New Eyes

My cataract surgery went well.  Now it's just a matter of letting my eyes heal, getting another vision exam, and finally...ordering new glasses.  The pair I have are pretty useless right now.  If I tilt them so I'm looking through the area that was meant for computer reading, I can see to drive.  If I take them off I can see the computer and I can read.  It's going to be a long few weeks!

Once I've had my eyes examined, I'll need to pick out some new glasses.  Am I the only one who gets stressed out when choosing new glasses?  It takes me forever to decide on a pair.  I thought it might be helpful to start looking now.  Maybe I'll go with a colorful pair this time around!!

Or maybe something with a little bit of bling!

There are just too many styles to choose from!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Blog Break

Cataract #2 will be removed tomorrow morning.  I started eye drops in my left eye yesterday...and I'm still doing "after-surgery" drops in my right eye.  I'm getting pretty good at it!

I

Check out my new water glass....it's made by Aladdin. 

You can buy extra straws for it...in fun colors!!  

So there's my day for you.  

Lots of eye drops, lots of water (through a fun straw), and a little bit lots of work!

Tomorrow I'll rest.....

Supplies

I haven't done a lot this past week...doctor's orders (following cataract surgery) were to take it easy for a week.So I listened. It was hard yesterday...the weather was wonderful. A perfect day to dig in the dirt!  But digging in the dirt was on my "do not..." list.  So I read instead.  A whole book.  

I read almost all day.  I can't remember the last time I did that!

I also poked around in my craft room...and took some pictures. 

Here's a peek at some of my "supplies".

You never know when you might need to tie something together.

Vintage postcards...I'll probably never craft with these. They're just pretty to look at.

Some of my buttons.

Vintage sheets

Again, never going to use this to create with...but I love it!  It's a glasses case.

These yardsticks and the red level will be re-purposed and
used in Bill's (someday) library. 

Everyone needs some Washi tape.

Tiny nests.

I have a box-spring full of these...Bill, get out the bolt cutters!

Creating with book pages is fun...too bad I can't bring
myself to tear these apart!

Not a supply...it's a really large bulletin board.  A perfect place for treasures.

I can't resist sweet baby shoes.

I'm going to use the flags soon....check this out.

Inspiration and Instruction!

Love when purchases come wrapped in old paper!

My Dad used to have a bunch of these rulers.  We played with them all the time...broke them too!

Jars of supplies.

I have plans for these as well.....inspiration found here and here.

 

I need to get busy making things....because beginning on May 13th I have to 

follow doctor's orders, and take it easy again.  It's going to be the other eye's turn!!

Happy Monday!!

Take it easy if you get a chance.....it's kind of nice!

After

My cataract surgery went well. I'm driving and back to work.  My vision is a little wonky...the doctor said it could take about a week for the blurriness and halos to go away.  But something that improved immediately is the color that I see!!

 

Everything is so bright.  White is so white!! I tried to play around with a photo of some artwork from my bathroom...just to give an idea of the difference I'm seeing.  If I cover the "new" eye I see the first photo.  But if I look through the new eye, with the other one covered, I see the prettier look of the second photo.  It's really incredible.  It never occurred to me that color would change.  It's like everything looked a little bit "aged" with the cataract in place. Of course, I guess that makes sense....my eyes are "aged"! 

 

 

Right now I have to cover my left eye in order to see the bright, new color.  But in a few weeks, after the surgery on the left eye, it'll be a whole, new, colorful world!  I can't wait!

 

 

I picked out some paint and carpet colors last week...I better go look at them again with just my right eye!  Hope I still like the colors I chose!

 

Blog Break

 

I'm having a cataract removed today.

Be back soon!

 

