What are the odds that you would run into a High School classmate after 56 years and over 1500 miles from where you went to high school? Slim and none come to my mind immediately. Now I have to add another possibility to the list.
I had a dr. appointment today and while we were in the waiting room a guy next to me started chatting. He had a household accident and broke his leg and we had the same doctor. He asked where we were from and when I said Illinois, he asked where. Gillespie was my answer and he said that was where his wife was from. I took a look at her (saw her once in last 56 years) and said her name was Judy P. She had a startled look on her face and asked who I was. Well, we both graduated from HS in 1957 and she was a cheerleader and I played all the sports.
Needless to say we both had changed over the years, but she has high cheek bones and I could still see it in her face. I don't know for sure if she remembered me or not, but we had a nice chat. She left town right after I did and all her family back there have passed on so she doesn't go back to the area that often. She and her husband have lived in Tucson for the last 13 years and we've spent the last 7 winters out here.
One of our favorite restaurants out here is the Guadalajara Cafe and it is one of their favorites, also. They know the owner and most of the staff and said we could find them there most Tuesdays. He has a long recovery from the broken leg and hasn't been able to go there since mid January. Who knows, we may have shared a room with them in the past.
The doctor checked my knee and said I was doing just fine. The mobility is coming back nicely. I was dreading the visit since the doctor really works the knee over and raises the pain level. This time it wasn't as bad as in the past, so I guess I am really healing pretty good.
He said I could resume driving as long as I wasn't on a pain pill and that is good news. Actually, I sort of like to have my own personal driver and may milk this for a few more weeks or so. Gerry heard him say I could drive and that made her happy to say the least. I guess that means I won't be able to pull off the delay for too long. Nice thought, though.
The weather has really taken a turn for the better. It will actually be normal for the foreseeable future and that means in the 70s and low 80s for highs, with the lows at night around 50. Now that is the reason we come out here and love it so much. Now we can get out and enjoy it with Barbara and Henry next week.
Sabillasville, Maryland farm
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Physical Therapy Day
Well, the weekend is over and that means PT for me on Monday. Gerry had a Dr. appointment and took me to PT and our good friend Ron C was kind enough to pick me up after the session. Thanks Ron.
The PT today was a little more difficult than in the past since he worked on my knee to break up the scar tissue. That is important so I can regain mobility in the leg. He said he could feel the scar tissue and by kneeding the leg in that area it would break up and my system would take care of it. I sure hope so, since it hurt and I don't want to go through that if it doesn't work.
He also had some new exercises that worked the knee even more. The easiest one was on the stationary bike for 8 minutes but it went downhill from there. Most of the new exercises seemed to be more difficult, so that is a good thing. No pain, no gain is true in this case.
I also walked around the facility with a stick and did well with that. It did make me a little woozy, but after a few minutes I was fine. I have to drink more water and keep my system from dehydrating. Easier said than done since I don't usually drink a lot of water.
Gerry returned from her Dr. appointment and said the technician would not tell her anything about how it went. They are under strict orders to not discuss the results and let the Dr. explain the results.
Barbara (dau) also had a colonoscopy this morning and got a clean bill of goods. No, don't read anything into the above statement. All is well and I know that is a load off her mind. Way to go Barbara.
As far as we know Cassie is still fighting the effects of flu. She can't talk so it is difficult to communicate with her and get an update on her condition. She used to be on the computer a lot and we could chat, but not lately. I will have to bug her on that so we can get back in the loop.
The PT today was a little more difficult than in the past since he worked on my knee to break up the scar tissue. That is important so I can regain mobility in the leg. He said he could feel the scar tissue and by kneeding the leg in that area it would break up and my system would take care of it. I sure hope so, since it hurt and I don't want to go through that if it doesn't work.
He also had some new exercises that worked the knee even more. The easiest one was on the stationary bike for 8 minutes but it went downhill from there. Most of the new exercises seemed to be more difficult, so that is a good thing. No pain, no gain is true in this case.
