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We had the pleasure of hosting Christmas for the Waterhouse family this year. It was so fun having everyone come to Denver to celebrate. Here's a smattering of pictures from the end of the year. Sorry, they are totally out of order!
A picture of Freddy in the Thai Dinner box was turned into this glorious ode to a meme.
Merry Christmas!
We enjoyed a quiet day at home for Ben's birthday. He opened presents after breakfast per tradition.
For lunch we all went to the Westminster Alamo to see Spies in Disguise. You know what, that movie was actually really good! I mean, for a kids film. I don't blindly recommend it. But the animation was smart, it had great voice acting, the plot was predictable but tight, and had a lot of great jokes and fun set pieces.
Ben indulged in a hearty root stew for dinner. He made it with dashi and miso, ingredients that the other humans in our house don't light. The cats on the other hand...
Then we had ice cream cake from DQ and played card games.
Happy Birthday, Ben!
Finished them
We're back! We had a magical, merry trip to Disneyland Resort this week.
It was a slam dunk fantastic vacation! We got to do everything we wanted at least once, and often twice. We ate churros every day. We stayed at my dream hotel, the Grand Californian, right in the park.
I have so much to share and journal, with over 300 photos - not counting any from Ben. I'll probably post in pieces.
For now, I'll share our first and last photos in the parks.
I have hundreds of photos from the trip. As I said, I'm going to post it bit by bit. First coming up in a minute will be a post about the rides and trip overall. Later this weekend (hopefully) I will post smaller entries about the details.
If you want a preview cause you just can't wait to see it all, here's a link to our photo album.
Planning the Trip
We flew in on Sunday, had MTW in the parks, and came home Thursday. We really packed in a lot of rides during our trip, and it never felt rushed. Three days for two parks was perfect. I planned this trip for the off season for low crowds. I think it worked, since most rides never reached 1 hour wait time, and most were 10-25 minute stand-by lines.
But there was a new ride in Galaxy’s Edge, The Rise of the Resistance, that inflated crowds a bit. Especially in the morning, because you had to be in the park at exactly opening time in order to get a boarding group for the ride. So there were massive lines to get through the turnstiles, and then roaming around Main Street prior to rope drop. I think more locals were visiting than usual, and sticking around until their boarding groups, because of the new ride. Even so, compared to the previous week and the weekend crowds, we had a relatively low crowd situation.
I also rocked the Fastpass system. In Disneyland they use kiosks to distribute paper tickets for Fastpass, or you can pay a daily fee per ticket to use the phone app called Maxpass. We took this option and we certainly got our money’s worth. We were able to practically walk on to the most popular rides, and using my phone I was able to stack up many Fastpasses as soon as we were eligible to get more. The Maxpass also lets you keep all the ride and pro-photographers shots from the park. I had fun collecting those and trying to get some good family shots.
Oh, let me add that a downside to the off-season is that they do a lot of closures for refurbishments. The biggest disappointment was that the Haunted Mansion was closed. It’s my favorite attraction and I had even talked with customer service back in November, to try to make sure it would be open when we came. It usually closes/reopens to remove the holiday overlay, and should have been open for us the last week of January. But in late December, after we booked, they announced it will stay closed until Spring for major cleaning and repairs. Dagnabbit! Other (less important) closures were the Carrousel, Snow White Scary Adventures, Grizzly River Run, the Red Trolley, the canoes and the riverboat.
Getting There
(Side note here: I was SICK. Like, seriously ill. I had had a head cold for a week, and then Friday night I got food poisoning or a virus of some kind. Saturday I had no strength. Literally, Ben had to pack for me and I could barely sit up on my bed to fold my clothes into the suitcase. It was miserable. We thought we might have to cancel the trip. I slept most of the day and worked on taking in water and simple carbs. Sunday morning I felt somewhat functional when we woke at 5 AM - meaning I could walk without feeling faint and eat/drink a little more. Still had a stuffy nose and head, but we decided we could continue our trip. So that first day I was pretty out of it still.)
(PS Ben was amazing at rallying everyone and doing double duty on the kids, plus making sure I was comfortable. He’s the best!)
We toured the hotel and then Downtown Disney. Our vacation package included a free pin and lanyard from the Pin Trader’s shop. We collected our freebies and thus sparked a collecting quest for Jack (more on that later). We got burgers for lunch, picked out Mickey treats, and toured the Lego Store. Needing to sit down, we found the observation deck in the hotel and enjoyed the view until our room was ready.
The room was great (more on that later). The kids went swimming in the barely warm pool. After I had a good rest we went out for dinner and dessert again, then back to an early bedtime. Gotta be rested so we could hit the park early!
The next three days were all park days. We had park hopper tickets, so we could go back and forth as we pleased :-D Here’s a rundown of all the attractions we saw:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
So that was a lot!
Last time we came it was for two days. It felt very luxurious to have three days. No frantic planning to try to get it all in quickly, no stress when we came upon an extra long wait, we could come back later!
By the end of the first day I felt fully recovered with just that lingering stuffy nose and cough. Good thing too, for all the walking and crazy rides we did!
Thursday we slept in and got breakfast at the hotel Craftsman Grill. We did some last minute souvenir shopping in Downtown Disney, then left for the airport as late as possible. The flight choices were either early morning or mid-afternoon. So we got to the airport with no security lines to fight, and hours to rest, have lunch, etc.
