Catching Up Again!

It seems like I'm always trying to catch up with things. It's not that I don't think about my blog, just that sometimes it's just difficult to take the time to post and get other things done. I'm sure you all know what I mean. You've got to admire those ladies that manage a job, kids, a hobby, Facebook and posting to one or more blogs. Yet those superwomen do exist and I do envy them. Well maybe I was even one of them a long time ago, though Facebook and blogs didn't exist then, you had to take the time to call or write everyone to let them know what was going on. You have to admire just how handy blogs and social networks on keeping people updated.

As for me, life has consisted of physio, doctor appointments, finishing the 1 year baby scrapbook for my new niece Charlotte (isn't she cute!) born on September 2nd, as well as 3 mini-scrapbooks I thought her parents might like to have to send to her grandparents. I finally got all that out in the mail priority post yesterday. combined with a special surprise which I hope will elicit a huge smile from both her parents and a birthday present for her dad, Eli. I just hope that the package makes it to Alaska by Wednesday as promised. I must say that it was nice of the UPS store owner to let me know that priority mail would be about 1/3 the price of UPS which was not cheap at over $90 in shipping charges!

Today I met this nice lady who started a meetup group for Empty Nesters between 50 and 60. We had a great time and found quite a few things in common, some of them, I must say rather bizarre! After some time at the Boone County main library, I ran another couple of errands, mainly I went to Hobby Lobby where they were having a 50% off sale on wall hangings. With all the extra walls in our new house, I did want to grab a couple of things! After spending a little time talking with my neighbor about this and that, I came on home to try and update my blog before going out again, this time to a Relaxation party at one of my new neighbor's home.

I think I am finally coming to grips with the idea that this may be my forever home. I honestly don't think I've felt this way since 1992 or 3 when I lived in a beautiful town in Quebec, south of Montreal called Mont Saint-Hillaire (see picture). BTW my guest room is 90% ready, so people, it's time to invite yourselves up or down here, as the case may be, for a visit!

Surgery Details for Posterity

OK in this blog entry, for those of you who are detailed oriented and have asked questions about what exactly was done to my shoulder, here is what Dr C and his team did:
The procedures that were completed include the following; just click on the link if you really want to see more:

• Arthroscopic Subacronial Decompression
• Distal Clavicle Resection
• Labral Debridement

All things considered, the current outcome is pretty good. I'm 5 days post op and off the pain meds during the day. The pain that was present between my elbow and shoulder along my bicep is mostly gone. Sure there is pain where the three arthroscopic ports were placed and a certain tightness in all the muscles, but nothing compared to what I'd been led to expect!

Today was my first physio appointment and they were truly impressed with the progress I've already made. That isn't to say that they didn't find ways to torture me. My first few attempts at pulling my arm all the way up using the pulleys comes to mind far too easily here. However, I do have complete range of motion already, though for now, mostly passive (meaning when the therapist moves my arm for me). My single biggest issue is convincing all the muscles and ligaments that were pushed and pulled apart during the surgery, that they do work and will pull my arm through all its positions the way "I" want them to!

I was reminded by my therapist, Sharon, that they did do extensive work in my shoulder, shaving and cutting bone away and that does mean that it is "supposed" to hurt! OK, I give in, it hurts; you've convinced me, LOL! But not as bad as I'd been told and had read. Nana, nana, na!

I've used my arm as normally as possible today and combined with physio it is rather sore right now. I took one ibuprofen a few minutes ago and that is my first pain pill since my "go to sleep, little girl pill at 11pm last night. As soon as I finish watering the yard, I'll go and install myself in my room and ice everything again!

Well I'm still checking email continuously in the hope of seeing that my niece has finally made an appearance. My thoughts are all about my SIL who, I know, is even more anxious than I am! Love you Amy!

Post Op Update

Greetings,

First let me say that I am now typing with my two hands! Who would have thunk it, three days post surgery!

