And a bonus picture:
Even the bowl is happy to have strawberries. :)
And they were as good as they looked!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Summer Photo Challenge: Fruit!
So this week's challenge was fresh fruit. I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this one, the problem was my camera. It does not like to take the kind of picture I wanted. But luckily a solution presented itself, unexpectedly, to me. I borrowed my mom's camera because she had some pictures of Finn (our adorable dog) playing in the pool and I wanted to put them on my computer. When I was messing around with it, I found it had a macro setting! Woo hoo! So without further explanation..... Strawberries!
And a bonus picture:
And a bonus picture:
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Summer Photo Challenge (x2!)
Let me tell you how mad I was that I missed last weeks challenge. It was books. Books! One of my favorite things ever. But life (and a little bit of lazyness) gets in the way, so you get two weeks in one.
Books!
These are our books minus a few that we have out for reading. The shelf on the left is all Nora Roberts. She is one of my favorite authors (obviously). Last summer I went garage sale-ing (apparently not a verb) and I bought approximately 55 Nora Roberts books. For around $10 I think. Some of them were doubles of what I had, but I will just pass them along. The shelf on the right is all sorts of different authors and genres from fantasy to thrillers, and just about everything in between. I love books.
This week's challenge is a sun flare. I had to look up exactly what I was trying to do, and basically it is those spots you get when you are taking pictures into the sun. Usually they are unwanted, but when you do it on purpose, they can be beautiful.
It is great that the sun goes down right in front of our house. Makes it super easy to take pictures of it. I never thought I would like this challenge so much, but now I want to try to take more pictures of sun flares. Maybe a sunset over the water sometime.
P.S. My neighbors are going to start to think I am a weirdo. I take a lot of pictures standing on our front porch toward their houses.
Books!
This week's challenge is a sun flare. I had to look up exactly what I was trying to do, and basically it is those spots you get when you are taking pictures into the sun. Usually they are unwanted, but when you do it on purpose, they can be beautiful.
It is great that the sun goes down right in front of our house. Makes it super easy to take pictures of it. I never thought I would like this challenge so much, but now I want to try to take more pictures of sun flares. Maybe a sunset over the water sometime.
P.S. My neighbors are going to start to think I am a weirdo. I take a lot of pictures standing on our front porch toward their houses.
My Knee- First Surgery and Therapy
So after finding out I had a torn ACL and a possible tear in my meniscus, and some other tissue damage, it was determined that I would need surgery. It was going to be relatively easy- arthroscopic so I would only have two tiny incisions on my knee. They were going to go in and clean up what was getting stuck in the knee (including part of my meniscus). They were not going to repair the ACL. Due to some miscommunication, I did not realize that until after surgery.
Surgery itself was not bad at all. It was on St. Patrick's Day, so I wore my shamrock socks. The only small issue was that they couldn't put the IV in my hand, where they prefer. But other than that I was just really hungry after surgery. I don't even remember there being too much pain.
The worst part about after surgery was the compression socks I had to wear. They went up past my knees, were always rolling down, and were so tight. I think my legs hurt worse then my knee did. I think I had to wear them for a week or two.
A few weeks after surgery I started physical therapy for the second time. I went to the same facility, they are convenient for getting a ride to and from, and I just really liked them there. I did get a new therapist though. She was (and is) fantastic and for awhile I was doing better and getting stronger. Then my progress seemed to slow down, then stop. My knee wasn't hurting too badly, but it was still feeling pretty unstable. I guess that through therapy some people can do fine with a torn ACL or even no ACL. I am not one of them.
After talking to my therapist, and my doctor it was decided that I should probably have the ACL reconstructed. There was only one problem. My orthopedic surgeon at the time does not do ACL reconstructions (another thing I did not know), nor does anyone else at that practice. I got a few recommendations from there, which I took to my therapist to see if she knew anything about those doctors. One was ok, one she didn't say much about. And then she gave me a couple more suggestions. One surgeon in particular she really recommended. Having patients of his before, she said they seem to have easier recoveries in general. So I was off to surgeon number 2....
(to be continued some more)
Surgery itself was not bad at all. It was on St. Patrick's Day, so I wore my shamrock socks. The only small issue was that they couldn't put the IV in my hand, where they prefer. But other than that I was just really hungry after surgery. I don't even remember there being too much pain.
The worst part about after surgery was the compression socks I had to wear. They went up past my knees, were always rolling down, and were so tight. I think my legs hurt worse then my knee did. I think I had to wear them for a week or two.
A few weeks after surgery I started physical therapy for the second time. I went to the same facility, they are convenient for getting a ride to and from, and I just really liked them there. I did get a new therapist though. She was (and is) fantastic and for awhile I was doing better and getting stronger. Then my progress seemed to slow down, then stop. My knee wasn't hurting too badly, but it was still feeling pretty unstable. I guess that through therapy some people can do fine with a torn ACL or even no ACL. I am not one of them.
