Catching Up

It's a little after midnight... I've always thought that when you can't sleep, do something creative, especially, if the following day is not a work day. With that in mind I thought I would catch you up to speed on my day yesterday.
It began with physical therapy- I have a very enthusiastic, upbeat team who works out with me. All with wonderfully creative approaches to reaching mobility goals set for the day ahead. I can now sit in a chair and have 80-90 mobility in legs, they alternate. One day my left leg is better than my right, as was the case yesterday. I worked out for an hour. Then took a brief nap-- it amazes me how exhausted I am afterwards. I was still feeling this catch, or restriction in both knees w/out having the vac pouches on.
In the afternoon I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon. Jeff drove me over and hung out with me up to a few points. One was radiology-- X-rays of both knees. They look specatacular from the inside, Jeff, me and my surgeon were beyond pleased! Having seen the before pics of what looked to be solid rocks with sticks attached to having very descernable and identifyable sections of interior knee visible. My surgeon was ecstatic about my progress and determination to date... then it was time to remove the staples, I did have them after all, which I discovered after taking off the vac pouches- 20something per knee to be exact.
Having survived that ordeal we set up an appointment in the next 3 weeks and he gave me a script (RX) for hospital physical therapy to begin in 4 weeks.
Leaving the office, back in the jeep, I just kinda crumpled into an exhausted heap. We stopped by Jeff's mom's briefly, I stayed in the jeep, she wanted to see me and her home isn't that far from my surgeon's office. Then we stopped at the market for ice for my knees, I think I should invest in ice at the rat we're purchasing it in bulk. Jeff dashed in and then we went home.
I barely had the strength to walk inside, but with Jeff's assistance managed to do so. I litterally tumbled into bed.
We watched the end of Miss Congenealty while waiting for the potatoes to roast in the oven. They were to go w/ Jeff''s pot roast (crock pot) carrots & onions. Such a wonderful dinner-- that seems now to have been a slow motion blur. Then we watched Pretty Woman, actually, I dozed on/off throughout movie. Then it was time for bed.
I received SO many get well cards from friends (Jeff went to our post office box yesterday)  that I want you to know as soon as I am able I will dash off a thank you-- they really cheered me on and made my day! Thank you....

A fine kettle of fish, this is...

I'm making progress. Physical Therapy went great yesterday. What we discovered is that I am the current hot topic circulating our medical community as no one has seen these vac pouches adhered to knees before. On one hand, it's working impressively well regarding healing. On the other hand, it is very restrictive in working out as you heal. It's amazingly restrictive regarding movement. It's like having 3-layers of Saran Wrap adhered to your knees with the vac pouch on each knee, it does not bend well. The prob is, I think, you are very swollen when tape is intially placed on your knees, then as the swelling goes down, the tapes become tighter and shrinks. It reminds me of ... back in the 60's, in like say, Luckys meat department. Does anyone remember the meat packages going through the mini-conveyor belt as the meat tray came down the line, Saran Wrap was placed over, and then sealed into place? It used to fascinate me. Anyway, it's kinda like that.  Then when I look at my lower legs it looks like whoever applied the iodine need lessons in even spraying, it looks liks a bad spray tan job, which makes me laugh.  But, anyway... I have finished my second rotation of leg exercises this afternoon.
Yesterday, was the worst as far a range of motion, this being due to the tape shrinkage. However, I made a breakthrough, isn't that how it always works? You don't know how you are going to get past whatever obstacle, then you work your way through. After doing ALL of these range of motion exercises, which were beyond painful (I kept thinking of Ruth), due to being resticticed, later... everything seemed to be falling into place, and by this morning, my range of motion is back. I did peel very slightly the tape that was holding me back. Can't wait to have this removed Thursday afternoon.
It's funny how exhaustive workouts are... that and the combination of pain meds create, what I refer to as my narcoleptic moments. I'm wide awake, then find myself waking  up in mid movement, bizarre... but comical.

Can you super-size that sherbert, to go?

