Catching Up

NEW KNEE

I'm at six weeks post op now. Tomorrow I see the doctor and have no doubt that he will release me to drive again, and allow me to ditch the cane (which I am only using outside the house now). The healing takes a long time . . . somewhere between six months and a year . . . but the major pain is past now. I'm completely off of the pain medication and doing my therapy twice a day, on my own. Walking is not too uncomfortable. Dan has taken me to a number of large stores, where I've walked the aisles. I get tired easily, but the pain is minimal. Sitting, on the other hand, can be a real pain. I am making it through both Bible class and worship service now, though. Riding in the car for a half-hour or so is do-able, but longer still creates a bit of a problem. I'm really looking forward to being able to make longer trips . . . to Houston to see the grands is number one on my wish list.


WHAT WE'VE MISSED

So, not being able to travel to see the kids and grandkids has been a real downer. Two big occasions passed by without us being there.

Clara, who is just finishing up her third grade year, took second place in her school's science fair. She was competing against fourth and fifth graders, so we are really proud of her accomplishment.

And Robert is now an official graduate of his pre-school, and on his way to becoming a kindergartner in the fall. Sure wish we could have been at the graduation ceremony.

VISITORS

Dave and Karen, our very special friends from Alaska, are on another long motorcycle trip around the U.S. We are always grateful that they make the time and effort to come by our house for a few days, which they did this month. Sadly, we weren't able to take many outings or do any sight-seeing because of the weather (more about that next), but we did get out to eat several times. Karen and I managed a girl's day out, shopping in Harker Heights. Having them here pushed me to do a lot more walking than I might otherwise have done, and it was great exercise for my knee.

TEXAS WEATHER

I'm sure everyone has seen the recent TV news reports of flooding, lightning storms, wind damage and tornados in Texas. Although we were under a tornado warning, here in Temple, nearly all of Memorial Day, we didn't have any tornados touch down. We did have torrents of rain, flooding in some areas, lots of thunder and lightning and some fallen trees. Many homes were without power for several hours, but Dan and I are thankful that our neighborhood suffered no damage, and we had no power outages.