All Things EARTH... part 2

[Anita Latte]

I read along and keep tabs on everyone but haven’t been posting much…life feels a bit scattered right now. Melody, I feel for you and Les with all your medical issues and have been thinking good thoughts towards you and your recovery and your ability to continue to enjoy life through all your trials. We’ve had some medical issues in our family as well and I find that concentrating on the reasons why life is worth living to be the best motivation for regaining health. I think you have that well in hand…I’m so glad to read about your good progress after your recent surgery. Same for you Laurie and your DH…

 

This is what motivated me to post today… Laurie, I’m dealing with a misuse hip injury. I’m pretty sure it’s related to my ACL deficient knee and wreaking leg strength and compensation patterns when doing household chores etc…and I’ve been doing physical therapy for my hip and focusing on my own life motivations and goals. I’ve entered several programs available through our health insurance and have had to write out my motivations and goals and mobility as I age is always my main focus. One of my trainers recommended the YouTuber Kaisafit. She specializes in mobility exercises. Laurie, I would recommend you check her out. 
 

When you search her channel, search for beginner in the name of the videos. Some are True Beginner and targeted toward people who are just starting to do these types of exercises. There are several videos but I found the walking warm for true beginners to be a good 20 minute nutshell of how to work with a more mature body that doesn’t quite move the way it used to and needs to be put through a series of movements to get joint fluid flowing and ready the body for what used to be everyday movements that seem to have more impact than in previous years. It’s hard to recognize that our bodies need a little more TLC to do what we used to easily jump into doing without prep.

 

I’m currently in Seattle visiting DH. DS is back in Florida. It’s just a visit and I’ll be on the red eye on Sunday night. Nothing much else has changed. We’re dealing with a split personality household on separate coasts and in separate quadrants. I love the PNW though…having grown up in the SF Bay Area…this area has such a feeling of home for me from childhood memories…even though it isn’t the same place…

 

I spent some time at Canaveral National Seashore and was playing with the camera I had bought for my birthday trip to Fairbanks. DH and I had gone there for our own personal Easter sunrise service…and were eaten alive by the no see ums OMG. I went back within the week (DS had gone back to the UK for a friend’s wedding and DH was back in Seattle) as part of an almost 2 week time I had home alone. It felt like the first real vacation I’d had in years. No one asking me what there was to eat etc. Just me and what I wanted to do. I had a great time. UCF was having its celebration of the arts and I went to a few performances among other things. I did apply my Seashore admission fee towards an America the Beautiful pass…so last weekend DH and I went camping at Olympic National Park and went to Sol Duc Hot Springs. 
 

I know we all like photos…I’ve been trying to make mini albums. Here are links to 2 I recently made. If you click on the first photo to be able to see comments, you can read my comments on each photo to have a sort of narration:

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mmJ9cHLcAWFye9py5
 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/t96PhJcTVf7h1riF9

[awhfy]

Anita!  So good to hear from you. Hope hip/knee get better. Your pictures are fabulous, love the shore ones. 
 

The only recent picture I have is of my shoulder. I’m recovering exceptionally well, doc said in 4-5 weeks ahead of where he expected me to be. Melody

[laurspag]

It's good to hear from you, Anita!  I will definitely check out those videos.  I do have a focus right now, I just don't have a starting point yet.  We are working on that, as we get closer to at least having a room we can use for a gym.  I have a lot of comfort that comes with my home, so the idea of a home gym is very exciting to me.

 

I think it is helpful that I had a gym membership for a number of years, and it was not a chain.  It was the kind of place that had something for everyone, and I was able to see what I liked and disliked.  For me, that is key because I found that the things I wanted to try and do, weren't the things I ended up liking.  Imagine setting up a home gym, spending a lot of money, and realizing that rowing machine bothers your back or whatever.

 

It's funny about aging.  First, I feel like I have a better and better understanding of who I am and what I like every day.  Secondly, I can acknowledge that my weight isn't where I want to be, but that doesn't mean I necessarily care what others think of it. I want to feel good about what I wear.  I want my clothes to make me smile and say, I really like this instead of I look good in this.

 

I hope I make sense.  

 

I'm starting a few small exercises right now that are really basic, and just focus on getting in some movement, and giving my joints some exercise.  It's baby steps, so I really want to check out those videos you have referenced.

