It’s the first weekend in a long time when I didn’t have research or writing that I should be doing (finally finished the term paper — woohoo!), so I decided to tackle a few of the seemingly endless items on my household fix-it list. My 13yo offered to help, and together we repaired a cracked bed boxspring (too many dog-piling boys!) and installed a ceiling fan in my bedroom.

Isn’t it pretty? It took about three hours, and I’m pleased to report that there was no bloodshed or electrocution involved, although I did cuss a couple of times and dropped a screwdriver on my foot. I have installed a ceiling fan once before (replaced a light fixture), but this was the first time that I replaced a whole fan with a new one. I called my dad for advice on the wiring to be sure I understood the instructions, and I thought I put everything together the way the diagram showed. Unfortunately, when I turned the switch back on after the whole thing was assembled, nothing happened. 😦

My fingers and arms were so tired from holding them above my head all that time using a manual screwdriver; not to mention that my knee was expressing extreme discontent from standing on a ladder. I had to call it quits for the day. I will re-inspect the wiring tomorrow, if time permits. and see if something perhaps came loose during assembly. In the meantime, I have a lamp in my room. It’s kinda cozy, actually, but I do miss the fan. (I know I could call for help, but it irks me that I couldn’t do it myself, and besides, none of my parents need to be standing on ladders, either.)

Anyway, after all that, I forgot that I needed to bake a few dozen cookies for work tomorrow, so I was on my feet for another hour-plus doing that. I’m ready for a hot pad, some ibuprofen and bed. At least the bed is fixed! :p

I don’t travel very often for work, but it just so happened that I was asked to accompany a small group of folks to conduct site visits at other universities around the country.

Even better: we got to take a private plane!

What’s cool about private planes (besides the whole, wouldn’t-it-be-awesome-to-have-one-of-your-own aspect) is that the cockpit is open, so you can watch the pilot fiddle with knobs and dials and see all the lights and displays. I was like a kid on a field trip; it was so neat!

Co-pilot for the day!

After the first leg of the trip, I told the pilot that I enjoyed watching him fly the aircraft, and he said that on the next leg, I could sit up there in the co-pilot seat!

Here’s the view from my lap! What an exquisite experience! I even got to wear a headset and listen to the air traffic controllers and other pilots give instructions and report back and forth.

The pilot joked about letting me land the plane, and I told him that I should probably not admit how many times I crashed Flight Simulator (the old-school PC version). He laughed and said that he’d handle the landing.

It has been a packed week — I finished my last physical therapy appointment and got released by my orthopedist. The doc said that by Christmas, I should catch myself doing things that I didn’t realize I could do (bending and putting weight on it in the course of my day), and by Easter, I ought to feel like-new.

I hope he’s right, because I was thinking earlier today about taking the boys roller skating one weekend, but there’s no way I’d get out there just yet! Just the thought of falling down makes me a little nervous of getting back out on skates ever, but maybe the doc is right and there will be a day – relatively soon – when I don’t feel timid on my knee anymore at all.

I did walk down a flight of stairs without holding the handrail this week, but I was hovering my hand close to the bar, just in case! I guess it’s more intimidating going down because if you fall going up, there’s something to grab hold of before you face-plant. O.o

Week 6 post-op! P.S. Are those not the cutest pajama shorts you’ve ever seen? 😉

Since it was my last appointment, the physical therapist took some measurements to compare with my first visit. At that time (about 1.5 weeks post-op), I could bend my knee 97 degrees. (Lying on a flat surface & pulling my feet toward my booty as far as I could, unaided.) She was pleased and said that beyond 90 degrees was really good, at that point. The baseline of my “good” knee was 139 degrees.

Well, today, I made it to 136 degrees with my surgery knee! I’m happy about that. It isn’t comfortable to hold it that tightly scrunched for very long at all, but I’m glad that I was able to bend it that far (without pulling on it with my hands or a strap for assistance).

I still have some swelling, as you can see, but they both said that it will go down, eventually. The scars don’t look too bad, either. They’ll fade, over time. I’m trying to make it to the Y twice a week before work, even if it’s just to ride the recumbent bike for 10 min. Tonight, I demonstrated a couple of my at-home exercises/stretches to my eldest two, and they were sympathetic to the difficulty level. 🙂 That made me feel better! I think that having them do the exercises with me will a) remind me to do them! and b) be fun to do together.

Have you ever found a piece of food trash long after the fact? Eww, gross! That’s how unchecked sin becomes, so don’t let it rot your life.

What fun! A month or so ago, I got a direct message on Twitter from a local news anchor asking if I’d be interested in doing an interview for an afternoon program called Moms Everyday. The program is designed to give practical tips and ideas to parents (especially moms, but there’s a section for dads, too).

Moms Everyday: Coin Vase

I hope you enjoy the clip (I tried embedding the video directly, but it didn’t work, and I’m too tired to mess with it :p ). The boys are excited about counting the money, but we’re still adding to the stash. (Come to think of it, I haven’t emptied my wallet today, so I need to go do that.) We’ll wait another month or so and take it to the bank around Thanksgiving. Everyone will discuss & vote on which charity/organization to donate the funds to.

