Monday, July 7th, Claude and I had a date to see our Podiatrist, Dr. Bradford Fine. Before my shoulder surgery, I was seeing him about every 6 months. I stopped when my world changed to all efforts to heal my shoulder. I am having numbness in my feet and Claude has something on his toes on one foot. This would be Claude's first visit to Dr. Fine.
The nurse took me directly to their X-ray room to get a new set of pictures of my feet. As we entered this room, I noticed this chair. I had never seen a chair like this. It did amuse me greatly. It is actually sitting in front of a small computer table with the counter for the nurses to stand behind when they take an X-ray. I asked to be sure it was a chair. The nurse confirmed it was a chair but she stated she would NEVER sit on it. Point made.
I went through my visit with Dr. Fine. He wanted me to get an ultrasound on my foot and to have a neurologist do a nerve test on my feet. As I left the examining room, I paused to get this picture of the odd chair. I sent it to our family with an update of our visits to Dr. Fine and I sent it to my friend Laura. Katelyn told me that Raelyn had a chair like this in school and absolutely loved it. Raelyn in hyperactive and I could see where that amount of bounce would help relieve some of that extra energy in our girl. Andie said they looked at having one in her class but she could see a first grader forgetting and having scissors around it making for a very loud pop. She did not get the chair. Laura and Claude both commented that it looked like ET. Laura also said if you turned around and sat facing backwards it would be like you are riding a turtle. That is my favorite thought on this very interesting chair.
The end result of Claude's visit was that when he fell in Rome and we all thought it was a very, very, very severe sprain...he really broke his fibula. This is a picture I found on the internet showing how it was broken. Dr. Fine said what we did to apply a medicated cream and then bind it with that elastic tape was the best we could have done. It has healed but we are not quite sure how well it has healed. It does give Claude some days of pain still. Claude is to get an MRI on his foot. Hmmmm...
We returned home in time for the electrician to come to do a bit of work for us. He replaced three light switches. They turned on but would flicker out and you would have to flip the switch again to get them back on. Apparently this happens as light switches age. We also needed the electrical box on our water heater replaced. He was able to that as well. Now, electrically speaking, our home is up-to-code!!
Tuesday, July 8th, I was happy to hear from the private tour I scheduled for us in Athens. We have one day and wanted to make the best of it. They sent us to payment information and also took care of picking us up and dropping us off at the hotel. Yeah!! One more piece of that travel pie is ready.
I am trying to learn a little Greek using Duolingo on my cellphone. As I did this days lesson, I had the word 'potato' in Greek. Since this is Joel's nickname and he answers readily to it, I did a screen shot of that particular page and posted it on Facebook on our family page. You would pronounce it like pa-ta-ta with all short 'a' sounds. Kinda fun for our family.
In the evening, Claude and I went to the Louisville Kentucky Temple. I usually see people I know when we attend the temple. This time I only saw Dorreen Beaver from a distance. I sat in the endowment room waiting for the session to begin and mused that I didn't have anyone in that session I knew. I said a little prayer and started my pondering to be ready for the session. In came a very familiar face. It was Kate Wahnschaff (used to be Watson) from our days in the Georgetown Ward. She recognized my face and came to sit by me. As we waited, in came John Hale with his two sons Porter and Payton. Then Josh Marcum came into the room. Oh had happy was my heart. Each of these boys has graduated high school. They are preparing to serve missions for the Church. I wondered where Michele was. She is Porter and Payton's mother. Then I realized she was sitting on the front row. When I entered the room, I had not even noticed her. Later I realized Marissa Noe was also in this session. She taught Seminary to these young men. It was delightful to find myself in the same session with these good people. I always reflect on life after the death and imagine it will be the joyous to see family and friends again. Just a little taste of how wonderful that experience will be. Wednesday, July 9th, this day my big achievements were doing all the laundry and reading my Dan Brown book "Inferno". I finished Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy in preparation for reading Dan Brown's Inferno. I learned even more about the Divine Comedy as I watched this movie and was really glad I took ALL THAT TIME to read The Divine Comedy. Inferno was made into a movie. There are a LOT of difference between the book and the movie. I have one more Dan Brown book to read entitled "Origin" before September. In September, Dan Brown will release his next book int he Robert Langsdon series. It is entitled "The Secret of Secrets: A Novel". I have pre-purchased that one and it will come to my Kindle while we are in Greece. Yeah!!