My post op visit went really well. I start physio right away and can start driving as soon as I'm off the pain meds! Unless physio is really bad that should be soon since I did without pain meds most of the day today. I took one pill about an hour before getting into the car with Hubby to go to the appointment. And no it wasn't about Hubby's driving, but about the bumps and holes in the roads between home and the Dr's office.

Hubby will tell you there was one point during the visit when I near turned green. The Doctor moved my arm away from my torso and up, and while I don't usually swear and didn't then, let me say it now, it hurt like hell!!!

So I'm on my way to a full recovery, though I am sure that I'll need to be careful for a while and not lift heavy objects for a considerable amount of time. I know I'll hear more about the do's and dont's when I go in to physio. I thought I'd include a picture of an exercise item, the pulley, which I hear will be used by yours truly quite a lot over the next few days and weeks! I do have a few which are scheduled to come out in another couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I do have to be careful not to snag the little treads on anything. Thankfully I can shower as long as I don't deliberately let the wter flow on the three holes and I just need to pat the area dry once I'm done. No big deal!

Hopefully if I do what I'm told and don't try to do the things I'm told not to, it will be harder for Dr. C to turn me into a leprechaun with a single movement of my arm on my next visit, two weeks from now! And yes, hard as it is to believe, I do plan to do everything they say, even if it means having to be good when I don't want to be. I have read enough about shoulder surgeries over the last six months to last a lifetime. Then again my research has shown that the surgical techniques for repairing shoulders have come a very long way in the last couple of years. If you ever have a shoulder problem, read slaptear.com. It is a forum that allows you to see shoulder surgery and recovery from the perspective of the patient and it helped me a great deal to figure out how to move my arm/shoulder post surgery, given that my post op appointment was scheduled for two days later than the normal next day. Slaptear.com also great ideas on how to prepare for surgery, what to do, bring and prepare, which also helped me a great deal!

Right there at the front of my mind today is my little sister-in-law Amy. Amy, my thoughts are with you! I can't wait for you to be holding your baby in your arms. Hopefully once they induce you tomorrow, everything will go quickly! Meanwhile enjoy your last truly peaceful night on earth! Every mother worthy of that name, will tell you that life is never the same once your 1st child is born.

Now, back to icing my shoulder. My life is so exciting!

Shoulder Surgery Tomorrow

So it's finally here, surgery day. Well more specifically it will be here tomorrow at 11:30am. I would have avoided it, especially after my DMIL told me what she did, but the Dr(s) and physio therapists all agreed that my arm would not heal without surgical help. After months of being in pain and getting absolutely nowhere with physio, what is a girl to do!

My first clue that the surgery had finally been approved was an 8:15 call from the surgical equipment guy telling me that we needed to meet so that I could get my sling, pillow, immobilizer do-hickey today, so I did that. I thought I'd share a picture of what the sling with pillow looks like. I could be in this thing for 4 or more weeks, yikes! My doctor, Dr Colosimo, is a good guy! He is funny and very driven. Apparently he is not a talker on surgery day. I am told that he goes from one surgery to the next and doesn't stop to speak with either the patient or their family post-op. Actually that makes sense to me as I can tell you that I have never remembered a thing that a Doctor has told me immediately post op. So unless you have someone in the room with you that can do an excellent job of recounting everything to me word for word, I'd rather wait. The only thing that sucks though is that in this case, since the surgery is on Monday, I won't see Dr C until until very late Monday. That's cause Hubby is teaching Monday until 4:30 so I had to take the last appointment at 5:30. I was assured that Dr C would still be there waiting for us when we got there even if we were a little late, but you know how it is, the Dr is probably running 3 hours late himself by the end of the day! I'll have to make sure that I'm well narcked when I go see him!

So that's it. I'll do my best to come and let you all know that I'm alive both here and on Facebook. Until next time friends when I'll be one hand typing under the influence...

