Still Here

 

The snow is still here.  Maybe not as much, but it's still around.  When I got up this morning the temperature was three degrees, tonight's low is 16.  In a few days the highs will be 39, maybe rain on Saturday, so that should help.  And then Sunday's low will be 7, followed by 2, 5, and 4 as the week goes on.

Yesterday's PT included thirty step-ups on the bottom step - and  today is a sore day.  I've done a few simple stretching exercises but mostly took a lot of reading breaks.  Ate leftovers.  It's ok, tomorrow will be better.

As I did those steps I got a little glimpse of the top of the stairs - and I know that soon I'll be up there.  I hope my sewing machine still knows my name.  (Really, it does.) 

There is a church committee meeting tonight starting at 8:00, kind of late for me.  The chair is really good at holding meetings to an hour, which I appeciate.  I hope I don't act like a sleepy old person.

Do Over

 For the past few days I've been without internet.  My router needed to be restarted, which happens from time to time.  The router is in my basement, and the basement isn't accessible to me right now.  Yesterday it was unplugged and then plugged back in and all is right with my internet world once again.

The Chex Mix picture above is from my redo.  At Christmas I thought I could surely make Chex Mix and stir in from a chair.  That wasn't a good idea.  There was Chex Mix spilling in the oven and Chex Mix on the floor and someone else had to take over.

Now, though, I can make Chex Mix, and there is no chair.  And it was delightful.

Yesterday was my eye doctor visit, which went much better than I'd hoped.  Return in three months and in the meantime see a corneal specialist to see whether to monitor or consider a corneal transplant.  The operated eye was stable and pressure was good.

And so - I was able to navigate the steps down and up fairly easily.  And for the first time in a month I left the house and rode in a car, just like real people do.  

Thanks to my son-in-law for taking me to the appointment and for  restarting the router.

Icicles

 

Icicles hanging from my roof.  One of those repairs I need to deal with.  I wish I knew a good handy person.  I have a list.

More snow is falling, but it should be much less than last weekend.  The salt trucks are running through the neighborhood.

There was PT again today.  I tried going up and down the bottom step ten times.  Or maybe 20, I can't remember.  I was sore afterward but it went ok.  And then later I tried walking across the room.  It wasn't pretty but I could do it.

I asked the therapist whether the soreness comes from the muscles or the broken bone.  His guess is the bone.

I'm realizing the value of preventive exercise.  All that walking last summer is helping me now.  I've been reading about pre-surgery PT, strengthening muscles prior to replacement hip or knee surgery.  Not that I need a replacement - I just read stuff.

No Tracks

 

I admired the snow in the back yard this morning and noticed that it looked pristine.  No rabbit tracks, no squirrel tracks, no deer tracks, no cat tracks, no people tracks, nothing.  It was 18 degrees and I hope that everything and everyone was holed up somewhere.

(That big building across the way, it's a hospital.)

it was a good PT session this afternoon.  I walked about five steps without my walker and climbed a couple of stairs.  Did the required exercises.  And then ate a protein bar instead of lunch and took a nap, worn out.

There was Zoom at Noon today.  During the early pandemic days four of us church friends started meeting for a hour Wednesdays at noon.  Four years later, we still Zoom on Wednesdays at noon. 

No mail delivery today, which isn't unusual for me.  And no mail delivery tomorrow in honor of Jimmy Carter.  I appreciate that.

Quiet Neighorhood

It's amazing how quiet the neighborhood is after the snowstorm.  Much of the usual traffic has stayed home.  My daughter went back to work, pleased that her shoveling allowed her to drive away.  She's back at home tonight.  A noisy snowblower came and cleared my neighbor's driveway.  A bobcat with a snow blade cleared the edges of the street.  The mailman came.  And that was the outdoor excitement for the day.

I did sew a bit more, and it went a little better than yesterday.  I did all the marking for the half square triangles before I sat down.  And I put a silicone potholder under the foot pedal so it wouldn't scoot away.  

There was Impossible meatloaf, Lima beans, and fruit for dinner.  The 12 ounce packages of Impossible meat makes a small meat loaf that tastes about like the real thing.  Cooking and washing the dishes takes much longer than my usual, but I'm satisfied to be able to do it.

My daughter and I watched a couple of episodes of Virgin River on Sunday night - she'd never seen it.  That inspired me to re-read the book, which is free on Kindle Unlimited.  It's as good the second time as it was the first time.

No Snow Picture

 

I'm sure everyone is so tired of seeing pictures of snow in back yards, so you won't see one here today.

Instead we'll admire this new little cast iron skillet, just the right size for a grilled sandwich or an over-easy egg.  It came preseasoned, so I just seasoned it a couple of times before using it, and that worked out fine.

The Chiefs lost yesterday so the Bengals are out of the play offs.  Now I can just sit back and enjoy the games without fretting.  Word on the street is that the Chiefs didn't want to play the Bengals in the playoffs so they didn't play their starters, but I think they were just resting their starters for the games to come.

My local daughter is channeling her sister by using the blower to clear the steps and sidewalks.  I love my girls.

And So We Wait

 

And so we wait in Cincinnati.

It wasn't a pretty Bengals win last night in Pittsburgh, it never is, but a win is a win, and the Bengals' slim playoff hopes are still alive.  For the Bengals to be in the playoffs, the Jets need to beat the Dolphins and the Chiefs need a win over the Broncos.  (Joanne, will you be watching?  4:25)

It was a dismal start but the Bengals had a winning season, their fourth in a row, by winning their last five games.

And we wait for the snow.  Predictions are all over the place.  There will be precipitation, it 's just a matter of whether it will be ice or snow or both.  And if it's snow, whether there will be a lot.

My grandson's Christmas break is scheduled to end tomorrow and I'm sure he is hoping for snow.  My church cancelled services for this morning.

Last night I was able to put a baking sheet of breaded shrimp into the oven and take it out.  It sounds like nothing, but it's something I couldn't do a week ago.