A straightforward flight home took us from the land of warm palm trees to an icy snowfall. Ben said he felt ready to go home, but me and the boys were sad to see it end. It was really a top notch vacation. Jack and Sam are already talking about what they want to do on their next Disney trip :-)
When we last visited Disneyland I declared it my dream to stay at the Grand Californian Hotel one day. Not only is it a beautiful luxury hotel with all the Disney theming and service you expect, but it's as close as you can get to staying IN the parks.
The Grand Californian Hotel is a the ONLY hotel that actually touches the theme parks. All other hotels in both California and Florida require a shuttle/bus/train/skyliner/ferry or a walk across streets to enter the theme parks. But this GCH is has its own security check point into Downtown Disney, which leads directly to the plaza for DL and DCA parks. The GCH also has a private security AND ticketing entrance into DCA. You really can't stay any closer to the action.
So when Ben and I dreamed up this trip in the fall, we decided to take advantage of the off-season room rates and reach for the sky. We booked a premium view room at the GCH instead of our default choice of the nearest budget Marriott.
We were informed at check-in that we had a pool-view room, and that no theme-park views were available. I was bummed, since I had put in a special request for a park view. However, I was delighted that we could clearly see the tops of Pixar Pier from our balcony. Good enough for me!
This hotel delivered. Spacious and lovely with hidden Chip and Dale chipmunks all over. The lobby had a roaring fire and cartoons and a live pianist all day long. The room had lots of clever design features to make it comfortable. Friendly housekeeping gave us extra pillows and blankets and turn-down service with chocolates on the bed.
Ben took the kids swimming Sunday after we got our room. You can see them from our balcony (Ben is in green and red). He had to drag them out after an hour when they couldn't talk without chattering teeth.
But really, the access to the parks was amazing. Only on Tuesday, when every hotel guest was trying to get into the Extra Magic Morning hour at DL, did we have to wait maybe 15 minutes to get through security. Every other time we got out with practically no wait. Here, I took a screen shot of the park map and circled our room.
And here Ben is pointing it out from inside the Wilderness Trail Challenge course in DCA.
I was so happy with the location, I even took a video of the walk from room-to-park on our last day, when I made a quick stop in the room midday.
https://youtu.be/MYEXcFAEViw
And after I passed the security and ticket turnstiles I was here: 
Right?! Right?!
As I said before, at Disneyland Resort you have the option to purchase Maxpass. I think it was completely worth it for the ride Fastpass access alone. So much easier using the app rather than paper kiosks or standby lines only. Included with the cost of Maxpass are all the photos taken by Disney photographers. That means ride photos, scenic stations around the park, and character meet and greets.
We only met one character officially (Groot) and I only stopped at the park photographers if there wasn't a line. Still, I feel like we got a great collection of photos with all four of us in them! I would definitely get Maxpass again.
Here's the photos from the rides:
(there aren't many - we did all the available ride photos except the Incredicoaster)
(I cropped in a close-up for each, if you want to scroll down for more detail)
. 
Meeting Groot!
Photos around the park:
We ate so much good food on this trip! Here’s some pics of us enjoying the SoCal theme park treats. This isn’t ALL the food we ate, but a lot of it.
Full meals:
Not pictured, the Alien Pizza buffet in Tomorrowland and Ronto Wraps in Galaxy’s Edge :-)
Ice Cream (and dairy free for me!)
Gross tongues after.
Walking with Treats:
CHURROS CHURROS CHURROS:
Amanda was really sweet to say I looked good in these photos. So nice to hear! However I feel obligated to share this picture that Ben took shortly after we arrived:
Still sick, cold, exhausted, and craving our room to be ready, with the kids tussling in the background. Shows how much your outward appearance expresses your inner feelings. Shows how truly happy I was later on.
The kids were adamant that they do NOT care about characters. They said they were a little creepy even. So I didn't reserve a character dining meal or plan to attend any meet-and-greets. I still enthusiastically pointed out all the characters we passed by (Sleeping Beauty! Goofy! Mickey! Alice and the Mad Hatter! Fairy Godmother! Zootopia dudes I couldn't remember their names!)
We were in Galaxy's Edge and crossed paths with Chewie. He stopped his entourage to tell Ben how great his Ramen Kitty T-shirt looked ("very yummy" he mimed!).
Then he noticed Ben's hat based on Boba Fett and delivered the greatest stink-eye.
The next day we were had triumphantly finished the Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Break-out ride, high on adrenaline and accomplishment. When we exited the gift shop we walked straight into a Groot meet-and-greet. Ignoring the previous ban, I pulled the kids into line with me.
Groot admired the tree on Jack's hat. I also pointed out his face on my t-shirt and he made the most delightful reaction face, pulling his human wrangler over to point out his lovely visage on my shirt (I wish I had pictures of that!).
I couldn't persuade the kids to wait in lines to meet anyone else as we walked by the future Marvel Campus. Spider-man had the longest line. I got a cheater pic with Cap. 
On the third day, we ran into our hotel mascots, Chip and Dale, at the Wilderness Challenge trail. To my delight, Ben encouraged Sam to say hi and got some pictures with Dale.