Saturday has dawned annoucing the arrival of tomorrow's predicted storm front with a vanilla ice colored sky and light breeze.
I was able to sleep longer through last night's interval of waking to take pain meds and do exercise stretches and find somewhat comfortable positions to fall back to sleep in.
My home health RN arrived this morning to fill out the in-take paperwork. She, too, has never seen vac machines applied to knees and was intrigued . She advised me to call my surgeon's office tomorrow to get wound care instructions and an anti-nausea RX to stop my ongoing nausea. 
I was able to keep down the small dinner portion of Aims corned beef casserole. But mostly, I've been consisting on berry and orange flavored sherberts. A little here, a little there. Monday, Home Health will draw lab work that will be ready for my Thursday follow-up office visit. Physical Therapy will also be coming out to the house. Home Health said I'm way ahead of the game, whatever that means... I guess this would be in regards to my mobility to move as well as I do.
One thing was cleared up today. My left knee, which had been the best knee has since su rgery become my worst and I couldn't quite figure out why... until today. As the RN was checking for swelling we both discovered (visualise a salsa sized inverted bowl placed to the left of your left knee) a bruised area, actually it is very round and very black- this makes sense now, And, I am beginning to itch- which means I am healing. SO, it's all good.
Jeff was about to leave for the market when I encouraged him to also stop and see his mom and to enjoy a cup of coffee and conversation while he's at her house. Everyone tends to forget how very important it is for care providers to get a respite. While Jeff is what I call my beck n call boy extraordinare he also needs to get out and recharge and remember he has an independent life.
I've got everything I need bedside; phones, laptop, books/magazines, word search puzzles, etc.
I'm good to go...


                                                  SATURDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ

                                                       Boy From Ipanema, Diana Krall

high tech medicine = feeling like a natural woman

                                              You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, Carole King

... with a few natural preservatives added like...2 stainless steel knee replacements, cement, stainless steel screws. Most women my age begin having face lifts; I'm just starting a bit lower than most. Why follow the herd?
So after surgery I have these two new knee pads, a low tech term for lack of a better word like it's actual name.

These would be the long black strips on both knees. What they do is replace staples and sutures. They have to small sized black vouches that you carry around they have self contained draines that clean themselves-- further removing risk of blood clots. They are very cool, anything beats stitiches and staples. But, better yet, they remove 99 percent of all scaring. They are totally new on the market and I am the first patient up here to receive them. As my surgeon asked me, who better than to try it out on? Than moi? I finished. Exactly, he agreed.
I am also the first up here to try Xarelto,1 every evening, a pill that replaces a blood thinner that I would otherwise have to self inject into my stomach twice daily. This totally works for me. The nurses were scrambling trying to find out what exactly it was-- I was only to happy to tell them. And, I didn't have a catheter during surgery... so I think this makes quite a bit of difference in the healing process.
Jeff cut off my hospital bling- although, I did save the Fall Risk bracelett. Just because it appealed to my twisted side.

I'm back... kinda

So Jeff and I arrived at the hospital Tuesday morning and as they're admitting me the hospital's computers freeze up in Admitting, Radiology and pre-op. But, of course... As the clock ticked off minutes the receptionist and Admitting manager were very apologetic while they waited to get back online, I gently reminded them that it was okay with me, I already had a room, but at some point I was sure that the surgery team would come looking for me.
A half hour later found Robin (R.N.) leading Jeff and I into pre-op, take 2. The surgery of another patient of my oped surgeon was taking longer than expected- the 91-year old patients blood pressure dropped so there was some drama going on while Robin and Marilyn preppred me. What was one of the first things they did? Shaved or as they say "clipped" my legs around the knees. Wasn't this the exact same thing that had delayed my last surgery I asked?
I had been scheduled fpr surgery at 10:30, but wasn't on my way until 11:45.  Which was fine as I had the best surgery team assembled together at last...
They wheeled me into an OR that was pulsating with DISCO music. Flashback to my high school years.  Before receiving a spinal I had to (no really, I did) show the anethesiogist and surgery nurses a few moves...

