A Week of Gratitude...

Monday, July 8th, I had a great PT appointment with a new Physical Therapist doing the stretching at the end of the appointment. Well, he is new to me, not to the practice. He was greatly impressed with my progress and told me to expect at least two more months before my arm will be near the end. In our talk, I mentioned that Dr. Sajadi was my surgeon. He was very happy with that. He assured me if Dr. Sajadi did my surgery I should heal very well. He said that honestly when people come in after surgery, there are about three surgeons he knows they will do well. If they tell him any other name, he wants to say to them, "Good luck with that!" Oh My!! Grateful for a good doctor and honest PT guy. I also went home with a few ideas of office PT to incorporate into my home PT to help me progress a little more. Great visit. That stretching does me in but I know it is so good for my shoulder to learn it can go all the way back in this controlled way so that eventually it will go back with my efforts.

I am also very grateful for my hubby who has driven me to all these PT appointments without complaint. He even comes to pick me up with a soda in the car. That is SOOO refreshing after all the stretching at the end of PT. It is a little thing that truly means a great deal to me.

Tuesday, July 9th, I was grateful for a good full day again. Claude and I got donuts for breakfast. Then I worked at my laptop and accomplished some good things. I did three sessions of PT at home. Claude got the yard all groomed again. He actually had not cut the front yard for three weeks because we haven't had rain to help it grow. For dinner, we took ourselves to McAlister's. Then we came home and tried playing a game of Scrabble followed by a movie in the evening. A really good full day where it began to feel like I may be back to my old normal.

Wednesday, July 10th, I was so grateful to wake up with NO pain in my shoulder. This was the first day I can remember feeling that good when waking up since February 28th. Hallelujah. 

Claude and I also did a thing. He got the mail which had a flier from Norwegian Cruise Lines. We have cruised with them in Hawaii and the Baltic Sea. Claude saw a cruise that piqued his curiosity. It laid it on my computer table. I looked at it and agreed it would be a great cruise. I went to NCL website and actually found the same type of cruise with better ports of call. I shared that with Claude. They were having an amazing sale and that was ending that day. We discussed it and decided to book it as our big trip out-of-the-country for 2025. We will be going to Greece and Turkey. Yeah!! We will find something inside the United States to do in the Spring. 

In the evening we watched an older movie we really enjoy, "Always". 

Thursday, July 11th, I am grateful for whoever the neighbor is that has brought our garbage can from the street to our garage door. Such a sweet kindness.

Claude has the itch to travel. I was able to plot us a day trip for Friday into Ohio. 

Friday, July 12th, I awoke happy I had been able to sleep on my right side for an hour or so during the night. I sleep best on my right shoulder and it has been a very long time coming. I can't do it all night and shouldn't at this point. But the people at PT said I could as long as it didn't hurt. Felt so very good. 

We were off for a Day Trip to Ohio. I saw a post on Facebook about a spontaneous weekend road trip in Ohio. I took that information and pared it down to a day trip for Claude and me. There were two potential unique places to stay overnight. I took those out. There was a visit to the Carlisle Reservation and I took that out. It could be a day trip alone. This left us with five places to visit in one day. I created this page with times it took to get from one place to the other to be sure it was possible to fit all five into one day. It turned out to be a great road trip. We packed an overnight bag in case we were exhausted and wanted to rest over night before the drive home. After all, it was to be a relaxing trip. 

We left our home at 9am for Bojangles in Georgetown for our breakfast before the road trip. This is one area I have corrupted my poor hubby. A plain biscuit and a soda have been my go-to breakfast before a road trip. Claude always had a biscuit with breakfast foods on it and a big glass of juice. He still has his biscuit, but he now loves having his Diet Coke with it. Having a Bojangles in Georgetown that sells biscuits all day long has been one of our vices.

We would drive about 2 hours and 15 minus to Stan the Donut Man in Dayton, Ohio. We each enjoyed a twist donut. It was a good donut. The lady at the counter told us they were being selected for Best Donuts in the area. 