A Glimpse at My Craftroom

With less than one week until my shoulder surgery and all that entails, I have been working rather hard on getting the craft room to a place where I can use it and get creative. I thought I'd share this video with you. The room is not finished, but it is definitely far enough along to share with a few of my closest friends! The video is not great as I took it with my digital camera, but hopefully it will help you imagine what my time will like working in there and also see that there is room for you, yes you to come over and do some fun crafting with me!

I'm not very good at this and so it gets cut off in the middle of a sentence, but please forgive this novice for the poor lighting and narration!

Have a great one, everyone!

I Noticed Something Today

I was looking at some of the pictures on my cell phone and came across a picture that I took on or around January 21st. At that time, my odometer read 16,353 or so miles. It just happened that I was in my car, so I looked at my current odometer reading and realized that I was at over 29,783 miles! Would you believe that I've driven all those miles in the last 6 months! Wow is all I've got to say!

As I settle slowly into my beautiful new home, I do realize that I am blessed in so many ways. My son and I are close. My husband loves me and I have the best friends! Sure I miss everyone that isn't here with me; and while that won't change anytime soon, as some have said, it will get better as I get more settled in and make plans to see as many as I can over time! Meanwhile I need to focus on everything that I do have, and the fact that I could have ended up in a place that I didn't like rather than here in northern Kentucky with it's hills, river and charm.

You know you aren't in Tampa when...

You know you are no longer in the Tampa Bay area when you have wild turkeys and deers in your back yard! Yup, that was actually taken from our family room window! There are 4 turkeys. Last time they were out with their poults (baby turkeys) but this time they must have left them in the nest or something! They are getting plumper from week to week. Hubby tells me that is what they are supposed to do during the summer, which makes me want to ask the obvious. What happens to them in err...November? You know, that's turkey time in the USA and well these are turkeys. Well, I'll keep an eye out through the months and report back. By the way, I did think to give them names, but, well I can't seem to tell them apart, so what good would that do?

I put in a new order for those Ranger pens this week, I wanted 6 more for myself. If you placed an order, you should get your pens sometime next week! I ordered extras so email me if you want some, the price is definitely interesting as it is my special of the month! Now back to my craft room... I wants to play!

Too Much Moving Talk Spoils a Blog, LOL

I was playing around with the different widgets and things you can put on a blog and turned on AdSense, just to see. Well one thing became resoundingly clear, I've been speaking about moving way too much and scrapbooking and cardmaking way too little as all the ads were for moving companies! So I thought I'd share other things here for today! No talk of physio, which I went to this afternoon (haha, snuck that in) and no talk of moving, despite the fact that I spent 6 hours today and even more yesterday emptying boxes, putting up blinds and trying to get my lawn properly watered.

So let me tell you that I've made a new friend named Charlene and that we meet at Archivers, about 35 miles from here once a week. That is way fun as it gets me completely away from the house and does allow me to work on the new baby book for Lil'U the little niece expected next month! As soon as I get the whole book done, I'll scan it, send it off to Hubby's sister, and her handsome, sweet and hugable husband and once they have it in hand, I'll upload it to my webshots gallery and let you all know. I will also be sharing the scrapbook I made for the first expected Lil'U which we thought would be a boy! I'm not sure what to do with that one, now that we know it's a girl rather than the shy boy we were expecting at first!

This week I signed up for 2 card making stamping classes at a stamping store in the area. The store is moving to Florence, KY and they will be in the new store when I go for the classes, August 12th. I've also signed up for a 3 part series of classes based on Tim Holtz style of work. I hope that these classes will stimulate me to use all those stamps I've been collecting for the last dozen or so years.

I did put in and received an order for the latest Slice cards, some of which I have to pack up and ship off to my friend Janie in Fl. I also ordered 12 of the Tim Holtz Ranger fillable pens for each of us. I filled and tried one yesterday afternoon, and it is awesome! The only things to remember are that they only need 3-5 drops on each side of the pen and that they must be stored horizontally for them to work well, not uncommon for markers! Here is another video with Tim showing us how to use the pens. The rage right now is for the Copic pens, but I already had the Ranger alcohol inks and after seeing Tim's video I realized that the Ranger fillable pens would be a much more economical option.