Chip obliged me with a selfie from afar.
As I said earlier, part of our welcome package included a free lanyard and starter pin. Jack was IN.
He proudly wore his swag, but quickly brewed some jealousy when he saw the many other park goers with their weighty bands of enamel proudly on display. We discussed that if he wanted to forgo other souvenirs, he could focus on collecting pins from his most favorite attractions. I think it was a great choice for him. He carefully weighed whether he "earned" or loved a ride enough to merit a pin. Then he hunted the gift shops to find the best ones. It was funny that he ended up picking pins for all the attractions we rode twice! Didn't do that on purpose, but I think it shows his good judgement. He also got a t-shirt :-)
Sam was, predictably, into the stuffies. This shop in Galaxy's Edge had an animatronic of this cat-like creature. He wanted its toy version, but decided it wasn't cuddly enough.
He picked a mini porg instead. They came with a magnetic base so he can perch on your shoulder.
But the connection was a bit weak, so he cradled the porg in his hoodie for most of the day.
Sam also picked out a big stuffy of Stitch on that last day of shopping. I don't have a picture, but he'll probably come visit you with Sam's next trip. He's already been to school on an approved toy day.
I decided early on that I wanted old-fashioned paper cut silhouettes of the boys for my souvenir.
The kids patiently posed. These wonderful ladies were a hoot and snipped them up in a jiffy!
After a fairly dry January, we had a string of snowstorms blow through Colorado. One week had a delayed start Tuesday and then a snow day Friday. The kids gleefully got up earlier than usual to watch Star Wars in their jammies.
Later that day we put them to work, helping Ben shovel out the walkways. I think Ben shoveled 4 times on Friday - the snow just kept coming!
Saturday was warm, helping to thaw out the ice a bit. The Sunday we had another storm big enough to cancel church and my Oscars party.
We had a few more flurries during this past week, but not too much more. Here's the kids in the yard on Valentine's Day showing off the accumulation that came up to their knees.
I fulfilled my last room parent party duty by organizing and hosting the 4th grade Valentine's party on Thursday, Friday the 14th being a teacher work-day. Tomorrow is also off school for President's Day. Between this four day weekend, the previous week's snow days, and extra volunteer time in the school, I'm pretty sick of my kids. Love em to bits, but man, can't wait for them to go away.
Sadly, Jack has been fighting a cold all weekend. He's got a productive cough and had a fever of 101 this afternoon. Feeling better tonight after some ibuprofen and a hot bath. I hope after his day off tomorrow he's ready to go back to school on Tuesday.
Thursday was my birthday and I now 38 years old. Getting up there, aren't I? ;-)
I had a relaxing mid-week celebration. Ben worked from home so I could have "time off work." He made the kids their meals and took them to school and parent-teacher conferences. First we opened presents; I got many thoughtful things. Ben got me this tortilla blanket that has become a family favorite. (And a Le Creuset pot and Kate Spade earrings, and many other lovely things.)
I had a massage at a nearby spa, followed by a lunch date with Ben at Hops and Pie. Love that place. Every meal I've had there is delicious.
Mom and Dad were planning to come up this weekend, but alas, another snowstorm has blown through. They made the safe and reasonable choice to stay home.
My penpal Steffi also had her birthday this month. I asked her what sort of cake she had, and she said she made a "Donauwelle" cake. Despite my years watching Food Network and GBBO and collecting cookbooks, I have never heard of this cake that she claims is very popular in her country. Intrigued, she linked me a recipe and I made my own!
Delicious! I found "Morello cherries" imported from Germany at Trader Joe's (Thanks, Amanda!) that looked like the ones I saw used by German youtubers making the cake. My chocolate layer is not very dark, and the sponge was a bit dry. Maybe I overbaked it or added too much flour (for high altitude). But Ben and my friends, who came to share, all loved it. Unlike American cakes, it was only mildly sweet. I loved the pudding buttercream layer. I'll have to try this one again someday. I sent a picture to Steffi to see if she approves :-)
And, like everyone else, we are so sick of talking about the coronavirus. The schools announced they are closing and doing remote-learning from home. There are terrible rumors flying amongst the kids at school that I've been trying to squash. I'm actually really happy they are shutting down school and church and other gatherings BEFORE it got a strong foothold in our area. Our plans to watch a local high school's performance of Spamalot tonight was canceled. We hope that tomorrow we can take the kids to the zoo - I figure it's a wide open park that even on busy days doesn't get too crowded. As long as places are open for business we are going to try to help the economy if it's reasonably safe to do so. We have movie tickets to see Emma tomorrow night and a babysitter set up, we'll see if the movie theater stays open too.
We talked to the kids a lot about the school closures and got chromebooks set up with their school accounts. Sam stayed on to play Prodigy (a math game) before going to bed. An hour later he dropped this note on me from the stairway:
Well put. And yes, we will have fun, and you can play Prodigy.
We had a chilly but fun morning at the zoo. They were limiting capacity, closed all indoor exhibits, shows, and most restaurants. But we had a nice venture out of the house and saw some great animal interactions.
Here's a long update of the last two weeks. I probably should have split this into a couple posts. Ah well.
Like everyone in the country, we have drastically altered how we are living. Ben and I are extremely fortunate that we can already work from home, so we have job security and I have been able to fully help the kids with their school-work-from-home.