I also walked around the facility with a stick and did well with that. It did make me a little woozy, but after a few minutes I was fine. I have to drink more water and keep my system from dehydrating. Easier said than done since I don't usually drink a lot of water.
Gerry returned from her Dr. appointment and said the technician would not tell her anything about how it went. They are under strict orders to not discuss the results and let the Dr. explain the results.
Barbara (dau) also had a colonoscopy this morning and got a clean bill of goods. No, don't read anything into the above statement. All is well and I know that is a load off her mind. Way to go Barbara.
As far as we know Cassie is still fighting the effects of flu. She can't talk so it is difficult to communicate with her and get an update on her condition. She used to be on the computer a lot and we could chat, but not lately. I will have to bug her on that so we can get back in the loop.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Danica Patrick & One More Week To Go
I was a captive of the CPM today and turned the Nascar race on to kill some time. I'm not a big Nascar fan, but they have really been heavy in the advertising of Danica Patrick and how she won the pole position for the Daytona 500. It was the first time that a woman has won a pole position there and there was a bunch of excitement about her being the first woman to win the Daytona 500. I won't keep you in suspense as you probably know by now she didn't win. She did run in the top 10 drivers all day and finished a respectable 8th in the race. Well done, Danica.
My favorite driver is Mark Martin and he hasn't been racing full time for the past 3-4 years, but always seems to start the season out really well and then takes off a few races. That ruins his chances for winning the overall title, but he is a good driver and seems to be a nice person in real life. All the other drivers respect him and never have anything negative to say about him. Oh, he was also the oldest driver at Daytona and usually is wherever he races.
Next week the Nascar series will move to Phoenix, AZ and Gerry & I have plans to drive up there and pick up our daughter Barbara and her husband Henry. Henry is a Nascar fanatic and wants to see a race in every sanctioned Nascar racetrack. We had planned on going with them to Las Vegas, but the knee operation put the nix on that for me. It would have been fun seeing Vegas with them. Henry's parents will be in Phoenix and also Las Vegas so they should have some great bonding time. Part of the reason for seeing the races is to help Henry's father celebrate his 75th birthday. Happy Birthday Henry. ( April)
In between the Phoenix race and Las Vegas Barb & Henry will be visiting with us in Tucson and staying in the motorhome. That should be interesting and we are very much looking forward to seeing them. Gerry and I will drive up to Phoenix on Sunday after the race and pick them up at their hotel. Gerry will be doing the driving and I will be a passenger. We've taken short trips lately to see how my knee can handle the drive. So far it has been a little dicey but I hope that I heal up more by then and all will be well. It is a 2 1/2 hour trip each way and most likely will be tiring for me, but doable.
The weather around here has really been weird lately. We had a couple nice days and then today it never got above 52 degrees and the wind was gusting around 25-35 mph all day. We have the diesel heater running now and it is comfortable in the motor home. They are calling for lows around 30 degrees tonight and then a slow warming trend is in the forecast. It can't come too fast for me.
Cassie has been sick the past couple weeks with the flu and has lost her voice for most of the time. We are very anxious for her to get better soon and on the road to good health. It is difficult to not be able to see and help her, but the timing has been difficult with the knee replacement and the distance between us. Hurry and get well Cassie.
My favorite driver is Mark Martin and he hasn't been racing full time for the past 3-4 years, but always seems to start the season out really well and then takes off a few races. That ruins his chances for winning the overall title, but he is a good driver and seems to be a nice person in real life. All the other drivers respect him and never have anything negative to say about him. Oh, he was also the oldest driver at Daytona and usually is wherever he races.