Our second stop was about 10 minutes away. It was The Magic Castle in Dayton, Ohio. We went for a round of mini golf. There is so much more to do here. Inside is an arcade with lots of games and a playland for little ones to climb around in. There is a place to get something to eat. Outside is the mini golf course, batting cages and picnic area. We only played one round of mini golf. Can't even remember the last time we did this. My recovering arm was very tired when finished but it was good to be using it again. Claude won by a landslide. Great fun. Oh, we considered hiring the two very young kids playing a round of mini golf after us with their grandfather to bend over and pick up our golf balls from the hole each round. 

Our third stop was Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio. This is actually an old town with several of the old buildings in it. We focused on the Mill. We arrived here at lunch time. As good fortune was on us, they have a little Cafe and we enjoyed a light lunch. After, we walked behind the the mill and thru the covered bridge over the Little Miami River. Great stop.

We were a little ahead of our schedule at this point. We found a McDonald's and went inside where it was air-conditioned and enjoyed a soda and Claude had a burger. This allowed a bit of a rest and refresh before going to our next stop. 

Our fourth stop was at the Westcott House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Springfield, Ohio. We have visited Falling Waters in Mill Run, Pennsylvania several times when we lived in Maryland. There is a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Frankfort, Kentucky. I love his design and style. Very geometric. 

You enter at the Visitor's Center which is in the garage or carriage house for the original home. You watch a brief video about the house falling into extreme disrepair and concerned citizens working together to restore this home to its original glory. 

You walk from the garage along the outside of the pergola walkway from the garage to the house. 

The front of the home is very nondescript. You would walk right past and not even know it was the front door. However, built to the side of the front door is this interesting structure. It is actually a birdhouse for starlings. 

The first room we saw was the study. The bank of bookshelves with glass doors was stunning. The geometric designs in the glass are typical to Wright's designs. Another thing of note is he puts windows along the one wall, but he extends these windows around each corner of that wall. This main level was built so it looks even with the park (actually a very old cemetery) across the street. He only uses shades that can be pulled down. Never curtains. Interestingly, our guide had a picture of the original lady of this house and she is standing by the windows with drapes hanging from them. Wright would not have approved.

This is an open concept home built in 1908. Look from the study you see past the sitting room or living room into the dining room. In the next picture, I am standing in the dining room looking back at the study. Our guide pointed out the mantel over the fireplace. Note the lines are all horizontal. The bricks are long and thin. The mortar between them is of two colors. A light color going left to right and a darker color that doesn't stand out going top to bottom. This enhances the horizontal effect of the wall and mantel. 

The dining room table was gorgeous. It seats eight people. There are posts with lamps on the top at each corner. These posts have a space under that lamp where an arrangement of flowers or a decoration could be placed. The chairs are very geometric in design. 

From the living room window, we could see the side yard. We would go out to this yard and look back at the house. There is a tiled flooring patio that is covered with an awning. This would have been used for entertaining. Beyond this is a pool that would have had waterlilies. On either side of the pool and the stairs going to the yard are enormous urns filled with plants. These two huge urns are original to the home. Replicas were made using this design for other places in the yard. When you look back at the house from the side yard, you can see the living floor that we were touring. The second floor is the sleeping rooms. The tile roof was made by the same company that made the original tile roof. They found some extra tiles in the attic and they were used as guide to replicate for the restored roof. The concrete above the tile roof is where the chimney's come out of the house. The chimney on the made floor in the living room divides into the two chimneys on the second floor and they exhaust out of the concrete structure at the very top of the house. 

The family who commissioned the building of this home for themselves had two children. In 1908 the son was young and this was his playroom table. His sister was a pre-teen when they moved into the home. She probably didn't use this playroom as much as her brother. The second picture is looking out the window of the playroom at the pergola walkway from the house to the garage.

We would go upstairs to see the bedrooms. As you go up the stairs there is a landing and this geometric glass is in the ceiling providing a lot of light for the landing. 

The bedrooms all had windows along the sides. There was a bathroom and closet for each of the two main bedrooms. Each also had a door to go out onto a porch. The beds had specially designed bedspreads on them. 