In the same vein of using my alcohol inks and also using my perfect pearl/mica powders, I also got some mini-misters. You can see what Tim is doing with his misters here. I got the mini mister holder, which will allow me to have them stored upright and close by. I can't wait to try this as I suspect that it will mimic the Tattered Anger mists at a much lower price since all I needed were the misters and the holder. As soon as I can sit down, I'll share my own projects with you! I can't wait to be all settled into my craft studio! There are so many ideas in my head!

Physio

I thought I would update my blog while sitting here in physio with the big ice pack on my shoulder! Physio is normally a 2 hour appointment 2 times a week. I have seen some progress with the tennis elbow but so far not so much with the rotator cuff. Still hurts like the blazes and makes unpacking and putting curtains up a bear.

Physio is done with me so that's it for now! Mote later!

Hail in Hebron

We had quite the storm in Hebron, KY tonight with large hail, strong winds in places and torrential rain. Hubby and I were out and about when the rain and hail started. Fortunately, we were near an underpass right near the airport and were able to take cover! The hail stones hubby is holding where photographed after the hail stopped and had already melted some.When we got to our exit it was obvious that something serious had happened. Three large, wheeled solar signs used by the construction crew working on North Bend road were toppled over, one halfway accross the road. Next we saw emergency vehicles going towards the wharehouses belonging to Amazon.com and the GAP. We recently heard that there was a colapse at one of the wharehouses but we still don't know which one. The lights were out all the way to our development but thankfully our power was still on. That was my first time dealing with such large hail and we thought for sure our windshield was going to crack. Loud and impressive!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love you, Tomorrow

Tomorrow's a dream away... and so is my craftroom!!!

Well we close on the house tomorrow and I can't wait. Only one disappointment, our furniture has been held up in Clearwater and won't be here until Saturday. That part really sucks, but apparently I should have expected it. Really?

Two notes to self, never believe or use a second tier moving company (Arpin) again and never if you have enough to fill a whole truck, think you're doing yourself a favor by not filling up the whole truck! You may think it is better, but it means that they may load and unload your stuff more than once and that they will wait to move your stuff until it is convenient for them financially, rather than to meet your deadline. And so we get to sleep in the dorm for another few days, though I personally am eyeballing that blowup queen size mattress in my car and know for sure that I'm going to baptize that new tub tomorrow with some lavender scented bubbles!

One Day To Walk Through

One day to walk through and one week to closing! I can't wait, honest I can't! You do believe me, don't you? This morning Hubby and I woke up to ants swarming in the bedroom portion of our dorm apartment. They were right on the window sill closest to our beds and thankfully we saw them before they got anywhere with crumbs or food! For all of you out there considering a return to dorm life, don't forget to pack the Raid, LOL! Hubby rushed out to get some, while I was tasked with containing the invasion! After a while it occurred to me that I might buy some time until Hubby got back by spraying Fantastic on the sill. Plus, as an added bonus, it would make the sill nice and clean when I wiped it up. It worked! We are now, at least for the moment, ant free and we have the prospect of the place being sprayed by the exterminators either this week or next week, probably after we leave. The exterminator apparently comes here every other week! Really, and here I was old that there was no need for pest control in Northern Kentucky!

I had my second physio appointment today. They worked on my neck, shoulder and elbow! Hopefully the conservative approach will work and I won't need any kind of surgery! But the jury is still out. The physio therapists will decide next week or perhaps the week after that, if I need to go back to the Dr for an MRI to see if here is in fact a tear in the rotator cuff that requires surgical repair.

I also visited poor little Nuku, our remaining kitty, at the vets where she is being boarded. Poor little girl, she is not used to being caged or having her little nervous system assaulted by the sound and smells of all those people and animals. I took her out into one of the treatment rooms and basically she spent the whole time I was there, right next to me, needing to be petted. We will have a huge petting deficiency to make up for when we finally get her back into a house with us next Wednesday.