Next week the Nascar series will move to Phoenix, AZ and Gerry & I have plans to drive up there and pick up our daughter Barbara and her husband Henry. Henry is a Nascar fanatic and wants to see a race in every sanctioned Nascar racetrack. We had planned on going with them to Las Vegas, but the knee operation put the nix on that for me. It would have been fun seeing Vegas with them. Henry's parents will be in Phoenix and also Las Vegas so they should have some great bonding time. Part of the reason for seeing the races is to help Henry's father celebrate his 75th birthday. Happy Birthday Henry. ( April)
In between the Phoenix race and Las Vegas Barb & Henry will be visiting with us in Tucson and staying in the motorhome. That should be interesting and we are very much looking forward to seeing them. Gerry and I will drive up to Phoenix on Sunday after the race and pick them up at their hotel. Gerry will be doing the driving and I will be a passenger. We've taken short trips lately to see how my knee can handle the drive. So far it has been a little dicey but I hope that I heal up more by then and all will be well. It is a 2 1/2 hour trip each way and most likely will be tiring for me, but doable.
The weather around here has really been weird lately. We had a couple nice days and then today it never got above 52 degrees and the wind was gusting around 25-35 mph all day. We have the diesel heater running now and it is comfortable in the motor home. They are calling for lows around 30 degrees tonight and then a slow warming trend is in the forecast. It can't come too fast for me.
Cassie has been sick the past couple weeks with the flu and has lost her voice for most of the time. We are very anxious for her to get better soon and on the road to good health. It is difficult to not be able to see and help her, but the timing has been difficult with the knee replacement and the distance between us. Hurry and get well Cassie.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Greetings From Sunny Tucson
If you type in Tucson weather, you will most likely find pages of references to the sunny weather here. Average of 290 sunny days appears frequently and low precipitation glares out at you. If you arrived here a couple days ago, you would think you landed in the far north.
The weather man forecasted a bizzard warning for the area and I thought they were out of their minds. Well, they were right. We fit in with all the elements of a blizzard and received around 5-7 inches of snow at the park. I had a noon PT appointment and when I got out of the car it started to rain. By the time I got to the door the employees were standing there wide eyed staring at the snowfall. It was really coming down and covered the car and parking lot very quickly. In fact, it was snowing so hard that I skipped icing down my knee after PT and we headed back to the motor home. This is what it looked like after an hour of snow and more coming down.
It snowed so hard that we lost our TV transmission for extended periods of time. When I went to bed and looked out the window the long row of lights at a nearby warehouse facility were not visible at all. That was spooky since I check them each night just before I go to sleep.
Today when we went to PT at 11am there was still a lot of snow on the ground and the surrounding mountains were all snow covered. The shot below is of the Rincon Mts. to the east of us with the Hotrod Cafe in the foreground.
While all this was going on, I just lazied around in bed and used the CPM unit to exercise my leg. It used to be tough to get in and it stretched my leg muscles quite a bit. Now, since the leg muscles are looser, it doesn't seem to be as effective. How would you like to stay on one of these 3 times a day for 2 hours each time? Boring!
My recovery seems to be going along pretty well, but I don't have any way to judge it. The PT person says my flexibility in the leg is coming along very good, but I still have a long way to go to get it where it should be. I don't have anything else to do so I guess the exercises will continue.
Gerry has been a real trooper and I know I couldn't go through this without her help. She also is a tough taskmaster and that is what I need. It's great to have someone that I can depend on during this recovery.
The weather man forecasted a bizzard warning for the area and I thought they were out of their minds. Well, they were right. We fit in with all the elements of a blizzard and received around 5-7 inches of snow at the park. I had a noon PT appointment and when I got out of the car it started to rain. By the time I got to the door the employees were standing there wide eyed staring at the snowfall. It was really coming down and covered the car and parking lot very quickly. In fact, it was snowing so hard that I skipped icing down my knee after PT and we headed back to the motor home. This is what it looked like after an hour of snow and more coming down.
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| RV Park Road |
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| Our Motorhome |
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| Gerry sweeping the steps |
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| Street we are on. |
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| Ron's cozy trailer and Judy & Steve's 5th Wheel. |
Today when we went to PT at 11am there was still a lot of snow on the ground and the surrounding mountains were all snow covered. The shot below is of the Rincon Mts. to the east of us with the Hotrod Cafe in the foreground.
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| Rincon Mts |
My recovery seems to be going along pretty well, but I don't have any way to judge it. The PT person says my flexibility in the leg is coming along very good, but I still have a long way to go to get it where it should be. I don't have anything else to do so I guess the exercises will continue.
