you guys are the best...

I am truly thankful for your supportive comments.  Truly.  Since I know you all want to hear more on the Knee Saga, here's what I've been doing this fine day:  I decided to walk around without the cane.  This sounds blissful, but if you could see me, oh dear...I'm not bending the surgical leg yet with a regular step, so it's like a hoppy step from the old leg to the new, which I make sure to strike heel first.  I am also practicing walking around with both knees slightly bent, which I can do better than the regular kind of walking, but I'm sure I look hilarious.  

I was able to go in the kitchen, wipe things up, do some dishes, get a coffee, and get it back to my chair without spilling it.  

Smooth sailing, that term doesn't seem to apply to any of this, so I know it won't be easy, but dang it, I am going to walk.  Even toddlers can walk!  To be fair though, they fall down and get right back up:)

In other news, yes, Evelyn is one of the others who is going to have a baby!  She and Nate were married last May, and are expecting in August!  We are planning a baby shower for June, first babies are exceptionally fun.  Two more grandchildren are expected this year, but I ain't saying who...not yet.  

In other other news, I have so much Easter candy on the kitchen table, and 240 eggs to fill, for Easter Sunday for the kids at church.  I also have a huge bag of candy for Easter Sunday here, for the big basket I'm going to fill.  Those are things I like to do!

Reading some news a little while ago, there was a podcaster (I had no idea who he was) who was interviewed about ICE presence at airports to help the TSA.  He said it was fine, and whatever made it smoother, God bless.  He also said, "I just wanted to get to the beach. I haven't had a vacation in 6 months, so this is well-deserved."  I laughed my head off.  Six months, how is he still standing?  How does anyone go that long without a vacation? 

In still OTHER news, as I mentioned before, Paul and I are going to Phoenix in April.  It seemed like so long in the future when we booked those tickets, now it's sneaking up speedily.  I am unprepared.  I can barely walk, much less walk in Birkenstocks!  Paul said to just wear my water shoes...I bought them for five bucks on Amazon, and they're black netting, they do their job to help me not to slip on the pool deck, but imagine traveling in them....oh dear.  Life is simple when you're a guy, I guess.

I did buy two sundresses online from Walmart, and surprise, I like them both.  I ordered a thin white cardigan from Target, so I can wear that with them.  I am not going to look like a million bucks, but I'd like to aim for at least a hundred:)

It's the little things in life:  I ordered a new rug for over by the door from Target.  I put all these things in my cart, see the total, then hit "save for later" several times.  Something that stayed:  two Matchbox cars for $1.70 each that have "moving parts".  You know, the doors open, the trunk, the hood.  That's how all of them were when I was a kid, so I just had to have them.  

One of my favorite toys when I was a kid was the Tonka Winnebago.  

These are pics from Ebay (My little brother Casey could have made $143 if he had saved this!). The top went over to make a super nice awning...

We would haul that thing down to the beach, with our cardboard box of Buddy-L trucks, and make a campsite, and roads and stores.  I liked to make sand houses with patios and wood fences with sticks.  

So I blog in fits and starts, sometimes, especially when I'm trying to move more here.  Kathryn called me back, I had called her earlier when she was knee deep in homeschooling, so I got up and walked around.  I put away some dishes, and watered the plants, then headed down the hallway to the bathroom.  This is daunting without the cane.  Shh, I do cheat and hold on to walls when I have to.  But.  To get into the bathroom, you have to step up a little bit, and I always bend my "new" knee and step up, and it occurred to me that if I can step up on my knee, why can't I bend it and take a step?  

So.  I did just that.  I have my walker parked in here, as last week the PT suggested I use it to try to get a better gait, so I grabbed that, and walked across the room properly, with the knee bent.  This is HUGE.  I was holding on to the walker, so it wasn't all sunshine and roses, but it's a very big step in the right direction, so excuse me while I sit here and cry a little bit.  :)

It's cold and sunny today, Paul is at the gym, the girls are at work, so it's just the kitties, Sunny, and I here.  I don't mind some quiet, but jeepers, sometimes it's a bit much.  

Anyway, I am not really 100% ready to give up the cane realistically, but it gives me a little confidence.  I'm working on walking like it's my full time job.  I have lost so much stamina, and despite that exercise bike and doing my leg exercises, oh and going to the pool...which was closed today due to no lifeguard, I guess I'm not exactly a chair spud, but not like I was before, for sure.  

You all have a really good day, and again, thank you for kind words.  :)