 

Your pictures are fabulous!!!  I think all the time about having a good camera to use.  I'm feeling extra sensitive lately to living in the moment, so I find that when I am enjoying something, I almost don't want to take pictures, for fear that I will miss the feelings that something evokes, especially since I am not a very good photographer.  

 

An example would be last night.  I got home from work, and my daughter and grandson were at the house.  He constantly wants us to play with him, and we have this little kid sized lacrosse set.  He has never used it, and the concept was tough for him.  I picked up some bubbles and blew them, and he promptly told me there are no bubbles in lacrosse.  It was very funny, but he was so focused on learning how to catch and throw the ball well.  When he finally caught the ball, he was all excited and so we celebrated by clapping and blowing bubbles.  THEN is was appropriate to blow the bubbles!

 

I wish I had pictures of it, and fortunately, my daughter was taking pictures.  But I didn't want to be distracted from watching his face and seeing how focused he was.  It was really sweet.

 

Melody!   Good to see a picture of you...I can see that you are healing up and doing better.

[awhfy]

Northern lights taken over Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs Co. picture taken from our local news. Melody 

[laurspag]

It was too cloudy and rainy last night for us to see.  Supposedly, we may get another chance tonight!!!

[MJC]

3 hours ago, laurspag said:

It was too cloudy and rainy last night for us to see.  Supposedly, we may get another chance tonight!!!

Here too, totally socked in with fog.

 

 

[laurspag]

I decided to get out some tops and shorts, and get some ideas for my daytime cruise attire.  I try to consider what we are doing each day.  On my last few cruises, I have tried re-wearing some things.  It really depends on what we are doing.  If we are in port and doing a lot of walking, I know we are going to get sweaty.  

 

So I still go the route of bringing 8 daytime outfits for a 7 day cruise, but I have found that I do re-wear some shorts from time to time, and I usually don't need the 8th outfit.  I try to really go the route of mix and match, and sometimes it works better than at other times.  They are mostly pretty simple outfits, with some jewelry thrown in.  

 

I was liking what I had in mind so far, and was kind of wishing I had a few other things in my wardrobe.  My daughter came home a little while ago, and we just had a new Old Navy store open up just a few minutes away that I have been wanting to go to.  She surprised me with an outfit and I just need to try it on.  This top and shorts will definitely be going with me, and the shorts can be reworn with a number of different tops because they've ivory.  The top is a warm purple, and I was looking to see if I had anything purple earlier.  It's like she knew, even though she wasn't home at the time.

 

That was so sweet of her.  Mother's Day and my birthday are close together, and my husband always has to work on Mother's Day weekend.  My daughters usually cook dinner, and that is what they did last Sunday.  We decided we would all go to lunch tomorrow for my birthday.  It was sweet of her to pick something up for me.

 

I hope you are all enjoying the weekend!  Since we got the hall painting completed and the stair runner is in, it looks so much nicer.  We will figure out what project is next, as we continue to develop the deck plans. 

 

 

[awhfy]

Happy bday Laurie!!

[MJC]

Happy belated birthday Laurie!! 🎂

 

We are having a busy May. Mark's uncle has been in the hospital, and my goddaughter is visiting us for a few days. She's presenting at a conference at NYU this week.

 

Our next vacation is not until November, so we have the whole summer to enjoy the lake. The weather is finally getting nice. Our big excitement these days is chasing the resident beaver away from our trees and shrubs.  😁

 

 

[laurspag]

Thank you!  

 

While I've always associated beavers with water I never realized they get into your gardens and the like.  We have a lot of wildlife here - deer, fox, coyote, possums, woodchucks.  Then there are the little guys such as moles, mice, chipmunks and squirrels.  The most annoying animals are the raccoons, which rip apart bird feeders and get into the trash.

 

We have acres of vacant farm land behind our home and a large wooded area to the side of us.  Oh, I forgot to mention all the wild turkeys!

 

I can imagine you love being at the lake at this time of the year.

 

Melody, how are you and Les healing?

 

My sister, who has had both hips replaced, fell a few weeks ago.  Those strong "bionic" hips broke her pelvis.  The hip issues are a hereditary thing.  She is active and fit.  She just didn't see the pot hole in the parking lot. It's a rough thing to break.   They originally said non-weight bearing for eight weeks, but she is doing well so they are teaching her to move with a minimal amount of weight bearing so that she can go home.