The schools scrambled to get everyone set up. We already have chromebooks at home, so we could leave those for other families to check out. Sam's teacher sent him home with notebooks, pencils, crayons, etc, just in case.
We did one week of remote learning before spring break. The kids took to it really well. I'm not sure they are learning as much as they would have in a regular class, but I'm satisfied that they are learning SOMETHING and staying engaged and have a schedule for each day.
After the week of school, and after the winter storm abated, I took the kids to Grand Junction. Ben and I and my folks debated the safety and ethics of coming. We are virus-free, as far as we know, and so are they. We wouldn't stop on the drive over and wouldn't be going anywhere but house-to-house, so I couldn't see any harm in coming. In the end, I'm really glad we made the trip. It would have been a LONG week of no schedule and nothing to do at home. At least they could putter around a different house with different toys and books. Then the same day we got back to Arvada, the state issued a shelter-in-place mandate. So once again, we were doing something at the last possible time (previously done for the zoo, a movie date, and then a local trip).
We went for a hike on the Mica Trail. It was so cool! Quartz and mica shimmered everywhere, and lots of interesting terrain for Sam to scramble over. It was moderately busy, as everyone was trying to get out of the house where possible. But everyone kept a good distance apart, even when passing each other on the trail.
We made spaghetti from scratch.
Dad and Sam and I made an apple pie.
Now we are back home for a few days before remote school starts on Monday. I'm being relatively lazy with the kids. I'm sleeping in. They get to play video games later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon than I usually allow. It's a shame the weather turned cold again or we would go on more walks. Oh well.
We got the new Animal Crossing game and are all infatuated with it. I was hard core into Animal Crossing on the Game Cube back in 2002-2004. This new version has lots of good updates but is the same game at heart. The kids are loving its exploration and creative aspects. It's really great for all ages and a good way to pass the day inside.
Look who has a bright new pair of peepers!
I'm impressed that the look and fit are very close to the virtual try-on from Zenni Optical, and that they got to us one week after ordering them!
Jack seems nervous and delighted. He says it's like looking through a magnifying glass. He says it's weird seeing everything so sharp :-) I think he looks quite sharp himself!
I scrounged around and found some razor scooters for the kids. Most places are selling out especially in their favorite colors, but I scored some non-pink scooters to help get the kids outside.
It worked! They have gone out 3-4 times a day circling the neighborhood over and over. Lots of bumped ankles and some tumbles, but they seem to love it anyway!
Yeah, all the pictures are them zooming away from me. They don’t pause for me!
How appropriate for Earth Day! It was a strong double, with a faint yellow-green-blue below the violet. Does that make it a triple?
I finished my birthday sweater earlier last month. Less than two weeks to complete - I love working with bulky yarn for big warm sweaters!
Although we had some snow days since I finished the project, I haven't worn it yet. No where to go, no one to see, and couch days are not worthy of hand-knits!
We have been able to continue most of the things we enjoy with the wondrous magic of teleconferencing. It's not the same, but we welcome the pale substitution for prior entertainment and enrichment.
So much fun can come out of a little computer!
Some things we did last month:
On Monday I will become a voluntary cripple. But after 6-12 months of healing and physical therapy, I hope to be the dancer I was three years ago.
Out the blue, my feet locked up in September 2017. It was this weekend, in fact. I had gone to Zumba as usual, maybe pushed my arches a little farther than usual in the "Jamaican Love" routine. But no problem. Family came, we saw the Frozen musical and I walked around LoDo in heels. No problem. Then on Monday my feet couldn't bend at the big toe and they hurt like the dickens. Weird. I massaged, stretched, and figured they would get better. They sort of did. My left foot stayed stiff in the big toe. I mentioned it to my chiropractor, who ordered an x-ray. It showed some mild arthritis, but nothing to worry about. I continued to stretch and try to work it out.
Over time, the left foot got better and the right foot got worse. Then they switched again. Then they were both kind of bad, then on the verge of healing, then bad again. Maybe cold weather made it worse? Was it turf toe? I never had redness or swelling or any sign of injury. Just limited ROM and pain when the joint is pressed or bent. I stopped wearing high heels, then stopped wearing anything that wasn't flat. Then it was painful to walk in ANY shoe.
A year ago I started yoga to see if intense leg and foot stretching twice a week would work out the problem. Nope. No change, and it continued to get worse. There were only two pairs of shoes I could comfortably walk in for limited time. Dance class and yoga always made my feet hurt, and I could no longer balance on one leg in releve, do any one legged turns, no lunges, or anything else that needs a bent foot. After poking around online I finally found my diagnosis - hallux limitus.
In November I booked an appointment with a podiatrist. He confirmed my suspicions and explained that hallux limitus can have many different causes. He ordered an MRI and found out I had almost ALL the causes - bone spurs, arthritis, asymmetrical joint thinning, cartilage loss, marrow swelling, and little floating chips of bone in the joint space. He recommended surgery when I was ready, but for now gave me a steroid injection in anticipation of our Disney trip. I also had gotten these awesome MBT shoes with a solid, rocking sole. The shoes and the shot allowed me to have a fairly pain-free trip. But this was not a solution, just a stalling tactic.