Our guide opened the door onto the sleeping porch of one of the main bedrooms. Sleeping porches were a big thing in these days of no air-conditioning. It was believed that fresh air kept people healthy. From this sleeping porch, I was able to look down on the side yard we visited earlier. An item of note, during the war, the family did not own this home. There was a shortage of housing so many of these huge homes were turned into apartments. The sleeping porches were closed in a served as a kitchen for each apartment. 

From the daughter's bedroom window, I was able to get a view of the other side yard, garden, pergola walkway and the garage (carriage house). There were two small bedrooms on this level for the maids. The kid's bedrooms had a Jack and Jill bathroom and the maids bedrooms had a Jack and Jill bathroom.

We went down the back stairs to the kitchen area. It was a large room with a period stove. There would have been a large table in the center for preparing things. The glassed in cabinets had dishes and serving pieces. There were "ice" boxes above the counter by the windows. 

We walked past the laundry room to the side yard. This had the garden in it. A gardener wasn hired who designs Wright gardens to put this one in its proper order when the home was restored.

We went back to the garage and gift shop. In the back are the stables for their horses. I was smitten with the very interesting lamp. 

We really enjoyed this home tour. Claude was sure he would have enjoyed living in this house. I think we both felt a little like we did after visiting Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West. Both of these home we would have enjoyed living in. 

Our final stop for the day was at Marion's Piazza in Dayton, Ohio. This one proved a little tricky to find. They have a sign on the Shroyer side of the road and that is the main entrance. But it is right on the street. You have to drive around the side and park almost behind the restaurant. There is a pick-up entrance there. Claude ordered us a pizza with lots of toppings on it. This pizza is thin crust with no curled up thicker edge around it. It is cut into little squares. That is their 'thing'. It was good pizza. The interesting things was you must go to a separate counter and pay there for your beverage. I'm guessing it has to do with the selling of alcohol as well as soda. Felt a little awkward but easily doable. Good meal. 

We finished eating and, knowing we have a little over two hours to get back home, determined to go on home and not spend a night on the road. We would get back to Georgetown about 8:30pm. It was a great day. We saw some fun things. Tried playing mini golf after many years. and enjoyed some good food. Grateful we found this on Facebook and adapted it to fit our lives.

Claude indulged my proclivity for puzzle making on our outing yesterday. I now have a 1000 piece Frank Lloyd Wright design puzzle. Shall I save it for Christmas? Who would help me?

Saturday, July 13th, was our Katelyn's birthday. I posted this to Facebook: "Well folks, today we have the next birthday in our 2024 family birthday journey. Katelyn Roper, our first-born grandmonster, begins another journey around the sun. She gave us the names Blampa and Blamma, our 1st great grandmonster and tons of joy. Happy Birthday, Cherub!! Love Ya Bunches!!"

My big accomplishment this day was finishing the grid for our fall Route 66 Trip. I combined all my finding, as well as Fred and Lynette's insights from their trips. Now, I have 22 pages of information for Claude and I to pair down to a realistic trip!!

In the afternoon the Elkhorn Creek Ward Relief Society had a "Modern Homesteading" activity. Cassie Zitter is our activity chair and she did a masterful job with this one. We learned to use cream to make butter and whipped cream and buttermilk. We made juices of several kinds from fruits to veggies and combinations of those items. We learned about making sour dough bread and everyone was given a sour dough starter. And we learned about herbs. Great training and lots of conversation and mixing with the sisters. 

This was the day I accomplished my goal of driving again. It was only from my home to the church and back. But I did it and learned I can drive myself on little jaunts. Don't think I could hold my arm up for long periods of time yet. But I can get it up high enough to drive my car. Yeah!!

Sunday, July 14th, we had a good church service. Our entire bishopric was out-of-town so the Elder's Quorum took charge and conducted the meetings. Claude went up to Josh Rayburn, our Elder's Quorum President after sacrament meeting and told him he had a LOT of problems he needed to talk to him about. This was because Josh was acting in place of the bishop. Josh got a chuckle out of it which is what Claude was going for. Then Josh assured Claude he would refer him to the Bishop when he was back in town. 