Dad would always ask his surgery team if he would be able to play his harmonica after surgery. They would always respond with, of course, Mr. Swan. To which dad would add, that's good because I couldn't play it before! (he could). So after slowly busting a few moves to the beginning of this disco tune I asked my team if would still be able to disco dance after surgery? To which they replied, of course, you can Carie. My surgeon had arrived a few moments before as we were doing the classic John Travolta moves. He assured me that I could but first the spinal before we could get the show on the road.
I loved the spinal, not the actual injection- which wasn't painful, but the after affects, which were almost immediate. My anethesiologist had also given me something for aniexty. So everything was warm and relaxing. I would wake occasionally during surgery a few times to feel my surgeon applying pressure to my legs, but that was it, then they would give something to fall back asleep.

I woke in Reovery a little after 5 and was soon talking with the nurses who were telling Jeff I was an amazing patient-- that was the word back from my surgery team and they agreed.
At 6:45 I was getting settled into my room and even though dinner had already been served the staff gave me dinner- I was starving. It didn't stay down, of course, but I enjoyed every bite. The nurses were terrific...
Aims arrived the next morning with goodies; a pina colada from Scooter's in San Andreas. She also brought tons of gatorade, trail mix, yogurt bars and natural fruit bars, etc. Aims stayed until her classes began in Stockton. Jeff arrived to keep me company. He told me that my surgeon told him that he had planned originally on using less expensive (for me) knees, these would somehow adhere to my knee bones... of which there were nothing left on either knee. So, he went with the most expense, complete stainless knee replacements. He  confided to Jeff that my knees were the worst he had ever seen and how I was able to walk at all was a mystery, basically.
Later in the AM my physical therapy team arrived. I have a new best friend. the breath analyser, for lack of a better word, it moniters the export of air to yout lungs. I am at a consistent 1500-2000 need to get up to 2500. It's a process.
Then Gerald, my walker arrived. He gave me a walker and a waistline belt to stabilize me.
The first time I walked down the hall to the nurses station. He was absolutely amazed. When I later did a couple of laps around the nurses station and floor I was on, he was astonished and told Aims and I that I was amazing, this was from 47 years of having done this line of work, my only other competition was a 90 year old woman, but I was the best. 
My oped arrived in the evening and was completely blown away by my progess. He told me this was not the norm- it was exceptional, patients didn't do this for a few weeks. No one gets up and walks and is able to do the physical therapy to the lengths
I just did, it just was amazing to him. After reading my notes he thought I could very well go home today. I was up walking to the bathroom (brutal) and this stunned him. The hospital has to follow the legal guidlines for toilets and let me tell you getting down to 32" or 34" takes everything you have. Getting back up tests your endurance.
I arrived home this morning and will tell you about it tomorrow. And about the cool new medical technology that I got to take for a test drive.
I thought I would close out this blog with a disco classic dedicated to my OLD knees...

Rain, reading and other random things

  He Better Be Dead, Stealing Angels

An overcast and somewhat gloomy Saturday morning finds me sipping French roasted coffee, listening to the overhead central heating kick on while hunkering down to write this blog in the master bedroom.Jeff tooled off to work earlier in the morning. The indoor gang is napping contentedly. I've had a great chat with bff Paula. Earlier, I had turned the DVR on to Fairly Legal, a new USA series which I liked.

                                                          Fairly Legal,  a new USA series


I have the washing machine going- it's going to be cycles of small loads today... kinda goes with the weather.
A day that is going to find me relaxing for the most part while turning off my brain and ignoring ALL the things that really need to be done and I can't do-- which is all going to change Tuesday (after surgery). Not right away, but in a few weeks time. Summer is going to be fabulous and I am making some long term goals of things I want to accomplish.
But, for today... it's mostly low key with a lot of reading on tap for this afternoon. I love, love, love Stephen King's latest bestseller, 11/22/63.

                                     Stephen King interview, followed by intro, read by Stephen King 

ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963, THREE SHOTS RANG OUT IN DALLAS, PRESIDENT KENNEDY DIED, AND THE WORLD CHANGED. WHAT IF YOU COULD CHANGE IT BACK?

In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King—who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer—takes readers on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.

It begins with Jake Epping, a thirty-five-year-old English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching GED classes. He asks his students to write about an event that changed their lives, and one essay blows him away—a gruesome, harrowing story about the night more than fifty years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a sledgehammer. Reading the essay is a watershed moment for Jake, his life—like Harry’s, like America’s in 1963—turning on a dime. Not much later his friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. And Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson, in a different world of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere. From the dank little city of Derry, Maine (where there’s Dunning business to conduct), to the warmhearted small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love, every turn is leading eventually, of course, to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and to Dallas, where the past becomes heart-stoppingly suspenseful, and where history might not be history anymore. Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying.




