The snowbirds are arriving

It has been a quiet December for arrival of snowbirds in the park.  Now it has picked up somewhat and we've had a number of snowbirds from the past arrive at the park.

We now have neighbors on both sides of us with Frank & Jan arriving yesterday from Pennsylvania.  They packed the unit a few days ago and hit the road with stopovers in FlyingJ stations for the night.  Basically they just drove all day, slept and repeated the process the next day.   It is about 2,400 miles from Tucson and that's the same distance we drive, but we take a week or so for the trip and they made it in 4 days.  Frank set up the motorhome here, said hello and went to bed.

We visited with some friends, watched TV on New Year's Day and just chilled out.  The weather has been fantastic and we took a short drive around the immediate area just to get outside and enjoy the nice weather.  

Today was my 4 week appointment with Dr. Dixon and they took X-Rays of my knee to see how everything was progressing.  It was interesting seeing the X-Rays and how much space the knee replacement parts took up.  He explained each piece and what it did for me.  My knee was so badly out of shape that he shaved 8mm of bone off trying to get it straight.  That wasn't enough and he shaved another 2mm off the bone and then inserted all the parts.  That was the big reason it took an additional hour for the operation.  Of course, I slept through it all and didn't have any idea what was going on.  Thank goodness, since I have a weak stomach.

Dr. Dixon said I was doing fine and actually better than my first knee replacement.  I have more mobility and have progressed very well.  Part of the progression may be that I am carrying less weight around since I haven't been that hungry this past month and have lost 20lbs so far.  Now that is a hard way to lose weight and I don't recommend it to anyone else.

I've cut back on the pain pills and hope to been off them very soon.  I can drive the car when I'm off the pill or if it has been 6 hours since I've had a pill.  The sooner the better as far as I am concerned.  
I have a few more PT sessions, an appointment in 6 weeks and all this should be behind me.  I am looking forward to walking without knee pain and getting out geocaching and walking more.   Also, there will be some bicycle riding in the near future and that will help with the recovery.

I just finished watching Oklahoma beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.  Alabama was considered unbeatable a couple games ago and then Auburn beat them in a wild game and eliminated the Tide from National Championship consideration.  Oklahoma had an up and down season and finally got their act together late in the season, but were 14 point underdogs in this game.  They sure didn't look like it from the final score of 45-31.  Alabama turned the ball over 5 times and that was their downfall.  Great game from a fan's point of view, unless you were from Alabama.

Now we have the NFL playoff games this weekend so I should get my fix of football Saturday & Sunday.  I don't think I will watch all of the games since they are calling for nice weather and I hate to be inside all day.

Speaking of weather.  I was talking with family members in Illinois today and they have some brutal cold weather heading their way along with snow.  Plus, cousin Sharon & Al are in Northern Illinois in their 5th wheel and they are calling for even colder sub zero weather up there.  Time for them to get out of the 5th wheel and into someplace warmer.  We also saw that Cleveland received almost eight inches of snow.  Gerry's cousin and her family live in the suburbs, so they are most likely affected as well.  Good luck to all of you back there.  Stay warm and safe.