I decided to get a second opinion and see an orthopedic surgeon. The podiatrist was fine, but I could tell his office wasn't exactly cutting edge tech, and joint replacements on 75 year olds was their comfort zone. This new guy was great, he's had more experience with patients in my condition who desire to restore as much function as possible. He seems confident that surgery will greatly improve my ROM and end the pain. He says I'm on the younger end of the spectrum, but he has had success with younger patients before and there's no benefit to waiting it out. He also recommended doing both feet at once! Only one recovery period instead of two. This was my initial desire, but I worried it would be too crippling to be off both feet at once. But he says I should be up on crutches in just a couple days and walking within a week.
I scheduled the surgery for the Monday after the musical. This was back in early February. Then the world went crazy. They didn't call to reschedule the surgery until a few weeks before, and just moved it to May 11. I was unsure that the date would stick, but here I am just 4 days before and they are still sending me info and reminders about the procedure.
So that's my long backstory. Hopefully on Monday I'll be able to get this bilateral cheilectomy, and in a year I can pirouette!
I took some "before" pictures so I can mark my progress in recovery. I'm standing on the ball of my foot as high as I can. I used to have a nice 90 degree bend, with a flat line from shin to ankle to toe.
Warning! Pictures of feet ahead!
After two years of back and forth, the right foot has been worse for a year now. The MRI showed equal problems in both feet, maybe even a little worse in the left foot. I wonder if the differences in presentation are caused by those floating bone shards shifting position in the joint.
I made the boys dress up for my annual picture with them. Pretty good looking group, despite our isolation-haircuts.
They told me the procedure went smoothly with no surprises. Everyone was really nice and seemed competent and calm.
I got home around noon. So far so good. My feet hurt, obviously. But the pain is manageable so far and the scopolamine patch has prevented any nausea.
Ben is being a great nurse, keeping me comfortable and icing my feet exactly as ordered.
Mom is here to take care of the boys- it sounded like they are having plenty of fun.
That’s all, just wanted to check in to say I’m good.
I think I did pretty good today. The pain was tolerable with the meds they prescribed. I can get up and around with a walker.
I spent the morning in bed and the afternoon downstairs. I even took a bath tonight - it feels so good to be clean.
Of course, after all the walking and changing clothes and night hygiene tasks, my feet are throbbing with pain. Ben set me up with another ice packet, and I’ll try to sleep after that.
Sam is so sweet. This morning he delivered this letter:
Dear mom: I vearey hope your feet are better soon. And keep resting. By-by love Sam.
I’m so glad my mom is here to help with the kids and taking care of me. I feel like an oaf when I can’t take care of myself, but she and Ben are being very patient and attentive.
Today I continue to feel better. I took off the scopolamine patch and am trying to use only ibuprofen during the day. The Narco works well for pain but makes me feel woozy and dimwitted. The patch and pill together made my vision so blurry, I had trouble stitching, playing Animal Crossing, or reading. It has been frustrating that I have to rest, but also can't do my favorite restful activities well. Tonight I still have blurry vision but it's getting better. I can walk for longer periods with less support. I think the swelling is down - I've been keeping them elevated and iced religiously.
Mom has been a huge help: cooking and cleaning, teaching and entertaining, and keeping all of us in good spirits. She went back home tonight. Amanda is going to come help with the kids tomorrow while Ben takes me to my doctor. I have a follow-up appointment to change the dressing and look at how my feet are healing. I'm very curious to see how it looks under all this gauze.
Mom and the boys transferred all our seedlings to the vegetable beds. They did a great job! Mom's a total pro, so I'm sure we'll have a bountiful harvest now that her green thumb bestowed a touch on our plants. I couldn't resist waddling outside to see their work, and mom insisted on a family picture.
Tonight I was getting that claustrophobic-cabin fever feeling. I threw off my headphones and sighed loudly that I wish I could go walk around the block for a change of scenery. Well, Ben made it happen:
Besides feeling like a fool, it was wonderful. Fresh air, the smell of flowers, and a little sunshine all helped to reset my mental state.
Last Friday I had my follow-up visit with my doctor for a dressing change. I got to see his workmanship and it looks pretty good! Five stitches in each foot and Dad told me they were well-formed. I'll refrain from posting a picture of my gore, but I'm happy to send it if you are curious. The new dressing is much lighter and more comfortable.
My doctor gave me "exercises" to do, which is to gently push each toe to maximum flex for a count of 10, then push it down for a count of 10, then repeat a total of 3 times. He said to do 3 times a day and acquiesced when I asked if I can do them more. I'm up to 5 times a day and it's getting less scary to do them.
I'm doing a lot better this week. My feet no longer throb when I put them lower than my heart. The pain has changed from a generalized ouchiness to either a sharp incision pain, a needle-like stabbing on the underside of my toes, or a burning heat (if I stand too much). The pains are usually transient. I've been off the narcotic medication for several days, and am tapering down my ibuprofen and Tylenol doses. Ice still feels good, down to 4-5 times per day. Sleeping is more comfortable too, with my feet no longer shooting in pain suddenly if the blankets twist them oddly. It actually feels good to go to bed. I can walk down the block and back - albeit at a slow and awkward gait. I even tried driving today and it was no problem. (I still have to wear my rigid sandals whenever I am walking and I wear them to drive. They are legal to drive with, unlike a boot that mobilizes your ankle). I cooked dinner the last few nights too and have done some light cleaning.
