My journey down the road of post surgical recovery is progressing on schedule.  Everyday seems to be a bit better than the day before.  Tomorrow (Tuesday), I’m scheduled to see the podiatrist to have the stitches removed.  I’m looking forward to that.

This must be a good year for rabbits.  At least, it’s a good year for rabbits in our neighborhood.  I’ve been seeing the evidence as I look out the office window.

Rabbit tracks in the snow.

I like the play of light, reflected light and shadow in this picture.  Sunny days in winter are nice . . . when we can get them.  Today they sky is lead gray and there are a few snow flakes in the air.  That’s okay the ground needs the moisture.

I should have some pictures of Sylvia and Nellie for you tomorrow.  I’m ready for a nap.

An Invitation

I invite you to participate in the I Did It! – Monday meme.  If you do you can register on the official I Did It blog or here on the linky below.  Registering at either site will show your participation on both sites.

Friday was a busy day for Sylvia and me.  We had brought Lily home the previous afternoon and after looking around for a while, she had gone into hiding.  She was nowhere to be seen on Friday morning.  There was evidence that at night she had come out of hiding to eat, use the facility and to play.

After breakfast, our first stop was to see the podiatrist.  There we had our pre-surgery consultation, picked up a couple of prescriptions and got fitted with a “boot.”

Doctor Dave, after explaining that liability laws and such require that he cover some things with us.  He then went over the potential risks, which included “You could die, but it’s not likely.  Do you want to go ahead with the procedure.”  I did and I do.

The doctor explained that he would shave the outside of the bunion on my right foot.  That means remove excess material.  Then he would cut the bone and move the joint at the base of the big toe inward toward the center of the foot.  This he would secure with screws.  Finally he’d cut the first bone in the toe, removing a small pie-shaped wedge to straighten the big toe.  This would then also be secured with screws.

On the way home I left a prescription for a pain killer at the pharmacy.  After lunch, we visited a medical supply business where we got a pair of crutches.  While I was doing that, Sylvia picked up some cat food for Lily–the kind she had at the shelter.

Then it was back to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription.  While I was doing that, Sylvia made a stop at the library.  It was late afternoon by the time we returned home and the roads were getting bad.

Everything should be set for Wednesday.  It’s an out-patient procedure, so I’ll be back home that night.  Unless one of those really bad things that Doctor Dave warned about happens.  But as he said, “That’s unlikely.”

Some of you are wondering about Lily.  I’m happy to report that Saturday evening she came out of hiding.  I’ll tell you more about it and share pictures tomorrow.

An Invitation

I invite you to participate in the I Did It! – Monday meme.  If you do you can register on the official I Did It blog or here on the linky below.  Registering at either site will show your participation on both sites.

Posting in cooperation with:
http://ididitmonday.blogspot.com/

Last week, I reported on my first trip to the podiatrist.  On Wednesday, I went back for a followup.  The steroid injections in the bunions have helped, but not as much as either of us would like.

We’ve scheduled surgery on my right foot for February 6.  I have to have lab tests done and obtain a clearance from my primary car physician before surgery and the pre-surgery session with my podiatrist.

Friends and family members who have been through this have been [mostly] encouraging.  Only one story was about a woman who had one foot done and decided the pain was too much.  I am well acquainted with pain, and can handle a bit more of it.

My Weak End

Saturday morning found me with a wonky tummy and an achy body.  I missed the annual chili dinner at church.  They had cancelled the sleigh ride for lack of snow.  Looks like this week will make up for that as snow is falling and the forecaster keeps saying at least a couple of inches today with more to follow during the week.

Sunday morning wasn’t much better for me.  While Sylvia’s car whisked her off to church, our TV took me to the church of Charles Stanley in Atlanta.  We spent the afternoon listening to old time radio online via archive.org.  Later, Sylvia opened the DVD of The Music Man, which she had received for her recent birthday.  Although we are familiar with some of the music, we had never seen the 1962 movie with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.  Also in the cast were Buddy Hackett, Paul Ford and a very young Ron Howard.

Here we are the last day of the year, and what a year it has been.  I just spent a day going back over the earlier posts from this year.  Here are some of the items that have appeared here on Secondary Rds.

1. Hand & Wrist Pain

I had to take time off from the blog early in the year.  In April, I visited an orthopedist and X-Rays and tests revealed that I was not suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome.  It is arthritis.  I have a prescription topical gel that gives some relief, but I am still limited.  As the year ends, I’m still having problems with this.

2. WordPress, Internet Hosting and Blogs

In January, I began to explore WordPress blogging software.  By March, I had registered this domain and had moved this blog from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress.  I fired my former hosting company and moved to HostGator.  The HG staff was very helpful and the move went smoothly.  I’m still exploring the possibilities that WordPress and plugins offer.  While it’s not for everyone, it works great for me.