Time to load the dryer and begin another wash cycle and time to find something for brunch...

Blessings to be counted...

                                                               

A steady rainfall continues throughout this morning carried over from last evening.  Jeff & I hunkered down to watch a Santorum southern sweep. Note to Mitt: Stop helping. No more cheesy grit references, say zao ching to Y'all and for Godsake stop lunging off into whatever pops into your head like a spontaneous Davy Crockett recital. Stop. Just Stop. Stick to script and say as little as possible.  Better yet, just shake your head whenever possible. Just sayin'...
Afterwards, Jeff went online in the writing room while I hunkered down in the master bedroom to read the first chapters of 11/22/63. Stephen King has outdone himself. Such a great read and at 849 pages- I can get lost in the story.
Fell asleep about 10 pm and probally slept until 11:30 pm until I had to get up. Stormy weather = chronic pain squared. That being said, I was able to count my blessings (as I do everyday) while spending the majority of the night/early morning hours in the living room with the indoor gang, before falling into a restless sleep around 4 am. Up at 7:15 am... HELLO coffee!
Back to blessings, which is what today's blog is about, I have SO many things that I continually give thanks for: a terrific husband, wonderful family & friends... I think sometimes when we are going through, whatever it is, we're going through, our peripheral vision turns to tunnel vision and we can only seem to see/focus what is directly in front of us. Instead, look around... there are others who make what you're going through seem like a walk in the park... be grateful for what you don't have...
Two cases in point involve two longtime family friends. One of these friends is the careprovider for her husband who has been ill for the past couple of years. Her husband has 2 weeks to live. If this were not enough to go through their son is dying of cancer. Within this coming year, if not weeks, she will lose both her husband of 40+ years and her adult son. I cannot even imagine the courage required to meet each day.  Another family friend who is 20+ years older than Jeff and I has a husband who has alheimers (sic) and was just diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. She also needs to have surgery but has put it aside to run the family business and take care of her husband, who is on new meds that are helping with his memory. She told me that he is remembering who she is now.  So, while we pray for our friends and family who need prayers, I always stop and say thank you and mentally go through my blessings.
You start with one blessing and that leads you to another blessing and they don't have to be ginormous you can't miss these blessings with a bright red arrow pointing at it... Simple things. Like this morning my blessings have been that Jeff made coffee for me. I have a warm home to spend my day in. The indoor gang was waiting outside the bedroom door to say good morning to me and hung out with me while I said good morning and we walked to the fridge as I pulled out the creamer for my coffee (a morning routine).
So wherever you are and whatever you are going through give thanks and focus of the good things. Be a blessing to someone else today and make their day better. On that note, I am going to put on some rain gear and go out and feed the outdoor gang-- I know they'll be grateful. And, maybe pour myself a second cup of coffee...