Gerry has been a real trooper and I know I couldn't go through this without her help. She also is a tough taskmaster and that is what I need. It's great to have someone that I can depend on during this recovery.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Birthday Party
Gerry is a member of a sorority back in Maryland and when we went overseas she became a lifetime member with the intent of going to the functions when we returned to the U.S. for good. Her particular chapter of the sorority lost a number of members and over time they merged with other chapters. Gerry went with one close to home that had a number of nice members. Katy S is one of the nicer members and Gerry and she have kept in touch over the years.
Katy called us a couple weeks ago and said she was going to be staying in the Tucson are for a number of weeks and wanted to get together with us. Great! Well, Saturday was the chosen date since her relatives threw a party for her 91st birthday. She has more energy than most people 40 years younger than she. The party was being given in Green Valley and we plugged the address into the Tom Tom GPS and headed on over that way. It was about a 25 mile drive to the house and the longest trip I've made since the operation. It went well.
Katy's younger brother was there and I got a chance to talk to him about his Navy days. He sure could tell some stories. We managed to get them together for a nice family photo. They are just two years apart in age and seemed like best friends.
Did I tell you that Katy is short? 4ft 10in would be pushing it for her.
They prepared a great buffet spread for her and also a beautiful cake. We missed out on the cake since we had to leave early. It sure did look good.
Katy called us a couple weeks ago and said she was going to be staying in the Tucson are for a number of weeks and wanted to get together with us. Great! Well, Saturday was the chosen date since her relatives threw a party for her 91st birthday. She has more energy than most people 40 years younger than she. The party was being given in Green Valley and we plugged the address into the Tom Tom GPS and headed on over that way. It was about a 25 mile drive to the house and the longest trip I've made since the operation. It went well.
Katy's younger brother was there and I got a chance to talk to him about his Navy days. He sure could tell some stories. We managed to get them together for a nice family photo. They are just two years apart in age and seemed like best friends.
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| Allen & Katy |
They prepared a great buffet spread for her and also a beautiful cake. We missed out on the cake since we had to leave early. It sure did look good.
It was a great first outing for me and the weather was beautiful. Great day to be out and about.
Happy Birthday Katy
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day
I got back home just in time to celebrate Valentine's Day with my favorite Valentine. We always exchange Valentine cards, but weren't able to continue the tradition this year with the events of the past couple weeks. Gerry knows the thoughts were there and hopefully we can celebrate over a nice dinner soon.
I remember well exchanging Valentine cards with classmates over the years. When we were in grade school, we had to give each classmate a card so everyone participated. It was embarrassing to give these cards out since I worried that one of those "icky" girls would take it seriously. Luckily, I got through all of that without any major incidents. By the time we were in Jr. High School the tradition had stopped. Having over 95 classmates made it difficult to make or buy cards for all. Anyway, I survived it.
Today was just another exercise and PT day for me. If I don't keep up the exercises, then the knee replacement will have been in vain. I start PT with a local group on Friday and most likely will be going there 3 days a week for the near future. I will find out more then, how long and how many hours a day the PT will be in my life. The Dr. said it was 80% on me and 20% on the PT trainers.
I remember well exchanging Valentine cards with classmates over the years. When we were in grade school, we had to give each classmate a card so everyone participated. It was embarrassing to give these cards out since I worried that one of those "icky" girls would take it seriously. Luckily, I got through all of that without any major incidents. By the time we were in Jr. High School the tradition had stopped. Having over 95 classmates made it difficult to make or buy cards for all. Anyway, I survived it.
Today was just another exercise and PT day for me. If I don't keep up the exercises, then the knee replacement will have been in vain. I start PT with a local group on Friday and most likely will be going there 3 days a week for the near future. I will find out more then, how long and how many hours a day the PT will be in my life. The Dr. said it was 80% on me and 20% on the PT trainers.
They released me today.