I’ll let you know what the results are! 🙂

I cheated last night. The doc said that I could swim & take baths at the 4-week mark (which is tomorrow), but my sutures are healed closed, and I felt like taking a bubble bath … so I did. 🙂

I seldom take baths, primarily because they take longer than showers, and time is a hot commodity in my life. Also, they seem more like a luxurious treat than an actual bathing experience, because I never feel rinsed off — I always feel soapy when I emerge from the water, and I don’t like washing my hair in the tub for that same reason.

The one time I really like taking baths – and this was my rationale last night – is when I get to the very bottom of a bottle of shower gel. There isn’t enough left to squeeze out, but if you uncap it and run it under the faucet, you can rinse out the bottle to toss in the recycling bin later AND get a tubful of bubbles, as well!

Bubbles + a few minutes of Me Time = Happy Ang

As you can tell, I let time get away from me and didn’t get around to posting a 3-week update. Things are going well; I started steps late last week (going up … still not quite ready to go down without a lot of support). The physical therapist started me on sit-squats today (start to sit down, but as soon as your butt taps the bench, stand back up!). Oi vey – I don’t know how many of those I could have done before the knee problems, but I managed to do three sets of 10 today.

Week 3.5 after meniscus repair

I am very excited about the upcoming weekend, because it will be the four-week mark, which means that I can swim! Hooray! 🙂 I may also take a luxurious bubble bath, just because I can.

I have progressed to the recumbent bike and am doing some leg machine exercises with a little bit of weight. Most of my “homework” exercises from physical therapy are geared toward rebuilding leg strength, as well as stretching the knee. I think it will be a while before I can leg-press 730 lbs again, but perhaps I’ll get there, eventually! 😉

I feel a little self-conscious going into the Y and moving the weights to a teensy-weensy amount, but then I figured what the heck – I don’t have anything to prove to anyone.

All in all, I think I’m doing pretty well. You can see in the pic that there is still quite a bit of swelling, but the sutures are healing nicely, and it doesn’t look like the scars will be too noticeable.

The teenager has a school dance on Friday, and apparently, the theme is “Retro.” That little booger had the gall to come up to me and say: “So, Mom, you’re ‘retro’ — what do you think I should wear? I was thinking something ‘hippie’ like.'”

Then again, bell-bottoms and Hammer pants were both horrible, so what’s the use in quibbling over a couple of decades?

Rivalries are part of the fun of college sports. Spectators root for their alma maters and other favorite teams, and those loyalties tend to last a while. Even though I finished my undergraduate degree a long time ago, I still enjoy watching our old arch rivals lose. With that in mind, I wanted to write/vent about something I witnessed at the football game last weekend, but I want to be careful not to come across as too negative.

First, a bit of background: I attended a community college because I had a scholarship and wanted to save money by living at home. I actually began my studies in a dual-credit economics course the summer before my senior year of high school. I did exceptionally well and obtained a few more scholarships to help offset tuition at the state university where I transferred as a junior. It wasn’t an Ivy League school or a Tier I research institution, but I received a solid foundation in my chosen major and earned a bachelor’s degree.

A decade-plus went by, and then I had the opportunity to return to school for a master’s degree with tuition remission assistance through my employer (a private university). One thing led to another, and here I am a few years later — just a handful of courses and one gigantic research paper away from being called “Dr.” (And this degree is through another state school, by the way.)

Ok, back to the football game …

Some fans from the opposing team (the aforementioned arch rivals from undergrad) were smack-talking and being typical, enthusiastic college kids. They weren’t being obnoxious (at that point), and besides — their team was beating ours soundly throughout the first half.

As the competition wore on, the crowd got more boisterous on both sides. Our guys finally turned the game around, and the opposing team started packing up to leave in the 4th quarter. As a few of the rivals walked past us to exit, I heard someone on the other side of the aisle rib them: “Go get a real degree!”

I took personal offense to that comment. If I could have seen who said it, then I might have confronted them about it. The sad fact is, that smart-aleck comment embodies all of the negative connotations of a private school. It reminded me of the pretentious snobs I knew in high school who looked down their noses at me for going to a community college instead of an elite school. It made me think of the people in the city around us, even today, who still feel alienated by the bubble of the rich kids’ school. (<<Granted, I know full well that many, many students receive financial assistance, but there is still a perception that private schools are for the wealthy.)

Mostly, it made me sad that people stoop to the level of insulting one another over a game. That comment wasn’t about football. It was a personal affront to the quality of their education. As much as I jab and tease about my arch rival, it is still a fine institution of higher education. My first degree came from a school of equal caliber, and I felt truly insulted on Saturday by my “own kind.”

2 weeks post-surgery!

Look at me go!! 🙂 I went to the Y last night while the kids were at youth church & used some weight machines without weight (2 sets of 15 on about 4 machines), then went to the cardio room & used an awesome machine called a recumbent cross-trainer. It’s basically an elliptical, only sitting down! I made it a whole 10 min!  Woohoo! 🙂

I’m happy to see the swelling diminishing. Each day is a little bit better. (Those two “steri strips” will stay on for another week or so. They’re basically glued-on first aid tape, and the doc said that once they start curling off themselves, then I can remove them. They are just to protect the incisions where my stitches were while the skin heals.)

I did some physical therapy stretches after we got home, then iced it for about 30 min before bed. It was sore this morning, but not terribly so — not really painful, just stiff.

Progress! 🙂