We had Burger King for lunch, took quick naps and I am getting my laptop items taken care of. Another good day.

This week I am very grateful for improvements in my arm, time with my hubby, planning for the future, enjoying time with ladies from church and so many, many other things. I have a good life.

PT, A Movie, the 4th of July & a Renaissance Fair...

Monday, July 1st, was a day of nice accomplishments. I completed the Relief Society newsletter for July and posted it via eMail and Facebook to all the ladies in the Elkhorn Creek Ward. I sent all the upcoming Relief Society announcements to Amy Martin for the Sunday bulletins for July. I had a really good workout at PT. For me, getting just these things done is a big deal. 

Claude picked me up and brought me a soda. How sweet is that?! After a good workout at PT, a soda treat is just what a girl needs. 

Tuesday, July 2nd, during the morning I was able to get a little further with my research for our Route 66 trip this fall. Such a slow process of preparing.

In the afternoon we headed out for another date. Claude wanted to see the Kevin Costner movie "Horizon: An American Saga". Claude needed new shorts. I had a birthday Kohl's Cash of $5. We first went to Kohl's and found two pair of shorts to meet Claude's needs. Then over to Regal Cinemas in Hamburg to see the movie. 

The movie lasts for three hours. It was to begin at 2:10pm. However, after about 40 minutes of previews and advertisements, the movie began. I checked my cellphone for time. It was 2:47 when the movie began. Geez! Claude and I both enjoyed this movie. We went into it with the understanding that this first of the four part saga is made up of several story lines. They don't necessarily seem cohesive until later in the 3-hour block. As the future 3 episodes are shown, these plots will come together even more. Gorgeous setting for the movie. We will return in August for the second episode. 

We enjoyed dinner at Chipotle's after,

Wednesday, July 3rd, I visited Dr. Wilson, our dermatologist, for my annual check. No issues found. Well, he has one spot he is watching and pointed out to me on my nose so I will watch. Nothing yet but I am to call him if it changes at all. Made an appointment to return next July.

In the afternoon I had my second PT appointment for this week. With the 4th of July being Thursday, I would get all my office PT in before the holiday. That stretching at the end is excruciating but it is really loosening up my shoulder as it heals. I shall endure for the benefit it is and will give me in healing. 

I was able to get through Missouri in my Route 66 planning from my EZ Guidebook. Lots of things added to my grid.

Thursday, July 4th, we opted for a quiet celebration in our home. I was awake before Claude and watched our backyard for a bit. One of the chipmunks was playing in the flower bed. At times there are three of these little guys chasing around the back yard. I enjoy that we have a bit of wildlife out there.

For some reason, I had a very bloodshot right eye. Must have happened during the night because it was not like that when I went to bed. We decided it was a Robert Duvall kind of day. We watched our DVD's of Lonesome Dove, Open Range and Broken Trail. All excellent movies that we really enjoy. Claude fixed us barbequed chicken, potato salad and cucumber and tomato salad. We sat in our comfy little home with good food and good movies and were grateful for all these blessings on the 4th of July.

We live in Ward Hall Estates, a subdivision in Georgetown, Kentucky. Each year, the youth place flags at the base of each home's mailbox. I love this tradition. The street is lined with these flags waving in the breeze. Way cool!!

Friday, July 5th, during the day I got to Texas adding to the grid from my EZ Guidebook for Route 66. Progress. Slow progress.

In the evening, we were invited to Helen Gibson's 80th birthday party. We gave her a jar of homemade crabapple jelly with a card Claude colored. It was a nice party and we saw many old friends from out time here in Kentucky. 

This night I would try sleeping with Claude again. I have been sleeping in the guest bedroom as I must sleep in my back to roll out of the bed on my left side. I have a wall of pillows to support my right arm. I did try to sleep with Claude again, but really, who can sleep on their back and not snore at least a little. Ugh. Back to the guest bedroom for a few more weeks. 