The kids are officially done with school. Today I made a deal that I would let them do whatever they wanted all day and I wouldn't pester them. No nagging to brush teeth, turn off the TV, eat vegetables, or anything. It was my idea of way to mark "summer break," since they have been home from school for weeks already. Surprisingly (or not) they were dressed by 9:30 and played together most of the day. They're really good kids. Jack played games, read books, cooked a frozen pizza for their lunch, and built legos. I think Sam only briefly looked away from cartoons or video games when he was eating. They both said it was a fun day.
We had to get a new dryer this week. It still tumbled but stopped blowing hot air. Perhaps if I was well I could have replaced the heating element of thermostat, but it was ancient anyway. We've had it for at least 15 years, and we got it second hand from a coworker who probably had it 5-10 years before that. The new dryer dries clothes. I did two loads. Whoop. Maybe it's the isolation or the surgery recovery, but this was the most unexciting $500 purchase we've ever made. Adulting!
Things are starting to open up around town, but we are going to keep isolating for now. Jack's piano school had the option to continue skype or go to the studio, and he agreed with me that we can keep it virtual a little longer. I'm planning a virtual birthday party for his 10th birthday next week. Tomorrow my book club is meeting in person! We are a small group (~6 usually) meeting in a backyard, going through an open side gate, all wearing masks, distancing, and bringing our own chairs. Seems like a low risk-high reward special occasion that I'm very much looking forward to. We also have another remote trivia Friday night! My social calendar is positively brimming! ;-)
In an effort to mark the day, we roasted weenies over open fire in the backyard.
The cats stood watch and sniffed the air suspiciously.
Sam reveled in my solution to only having mini-marshmallows on hand - a skillet of melted chocolate and marshmallows that you scooped up with graham crackers. After crouching over it like Gollum until he couldn't get another scrape of goo, he declared to me that it was his favorite dessert ever and please can we have it again soon? :-) I had to agree that it was easier to eat than regular s'mores. I don't think the rest of us got to eat as much as him, so maybe next time I'll make a dish for him and a dish for the rest of us to share :-)
PS: Tomorrow I have an appointment to get my stitches removed and I am SO EXCITED. The stitches have reached that itchy, irritated stage. I'm still tender on the incision and have random shooting nerve pains as they heal themselves. But getting the stitches out means I can wear SOCKS and REGULAR SHOES and WASH MY FEET and rub on LOTION. I miss those things so much. I hope that I can log onto my Wednesday Zumba class and do some upper body work while keeping my feet simple. Maybe even some gentle yoga? Ah, some day. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. A head-to-toe shower. That sounds wonderful.
We had a very fun day at home for Jack yesterday. He was all smiles all day.
We're still in love with Animal Crossing, so I took dressed up some of his presents to look like the ones flying over the island in game. He even got items similar to the game - bells (cash), clothes, iron ore (rock collection), and house items (magic foam balls and a clock). After learning that the star shapes in the game are based on Japanese star candy, Ben ordered some samples and we scattered them around the gifts.
In the actual game, he was happy to have all the NPCs celebrate, a special visit from KK the music dog, and virtual gifts from his aunts and uncle. I think those presents meant almost as much to him as the real presents! Maybe not ;-) 
I think it's safe to say that his favorite part was having ONE friend come over to play. It seemed like a low risk-high reward proposition. Jack was THRILLED to see his friend after months apart. They had McDonald's, look at LEGOs and rocks, and played video games for a couple hours.
Amanda came over to wish him well too. She was a bit overshadowed by the friend, but I had a GREAT time catching up and talking to another adult in person.
I had made a chocolate-peanut butter cake to celebrate. Jack pointed out that he probably shouldn't blow all over it to extinguish the candles. Good thinking. I came up with a quick solution - compressed air! It actually worked really well.
Jack had proposed we start reading the 6th Harry Potter book on his birthday. We usually start them in the fall when school starts. But he argued that since he is FINALLY 10 years old, like Harry in the 1st book, and the books usually start close to his birthday, that we should do the same. Whatever :-) The impressive part is that he decided to re-read the ENTIRE SERIES so far. He started May 5th and finished May 26. He read 5 thick books in a few weeks. So nuts. We used to read-aloud but it took forever to do that with the last book, and I want to save my voice to read aloud with Sam. So we are reading the 6th HP book to ourselves. I made him promise to keep paced me with, each stopping at the end of a chapter to discuss before moving on. That way he won't rush through, and we'll still feel like we are reading together.
Jack asked to be allowed to stay up until 9pm. Sure dude :-) He seemed to think it was a huge deal and kept saying how he's never been up this late. We reminded him that he stays up all the time when we travel, but he felt like that didn't count since Sam was with him. He spent his time watching Zach King magic videos on youtube.
Jack has been merrily building his Harry Potter LEGO sets and practicing his sleight of hand. Here's a video of his first routine:
Our lifestyle is slow and easy these days. It turned out to be a pretty great time to recuperate from surgery, with so few obligations.
After getting out my stitches, the incision is painful when shoes press on it as I walk. So I found a style of sandals that won't even touch my owies.
