long, lazy conversations with good friends I have not seen in many years. It will be, by necessity, a physically easy trip and I plan to do a lot of it by train. See more of this wonderful country. It should be lovely.

I assume that by December my knee - and my life - will be back to normal.

I learned a lot about myself in this Year of the Knee. I am also glad the experience soon ends!

Wish me well.

Simple Pleasures

When I sold my house in Pacific Grove in early June I pretended I was rich - after all I just sold a house in California. In reality the money is needed for my retirement years but, for a week, I pretended this wasn't the case. I took anyone and everyone out to dinner, I bought clothes and shoes, and I certainly didn't think about the bills that would surely come due. Instead I luxuriated in the pretense.

Of course reality soon reared its ugly head and I am back to my usual budgeting but oh that week was glorious.

The single best thing I bought (and after using it at my cousin Pattie's house soon after my arrival in California I asked her to go to my amazon account and order the exact same thing for me) was my Nespresso machine.

I love it.

I bought their espresso machine - and the frother - and the the case to hold the little packets - and the large (200 total) sampler offering a variety of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffees. Yes, I went a bit hog wild. I am sure my financial advisor is glad I bought the least expensive model (well, actually I did not divulge the extent of my spree to him) and the whole works was waiting for me when I returned from California.

Then I watched the 60 Minutes episode about aging - and what appears to affect how long we live.  Who knew the regimen includes 2-3 cups of coffee a day and 1-2 glasses of alcohol?

And here sat my new Nespresso just waiting.

I am now in coffee heaven.

I enjoy a perfect cappuccino each morning (I equal the cappuccinos from my memories of Italy. The little cap of foam?  Yep, I create it every time.)

On these hot summer days in Portland (I know, I know - who knew summers were sunny and hot here?) I make at least one iced coffee - YUM.

And then, to combine the daily required intake of coffee with that of alcohol - what better way to end each day than with a hot decaffeinated coffee with a dollop of Bailey's?

Okay, I am not rich, not even in the slightest, but I am so glad I went on that short spending spree. In fact I toast myself each night, Baileys and espresso in hand.  Way to go, Donna!

Yosemite Again

What can I say? I am not sure there is anything more majestic or more breathtaking than Yosemite. Yes, I have stood in other majestic and breathtaking places on this planet but I don't think any are MORE so than Yosemite. Simply wonderful.

This year my cousin Pattie couldn't come. Drat those work commitments for the too-young-to-be-retired-set but her sister Loretta could join Stephanie, Dan, the two boys, Lee, Michelle and me (and the 30 plus other friends and family that make up this annual camping group). Although I have only come the past 8-10 years, this was the 30th year the group has camped at Yosemite.  

Our campsite was spectacular - the most beautiful of my experiences here at the Housekeeping Campground.

Okay, the actual tent cabin is NOT spectacular:

Yes, a tad rustic but look close - we ARE minimalist campers.  There is not a lot of stuff at the site.  Inside the tent flaps are a double bed and a set of bunk beds. We had two of these cabins - mine was to the left in this photo. 2 bear lockers (the two iron boxes stacked on top of each other) are provided at each site. You store EVERYTHING that has a scent - sunscreen, toothpaste as well as all food. No bears joined our site this year.

But look at the view we had from our cabin:

Our tent cabin was at the top of a bluff overlooking the Merced River.  Here was our view to the right..

Here was our view to the left.

Just down a bit we could cross a foot bridge:

To the wide beach on the opposite shore:

This is where we swam and the boys played in the sand.

I wasn't wearing my glasses when I saw this interesting sight at the beach.  I wondered what it was.  

A green man fleeing for his life?

Ah, a turtle raft, of course!

The child did have fun on it!

In the afternoon the river filled with rafts (including ours - the same ones from last year). 

And if I got bored, I could look up to the left from the beach and see:

Yosemite Falls

We made great camp meals (well we only had to make one dinner - for all 40 of us - and then were able to enjoy the dinners made by others in the group the remaining nights) but is there anything better than the smell of bacon and eggs cooking in the early morning chill air?

We hiked, swam, biked, saw ranger shows (Wesley learned a lot and was able to share what he learned), played baseball in an open space in the midst of the group's 10 cabins, caught up on reading, watched the ground squirrels and deer who strolled into our sites, heard campers yell "Elmer" from camp site to camp site as it got dark (a decades-old Yosemite tradition with several options for its origin), looked at the stars through Dan's telescope, caught up with each other's lives over the past year, read some more and enjoyed the beauty around us.

I did quite well with my cane over the uneven ground - no problems. Okay, I didn't hike or bike or play baseball but I did the rest. The one funny thing was the reaction of others on the beach as I walked into the water using my cane. I heard a few catches of breaths when I first started into the water (I guess they thought I wouldn't get in or wouldn't get the cane wet) but more gasps when I kept going until my shoulders were covered by water and the cane was completely submerged. It still supported me even in the shifting river bed sand. When I got out, I turned it upside down and watched the water drain out from the metal holes. Handy thing, a metal cane.

And yes, of course, I went to the Ahwahnee to have lunch and to pretend I was staying at the other end of the spectrum of lodgings at the park.  Wonderful, as always.

When Lee and Michelle (Titi to Wesley and Finn) arrived, Wesley was ready. He knew he was in for lots of tickles and loves from his beloved Titi.  Let's see what this looked like:

The first gentle little tickle to Wesley's side

Uh oh - so funny he is hopping about.

Even Titi's feet are elevated from mirth (who knew the rafts would make great chairs when not in the water?).

Complete convulsions of laughter.

Oh no, just so exhausting - can you do it again?

A wonderful week.  Wonderful memories.  Unfortunately, the day after we left, lightning strikes ignited a fire. Today, more than a week later, almost 5000 acres have burned. Thankfully it is 95% contained and did not affect the part of Yosemite Valley where we camped but any acreage burned is a loss to all. 

Even with the realities of forest fires, I already can't wait for next year's trip.