Widowhood, goats and the fear of sweaters

One of the things I most love about my husband is his wit. It's ever present and our moments together can and often have quickly become outrageously hilarious. Laughter is an ongoing constant in our marriage. Familes seem to have or carry on the same characteristics that attract you to your spouse, I think.
Jeff has the same wit as my dad. Give him a word, a line... and they're off running with it. My mother was equally as witty and I am no slouch in the department either. My adult children and grandchildren also have this trait-- so our times together are memorable and we can also start a conversation with Remember When? then roll with it until we're collapsing into fits of unstoppable laughter... it happens a lot with us.
All of this to preface a conversation that Jeff and I had yesterday afternoon that began seriously enough and then just dissolved into me laughing so hard I couldn't stop... for a few moments. The conversation is still making me laugh today.
Jeff and I were sitting on the living room sofa, late yesterday afternoon, actually early evening, thanks to the time change, pondering dinner.
Around dinner, our conversation drifted into various other topics like... books.
I was describing to Jeff Joyce Carol Oates, A Widow's Story, a memoir vs. Joan Didion's a Year of Magical Thinking.
Both are gifted writers and yet I couldn't wait to get over JCO's book while I wanted to linger with Joan.  The difference being is-- of course, that each woman creates her own widowhood experience.  Joan's is probably closer to how I would handle it whereas JCO is so vastly different from me.
JCO spouse was her buffer; she lost her coping abilities, or what little coping abilities she could handle on a daily basis. He shielded her from everything; she didn't like anything bad, he would not mention these things to her. She had no children. The running theme after you get into the story is that when she was home she didn't want to be there. When she was with friends she wanted to be home. And the constant thread of being able to overdose with cache of pill available in her medicine cabinet was repeated ad nauseum in each chapter.
I teasingly said to Jeff that by the end of reading this book I had almost become an agor-i-phobic... not wanting to leave our house. It was nice to leave her world.
Jeff said he understood. Then that mischievous appeared on his face that told me he was about to run with something that would make me laugh.
You do?
Yes. I am angora-phobic (this line was delivered with a straight face).
Angora-phobic is not the same as agor-i-phobic, I replied.
No it is not.
So, angora-phobic, would be....?
The fear of goats!
I burst into laughter.
You're afraid of goats?
Yes.
Jeff, you're not afraid of goats, I say laughingly.
I cover it up well.
I almost never become afraid when I see them now.
I bust up laughing.
Going in for the kill, Jeff barely able to keep a straight face concluded... although, sweaters scare me.
Because?
Of the angora yarn...
We both start laughing so hard it takes us moments to pull it all together.
Well, my fearless little goat herder, let's go for pizza, I suggest. I'll beat back any wild angora sweaters that may want to attack you...

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

                                                         Ladies Love Country Boys, Trace Atkins


Yesterday, was breathtakingly beautiful... balmy temps, sunshine, blue skies and it happened to also be Friday-- what a great combo, is that?
I had to cruise up to Murphys to the post office to pick up Jeff's new cell phone which had arrived and was waiting for me. Along the way between San Andreas and Angels Camp I took some pics:

Everything was bathed in muted shades of green; the hillsides, trees, shrubbery, wild grass. Spring in the Mother Lode-- gorgeous.
After picking up our mail I headed back to Angels to do some weekend grocery shopping at Save Mart. I haven't been in Save Mart since my Christmas Eve shopping adventure with Aims-- when she selected a lame and somewhat challenged grocery cart that had serious mobility issues (something I could relate to).
I love Save Mart but have not been able to shop there and walk the next day. I decided to give it another chance... what is the Hillary Clinton line? Repeating the same thing over and over and expecting it to change is a form of insanity? Well, not the same words but the essence of the message is the same.
Walking through Save Mart with a cooperate grocery cart I could easily understand why Europe and the Middle East think we're spoiled Americans. Walking down aisle after aisle of heavily laiden shelf assortments and food choices-- seems like decadent waste. How many choices do we really need? Hundreds of thousands of cans, pre-packaged bags, cardboard/boxed food and beverage items. It's completely mind-boggling. How do we ever arrive at a decision as we cross off items on our grocery lists?
Arriving home, after lugging in the grocery bags and placing items away on kitchen shelfs and in the fridge I  got dinner underway. Crockpot-style. I seasoned a thick piece of roast steak, placed it in the crockpot, added garlic, mushrooms and wine, placed the lid back on and let it slowly simmer the afternoon away.
I was absolutely starving by this time and decided to serve up lunch. Deep fried chicken legs w/cottage cheese, sliced strawberries and blueberries. I placed 2 on the plate for pics but only ate one. Really.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging with the indoor gang and reading The House I loved. A wonderfully well written novel by French author Tatiana De Rosnay. I've just finished A Widow's Story, a memoir, by Joyce Carol Oates. As you would expect it was a heavy story, well written but you could feel the heavy meloncholy behind the words. I much preferred Joan Didion's, A Year Of Magical Thinking.

Aims called and we had a light hearted, fun conversation as she wandered through her Copper market on her way home from a day of interning at a Sonora Vet-- she loves these days when she gets hand-on training. Next Friday she's administering anesthesia to pets having surgery. 