Thursday, July 10th, my goal was to get the kitchen swept and mopped and the carpets vacuumed. I realized the plastic container for what is vacuumed up was exceedingly full. It is always interesting for me to try and empty that thing. It is not hard but I have to read those instructions every time. Face it, this home has two fairly old and fairly tidy people living in it. This minimizes the times you need to do certain things that you had to do really frequently when there were lots of people living in our home. I emptied that container and then realized how grateful I was for a really good vacuum cleaner. I am so glad I didn't live in the age when you had to take the rugs out and beat them to get them clean! Yike!!
We treated ourselves to 5 Guys burgers for dinner with a quick stop in Walmart (right next door) to get more toner for my printer. Then it was home for a recliner evening!
Friday, July 11th, I had signed us up to have the missionaries over for dinner. Claude was wanting chicken enchiladas. The recipe makes a huge amount. Feeding the missionaries helped us fulfill Claude's wish for chicken enchiladas and make sure those young men had a good meal that day. I would get up and do my treadmill walking first, then my shower. Claude laid down for a nap and I went to spend my $5 Kohl's cash for my birthday. I found five tops I can wear on our trip to Greece. It is time for me to retire some of my clothing. I have clothes I have would for 30 years. It is okay to get somethings that are new. I found great sales as the store is clearing out their summer things in preparation to stock up for fall.
I came home and had an hour to rest before time to prep dinner. Claude helped by putting together the Mexican corn and the salad while I put together the chicken enchiladas and set the table. It was a good meal. The missionaries gave a lovely spiritual thought after our meal and then asked us to put our testimonies in the front of a Book of Mormon (one for each of us). They will give these to people they teach. We would do the writing on Saturday evening and Claude would give them to the missionaries on Sunday morning.
Saturday, July 12th, we woke up with me having a desire for Frank's donuts for breakfast. Claude was on board with that so off we sped in his bright green Jeep. Yum!!
I would clear things we had DVR's off the DVR while Claude napped. I also walked my treadmill for the day. Then we had a lazy afternoon and evening. Claude recorded a two-part documentary about Sitting Bull which we enjoyed. I had saved a Hidden Mysteries program that touched on Castle & Key. This is an old distillery near us that is being restored as a distillery and a venue to functions. We went there for a dinner for Bluegrass Tomorrow. Fun to see something that is in our own back yard.
Katelyn told me that Hayden wanted to come visit one weekend. It would appear from the picture her made it. Hayden and Katelyn in this picture. In the center back s a friend of Katelyn's making a funny face. It is so reassuring and comforting to see family members brave the miles between them to have a little time together.
Sunday, July 13th, I got to substitute as Primary pianist today. Jenny Squire's has ruined her right shoulder and had surgery. She will be out of commission for a couple of months. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Christensen, and I will take turns playing while she recovers. The cute backstory to this is: While we were in Italy in February 2024, I fell and trashed my right shoulder. I knew I couldn't use that hand and was pretty sure from the PT guy on our tour that I would need some kind of surgery. Before we went on that trip, I committed to play the organ for two weeks for Elizabeth Christensen who was traveling to see her other girls. From Italy, I sent a text to Jenny to see if she could substitute for me and explained my situation. Jenny LOVES playing the piano and is superb at that. She also plays the organ but really doesn't enjoy it as much as the piano. She graciously agreed to help me out. Now, a year later, I can reciprocate that kindness by helping Jenny by playing the piano in Primary while she heals. Isn't life nice like that?!