This past weekend I went to the LSS (local scrapbook store) and made some "We are Moving Again" cards to send out as soon as I know what our new phone number will be. Sunday I went to a crop at Archivers and made friends with the lady sharing my table. I'm meeting Charlene at Archivers again on Friday for some female friend making and a little more scrapping.

Some of you know that I am working on a baby book. For the first time ever, I decided to start the book before the baby was born, rather than wait till after when we might be sure of the sex. I did this because my DSIL was assured that they were expecting a boy and that the proper difference teller, though tiny, was so she was told in evidence. Well either that little boy is shy or he is a she! So now, I'm waiting to hear again, before I do another thing, LOL! Oh well thankfully most of the pages are themed based on the holiday the month is known for rather than being pink or blue. That does help for a few of the pages!

Did I mention I can't wait to get into the new house and that I've heard from the owner of Scraps Etc and she is interested in my teaching at her store(s)?

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

M-C: Hi Doc, I know, I know, you're not happy with me, my weight went up a little instead of going down. Please don't give me grief, I've got packers coming tomorrow, my arm hurts and I'm tired!

Dr: When did your arm start to hurt?

M-C: Well I was hanging a really heavy grandmother clock on the wall about 8 weeks ago and I felt something weird in my arm and a terrible pain! But thankfully I didn't drop the clock and even managed to hang it after all. (feeling pretty proud of myself for that actually)

Dr: (looks at somewhat deformed arm, feels the bicep and gives a concerned look) You tore the lower bicep ligament in your arm. Here feel this. (makes me feel bulge bottom inside of upper arm).

M-C: Oh, I thought it was just a sprain that with all the packing and stuff just wasn't healing. I only started getting worried when I stopped packing for a couple of weeks when I was in Kentucky and it didn't get better. So how long before it heals?

Dr: (who is also a scrapbook friend) You need an MRI to see the extent of the tear and you need surgery. And you can't do anything much with your arm or you risk not being able to use it at all!

M-C: Surgery? Did you say SURGERY? I don't have time for surgery or an MRI, the packers are coming tomorrow the movers are coming in two days. I have all that final packing to do. I'm moving into a new house on June 16th! (I've got things to do, places to go, friends to see and to make, a hubby to get settled in, I don't have time for this, my mind screams!)

Dr: Anything else going on?

M-C: (thinking Hubby probably wants me to mention this, since it worried him) Well while I was in Kentucky something funny happened. I tried to get up and I got such a bad pain around my lower left pelvic area, like the crease of my leg and down my leg that Rick had to help me up and then I couldn't put any weight at all on my left foot. It was horrible and you know how high a pain threshold I have. But it went away in about 15 minutes and then I had 3 or 4 really mild episodes this past week but they went away in a couple of minutes.

Dr: Get on the table. Hmmm... You need a CT scan.

M-C: WHAT??? An MRI and a CT scan, I don't have time for this! What's wrong?

DR: Well you might have either a hernia or something wrong with your ovary. I'm going to go see what I can do. (Dr walks out)

M-C: (I sit there thinking this didn't just happen! I've got tons of things to do, I have things to pack this afternoon and dinner with Alicia tonight and the packers in the morning. I'm hallucinating! But I can hear the doctor in the other room having a heated discussion with someone.)

DR: Well the insurance company would not let me schedule both tests.

M-C: (this crazy conversation is not real, this crazy conversation is not real)

DR continues: So I had to pick one.

M-C: (she had to pick one... no this really isn't happening, I'm on General Hospital or being punked or something)

Dr: continues: I picked the CT of your pelvis because that is an undetermined injury. The arm you will simply have to be very careful with and go to an Orthopedist as soon as you get to Kentucky. But you need to schedule the CT right away.

