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I had to have surgery on my knee.

My knee started locking up, being a general pain in my arse and I couldn't walk. I had to quit going to the gym which really upset me. I thought it would get better if I laid off it for awhile, it didn't.  I made an appointment at the orthopedist and surgery was recommended.  I went on Thursday and my knee was filled with a huge clump of adhesion.  Which is basically scar tissue in overdrive.  It was filling up all the open space in my knee and causing pain and instabilty. Isn't that odd? 

What no one tells you is that all the banging around in there they do as they're fixing up your knee is going to make you so sore you really begin questioning whether you needed the surgery in the first place.  However, I'll be happy if I can go back to gym again and if I can walk without pain. That will make it all worthwhile.  How was you weekend?

The latest to go around is so easy even a slacker like me can do it and come out ok.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 92.
3. Find the third sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence along with these instructions.
5. Don't dig for a favorite book, pick the CLOSEST.

The closest book is right by my recliner, which is three steps from the computer.

It's called
"This Republic Of Suffering"  The subtitle is ... Death and the American Civil War" it is written by Drew Gilpin Faust
pg 92 is from the chapter called Burying and the third sentence is quite, umm, informative.

The Staunton Transportation Company, for example, distributed handbills to civilians thronging Gettysburg in July and August 1863, promising that it's new "Transportation Case preserves the body in a natural state and [as] perfect condition as when placed in it for any distance or length of time in any weather."

I know, it's a heavy subject, some might even say depressing. I believe a lot can be learned even today so I read about the civil war and others. Many times it gives an indication of how we got where we are today.  Other wars do the same, I have always loved history. So there it is my page 92.

I really like the gym on the airfield, it's huge and has all the amenities.  One of the things I like most is that the front of the gym is floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows.  In the treadmill area this is about 80 feet long and 40 feet high. (That's a guess, suffice it to say they're huge.) So while I'm walking and listening to my old ipod I can watch the world as it passes by.  Wednesday, I was about 15 mins into my walk when a group of young women came from the left across the street. There were six of them and they looked like typical university student as they meandered down the sidewalk. They jostled and bumped and gestured and laughed and laughed. It made me smile to watch them having such a great time.  Then it dawned on me that what I was seeing was women at war.  All 6 were in full camo uniforms and 3 had full packs on their backs.  The First Armored Division just got back from Iraq and the post has been having a lot of welcome home ceremonies and I bet you these young women just came "home".  They could have fit into any college campus or been out at a club, instead they're in Germany serving their country and getting along the best they know how.  Some of our youth is really impressive to say the least.

I got really tired of being overweight! Actually I did that about 2 years ago but I never did anything to change my situation. (Why doesn't bitching, moaning and generally complaining not make a person lose weight? Hmm?)

 Then about a month ago I started back at the gym. Bear too. He plays racquetball and I walk and do the Nautilus machines.   We go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I walk for 30 mins at a pace my left knee and my right hip can stand and then I do 45 minutes on the machines. I go slow and steady and make up in numbers of reps the lack of heavy weight. I figure if the reps start to get to much it's time to add some more weight and so far it's working.  On the treadmill I do the fat burner walk. When I first started thirty minutes was a long walk....yesterday at the end of 30 mins I felt like I could walk forever.  Progress is being made.

About food, I love food! I'm not one to go on a diet and deprive myself of anything. I decided that for me portion control would be ideal. Eat anything but be mindful of the amount.  So I still get my Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia but a smaller amount. Same with other foods as well.  Our Thanksgiving was celebrated on Wednesday instead of Thursday and we did a potluck in an Army hangar with all the guys Barry works with, it was yummy. I ate Turkey and dressing, potatoes and gravy etc. but only a bit of each and no second helpings. I was full but not stuffed. Unlike Austin who was on plate number 5 when we left...ah gluttony, thy name is America.  The funny thing was their reactions when they found out we were still going to go to the gym after eating. You would have thought we were on our way to kill small children based on the reaction we got. But it was Wednesday and we figured why skip a workout day when we were only a few blocks from the gym.  I love going to the gym and if we lived closer I would go everyday, so I'm certainly not going to skip a day when were already at the post.

In other news we got a small unfinished kitchen table from Ikea to replace our big round hand me down that was messing up my chi.   We spent about 20.00 on it and about the same on blue, red and green stain. First I stained the whole thing green and then I put blue on in various places and rubbed and blended it with the green. Then I did the same with the red, putting it over blue in some places to make a very light purple and in others blending and rubbing with the green and the blue. Now I'm waiting for my first coat of clear to dry then I'll sand and put one maybe two more coats on.  As soon as my new camera gets hear I'll take a picture so you can see my watercolor painting table.

