Recovery Boost

I'm doing great as far as bending and exercises are going. I still have quite a bit of pain but am sure it's just normal surgery pain. I see the doc tomorrow to get my stitches out and will ask him about it. The physical therapist says that knee revisions are super painful and it's normal to have good days and bad as far as pain level goes. He gave me some new tail kicker exercises today! Makes me grunt and moan but it's good for me! :) My incision looks great to me. The stitches are wire and so I'm glad to get them out...they are getting pokey and itchy. I'm soooo thankful at my progress. It is amazing how much better this time is going. I just need to be patient with the recovery and realize it may take a little longer than I want it to. I can already bend it better and farther than I could at the end of PT with the last replacement. God is so good and I know He has His hand on me.

My recovery boost has come in the form of visitors. It has been great to see a few JCFC peeps and some new friends from First Assembly. At the hospital I got a visit from the beautiful Main ladies and the adorable Cecil clan. Plus several other friends made the trec to Methodist. Today I got some snuggle time with my buddy Cale. Jenn came to vacuum for me. Now that's a good friend! I can do most chores but that one was a bit much for me. The Kimmers brought some incredible soup last week and so I got to see Drakester for a bit. Jen and Jaron came by with books (yeah) and Jaron found the cutest bunny pen he had to buy for me. So sweet! One of the First families brought dinner...Misty and all six of her kids came. The oldest is 10 and the youngest will be two in April. Great family! Visitors make my day as time drags when you are by yourself. I know my friends Dara and Angela would be loving the solitude but I guess I'm too social...or co-dependant. :) Cale was so sweet to me today; freely giving hugs and smoochies, bringing me my blanket, telling me stories and helping Jenn vacuum! He would carefully crawl up on my lap to watch Curious George. When Jenn offered to dust, Cale said that was his job at home! Looking forward to a little more freedom after the stitches come out! Gonna even try to make Amy's craft night for a bit. I'll probably get more talking than crafting done! Oh well...it will be another recovery boost.

Probably My Fault

I hear Starbucks is struggling a little. It's probably my fault...I have been stuck inside for 2 1/2 weeks! Sorry guys. I'll be able to do my part after this week or next. Do you know how long it has been since I had a grande, no fat, sugar free, Cinnamon Dulce Latte? Sinful, just sinful. :)

Operation Christmas Child

I was very excited to receive a special report on the success of Operation Christmas Child (OCC) for 2007. This year more than 7.6 million boys and girls in some 100 different nations received these tangible gifts of Christ's love. For many, this was the first lesson in the true meaning of Christmas and the first time to hear about Jesus and what He has done for us.

I was especially moved to read about the children of China and see some pictures of these beautiful kids, who live in a place where you could be arrested or killed for being a Christ follower. They are allowed to participate in OCC as a cultural exchange that the Chinese government okayed.

One especially moving testimony took place in Ghana. An OCC team leader noticed the calloused feet of a young boy and quickly breathed a prayer, "Please God, let this child receive a pair of shoes in his box." The boy had never owned a pair of shoes and daily made a barefoot six mile round trip to school. When he opened his box, there were two pairs of shoes that were a perfect fit. God always knows what we need and when we need it. James 1:17 comes to mind..."Every good and perfect gift is from above. coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."

Can't wait to make more boxes next year!

Happy Birthday Trudy

My Oregon buddy, Trudy, is having a birthday and she is nervous about getting close to forty. All I have to say about that is, "You can just eat a big bowl of shut the heck up!" :) I kinda remember my thirties. Hee Hee...anyway. Trudy is a wonderful woman of God who has a heart as big as they get. She is a compassionate, loving person and was a BLAST to minister with while we were at Berean. Her crazy husband, Pastor Kevin, was the children's pastor there so we got to spend a lot of time together. I'll never forget the first time Trudy came to kid's church as her character, Sister Rowena. I thought I was gonna pee my pants laughing!