Saturday, July 6th, we had two outside activities we wanted to attend. The first was a Blackberry Festival in Carlisle, Kentucky. We got up and got ready and drove over to Carlisle. That is where it because clear it was starting until the evening. Well, we had a nice 1-hour drive through beautiful Kentucky countryside.

Our second activity we were going to do the next week. Since the Blackberry Festival didn't happen, we drove to Eminence Kentucky to the Renaissance Fair. We have never been to one of these and it really piqued Claude's curiosity. This meant we would be there in the hot part of the afternoon. This is not a great time to do this. But a lot of the fair is paths through trees. This helped a lot. 

We found it pricey. To get tickets at the gate was $25 for each of us. We would purchase chili cheese fries and two big cups of lemonade. That was another $30. We didn't purchase anything from vendors. We watched two musical shows. We didn't watch any of the field events as they were out in an open field in the sun. The sun got to me as I try to build stamina. We headed back to our car and then home. I felt sick to my stomach and was pretty sure it was simply heat exhaustion. 

I went thinking of Renaissance as the classic period in history. Maybe powdered wigs and elegant dresses. However, that is simply not the case. This Renaissance Fair was based on Robert the Bruce in Scotland in the 1300's. Really, if you are a hardcore biker with lots of leathers, you can wear that and doll it up a bit. Most people are in costume. But you really don't have to be. Clearly, we weren't. If you are female with ample bosom, you can spill over and it is just fine. I didn't understand the colored fox tails that many women and men were wearing. Lots of ears like the hobbits and fairies in Lord of the Rings wear. It was delightful to see what people were wearing. I did take a picture of a lady with a red mushroom hat and a man that simply used what he could find in his kitchen for armor. There was human chess played on a grassy area. Made for an interesting afternoon. 

Sunday, July 7th, Saturday night's rest for Sunday was AWFUL. I woke up many times. I had vivid horrible dreams. Not sure where any of that came from. I was out of bed at 6:30am. I did my home PT and iced up. Then I fell asleep in my recliner. I got up from there at 9am to shower for church. Claude had a 7am Zoom meeting. When I saw him at 9am, I told him I did not feel well at all. I told him I was going to go back to bed. He went to church, and I went to bed and slept until noon!!! This really is not me at all. It may have been the heat from being out Saturday. Not sure but it really threw me a huge curve.

Claude came home from church with Panera salads for us for lunch. I had my salad and curled up in my recliner while Claude took his nap. I would stay in that recliner the rest of the day. Whew, I haven't had something like that hit me in a while. 

I call this a good week. Next week, I hope to begin driving again.

And the Healing Goes On...

Wednesday, June 26th, I tried my hand at weeding again. This is very difficult as I must bend from the waist for long periods of time. I can only use my left hand and arm. We have had precious little rain so the soil is hard. Claude watered the beds the night before hoping that would help. I was able to get the front bed under that bathroom window and around the corner of the house. It looked like I had ground cover growing there with the clover and other weeds. The last time it was weeded was before my surgery. Felt good to get that bit done. Claude would put new dirt at the base of the two azalea bushes we have growing there. Now, it looks great!

Sweet Raelyn wanted to video chat. I did contact Katelyn to be sure it was okay. Sometimes this little nugget will try to do this when she is supposed to be cleaning or resting. It took a bit to get the connection but we chatted for a bit. 

We finally got a bit of rain in the late afternoon. A bit, but we'll take a bit right now.

Thursday, June 27th, Art turned up my PT a notch. He added some weight exercises and some more strenuous exercises. At the end, they always do stretching on the shoulder. Art did that stretching. He really gives my shoulder (and by extension, me) a work out. Art was watching me throughout all my exercises that day. He believes I have 'turned a corner'. He is very happy with my ability to move as much as I am. All this is very heartening. Honestly, I went home and iced my shoulder and sat for the afternoon. It is a workout. 

I did walk my treadmill another day. This is also baby steps but it is steps and they are in a forward motion. I would walk for 5 minutes every day at 3mph. Not anything like before our trip to Italy but I really need to do this. One of the difficult things about this is holding my right arm out straight for long periods of time. I'll get there.