Sam has his very first loose tooth. He's been working on it for over a week. The perma-tooth is already halfway here, but the little guy won't dislodge yet. It was really bothering him at lunch. I hoped he would knock it out with food, but no luck.
He's been getting up around 6 AM, sometimes earlier, to play video games and watch cartoons. This is the second time he's slipped into a nap. Maybe I need to tell him to knock off the early morning TV to encourage him to sleep more.
Jack has been working on magic a lot. Here's another video!
I'm working to get Jack's trivia party all set for tonight. I think it's going to be really fun!
Animal Crossing is still a daily treat. Last night Amanda's island had a meteor shower. I went over to make some wishes (to collect star fragments the next morning) and Andy was there doing the same thing. At one point we were all just standing there, making wishes, so I snapped a picture of us three Waterhouse kids playing together. Turns out, Amanda and Andy took a picture too! So here we are playing together, miles apart. We can all be sentimental :-)
Saturday night we hosted Jack's birthday party online. It was a smashing success! All 11 friends came for a night of snacks and trivia.
The kids and I assembled party packs for the guests to pick up earlier in the week. Each had popcorn, Skittles, Sprite, a cupcake and candle, a LEGO minifig blind bag, and the Visual Round and answer sheet for trivia. I think this really helped the kids feel united, like they were actually attending a party and not just logging on to chat with friends. (They all randomly ran off to get Harry Potter costumes when they started seeing each other. I dunno what that was about.)
I put together 8 rounds of trivia, with 6 questions each. I was aiming for about 80-90% correct answers from the kids, so they felt successful. Jack hardly missed any questions, I might have tailored it to his interests a little too well :-) I put the trivia in a slide presentation, that also showed the rules and the teams. You can see it here if you are curious. I removed the kids' names.
We used the style of trivia we know from Geeks Who Drink, and we used the virtual trivia method we have been playing with out friends since March. In Zoom they have a feature called break-out rooms, where you can privately discuss answers with just your team mates. Instead of electronic answer submission (like we do in adult trivia), Ben popped into each breakout room to repeat questions as needed and collect their answers verbally. He was mission control, organizing break-out rooms and tallying scores. I was the emcee, presenting the questions and answers, and prompting Ben when to pop into groups based on the chatter I heard upstairs from Jack.
We used the Main room, with everyone in it, to open minifigs, light cupcakes and sing, and go over questions and answers. We changed the teams every two rounds, so each kid got a chance to see most everyone else in small groups during the night. It's so hard to visit on zoom with more than a few screens at a time, I think this party made it extra fun and social for the kids. The team changes also leveled the competition, so everyone got to be a on a winning team (Jack's) at least once.
Jack has really great friends. Smart and kind and funny. They all sincerely had a good time playing together. Jack was on a high all night and raved the whole weekend about his party. I was relieved not to be hosting people in my house. It took a lot of work to coordinate and create the party, but I think it paid off big time - and no house mess to clean up afterward!
Sam lost his first tooth today!
Phew! It's been loose for weeks. I thought for sure it was gonna come out every day this last week. In the end, he was eating lunch and yelping in pain. Jack took a look and saw the tooth was completely sideways. Even so, I had to give it a tug with a tissue to take it out. Sam was shocked and relieved. He lost the tooth AGAIN on the way downstairs to show Ben. We found it using a flashlight on the stairs and he proudly showed it off to his dad. Jack kindly offered his little box to Sam to keep the tooth safe until the fairy comes.
He already made a note asking for Skittles too.I feel like this is the last milestone of childhood. (Nothing left to celebrate until adolescence...and we don't really want to celebrate voice cracking and hairy armpits ;-)
Man, that tooth had a good long run! For fun, I looked up my blog post about his first tooth. My chubby little baby is so grown up now!
Earlier this month I took the kids and my sister to Grand Junction for a little escape. The kids have been deprived of friends, family, playgrounds, and pools. We set to remedy that with a long weekend visit. Everyone had loads of fun. With the Masons they built LEGOs and went for a hike. With the Waterhouses we went to the book store, ate pizza, and went to a rock shop. Jack expanded his rock collection and Sam found a sweet green dragon figurine to add to his dragon collection. Looking through my photos, it's mostly pool, pool pool :-D 
Jack’s music school put together a video recital for the summer. He plays two songs in it, but I don’t know where in the program they put him. Here’s the information if you are interested:
2020 Summer Virtual Recital YouTube Link
First of all, we would like to thank all of the students who submitted a video for our first ever virtual recital! They all turned out great and we cannot wait for everyone to see it!We were not able to upload it to Facebook, so the video will “premiere” live on YouTube only, tomorrow night (07/02/2020) at 7 PM MST!
We will be leaving it up on YouTube for two weeks after it airs.
This video will be a private video and can only be reached through this link! Feel free to share this private link with your family and friends if they are interested in watching with us!
You can click the link before 7pm tomorrow night and it will put you in the waiting room and count down until the video begins.
Enjoy!
Celebration was low key at our house this weekend. We had cheeseburgers and put out the inflatable pool and slip n' slide. We watched Hamilton (along with many other people, according to the glitching while streaming). That show is still amazing. Jack watched it with Ben and me, and I think he got a lot out of it. He says he liked it! I need to show him more musicals.