I was serving up dinner when Jeff arrived home: The steak had cooked itself into a beyond delious tasting piece of roast that melted in your mouth. The green salad was finished and I was tossing the boiled potatoes in butter, fresh lemon w/ dried rosemary and garlic seasonings. After dinner we had Mudslides while we caught up with one another and later still sugar cookies. We spent the evening reading. A wonderfully cozy end to a lovely day.

Monday morning malaise

Happy Monday! The weekend just kinda blew past and here we are at the beginning of a new week. The weather is gorgeous as we march towards spring (just a few weeks away). Very summer-like, whatever happened to winter? It never really arrived.

Jeff and I after having test driving retirement have decided that we will be very good at it when it finally arrives in 10-12 years. The secret is separateness. Each of us doing our own thing. As we're both artistic/creative animals this is easier than imagined. At the moment I am so very limited in what I can do around the house that I kinda center on projects that do not require a lot of walking, this will change after surgery-- when I can once again take on the world, well... after I find my cape, I seemed to have misplaced it at the moment.

We begin our morning over coffee, conversation and whatever news, political or otherwise is occuring.  Then we sojourn to our creative spaces. Jeff is at work in the writing room on the computer while I am in the master bedroom, seated in one of my fav club chairs in front of  one of the master bedroom windows. We eventually break, catch up with one another, do whatever, meet again over lunch, usually a very late lunch (as we tend to lose track of time), go back to our projects. Meet up in the kitchen as we prepare dinner. Then either hang out together or complete the project for the day. This way we have something to talk about throughout the day. Later on I'll be able to go on walks again, garden, redesign our rooms, etcetera. So far it's working...

Book talk and other things

                                                                  Set Fire To The Rain, Adele


Jeff and I kicked started this morning leisurely over coffee and conversation. Before we set off to Sonora I had a wonderful convesation with Erin. I have absolutely the best daughter-in-law ever. She is beautiful, intelligent, funny, thoughtful (in addition to being a terrific mom and wife) and she is the best listener... she is beloved by family and friends because of the love and kindness she shares with everyone. This is leading into my previous phone conversation with Erin. I spoke with her the day I arrived back home from the hospital.  Somewhere into the conversation I could hear clacking, clanging and some sounds I have no clue as to what they were.
Erin, are you okay? What are you doing? Oh, nothing... I'm searing a roast in the kitchen (that explains the clanging of pans). Uhhm, she laughs, there was a small kitchen fire, but it's out now. WHAT? Nothing, it's put out, it was just a small fire. Now what were we talking about? At which point we both began laughing. Erin always makes me laugh. So after our morning conversation this morning it was time for Jeff and I to pull it together and cruise on over to Sonora. First stop was McDonalds for lunch. Then the $ Store where we picked up a few books:

Then we ran into one of our fav bookstores, Mountain Bookshop, a few doors down. I always find something I love and have not always been in search of. Jeff selected Stephen King's latest bestseller 11/22/63. While I chose Joyce Carol Oates, A Widow's Story, a memoir (the book cover is intentionally blurry). And then a fabulous find, My Faraway One selected Letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, volume 1 (814 pages). Her writing style is similar to mine, but so much better-- I can't wait to dig in. But, first I have to finish reading Rose, My Life In Service to Lady Astor by Rosina Harrison. Earlier this week, The House I Loved, written by Tatiana De Rosnay arrived. So, I am fully stocked with wonderful books, in addition to Jeff's Valentine gifts of books... which should take me through the Spring, as I am reading slowly these days, I haven't been juggling my usual 2-3 books a week.

After these purchases, we headed over to Staples, where Jeff picked up new phones for the house.  A panasonic base station with 2 remote handsets that have intercom systems. So, one is in the writing room, one in the den and one in the master bedroom.  And, in 7 hours they should be fully charged. It'll be great to have a house phone that actually works again-- we've been using our cells, so it's been no big deal.

We then cruised home, after a quick stop at the market. Jeff went back to his writing while I hunkered down and watched Blue Bloods, The Pioneer Woman and Selling LA that had been recorded to our DVR.

A gorgeous afternoon.  With the exception of the last few days, I don't think we're going to have a winter this year.

Jeff cheffed up a yummy chile, cheese, rice casserole for dinner and now we're both going to hunker down and read before bed...