After talking to my therapist, and my doctor it was decided that I should probably have the ACL reconstructed. There was only one problem. My orthopedic surgeon at the time does not do ACL reconstructions (another thing I did not know), nor does anyone else at that practice. I got a few recommendations from there, which I took to my therapist to see if she knew anything about those doctors. One was ok, one she didn't say much about. And then she gave me a couple more suggestions. One surgeon in particular she really recommended. Having patients of his before, she said they seem to have easier recoveries in general. So I was off to surgeon number 2....
(to be continued some more)
My Knee- Initial Injury Overview
I originally started this blog because, along with other things, I wanted to chronicle my knee surgery and recovery. For some reason that hasn't happened yet. So now's the time.
Way back in November I was sitting on the floor at work, on an area rug. When I stood up, the rug slipped and somehow in the scramble to not fall, I think my knee went sideways as I was trying to grab on to something to keep me up. I say I think because it happened so fast, I am not sure exactly what happened. But the result was pain. I knew it was not good, so I hobbled to a chair and my coworker helped me put my leg up and grabbed me ice. Thanks to my fantastic coworkers doing all the work, I was able to stay at work and supervise. Thankfully it was a Friday. So after work, off to the after care clinic I went. After looking at my knee (which never really swelled much) and moving it around, they decided it was just a sprain and to make an appointment with the worker's compensation doctor if it isn't better in a week. And they sent me back to work.
Well a week later, it was not feeling any better so I called and they told me it would be a few weeks before I would be able to get an appointment with that doctor. In the meantime I was still in pain, but working because I didn't really have a choice not to.
To make an already long story a bit shorter, I went back to the after care clinic (which also does work related stuff) 3 more times. Every time the answer was the same, it is just a sprain/strain. Finally, in January I was referred to an orthopedic specialist. After physical therapy and an MRI in February, it was determined that I had a torn ACL (90% torn), and some other damage that was basically getting stuck in the knee when I walked, causing all the pain. So it took 3 months to go from a knee sprain to torn ACL. Off to surgery I went...
(To be continued)
Way back in November I was sitting on the floor at work, on an area rug. When I stood up, the rug slipped and somehow in the scramble to not fall, I think my knee went sideways as I was trying to grab on to something to keep me up. I say I think because it happened so fast, I am not sure exactly what happened. But the result was pain. I knew it was not good, so I hobbled to a chair and my coworker helped me put my leg up and grabbed me ice. Thanks to my fantastic coworkers doing all the work, I was able to stay at work and supervise. Thankfully it was a Friday. So after work, off to the after care clinic I went. After looking at my knee (which never really swelled much) and moving it around, they decided it was just a sprain and to make an appointment with the worker's compensation doctor if it isn't better in a week. And they sent me back to work.
Well a week later, it was not feeling any better so I called and they told me it would be a few weeks before I would be able to get an appointment with that doctor. In the meantime I was still in pain, but working because I didn't really have a choice not to.
To make an already long story a bit shorter, I went back to the after care clinic (which also does work related stuff) 3 more times. Every time the answer was the same, it is just a sprain/strain. Finally, in January I was referred to an orthopedic specialist. After physical therapy and an MRI in February, it was determined that I had a torn ACL (90% torn), and some other damage that was basically getting stuck in the knee when I walked, causing all the pain. So it took 3 months to go from a knee sprain to torn ACL. Off to surgery I went...
(To be continued)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Love Bomb
I had two posts that I've been planning to write for the past few days, one about my knee, and this week's Summer Photo Challenge. I will get to them, but something happened that I want to talk about first.
I got my first Love Bomb e-mail today! Just imagine for a minute that you or a family member is going to have major surgery, you've suffered a great loss, or are having a hard time dealing with something; that you've written about it on your blog. Then all of the sudden several hundred strangers comment with thoughts, prayers, words of encouragement. That is what Love Bomb does. All you have to do is sign up to be on their e-mail list, and every Thursday they choose one blog from submissions they've gotten and you go an leave a comment, whatever is in your heart. It takes 5 minutes or less, and I can't even imagine the comfort it brings to people, knowing that so many others are thinking of them in their time of need.
I don't remember which of the blogs that I follow first mentioned it, but I just had to sign up. I've only gotten the typical welcome e-mail, a newsletter, and then the Love Bomb from today, so they don't overload you with e-mails.
I strongly encourage you to sign up, and spread the love!
Here is the link to their website, in case the embedded link didn't work: http://dropalovebomb.com/
And at Twitter, they are @dropalovebomb
I got my first Love Bomb e-mail today! Just imagine for a minute that you or a family member is going to have major surgery, you've suffered a great loss, or are having a hard time dealing with something; that you've written about it on your blog. Then all of the sudden several hundred strangers comment with thoughts, prayers, words of encouragement. That is what Love Bomb does. All you have to do is sign up to be on their e-mail list, and every Thursday they choose one blog from submissions they've gotten and you go an leave a comment, whatever is in your heart. It takes 5 minutes or less, and I can't even imagine the comfort it brings to people, knowing that so many others are thinking of them in their time of need.
I don't remember which of the blogs that I follow first mentioned it, but I just had to sign up. I've only gotten the typical welcome e-mail, a newsletter, and then the Love Bomb from today, so they don't overload you with e-mails.