3. NASCAR

I only posted three times (I think) about NASCAR this year.  (However, I didn’t miss a single race in the three top touring series.)  I know that most of you don’t care.  The Daytona 500 in February was twice postponed and finally ran on a Monday night.  Brad Keselowski, my favorite driver, made a big splash by tweeting from the seat of his car a photo of a spectacular fire.  Brad also retweeted this quote, “Being popular in the blogosphere is like always sitting at the very best table in the cafeteria at the state mental hospital.”  You don’t have to agree.  Brad won the championship this year, which was a first for his boss and car owner, Roger Penske.  As one reporter described him, Brad is “an overnight sensation 28 years in the making.”

4. Midnight

In May, my little buddy an orphaned feral cat that we brought into the house came down ill.  After a couple of days of him refusing food, we called the vet.  She was in surgery and would call us back, which she did.  It was too late . . .  Kitty had crossed over the rainbow bridge.

5. The Garden

We lost count of all the wonderful produce that we gathered from this years garden.  We had moved to a better location and done our preparation work.  Sylvia and will remember 2012 as the year of the garden.

6. Blogger Bash 2012

In August, we hosted a gathering of blogger friends.  It wasn’t much, mostly a time to meet each other face-to-face for the first time.

Vanilla, Shark, Lin & Chuck

Lin was the irresistible force that brought us together.  We invited a few others but Vanilla and Shark were the only others that were able to come.

It was the highlight of the year for Sylvia and me.  These folks that we known for a few years and felt so connected with and then we together.  As we had come together someone opined that it was great to see one another.  Another observed that it might be our first meeting, but we knew what each others toes looked like.  It’s true!  We had posted pictures of our feet.

A Very Good Year

As I looked over my posts from this year, there is one phrase that kept repeating.  It was a deeply felt phrase that expresses my outlook and reaction to what ever happens.  That phrase is this: “I am blessed.”  Thank you for being one of my many-many blessings.  May you be blessed.

Last week I wrote these lines: “I had not looked forward to the job.  In no way had I wanted to go through all the bother.  But the Christmas spirit finally kicked in, I did it!  Oh, and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be to put up the tree.”  Then I posted a picture brazenly lifted borrowed from the Internet of a pine air freshener.  It didn’t take long for the usual suspects to get on my case over that.  And I thought it would be funny like this pic is funny.  Don’t you agree that this one is funny cute?

We lost our kitty, Midnight, this year.  So we knew it would not be fun to put up a big tree with shiny temptations ornaments.  Also come Christmas Day there would be two of us to share the day.  So out came Granny’s (Sylvia’s mom) tree.  It’s nice . . . at least I think it is.

This was taken at night using flash.  Usually a walk past the tree after the sun has set looks more like this:

The Christmas spirit is alive and well and illumines the dark places.  I’m ready to celebrate Christ’s birth.  Are you?

I had not looked forward to the job.  In no way had I wanted to go through all the bother.  But the Christmas spirit finally kicked in, I did it!  Oh, and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be to put up the tree.

Just having fun with you.  Our “tree” has been up for a couple of weeks already.  The beautiful ceramic unit was made by my late mother-in-law.  It doesn’t shed needles and is lighted from the inside by a single bulb.  Our son, Scott, installed a high-intensity LED to illuminate the star that tops that small tree.

I wrote on Friday that I thought I had located a cousin, but then discovered that I had found a woman from a different state.  Turns out that it is the cousin I was searching for. :frolic:

My hand is not doing any better, which means I must limit my time here at the computer.  For that reason, I’ll keep this short.

If you’re wanting to read about Zumba, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.  Something happened on Saturday that has to go in this slot today.  It’s not just that I donated a pint of my blood, but what happened while I was there.

That was the day of the great cookie exchange.  The gals get together at church in the morning and bake cookies and then swap with one another.  Some of them bring in soup for lunch and Michigan Blood brings out their mobile unit.

Our friend, Shirley, told me earlier that she would be bringing beef and barley soup and I better show up and have some.  And I did.  After donating blood, I went inside and had some of Shirley’s magnificent soup.  Sylvia was behind me in the mobile unit and she hadn’t come in when I had finished my lunch.

I went out to check on her.  That’s when the fun began.  A young lad had come in with his dad.  While I was donating we were winking and grinning and making faces at each other.  When I went back in, he was sitting right beside where I stood.  We talked a bit.  He asked me why my hands shook so much.  I said, “That’s because I’m an old man.”  He responded, “Why?”  How do you answer that question?

Time to change the subject.  “How old are you?” I asked.  He said, “Five.”  Ellen, our pastor’s wife, asked if he was in kindergarten.  He is.  She then said, “I used to teach kindergarten.”  He wasn’t sure how to respond.

So I asked him, “How long have you been five?”  He thought for a couple of moments and then replied, “For about seven years now.”

How do you top that?  I can’t and won’t try.  I should have done it his way.