M-C: Right away. (She doesn't get it, I don't have time, I have movers coming!) OK. Tell me about the arm, what happens.

DR: Surgery, than a cast for 4-6 weeks and 3-4 months of rehab. (more info on Distal Biceps Rupture) (Turns out that is the same injury that Christian de la Fuente had two seasons ago on Dancing with the Stars)

M-C: (I didn't hear you, I didn't hear you! This isn't happening) Oh...

Dr: (Hugs me good bye) I'm going to miss you.

M-C: I'm going to miss you too! (I leave and take the prescription with me, immediately call for CT.)

XYZ Radiology: Thanks for calling XYZ Radiology. Please listen carefully as our menu has recently changed!

M-C: (!$#$#$#$#$#)

XYZ: May I help you?

M-C: I need a blah, blah blah... CT scan for blah, blah, blah!

XYZ: Well we can get you an appointment tomorrow at 2:45 across town, but first you need to go to our other clinic on the other side of town, this afternoon and get this Barium Suspension.

M-C: (Can't be happening, this is nuts! I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS) Ok, I'm on my way. (I pick up the two bottles of stuff I have to start drinking at noon on Friday.)

M-C: (calls Alicia and gets voicemail) Hi Alicia, are you doing anything tonight after we have dinner?

OK to make a long very long story, slightly shorter, Alicia. bless her heart came over and packed for me, but the packers ended up doing a lot more than I had anticipated or wanted. Alicia even brought me flowers so I'd feel better and got up early on her day off, she's a nurse on the night shift, to help me Friday morning. Alicia you are a doll, I am so thankful that you are my friend and that you were willing to come and help me out!

Although XYZ Radiology called at 5 pm on Thursday to tell me they might not get approval from the insurance company in time, and the test might have to be postponed (I can't postpone it, ma'am I'm moving out of state in two days!!!) They did get the approval in time. I drank the discusting stuff which wasn't quite that bad cold out of the fridge, and made the appointment on time despite having to throw out the packers early. They were't finished packing mainly because they were 2 hours later than expected. BUT, in the end I did not get the full test as three people including the local female head Vampire and her Count Dracula male sidekick, could not find a vein despite a couple of very ouchy tries! So now, despite the part of the test they did do, I won't be sure that the test will rule out or find the problem!

But people, this is me speaking! With hubby and my friends and family cheering me on, I will make it through this and savor and document for my scrapbook, each special moment and try to make the rest bearable through wacky humor! Just one thought though. I need to stop moving. Somehow moving requires too much close contact with orthopedic surgeons!

The Next Few Days

Wow it's finally happening, our move out of our house in FL is this weekend! I am finalizing all the packing, closing off all the utilities, calling to get things operational in Kentucky and hoping that I somehow get it done and get some sleep too before my solo 14 hour drive.

This Sunday, Nuku, my kitty, and I take the road all the way to Northern Kentucky where we will both take up our temporary accommodations until the 16th! Nuku at the local vets, poor kitty, and yours truly back in the dorm at NKU with Hubby!

I do wish that Marquis Homes could have worked with us on a better, sooner closing date! We would have saved a bundle and I'd have been a lot less stressed if they could have made our closing date the 1st or even the 5th and saved me knowing that our furniture would be loaded and unloaded twice and stored in a warehouse for two weeks with the potential not only to break, but to lose things in the shuffle.

But honestly, Ginger and Tony at Marquis have been wonderful in every other aspect and we are in fact closing 1 day earlier than the latest limit they had given us. Besides the house is outstanding! You guys know that if Marquis were either just OK or even terrible, I would tell you and the world so that no one else had to suffer a bad experience; but I've got to tell you that if you have to build a home in the northern Kentucky area, you need to have Ginger Baehner as your Marquis Homes Market Manager. No matter which Marquis home you pick in any of the NKY communities that Marquis builds in, she can help you make it your dream home, ensure a minimum of hastles, and make sure that you are excited and eager to live in your new home! Yeah Ginger!