Why am I getting a new camera? Last time I was in Ireland I lost mine.  I went over at the end of October and either it was lost or stolen the night before I left to come home. I prefer to think I lost it rather than it was pickpocketed.  So I had Em, my sweet girl, pick me up a Canon Powershot SX110.  I'm hoping it will be an easy point and shoot because unlike so many of you on here, I am a real amateur.  I still want to be able to snap on the run and get a decent photo.  I guess we will all find out when I take pictures of my kitchen table whether it takes decent pictures. 

I was dreaming about the desert a lot. As some of you know I grew up in Arizona. I was born in the South but my parents moved to Phoenix when I was 7.  In the summer before 7th grade we moved to Copper Country.  Specifically Kearny Arizona. So I grew up with a lot of open desert areas and occasionally still dream about being there. I can even smell how it smells before and after a rain. Which anyone who's lived in the desert can tell you is very distinct.   Since there are no plans on a trip back there, last time we were at Bauhaus we got all the stuff for a mini cactus garden.  I'll take pictures of that too...when the camera arrives.   (Bauhaus is like Home Depot or Lowes)

That's it for now, though I will write down some of the things I see thru the gym windows when I'm on the treadmill. Good stuff I tell you.

A friend of mine asked me to pass this video link on in the hopes that someday, someone will recognize the man in the video so he can be reported to child welfare. As well as mom who I presume is videotaping "the show".

I got about 2 minutes into him swinging his 9 month old baby boy around and just couldn't watch anymore, I came back later and finished watching, it got worse.   I swear if I knew this guy I would report him so fast his head wouldn't even have time to start spinning.  I know the baby is smiling but the danger this child is put in, not to mention the risk of dislocated arms, shoulders. brain trauma and being dropped apalls me. I was literally gasping.

WARNING, THIS <----- is hard to watch.

edit. The Liveleak staff are also asking for information.

Not unlike zoology or biology this is the ology of Liz.

I read recently that the internet is not really reaching people in diversifying or educating. People just use the internet to search and confirm an opinion they already hold.

Regardless of facts present elsewhere.

Is this what you do?

Wednesday, early morning, I had a nightmare about our house back home.  As most of my regular readers know we have been having our house remodeled while were here in Germany.  While I was home this summer I got to see a lot that had been done and came back to Germany with a renewed sense of how great our house will be when we finally moved back to Arkansas for good.  The nightmare was about the kitchen. The contracter had laid the tile countertops in these odd shaped, thick and thin tiles that were set way to far apart and even worse they were varying shades of pastels, pink, blue, yellow and green.  And all the cabinets were so close together you had to turn sideways to get between the island and the counter.   I woke up thinking that I was glad I had the pictures that Jude sent me of my "real" kitchen. 

Then Thursday morning Barry woke me up and told me I was hollering and fighting in my sleep.  I was trying to navigate my house but it was like a maze. There were all these corridors leading to rooms we don't have. When I finally made it to our master bedroom it was small and cramped and very dark, but I found a handful of loose diamonds under the pilow. (How's that for odd?) 

Today I woke up with my heart nearly pounding out of my chest.  I was watching our contracter "S" cut something on his table saw and he cut off the index finger of his left hand.  I know he was working on our house but I don't know which room.  The whole losing a finger thing made me forget everything else.

3 days, 3 nightmares. Stick a fork in me I'm done! 

small photo update

Here's a not so great picture but it does show how pretty my kitchen is....no need for any kind of nightmare.  This shows the back of the island looking toward my kitchen sink, which has a lovely garden window above it. My cabinets are the same and so is the window, but the rock around the island, the tile floor and the marble countertops are new.  I had to pick it all out myself when I was home in July. It was nerve wracking but awesome all at the same time. 

sheesh, I think my brain is in need of a vacation.

An elderly couple, Margaret and Bert, moved to Texas .

Bert always wanted a pair of authentic cowboy boots, so, seeing some on sale, he bought them and wore them home. 

Walking proudly, he sauntered into the kitchen and said to his wife, 'Notice anything different about me?' 

Margaret looked him over. 'Nope.' 

Frustrated, Bert stormed off into the bathroom, undressed and walked back into the kitchen completely naked except for the boots. 

Again he asked Margaret, a little louder this time, 'Notice anything different NOW?' 

Margaret looked up and exclaimed, 'Bert, what's different? It's hanging down today, it was hanging down yesterday, it'll be hanging down again tomorrow!' 

Furious, Bert yelled, 'AND DO YOU KNOW WHY IT'S HANGING DOWN, MARGARET?' 

'Nope', she replied. 

'IT'S HANGING DOWN, BECAUSE IT'S LOOKING AT MY NEW BOOTS!!!!' 

Without changing her expression, Margaret replied,
'Shoulda bought a hat, Bert. 
Shoulda bought a hat.'