Let There Be Darkness

You always hear that having a home eats up your time. As a renter you never believe that a house could be that much more work. After all what is a little mowing and snow shoveling right? I guess it is a little more than that. We have been busy with house stuff. Mowing, weeding, picking, cleaning and much more. On April 22nd we placed an order for window treatments to replace the 3 sets of UGLY vertical blinds that were located in the house. We chose April 22nd because JC Penney’s was having an incredible sale. The Bali products were 70% off. On top of that it was friend’s and family day so we got an extra 20% off. Plus, we opened a Penney’s card and got an extra 10% off. So we ended up buying 2 large blinds for $400 instead of $1900. Which was a fantastic deal!! We then went home and did some shopping online. JCP has some French door panels that are attached to your door by Velcro and they can either hand straight down or can be rolled up by hand and there are straps to hold them up. It was nice because the set that I found had a valance that matched. I did a REALLY good job picking out the colors online. They panels are VERY functional and you can keep the sun (heat) and peeping toms out at the same time.

This week the blinds came in. The living room blinds came on Monday. It was nice because with custom purchased blinds you can put 3 blinds on one header. The blinds are then hung at the same level and you don’t have to measure. It was cheaper than buying 2 small blinds and 1 big blind. So we installed those on Monday and it really changed the look of the living room! Yesterday the blinds for the bedroom came in. Josh was happy to remove the last set of vertical blinds. We both hated the looks of them. What was worse was that the blinds weren’t really functional. You had to open and close the whole thing to let light in they wouldn’t turn sideways anymore. After we moved we found out that they were aimed the wrong way and the gears were worn down. So we decided to get something functional. Also, the blinds were thin and light easily shown through and it made it tough to sleep past sunrise. During the week that is fine. However, I like to sleep in on the weekend. That was pretty much the last thing that we wanted to change. We have to find curtains for the living room. Then we should be done for a while. Gardening is next. So we move from the inside out. Fun Stuff!

In Your Face Howard Stern!

I am so happy this morning because the no talent, scary haired freak Sanjaya has finally been voted off American Idol! Each week was more painful to watch than the last. Especially after he stayed and Gina Glocksen got booted. Now I can truly enjoy the show without having to dread his hideous hair and slow painful murder of a one good song! Good bye Sanjaya once and for all!!!

A+ in Therapy

One of my major concerns, and reason for withdrawal these past couple months, has been my knee. I had intended to write while I was off recovering from my surgery. However, my body had different plans for me. The day or two after surgery my leg started popping. Popping like it did before surgery. As you can imagine this hit me really hard. Here I was going through this painful experience and then to feel my knee pop just like I had never had surgery, was very hard to deal with. I knew that it was making me an unpleasant person to be around. I just ignored that and pressed on. It wasn't until three weeks ago at therapy that I lost it. I am glad I lost it there instead of my doctor's office the next day. However, losing your composure is something you really don't want to do.

My therapist Marc is WONDERFUL! I am so glad that we have found each other. He has been fantastic in helping me recover from my hip surgery and guiding me through my knee surgery. That day he went through and showed me how my knee was recovering. He pointed out the problems but showed me the promising things and told me to keep working and things would be getting better. That day I made a promise to myself to really try hard and work hard in the pool and do my exercises at home. I have kept that promise to myself and worked on things at home and pushed myself hard at the pool. I have seen a difference in my strength in fact I climbed 2 flights of stairs this weekend on my own. That is something that I haven't done in over 2 months.

I haven't seen Marc in a couple weeks because we have been alternating between him and his assistant and then he went out of town. Now I have to great guys looking out for me. In fact I was walking in the therapy room today and his assistant was watching me too. Marc told me that I have made the most progress since my surgery in the past three weeks. He was very happy with what I was able to do. He still notices some limp and snapping back of my knee but overall much better. I am so happy that I have been able to accomplish this. I really hope to keep it up and to not have anything else go wrong!

I'mmmm Baaaaaaack

I finally have something to write about that is exciting. I got a promotion yesterday! I am now an Associate Scientist III. It comes with a big fat raise! I am so super excited!!!! I needed something new and exciting to spur me onto writing again. It isn't that things have been that terrible. It has just been a hard past 3 months. Between the my surgery and my mom's and rehab and crazy work the time has flown. I hadn't meant to stop writing for three months but hopefully it has inspired my passion again.

Temporarily Speechless

I am taking a break.... We have been busy around the house. Work has been insane. I am enjoying the silence.

I will be off for knee surgery Feb 8th-16th. Maybe I will be up to talking by then. So many things in my head I just don't have the energy to type them up.

See you soon!