This has been an interesting 9 days to say the least. I went in for the knee replacement surgery on Feb 4 and that went fine. Later in the week my blood pressure dropped very low so they wanted to hold me over for a day or so to make sure all was well. It was.
I heard they were going to release me on Friday, but doctor decided I needed some special therapy since we were in a motor home. I must admit, it was worth it since I learned a lot of moves to help make it easier to get around.
Now the difficult part is ahead to strengthen the leg muscles and make sure I regain all my flexibility. I know it will be hard, but I don't have anything else to do all the days ahead. The big time consumer with be placing my leg in a device that exercises the leg up and down and back. I have to use it 3 times a day for 2 hours each time. Not fun.
We are watching a movie now and I only have time for a few lines. It's nice to be back in our rolling home.
I heard they were going to release me on Friday, but doctor decided I needed some special therapy since we were in a motor home. I must admit, it was worth it since I learned a lot of moves to help make it easier to get around.
Now the difficult part is ahead to strengthen the leg muscles and make sure I regain all my flexibility. I know it will be hard, but I don't have anything else to do all the days ahead. The big time consumer with be placing my leg in a device that exercises the leg up and down and back. I have to use it 3 times a day for 2 hours each time. Not fun.
We are watching a movie now and I only have time for a few lines. It's nice to be back in our rolling home.
Friday, February 8, 2013
On the road to recovery
The knee replacement operation went off without a hitch on Monday afternoon. I was quite groggy and out of it the rest of Monday and Tuesday morning but then started to recover. I could go home today, but since the motor home steps may be a problem, they want me to do some therapy and hopefully release me early next week. So I will be in here a little longer enjoying the good food and company.
As you can see, I have a great view of the Catalina mountains to the north of Tucson. I will write more when I get a chance. They keep me busy with the therapy, so must go for now.
As you can see, I have a great view of the Catalina mountains to the north of Tucson. I will write more when I get a chance. They keep me busy with the therapy, so must go for now.
Monday, February 4, 2013
My Bags are packed & I am ready to go!
By now everyone who cares about football knows the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Superbowl. Ravens 34 SF 49ers 31. It looked like it would be a rout by the Ravens but SF made a super comeback and almost pulled it out. There was an obvious holding by a Raven at the end of the game that was not called. If called, the 49ers would have gotten 4 downs inside the 5 yard line to score. Once again, I didn't really care about the winner of the game so there wasn't a big disappointment on my part. Wait until next year.
They had a power outage during the game and the stadium was in complete darkness for a while. Then they slowly brought the power back on and the lights warmed up enough to play again. The interesting thing about this is the the same thing happened to the 49ers in Pittsburgh a few years ago. What are the odds of that happening?
Monday is the big day for my knee replacement surgery and I have to be at the hospital by 11 am and the operation is scheduled for 1 pm. I will be glad to get this over with and on the road to recovery. I know PT is important, so that will be my main concentration for the next 4-6 weeks. I've already apologized to Gerry for being a lousy and demanding patient. I hope a blanket apology will suffice. We shall see.
I hope that Gerry will blog a little about my recovery and progress until I feel like doing a blog again. Warning! I don't think my daily life will be that interesting for the next 4 weeks, so if you don't tune in that will be understood.
A usual day for people reading my blog runs between 40 and 80 hits. The blog entry about a Free Lunch drew 400 hits. I guess there are a lot of people out there looking for free lunches. That was quite a surprise to me. My previous high was 250 when I mentioned Kyle Busch, the race car driver being at a restaurant nearby us in November. It's very difficult to predict what people want to read about, so I don't try. My daily ramblings will have to suffice.
We missed the first part of the game today going to the Goodwill Store looking for a cane, crutches and whatever else they had that I needed. I picked up some nice crutches for $7 so the search was a partial success. I have an old cane, so now the items on the list that I need are narrowed down to 2.
They had a power outage during the game and the stadium was in complete darkness for a while. Then they slowly brought the power back on and the lights warmed up enough to play again. The interesting thing about this is the the same thing happened to the 49ers in Pittsburgh a few years ago. What are the odds of that happening?
