I give up: It's still winter!

I put the bike away. For awhile, anyway. I have accepted winter and found it is not so bad. Especially now that I have passed the three month mark on my hip surgery. I am free as a bird. I can become one with the wilderness. Diane and I drove up Millcreek Canyon on Saturday to where they stop plowing the road. We upgraded our snowshoes to near Top of the Line. We put them on at the Terraces picnic area and head up the hill. It was a pretty good grunt and we soon warmed up and began shedding clothes. There was a good amount of snow and we went uphill for about an hour and then stopped for some lunch. The trip down was faster(imagine that). We had a good workout and a great start to the weekend.

Just when you thought...

Just when you thought winter might be fading! Yesterday it almost hit 50 degrees. Sam called and said we should go for a bike ride. I took my bike off my trainer in the basement and changed the flat back tire and put on the water bottle cage I bought and pronounced myself ready to ride. I picked up Sam and we went to the Legacy Parkway bike path. It seemed a little colder that when Diane and I did this ride last Memorial Day. The clouds set in and it was foggy and misting in the mid 30's. It was cold so we went about 5 miles and turned around and headed back. By the time I got to the car, I could not feel my ears. We stopped for hot chocolate to get our body temperatures back up to normal. Maybe we should have gone snow shoeing.

2010(Twenty ten)

That is how I am going to say it, "Twenty Ten" Christmas is come and gone and today is New Years Day. Jamie, Diane and I took the walk to Sunrise Point at Dimple Dell Park. It was overcast but not as cold as it has been in the last few days. We took Cub and Chloe and they were happy to get out. My hip felt pretty good after this 3 miler.

The Healing Hip

Well, it's been a week since I posted. I have progressed quite a bit. I did, however, fire my physical therapist. I was not getting any value so I am rehabing on my own. With the internet you can do just about anything. Or screw up just about anything. Seriously, though, I got my program going. I see my doctor tomorrow and I am scheduled to go back to work in a week. I hope I continue to make progress and get my life back to normal.

On The Mend

I had my hip replacement surgery last Tuesday and I am on the mend. The day after surgery they started walking me with a walker and boy did that smart. Getting in and out of bed was(and still is) a prodigious task. The following day I walked a lot more and on Friday yesterday I used crutches to get around. I came home from the hospital yesterday much to the delight of the dogs. I had a home healthcare nurse come in and evaluate me and get some blood to check my protime. That will tell if I am anticoagulated enough. Later that afternoon, my physical terrorist came and put me through the paces. I thought I would just walk around inside the house but she said, nope, we are going outside. I started with two crutches and graduated immediately to one crutch.We went all the way to the mailboxes and back. She then had me do some exercises that are designed to elicit the maximal amount of pain. She will be back Monday with more torture devices and schemes. The wheels may be coming off the wagon but I am trying to get them put back on.

Swine Flu

Sam has been substitute teaching at the Madeline Choir. That is until he came home sick with an ILI(influenza like illness). It has been a week and now and he is turning the corner. We are calling it the swine flu or H1N1 to be more precise. I got the Tamiflu to him pretty early so I think it moderated his clinical course for the better. I got my H1N1 vaccination 10 days ago and I hope my immunity kicks in before I get exposed. In the meantime I am doing all the things promulgated by CDC.

Adventures in Moving

Sam and Ashley have moved to Salt Lake from Venice. They found a house to rent right away and moved in this week. They tried to load everything up on the Volvo, giving it the appearance that someone referred to as "The Beverly Hillbillies". Instead they borrowed a truck from Julie's roommate and enlisted Riley's help to get up here last week. They are all moved in. Yesterday, Diane and I used the truck to pick up a sofa at RC Willey;s. As I drove into the driveway, I ran over a valve box for the sprinklers. It broke off one valve and the water began to spew. I held the broken valve down while everyone look for the turnoff valve for the sprinklers. We could not find that so Sam lifted the water meter cover and turned off the main water valve. In the meantime we found the turn off valve for the sprinklers and we began the chore of going to Home Depot and getting a new valve. By the time we got that put back together, I had missed my opportunity to go fish the Provo with Dick. I know, it's a very sad tale. But, I did fish the day before so it was not all that bad. We are getting ready for the cool weather. In fact, yesterday, I turned off the irrigation water and drained my sprinklers for the winter. Here it comes!