Break Time

UPDATE:
The surgery went well....I had a Lipoma removed from my left thigh.  It was over 5 inches in diameter and pressing on some nerves....causing hip pain.  I have a lovely three inch incision (that is glued closed), and a bottle of Percoset to ease my pain. Thank you for your concern and your prayers!

~~~~::~~~

I'm taking a day off from work today....unfortunately it's not because I have any fun activities planned.  I'm having a little surgery.  Out-patient, but with general anesthesia...scheduled for 1:00 PM. 

I'd appreciate your prayers for a good outcome!!

 

source

 



What a month!



Dayspring

"I am the Lord, who heals you."

Exodus 15:26



Recovery from knee surgery is tough.

One of the worst parts was having the 31 staples removed two weeks after the surgery. I "felt" every one of them being removed.  Awful!

My Mandy is a wonderful "nurse" and an amazing daughter and friend.  She did so many things for me.

All my children ~ and their spouses ~ are pretty incredible too, as a matter of fact!
Their care and concern was evident.

Grandchildren make even the really bad days beautiful.

Elijah kept bringing me books to read to him the other day. One at a time. Over and over. Up onto Gramma's lap and down again. Over and over.  He never bumped my bad knee. Not even once. He was told to be careful and remembered. Every single time.

Charlotte took such good care of a balloon I received. Always making sure it was by my side. Always making sure the string was in my hand.  Always.  The balloon broke on Sunday.  : )

She also found my healing incision very distasteful ~ "Ewww, gross! Gramma stinky!"

Penelope wanted to look at my incision. Mostly because her cousins were looking at it. After one peek she'd had enough. Any other attempts to show it to her were met with an emphatic "No thank you".  Penelope accidentally broke that balloon by the way.  : ) 

My father-in-law can beat me on the stairs ~ for now!  He told me that I'm "pretty slow these days".  : )

I needed a "coach" following my surgery and my husband got the job. He truly feels my pain and encourages me to work through it. He's a good coach. He really cares....I needed to be reminded of that. 

Prescription pain medicine messes with my mind and my body.  

I've been totally off these pain meds for four days now ~ I'm starting to feel like myself again!

I've received so many wonderful, kind, & encouraging comments on my blog ~ thank you so much for those ~ and so many sweet emails from blog friends near and far.

And in this age of emails, text messages, and tweets, people still send cards ~ I received so many beautiful ones ~ filled with so many encouraging, uplifting thoughts and good wishes. Who would have thought I had so many friends!

Random acts of kindness! I've been the recipient of some of those too!  Packages in the mail just because! Pretties to brighten my day! 

Visitors to brighten my day too! People have busy schedules ~ what a blessing that they would squeeze a visit to me into those schedules!

Therapy has been tough, sometimes even brutal. But I am definitely seeing progress. I have a great group of therapists and aides that I'm working with.  Bill usually takes me to therapy and on the way back home he rewards my hard work with a large unsweetened tea from McDonalds.  Yum!  

On the days he can't drive me my friend Patricia takes me instead. Bill makes sure that I have some $$ so I can take Patricia out to lunch afterwards. She introduced me to a really great salad at Chick fil A.  A little outing with a friend is wonderful medicine!  

Soon I should be driving myself....but for now I'm being a little "chicken" about getting behind the wheel again.  Besides if I drive myself I'd miss out on the tea and lunches!!

Just last night I started working on some "crafty things".  I'm loving creating again! I just wish I could sit for more than about 30 minutes.  My leg starts to throb after being down that long ~ I need to get it up for a good hour afterwards to keep the swelling down.  But 30 minutes is better than no minutes at all!

I'll post some photos of my creations and the pretties I've received in the mail soon.  But for now Katie is still using my laptop and that's what I use to upload photos.  Who knows how much I will have made by the time I get it back!!

God has been so good to me during the past month.

He's met my needs through the care and concern of so many people.

He's healing me.

He loves me.

My goodness!  What a month!!   : )

This photo doesn't really go with the post BUT I couldn't do two posts in a row without some photos.
My children, children in law, and grandbabies - taken about a year ago.
Am I blessed or what!!!



   

  

Taking A Rest

I started my blog in July of 2008 and it remains one of my most favorite things to do.  My topics are pretty random ~ posting grandbaby photos was initially my primary motivation ~ but over time it's become that plus a bit of home, crafts, places to see and some spiritual inspiration. 

My posts have been fairly frequent too. About 5 to 6 times a week. 