We had a lot of fun doing Missionettes together, too. The ornery side of Truders showed up a time or two at Powette and at our FAVORITE thing...Kid's Camp!! Oh how I miss both Kevin and Trudy at camp! Trudy also shares my love of purple. I knew she was smart! The only thing I never could understand about Trudy is that she loves hockey, of all things. Oh well, we all have our weaknesses! :)

Trudy is an amazing mom to Renn and Zayvn, two of the most active boys you'll ever meet. Trudy is one of those women who you just knew would be a great mom before she was even one officially. Happy Birthday Trudy...I miss you tons and can't wait to see you again.

90 Degrees in 10 Days

No, I'm not talking about the weather! I wish. I'm talking about a 90 degree bend in my knee with the therapist this morning only 10 days after surgery! She said I'm doing excellant and gave me some tips to work on my quad muscle which seems to be my one weak spot. She was sure it was from being soooo messed up for so long. She also gave me permission to prop up my knee for a couple hours so that I can get at least a little quality sleep. My reward for working so hard. :)

Happy Birthday Lindsay

Today is my friend Lindsay's birthday. I miss her a lot as she lives in Omaha...the land of her people. Lindsay is one of those people you love from the second you meet her. She has this full-out infectious laugh and is one of the most intelligent people I know. She's an incredible mom to Reese and Liam and puts up with her CRAZY husband Michael. Lindsay is an artist and a writer, too, and just an all around cool person. Love ya bunches, Linds! Miss you and hope to see your face soon.

Coming Along

The new knee is coming right along. My only set back was the huge bruise I got from the impatient nurse who loaded me up in the van to come home. Wow, it's been super sore and I was a little worried it was a blood clot. The physical therapist looked at it and thought it was bruising so bad because of the blood thinners they put you on following surgery.

The therapist was impressed with how well I am doing and she was able to bend my knee to 82 degrees which she said was awesome for the first time. I got the devil bendy machine to 97 and can sit in a chair for a few minutes with my knee bent somewhat normal. I told Randy that I could just kiss Dr. Vittitoe!

I am afraid that we are going to gain 10 pounds with all the yummy food coming in! I'll have to pace myself! I am already getting a little cabin fever. The only thing that helps is that it is sooo cold and you all know how much I love the cold weather. :)

Way Different Experience

I got home from the hospital Friday evening. What a different experience than last time. Surgery lasted two hours and as predicted Randy had a total seven hour wait with recovery and all the prep. Surgery went well, Dr. Vitittoe suspected that the crooked prostethis was due to a loose component but he found both components loose. Plain and simple...had to be fixed! I can already tell this time is going better. Monday and Tuesday my pain was controlled but Wednesday when they removed the nerve block, things changed quickly. It was a ROUGH day but the doctor and nurses were awesome and kept trying different medicine and combinations until they finally hit something that worked by Wednesday about 9 PM.

My level of care was incredible. Everyone down to the custodians were amazing. My room was big and beautiful and most importantly quiet. Physical therapy was done in the privacy of my room and without inflicting additional pain. I am able to bend my knee on the "devil bendy machine" to 85 degrees already and that is as far as I ever got before and it's only day 5! Don't get me wrong, it hurts, but I can tell how different it is already. My only complaint was the nurse who put me in the van to go home really hurt me. She was in a hurry to get me in and pushed my knee too far and I screamed. If she was a little more patient, it would have been fine. Took me a while to get it settled down last night but I don't think any damage was done.

Thanks so much to all who sent cards and flowers or came to visit. It means so much to have so many great people in our lives. We came home to pizza from the Lively's and Saturday chicken and rice from Amy! Yummo as usual. I am totally house bound for two weeks so come and see me if you can! PT is at home and I get my stitches out on Feb. 28. Please excuss any spelling errors...blogger spell check is still down!

Blog Break

I'll be away from the blog world for awhile for my surgery. Back in a few days!

Touched Up

We touched up Keaton's hair with some even brighter pink! Sweeeet!

