How it feels.

I'm back to work and kind of back to a normal life.  My husband and kids still have to do a lot for me as they did before the surgery and I'm thankful for it but I am not even back to where I was before the surgery.  I don't think.  That last week before the surgery was pretty awful, with my knee sliding out of place and having to miss work, so I'm not sure if it's better or worse now, I just know it's not great.

Yesterday I had to work, so I went to bed at about 10:00 p.m. the night before and tried hard to sleep, but my knee and my back were working against me.  I've aggravated my old back injury this week.  So, I can't really sleep on my sides because it hurts my knee and I can't really sleep on my stomach because it hurts my back and I've never been a back sleeper.  I just can't do it.  So, I got some sleep, but not enough.  When I woke up, my knee was stiff and I could barely walk.  I got it into the shower, barely, and took a shower, got dressed for work and got (with difficulty) in the car for my 45-minute commute.  About half an hour into the drive, my knee feels done with it, but I can't really stop there and rest - I gotta go to work.   So I get to the parking garage and start my walk.   It's quite a ways.   I manage to make it to my desk, but at this point, I'm pretty tired and hurting and want to go home, but I'm too sore to do that, so I stay and work for the next 6 1/2 hours.  I'm lucky I have a light schedule right now.   I spent a lot of that time with an ice pack on my knee and one on my back, doing my medical transcription, which, fortunately, is pretty sedentary.  It was hard putting the hours in, because I was just plain hurting, but I did it.  Then I had to commute home, 15 minutes walking and 45 minutes driving, only there was a traffic jam and I ended up doing an hour and 15 minutes of driving.

Today, I'm so sore I can barely walk.

Next week I have to work the whole week because a co-worker is taking vacation days.  Do I feel ready?

Um, that would be no.

This is the third-to-last hallway.  Almost there. 

Back to Work.

I've been back to work 2 days now and though it makes my knee hurt to walk in and out of the building, it's good for me to get out and talk to other people.  I got really tired of being home and it was not good for me.  When I was unemployed and being a housewife, I had goals and plans and lists and I got things done, but this time recovering from surgery, I goofed off a lot more because I was, well, recovering from surgery and it was hard to walk and all that.  Anyway, it's nice to get back to my normal-ish life.

I did get some things done, like Mr. Miller, the stray cat, got neutered and given a rabies shot and treated for ear mites.  I think he'll be looking fat, healthy and happy like the rest of our cats soon.  

Case in point, ever photogenic Duncan.   He has been hovering around while the other one has not been feeling well, "helping".  

How cute is he?

This is what the weather has been like EVERY DAY for as long as I can remember.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little.  But it's been very stormy and I am tired of it.

I've been doing a homeless single parent Sims 4 challenge - speaking of goofing off.

Fun!

The girl and I set out for a fun day yesterday.   We went to Louisville, which is the nearest city to us, and tried out the new gluten free exclusive cafe.  Everything on the menu is gluten free which is a treat for us.  We tried a club sandwich and some kind of strawberry shortcake pudding dish.  The strawberry stuff was just okay, but the club sandwich was very, very good.  We enjoyed it immensely.

This is half of the sandwich.

The strawberry pudding dessert.

 Then we headed to our favorite gluten free bakery.  This is something we treat ourselves to every 2-3 months, and dream about the rest of the time.  We each got a gluten free big soft pretzel and a cupcake, both of which we had to bring home because we were so full, both of us, from our half of a club sandwich!  After that, we went to Hobby Lobby to look at art supplies and they had canvases 50% off, so we each got a small one and started working on masterpieces last night. Hers is probably going to be, mine not so much, but its still fun trying.  I get frustrated with myself when my I try so hard and my work looks primitive and childlike.  Still, I persist because I enjoy the process.

It still needs something, but I don't know what that is.

Fun times.

How long does it take to clean up my kitchen?

Here's the mess.  I was busy Saturday and then my husband did quite a bit of cooking Saturday afternoon. 

After 9 minutes. Clean dishes put away.  One sinkful of dishes washed and sink refilled with dishes to soak.

First break while they soak.  Not feeling too great today.  I actually took a short nap, then came back and got all the dishes washed, countertops wiped and microwave cleaned.  This all took a total of 25 minutes.  It will take another 5 in a little while to put the clean dishes away.

It really doesn't take that much time. I don't know why it feels like it does.

Trying to resume.

I'm trying to resume my normal life.  I start work again next Monday.   I'm still not walking well so I'm not looking forward to it and also I feel like the second I get back, my co-worker will put in all kinds of days-off requests - not that I blame her - but then I'll have to cover for her a whole bunch and I really don't want to do that.   So, I'm filled with dread, basically.  I interviewed for that other job the other day and it sounds pretty nice, but I don't think I'm going to be able to take it because of the health insurance.  I feel pretty sad about it at the moment.

This coming week has all kinds of activities and it is all over the place.  I want to try and do some fun things and some responsible things and do some preparation for going back to work.  For going back to work, I need to practice walking long distances and I need to get my hair cut.   My responsible thing is getting the stray cat neutered.  Sorry dude, you can't show up here with that stuff.  Poor Mr. Miller (the cat) won't know what hit him.  I called the humane society and they recommended it and they're footing most of the bill, so I'll do it.  It's the responsible thing.  That's him in the photo, the orange cat nearest the extension cord.  This is a rare picture of 4 of the cats.  Zelda on the bench, Squinch in the yard, Duncan eating his breakfast and Mr. Miller lying there unaware of his fate next week.  Zoey is the only one not in the photo.

Another fun thing this week is youngest son turning 21.

Can't believe it.

When I started this blog, he was 6.

Party success!

We had a good time at the graduation party.  Almost everyone was able to come and we had good food (too much of course, as always) and lots of good conversation.  We had hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad, chips, fruit with dip and smores.  We lit a campfire outside for the young people to do the smores.  We should refine our party skills and not buy too much food next time and do this again, more often.  I'm not sure what we'll celebrate, but we'll think of something!