Monday is the big day for my knee replacement surgery and I have to be at the hospital by 11 am and the operation is scheduled for 1 pm. I will be glad to get this over with and on the road to recovery. I know PT is important, so that will be my main concentration for the next 4-6 weeks. I've already apologized to Gerry for being a lousy and demanding patient. I hope a blanket apology will suffice. We shall see.
I hope that Gerry will blog a little about my recovery and progress until I feel like doing a blog again. Warning! I don't think my daily life will be that interesting for the next 4 weeks, so if you don't tune in that will be understood.
A usual day for people reading my blog runs between 40 and 80 hits. The blog entry about a Free Lunch drew 400 hits. I guess there are a lot of people out there looking for free lunches. That was quite a surprise to me. My previous high was 250 when I mentioned Kyle Busch, the race car driver being at a restaurant nearby us in November. It's very difficult to predict what people want to read about, so I don't try. My daily ramblings will have to suffice.
We missed the first part of the game today going to the Goodwill Store looking for a cane, crutches and whatever else they had that I needed. I picked up some nice crutches for $7 so the search was a partial success. I have an old cane, so now the items on the list that I need are narrowed down to 2.
Friday, February 1, 2013
There is a free lunch
We have a few led lights burnt out in the motor home and today was the time to replace them. In addition, one of the glass covers was broken by me when it fell out of my hand. So, it was off to the La Mesa RV to pick up the glass cover and some bulbs.
We wound up arriving just around lunch time and decided to take advantage of their free lunch for customers. They usually just have hamburgers, hotdogs and simple lunch meals. Today they pulled out all the stops and had carne asada, corn tortillas, rice, salad, beans and their delicious cookies. We were surprised by how much food they put out and couldn't finish it all. We brought the cookies home for a snack tonight and they were great. We had some tomato basil soup for dinner and that was more than enough to satisfy us.
We did buy the led lights and took all their stock. Then it was over to LazyDays to buy some more and we bought all their stock, also. There must be a run on led lights here in Tucson.
Costco was the next stop on our agenda and we filled up the gas tank on the car at $3.00/gallon. It was around $2.85 the last time we were there. I guess they are starting the summer ripoff for fuel early this year. We managed to arrive at Costco around their peak rush hour and all the cashiers were open and full of customers when we checked out. Just our luck.
We installed the led lights and now the motor home is brighter than ever. I hope these last a while since they are expensive for such a small bulb.
Yesterday Gerry and I built the platform for outside the motor home to make it easier for me to enter it with the walker that I will have for a while after my knee surgery. It will give me space to turn around with the walker and should be a big help. Time will tell.
Not a lot exciting going on around here lately and I would imagine it will get even more boring while I go through PT after the knee replacement.
We wound up arriving just around lunch time and decided to take advantage of their free lunch for customers. They usually just have hamburgers, hotdogs and simple lunch meals. Today they pulled out all the stops and had carne asada, corn tortillas, rice, salad, beans and their delicious cookies. We were surprised by how much food they put out and couldn't finish it all. We brought the cookies home for a snack tonight and they were great. We had some tomato basil soup for dinner and that was more than enough to satisfy us.
We did buy the led lights and took all their stock. Then it was over to LazyDays to buy some more and we bought all their stock, also. There must be a run on led lights here in Tucson.
Costco was the next stop on our agenda and we filled up the gas tank on the car at $3.00/gallon. It was around $2.85 the last time we were there. I guess they are starting the summer ripoff for fuel early this year. We managed to arrive at Costco around their peak rush hour and all the cashiers were open and full of customers when we checked out. Just our luck.
We installed the led lights and now the motor home is brighter than ever. I hope these last a while since they are expensive for such a small bulb.
Yesterday Gerry and I built the platform for outside the motor home to make it easier for me to enter it with the walker that I will have for a while after my knee surgery. It will give me space to turn around with the walker and should be a big help. Time will tell.
Not a lot exciting going on around here lately and I would imagine it will get even more boring while I go through PT after the knee replacement.