Quick Follow-up

Jacob and his roommate came over last night and moved the old TV and fully installed the new one. It is wonderful!! Thanks again to you all.

Expressing Thanks!!

The only way I could think of to reach all of you to express my gratitude for your great generosity is through my blog.

I was absolutely shocked Friday evening when my doorbell rang and I went to find Jacob at my door. I was even more shocked when he came in bearing a large box that turned out to be a NEW TV!!!

He also brought a lovely card with the following clever message, thanks to Tyler:

Dear Barbara:

Following a year of surgeries and the resolution of a number of health concerns, that was a tough break (pun intended). As it turns out, even "Bionic Barbara" still has a few weaknesses. Its hard to guess how challenging this ordeal has been. You alone have a full realization of all the difficulties endured during this past month, and there are still months of recovery ahead of you. Sure, a few of us have had broken bones, but not like that. Not at your age. Not without help surrounding us. We've been wanting to help, but feeling so helpless. Some of us are better than others at helping people heal, but aside from prayers, none of us can do much for that broken leg of yours. We've definitely been thinking of you, praying for you, hoping for a speedy recovery. But we wanted to do more. It isn't much, but it's . . . well . . . something. Just a little something to let you know that we've been thinking of you.

From what we understand, you've had a few things break recently. The TV's an easier fix. Hopefully this will help the upcoming months pass a little more quickly.

Love,

Your Nieces and Nephews

This was enclosed in a lovely card which Jacob picked out. I thought you all might appreciate seeing the message that came with the gift.

How can I express my gratitude for your generosity and thoughtfulness!!??! I am so overwhelmed. I love you all so much, and so appreciate your thoughts and well-wishes.

There are a few adjustments yet to be made, as the old, fickle Sony is so monstrous it cannot be moved by fewer than two or three men. But below is a picture of the picture. Though I don't have my cable broadcast in HD, the picture is still very good and I am so enjoying it.

Thank you SO MUCH!!

Just in case you're interested . . .

here's what happened.

I was going in the back door of the Chapel to go to Church Sunday morning, thinking it was the beginning of a new year and held all kinds of possibilities. I had negotiated the snow and ice without incident, so I really thought I was "home free." However, the door to the Church was malfunctioning and wouldn't open very far. I figured I could get through it anyway, so I proceeded forward. The door had other ideas, and it started to close before I was through it. I kind of got stuck, and just as I was about through I must have tripped. Anyway, I went down hard on my right knee and was in immediate, excruciating pain.

Another Ward member was coming in after me (why the door didn't attack her, I'm not sure) and she immediately asked me if I was alright. Well, I knew I wasn't, so I allowed her to go get the Bishop, who happens to be a Physician's assistant. With some help from one of the Bishop's counselors and another poor unsuspecting soul who just happened to be coming in, they got me on a chair. We agreed that I would have to go to the hospital, so had my first ride in an ambulance.

When they did x-rays in the emergency room, the technician told me "I can't tell you what's there, but I will tell you you're not leaving here anytime soon. I knew then I was in big trouble. Come to find out, I'd fractured my right femur (thigh bone) just above the newest knee implant, and it had to be surgically repaired with plates to secure the bone, which had fractured all the way through and been displaced.

I am now repaired, but looking at probably a five month recovery. I have returned to the lovely Stonehenge rehab center, for at least a couple of weeks, and then will be trying to learn how to live my life on a walker or crutches.

The final minor complication is that my last hand surgery is not completely healed. Luckily it was not damaged in the fall, however. So the right side of my body is currently severely physically challenged. Such fun times!! :)

I hope the new year started out better for all of you!!

RAIN???

You've probably heard about the monster storm that started off the coast of California and is moving steadily east. It's been in our forecasts for the last week or so, and they kept saying that it was a warm storm and would be mostly rain, resulting in our having a "brown" Christmas.

Well, here are today's pictures of our "rain." We're told there's more to come. Will it also be "white?"

New Tenant

Shock of shocks, I'm actually blogging after almost a full year. Well, I hope it's worth it--we'll see.

A new tenant has moved in at my house, uninvited. In fact, if this tenant had actually moved in inside the house, it would have been evicted forthwith. As it is, I can't really get at it, so I just watch it, cringing all the while.

If you look really carefully in this first picture right up against the eaves, you can see a little light brown spot that looks kind of like a leaf. Maybe you can see it better in the other picture. That is my new tenant spider. The web is right up off the eaves of the house on the patio and I guess attached to the shed at the bottom. (NOTE: If you click on the picture, it's much easier to see.)

Maybe he's easier to see in this next picture. Anyway, you can see the web. I was watching the other afternoon while I was on the phone, and saw the spider come down on it's web and gobble up something that had gotten caught.

Anyway, I'm assuming it will be gone before too much longer as we have a cold front coming through this week that will significantly drop temperatures. I'm just glad it's outside and out of reach.

REHAB

I've had some kind of funny experiences while I've been in this rehab center recovering from my knee replacement surgery, and I thought I would share a few that I can remember.

First, a little about this place. It is primarily a Medicare center, which should tell you something about the clientele, and contrary to what some of you may think, I'm not yet in that category. Most of the workers here are not used to someone who, though having had surgery recently, is able to stand up and move about fairly easily and be mostly self-sufficient. So there have been a couple of funny "compliments" from some of the younger workers:

I can't remember exactly what I was getting help with--I think this girl was just bringing me some medication or something, and she said, "You don't look old enough to have had knee replacement surgery." I told her that was the nicest thing anyone had said to me all day--or maybe all week!!

The really funny one was another young girl who was helping me dry off after my shower. She was drying my feet, and she said, "You have really nice toenails!" I replied something to the effect that it was the remnants of a pedicure that I had received several months ago, and she said no, it wasn't that. Most of the people here have really thick, deformed toenails etc., and mine were different.

I'm probably headed there, but at least I still have some semblance of youth--I have nice toenails.

Okay Shannon, here are my responses:

A) Four places that I go to over and over: Home, Grocery Store, Doctor, Kathy's (as in Carter)

B) Four people who e-mail me: Lynda (Barron), Ann (my friend from work), Deseret News, Lilit

C) Four of my favorite places to eat: Magleby's Fresh, Olive Garden, Panda Express, Kentucky Fried Chicken

D) Four places you would love to be: Vacation, Home, Visiting Family Members, in bed

E) Four people I'm almost sure will respond: I don't expect responses

F) Four of your favorite TV shows: Animal Planet--Animal Cops, Food Network Challenge, Matlock, Murder She Wrote

Josh started this in an email, so it is fun to see it up on the blogs. I hope he has a chance to read the responses, though he might not get them back as emails.