I strongly encourage you to sign up, and spread the love!
Here is the link to their website, in case the embedded link didn't work: http://dropalovebomb.com/
And at Twitter, they are @dropalovebomb
Saturday, July 9, 2011
My knitting projects
When I found out I was going to have knee surgery the first time, I decided that I should find a hobby. Something I could do seated, while I recovered. I decided on making little clay animals, but that only lasted a few days until I got bored with it. What I really wanted to do was to learn how to knit. But knitting didn't work out for me. So when I found out I had to have a second knee surgery, with a longer recovery, I was determined to find something. I was in the craft section at Walmart when I found these cool things.
They are knitting looms. I looked up directions online and found some great instructions with pictures. Perfect. So I went back and bought them, and some yarn. The easiest thing to make is a hat, and I wanted a project I could complete quickly, so I picked the smallest size*. In a little more than an hour, I had this:
I don't know anyone with a newborn, but it is still adorable. And I finished a project! So I decided to try a scarf, with a different stitch. With a knitting loom, you can still make flat projects, you just go around until the project is as wide as you want it and then go back the other way, without completing the circle. I haven't gotten too far with the scarf, the stitch it a little more involved so it takes longer. But this is what I have so far.
It's gotten a bit longer since I took these pictures, but not much. At the rate I am going though, it might actually be cold enough to use it!
*The colors of my looms are different then the ones in the picture. I don't remember what color my smallest size is, but I am making the scarf on the second smallest.
They are knitting looms. I looked up directions online and found some great instructions with pictures. Perfect. So I went back and bought them, and some yarn. The easiest thing to make is a hat, and I wanted a project I could complete quickly, so I picked the smallest size*. In a little more than an hour, I had this:
A newborn hat!
I don't know anyone with a newborn, but it is still adorable. And I finished a project! So I decided to try a scarf, with a different stitch. With a knitting loom, you can still make flat projects, you just go around until the project is as wide as you want it and then go back the other way, without completing the circle. I haven't gotten too far with the scarf, the stitch it a little more involved so it takes longer. But this is what I have so far.
The length and the front of the stitch
The back of the stitch
It's gotten a bit longer since I took these pictures, but not much. At the rate I am going though, it might actually be cold enough to use it!
*The colors of my looms are different then the ones in the picture. I don't remember what color my smallest size is, but I am making the scarf on the second smallest.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Summer Photo Challenge: Week 2
Clouds!
Aren't they pretty? This was taken from the front porch only about an hour after we had a huge thunderstorm. Everything just cleared up just before sunset, and I could see the stunning view from my spot on the couch. So out I went, crutchesless, because I had to get the shot. I took a few, but this one is my favorite.
I am still playing catch-up with this challenge. The next one will be my favorite, and if you know me (and check out the link), you will see why!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Bonfires, Family, and Summer Photo Challenge
One of my favorite things about summer is having a bonfire with my family and friends. I love just sitting around chatting, holding multiple conversations at once, making s'mores and dough-boys*, and just being with the people I care about. So last night was just fantastic, as my parents had a bonfire in their backyard. My dad even "borrowed" a lounge chair from their neighbors so I could be comfortable. (Don't worry, they wouldn't have minded. And it was returned this morning.)
And that brings me to my next order of business. I have decided to join my sister Kelly at When the Time is Right who joined Ari for her Summer Photo Challenge (that's a mouthful!). I am a week behind, so at some point I will probably post two weeks at once to catch up. This is the challenge:
And Week 1 (for me)- Something Sweet:
Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
*Dough-boys- Biscuit dough wrapped around the end of a dowel and cooked over the fire. When they are done you fill it with anything you want. My favorite is cherries and chocolate, or chocolate and peanut butter.
What a nice fire!
And that brings me to my next order of business. I have decided to join my sister Kelly at When the Time is Right who joined Ari for her Summer Photo Challenge (that's a mouthful!). I am a week behind, so at some point I will probably post two weeks at once to catch up. This is the challenge:
And Week 1 (for me)- Something Sweet:
Mmmmm... S'more
Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
*Dough-boys- Biscuit dough wrapped around the end of a dowel and cooked over the fire. When they are done you fill it with anything you want. My favorite is cherries and chocolate, or chocolate and peanut butter.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
A Little Less Sunshiney
Today's post is going to be a little less sunshiney, and a little more.... complainey. For a little while at least. The problem is, it was hot and humid today. Now, I don't deal well with the heat on a normal day, but having a full length knee immobilizer, pain meds that make me warm, and the fact that everything I do takes extra effort, just makes everything that much worse. And our A/C is not working right.
So here are some great ways to try and beat the heat (all of which I did):
So now I am nice and cool, and smiling again. What do you do to beat the heat?
So here are some great ways to try and beat the heat (all of which I did):
- Eat ice cream, or your favorite frozen treat. Dairy Queen was the choice of the day.
- Put an ice pack on your head/neck/forehead.
- Drink water
- Buy a fan (or use the one you have)
So now I am nice and cool, and smiling again. What do you do to beat the heat?
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