Life Stage

Here is another example of the empty nest syndrome. Tomorrow afternoon, Randy and I have an appointment to get our picture taken for the new First Assembly church directory and it will be just the two of us....no kids. :( Makes me want to get that family picture appointment with Erica scheduled ASAP! We haven't had a professional family picture since we were all at Berean and I weighed 340 pounds. Guess it's past time.

Trusting God

I have two friends who are both experiencing life crisis' at this time. One is female, one is male and both are asking, "Where is God in all this?" How do we continue to trust God when were are in the realm of "impossibilities"? My heart breaks at some of the things these two are experiencing yet I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control and they will come out with something more than they have now.

Satan has a way of eclipsing us from God. Just as in nature we have an occassional eclipse, I think we can experience it in our lives as well. The moon blocks out the sunlight for a short period of time but eventually gets out of the way and we can enjoy the light again. For a time it's cold and dark and maybe even very still but we know that it's temporary. In nature's eclipse, we can have the attitude of, "Crap, where'd the sun go?" Or we can sit back and be amazed at how God created the universe and know He has a plan and purpose for that short inconvenience. Whatever Satan throws at us, he cannot eclipse the Light for long. We all hear it but do we understand it? Satan is a liar and a thief!!

I like what David Wilkerson says, "The faith that pleases God is born in a place of deadness." Just as Abraham trusted God when God said he and Sarah would have a son, “Being not weak in faith, (Abraham) considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19). Abraham didn't dwell on the "impossibility". There was no eclipse.

I'm praying that my friends, who are experiencing totally different trials and are in totally different seasons in their lives, will continue to trust in this place of deadness. I'm praying that God will give me words and wisdom that I do NOT possess in myself. I'm praying that they can get past the "Crap, where'd the sun go?" stage to "Wow, that was impossible without God!" victory.

New Temptation

I'm so bad. I may not eat sweets but I have a serious salty-crunchy habit! Something new I've discovered is Pringles Select Jalapeno and Ranch Chips! Yowza...they are yummy! Warning - they give you some nasty breath. :)

Get a Tissue

My friend Linda sent this and I think it's blog worthy. It's from a radio station and the following was posted on their web site.....

"The Sky Angel Cowboy! Since posting this audio it has taken on a life of its own. People are forwarding it all over the world. Some corrections… We originally said Logan was 12. He actually turned 13 in August, so we don’t want to deprive him of such a big birthday. Logan listens to us (89.3 KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX) on Sky Angel because he lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. He called us distraught because he had to take down a calf. His words have wisdom beyond his years.
Listen to what Logan had to say…"

http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/

WOW! Make sure you watch the news clip, too.

Okay....I Was R - R - R - Wrong

Okay...I did a little YouTube search for the e*trade baby Super Bowl commercials and Lindsay was RIGHT! Where was I when these played? It must have been when we girls were secretly eating the wings before the guys found out we had them. HeeHee. Hey - a girl's gotta eat! The bobble head one wasn't too bad but I kinda liked the clydsdale one where the dalmation trained him to be on the lead crew for that one adult beverage company. The giant balloons fighting over the coke was cute, too. Yeah...the underdog Charlie Brown won...just like the Giants.

Props

Props to the Giants for an amazing Super Bowl win! I didn't really care who won as long as it was a decent game...hate those blow-outs. Eli Manning's never-give-up breakaway and his unbelievable pass at the end of the game will go down in Super Bowl history. That catch by Tyree was equally unbelievable. We got to enjoy the game at our new friends, the Moekles', house with some others from First Assembly. Can't beat fun people, a good game, and some wings! The commercials were kinda disappointing, though.

Thatsa Ma Boy!

Here's a few pics of Naphtali's latest creation! Keaton's kids at Community Hope AG meet their BGMC goal and thus the pink hair. I think he looks cuter with his than I did with mine! :) It's so funny to see this big manly man running around with bright pink hair. I'm sure the guys he works with will have a field day with him but I know he can handle it. Anything for Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge! Go Keaton!