Friday, June 28th, a day that didn't quite turn out like we originally planned. 

Claude had to go into Lexington for some Communication Council service at God's Pantry. The plan was for him go take care of this while I did my morning PT and walk. Then he would come home and pick me up and we would drive to Morehead to do the Turtle Walk. They have painted turtles like the painted horses in Lexington. We would go and find these and take pictures. Then have a nice dinner together.

Claude went to Lexington. Did his errand. Came back by Bojangles to get me a biscuit. Alas, the elderly gentleman in the drive-thru in front of him did not seem to know how to work a drive-thru. He went right past where you place the order, past the first window where you pay and to the pick-up window. They had to take his order there. Not really a huge problem. However, when they asked him to pull into a spot and they would bring the order out to him, he refused and waited at the window for the order to be prepared. Eventually, Claude made it to the pickup window and get his order. When he got home, it was not at all what he ordered. He got blueberry biscuits with sausage on them. Oh my goodness. I like a blueberry biscuit on occasion but they are very sweet and covered in a sugar glaze. Adding a sausage patty to that made them over-the-top for a breakfast food. We know we will never order that for ourselves again. Wondering if the elderly gentleman got our order instead. 

Claude was ready for us to have a date. So, we revamped our plans for this day. Claude wanted to dine at BD Mongolian Grill. Yum. He also wanted to see the Mike Rowe movie "Something to Stand For". I got tickets at the Regal Cinema in Hamburg Pavillion for the 7:15 showing. We had our dinner and then drove to the theater. I had the tickets on my cellphone. We went in for the 'gatekeeper' to scan them. They would not work. He said I needed to talk to the man in the booth. It seems I had tickets for Saturday and not Friday. It also seems there was no showing of "Something to Stand For" on Friday. We would have to come back on Saturday. Geez!! 

We went back to Chick-fil-A in Georgetown and got a peach shake instead. 

The lesson this day was to be flexible. 

Saturday, June 29th, would be a clean-the-house kind of day. I really can't push the vacuum or work the Swiffer sweeper or mop. I could clean the bathroom counters and swish the toilets while Claude did the floors. I washed all the throw rugs in the bathrooms and kitchen. Yeah us!! It is always fun when we are both working together. 

We did go to Lexington for a second date! This time we tried a new restaurant to us, Local Taco. It was pretty good and we would go back. Then we went to see "Something to Stand For" with Mike Rowe. It was excellent. Not political at all. It was like listening to Paul Harvey's "Rest of the Story". Claude and I don't go to movies very often. This was excellent and to see it at the 4th of July timeframe was great. Highly recommend this movie.

Sunday, June 30th, I woke early and my arm was feeling like it was hugely swollen. It was not. It was like it was on fire. Like when you have a fever and you can't stand for anything to touch your skin. I really wanted to go to sacrament meeting. I did my morning PT. Then curled up by Claude and rested a bit. Then we got ready and went to Sacrament Meeting. Aubrey and Raul Garrido blessed their baby girl, Claire. This is always a nice experience.

We left after sacrament meeting. Came home and I put on a loose fitting t-shirt and took a nap. I have learned that rest is imperative to good healing from this type of surgery. We got up and went to 5-Guys for a burger for our meal-or-the-day. Then back home to watch Psych. I would do one more round of PT in the evening.

I had an Ah-Ha moment when I tried to raise my right arm. You see, I haven't been able to do that since surgery without help from my left arm. I took this brief video to share my progress with my family.

Sunday was also Drew's birthday. I posted this to Facebook: "See the guy on the left? That is our grand son-in-law, Drew Roper. Today is his Happy Birthday.  Please join me in sharing your birthday wishes to this ice hockey loving dad of 4 of our great grandmonsters and hubby to our eldest grandmonster. Happy Birthday  Drew!! We Love Ya Bunches!!"

It has been a good week of healing. More outings that strengthen me and give variety to life. Life is good.