Since I had this knee surgery I have found myself losing interest in posting. Mostly because I'm not doing much worth posting about.  Rather than continuing to feel guilty about my lack of regular posts, I'm going to release myself from this (self-imposed) guilt and I'm going to step away from (regular) posting.  I'm going to loan my lap top to my daughter Katie. She has a fun blog -you might like to visit her!

You know - I'm doing okay.  The knee is (slowly) healing. But it's been tough to get back my strength and my energy.  It's still hard to remain in one position for any length of time too - the whole recovery process is a bit more "involved" than I anticipated.  Plus I thought there would be a lot less discomfort by now - I guess thinking that is a little unrealistic considering it's been a bit less than three weeks since the surgery.

Anyway - I covet your prayers.  Specifically for physical comfort and healing.  Prayers for emotional well being would be appreciated as well.

I'll be around - mostly lurking for now.  Thanks for visiting.......and caring!! 

Staples Are Coming Out Today

I'm getting the staples removed from my knee today. I am so looking forward to this!  The staples are pinchy, itchy and just plain yucky!  I think having the staples in causes me to hold back in my knee flex exercises too.....it feels like they might pop right out if I bend my knee too much.  So I am really ready to have this done today......I think!  : )   I'm sure it's going to hurt a little but it's just one more part of the process!!  Right?  : ) 

So 0 down.....32 to go!

Staple Removers - flickr


I just wanted to thank you all for the kind, sweet, thoughtful comments you've left for me the past two weeks.  (yep! It's been two weeks since my surgery!)
Each one has meant so much to me.  To know that you have been remembering me in your prayers has blessed me more than I can say.  I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit you and your blogs very much.  One of my biggest challenges is being able to sit comfortably.  I have yet to find a comfortable place to sit for any length of time.  The bruising on my leg is taking it's good old time to heal  and my new joint is still getting used to it's new home.  So I don't spend much time on the computer right now.  But I know that will  change and that each day brings me closer to pain-free walking (and sitting) ~ that hasn't been the case in years! I'm really looking forward to it.
Thanks again ~ so much!!



Healing....

Knowing God is in Control makes the healing process a little easier.

"I am the Lord, who heals you."

Exodus 15:26

Knowing my family cares makes me smile through the pain.

Love this!  Elijah colored a picture for me. Johanna cut letters out of his drawing and glued them on cardstock. 

  

Hodge Podge & Random

I haven't been able to sit, lie or stand in one place for longer than 10 miniutes or so since I've been home from the hospital.  I can't read or watch TV either ~ The pain meds make me fall asleep, but I don't stay asleep! : )  The post that I shared on Monday took me about eight hours to put together and I've been playing around with this one on and off since Wednesday afternoon. It must be a combination of drugs, pain and sleepiness I think!  I'm sure this post will end up being pretty random....but that is exactly how life has been lately!!
The past week has been a bit of a blur for me. I can't believe that my knee surgery was a week ago!  Since coming home last Saturday I've been hanging out in my bedroom 80% of the time.  I really hoped that we'd be able to get the room re-painted before I had to spend a bunch of time in it BUT it didn't happen.  I'll have to look at this (VERY old) scrap of wallpaper border for a little while longer.  This cute little border willl be a blog post in and of itself someday.

Back in Februrary I participated in The One World One Heart Event and LUCKY me, I won two giveaways!   This sweet red heart came from Susan at Threads of Inspiration.  It's going to have a home in my "soon to be" freshly painted kitchen.  Bill will be painting the dining room & kitchen this weekend!

 

I also won this package of vintage French/English ephemera from Liz at Lululiz in Lalaland.  It's going to great fun creating with all these wonderful pieces. I love the handmade tag that Liz included!

 

The night before I left the hospital, Bill, his Dad, Mandy, Katie, Mark & Charlotte stopped in to see me.  Charlotte immediately saw my hospital issued styrofoam cup full of ice chips and water. Her Momma carefully placed her on my lap and we visited for a little while. Charlotte also took a walk with me. Her little hand was clutched firmly around the walker's sidebar.  Too cute!   

Penelope stopped by to visit me the evening I returned home.  She was happy to see me...I got the best big hug and the sweetest grin. But then she noticed the hangers full off Gramma's necklaces. I quickly became old news! With Aunt Mandy's help she hung everyone of them around her neck.  All 23 of them!  Why is it always so much fun putting them on?  And then you try to take them.....
  

DISCLAIMER

POST SURGERY LEG SHOTS AHEAD

Here's a shot of my knee and the 31 staples that are in it.  The swelling is down in this shot. When it is swollen (several times a day) it really hurts!  It's stretches and tightens and feels like the staples are going to pop right out!

And here we have a very lovely view from the rear of the leg. This colorful mess is the biggest reason why I'm having problems lying or sitting anywhere for any length of time.  But everything is healing...and it's all downhill from here! The physical therapist said (yesterday) that I'm making good progress with my knee flexes & extensions!  I only have 9 more injections of blood thinner to give myself.  Thank goodness because thin blood = a freezing Marie! Yes, Regina D, I said that I'm freezing these days, you're probably warmer than me!  I'm almost ready to progress from my walker to a cane. 

Hopefully I'll  feel like getting a little crafting done sometime soon.

Here's a really cute photo of sweet Elijah to end this post.  I haven't seen him since before my surgery but I will be seeing him in about 1 1/2 weeks.  It kind of looks like he's dreaming of seeing his gramma real soon!



I hope you're all having a great week and an extra special day!!

It's Me!

 I'm home from the hospital.  I came home on Saturday.  Yesterday I was able to sit down and finally take a peek at my lap top.  What a treat to see all the wonderful comments left by you and you and you and you....oh and you too!  What a blessing to know that you were praying.   The surgery is done ~ so far, that has been the easy part.   Moving the leg is pretty of tough.  Standing or sitting still, stiffening up and then moving again.....OH MY GOODNESS!  I start my first out-patient physical therapy today at 11:30 AM.  Prayers will be greatly appreciated! 

My room ~ yes, it's private. That was a pleasant surprise! 
This is a brand new wing on the hospital, and everything was shiny and new. It was (almost) a pleasure to stay in this room!

The room was decorated nicely. Pretty colors. Nice enough wall art. And a really clever headboard idea!  Cork board, chrome and a nice assortment of duplex receptacles!  : ) 

The pain medication that I'm taking makes me REALLY thirsty. A regular old cotton ball mouth!  So a great big thank you to Gail and Bill for the "Jolly Ranchers!"!  I'm sure the nursing staff was thankful too!  If I hadn't been sucking on these, I'm sure I would have drank at least two more gallons of water. That would have kept them "hoppin"!  (see room sign below)

Here's the legs!  The right one was/is swollen twice the normal size.  From this angle it looks a little flat.  It was not flat!  The surgery is over. The three day hospital stay was work.  I learned how to climb a short flight of stairs and how to get into and out of the (passenger) seat of a mid-size sedan.  I have a neat "picker-upper" tool and a very creative "sock put-er on-er" (I don't think I'll be using spell check on this post!)  I also have my own rolling walker ~ it's a little sluggish on carpeting but boy, does it take off on the hardwood floors!!   Plus, what hospital visit would be complete without a pair of these fashionista socks!?  I got an extra pair.......maybe I should have a giveaway! 

Anyway, now the real work begins - actual it started yesterday.  Home exercises - and out-patient therapy.  Mandy helped me yesterday with some bending and stretching exercises.  The pain of the exercises is pretty intense but GOODNESS GRACIOUS the tightness afterwards is beyond description! It feels like the staples (all 30 plus of them) are going to burst from the swelling!   I'm getting ready to leave for my out-patient appointment in about an hour ~ Pain medication as we walk out the door and a REALLY LONG nap when I get home ~ that's my plan.

Thanks again for your prayers....they truly, truly bless me in a very special way!  I'll be back when I can!

Tomorrow

I mentioned in this post that I had an important date coming up.  That date is March 9th ~ tomorrow.  I'll be having a TKA (Total Knee Arthroplasty) done. Otherwise known as Knee Replacement surgery.  It's time....
I've been limping and hobbling and moaning and groaning on and off for over five years. It'll be great to go shopping somewhere that doesn't have a shopping cart.  Lately I've needed one of those even if I didn't need one of those ~ if you know what I mean!

We're as prepared as we're going to be...a whole lot of simplifying has been going on.  I have some little craft kits ready to be worked on, books to read and even a few movies to watch.  Hopefully I'll be back to blogging soon because I visited some really neat stores this past weekend that I'd like to share with you. I've also received some wonderful treasures in the mail that I need to show off!  : )
 I'll be packing my bag tonight and finishing up a bit more cleaning.  Bill is taking some time off to help me once I'm home ~ that should be Friday or Saturday.  Mandy will be available when he's not.
So everything is ready.  I think....

We have to be at the hospital at 5:45 AM tomorrow!  I'm the very first surgery ~ promptly at 7:30 AM! The surgery is probably the easy part.  The therapy sounds pretty tough.  I'd really appreciate your prayers and good thoughts.  Because I tend to get a little anxious in this type of situation, I've been reciting Philippians 4:6-7.  I've been praying and praising the Lord because I know He's in control. I really do have peace about it all, and I thank the Lord for that.  I thank Him for each of you as well!
 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7