Just wanted to drop a url that links to Jack's part in the piano recital, in case you don't want to watch the rest of the kids.
The youtube embed link keeps messing up, just copy/paste this url, or go to timestamp 1:30:06 on the video.
"https://youtu.be/dFtxYPJttPw?t=5406"
(I'm trying out the new wordpress editor, still figuring out how best to share photos with it.)
One of the last things we did before the shelter-in-place order back in March was a visit to the zoo. They opened to the public again last month. I got a reservation for us to try them again this week, as a fun change of scenery for the kids. While Ben and I run errands regularly, the kids have been mostly home, day in and day out, all summer.
The zoo website said they had a lot of precautions in place for safety: reduced crowds, staggered reservation times, masks required for everyone (this was before the governor made masks mandatory in public for Colorado), all indoor spaces were closed, pathways are all one direction now, and extra sanitation stations and portable toilets set up everywhere.
It was fun overall. The kids say they had a good time and were glad we went. But I felt like it was not a great success. Mask use was pretty good, I'd say over 90% wore them well. But there was still the occasional family with noses and even mouths exposed. Anyone walking while eating and drinking had the mask off too. Also, it was more crowded than I would have liked. Because of the one-direction traffic flow, there were lots of clumps of people around visible animals, and traffic jams when someone stopped in the pathway.
I don't think any of us were at risk for infection. The kids were excellent at keeping their masks with filters on on their faces. They didn't touch handrails or signs, and asked for hand sanitizer when they made a mistake. We swerved away from people whenever possible.
The other problem was, of course, it was the afternoon of a hot July day. Can't be helped :-) I packed water and hats and a cooling towel. We took lots of breaks to rest and had ice cream and juice to stay cool and hydrated. No matter, it was still sweltering. There weren't many animals out because of the heat.
So it was a fun change of pace, but I don't think anyone is clamoring to return until the weather cools and the crowds thin.
We are surprised and delighted by the success of our new vegetable beds.
So far we have harvested green beans three times.
The strawberries are infrequent, but a tasty treat that the boys fight over.
Our carrots taste good despite their petite nature.
We have enjoyed cucumber slices a couple times and have several ready to pick - I might turn them into refrigerator pickles.
The arugula was good while it lasted- the bugs like it too, and it’s all going to flower quickly once the weather got hot. This green lettuce is going strong and we’ve had several harvests.
There’s two broccoli heads coming in and more on the way. They have aphids and it’s a daily fight. We tried poison, diatomaceous earth, and even tried 1,500 ladybugs. The aphids keep coming back. I tore out the worst affected plants and leaves and just check it every other day, dosing with more diatomaceous earth.
We have okra that’s only now starting to grow pods. It’s been struggling between the shadows of the towering broccoli and the tendrils from pumpkins and cukes - I’ve cut off their strangling grasp a few times.
Onions are doing something. I’m mostly ignoring them. We also have pepper plants. They’ve been stunted by the crazy green beans and carrots. I recently staked back the beans to give the peppers more sun, hopefully I can get some before summer ends.
Finally, there’s our pumpkins. We got two good gourds forming that the kids excitedly check on every day. “The pumpkins are so big!” They tell me over and over. They keep trying to call dibs, but I tell them we will see what survives before deciding who gets to carve them. Last week I installed slings made from repurposed supportive wear. I read you should do that if they weigh more than 5 pounds. It cracks me up!
My weekend project took an extra two days, owing to problems with my sewing machine. I battled and overcame, and here it is!
How appropriate that Sam is wearing a dragon shirt today. He isn’t outgrowing his love for dragons - unlike his clothes!
I’m still a beginner quilter. This is only my third ever. Now that I’m sorting out my machine malfunctions and quirks, I sort of had fun! I might even be able to actually “quilt” the next one, using top stitching instead of tying. I’m already thinking about ideas for some Halloween prints I’ve got in storage. But first- more COVID masks!
Today was the "first day of school." It was really about 3 hours of online orientation between the two kids. Some with parents listening, mostly just the kids. We elected to do face-to-face school this year. I'm really on the fence about it, but the kids want to return very badly. They promise to follow all my guidelines and requests for their health safety and they understand that I might switch them to 100% remote if the protocols planned by the school are not actually being performed.
Either way, all students are starting with 2 weeks of remote-only. The first in-person class day is scheduled for the day after Labor Day.
The mood in our home was lackluster. We tried to make it feel special, but it just isn't. Maybe tomorrow, when they both have a full day of remote school scheduled, it will feel more real.
They each have a desk set-up with computer and headphones and basic school supplies. They got to meet their teacher and talk to their classmates a little. The motto at our school for now is "start slow to go fast." I can tell the teachers have learned a lot from our chaotic switch to remote learning in the spring. I hope this goes well, and I hope they can be safe in the classroom.
School was going to start remotely. I needed a way to switch the kids' brains into school mode, to let them know summer was done. So I proposed that we mark the end of summer vacation with a few themed days. They excitedly agreed, and we settled on a Harry Potter Day, a LEGO day, and a Freedom Day.
Harry Potter Day was easy with our household stock of supplies. The kids dressed in their robes and made a puzzle of the house crests. We watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Jack and Sam have been reading the books aloud together and only finished the first one a couple days before. So it was fun for Sam to watch the movie for the first time. Jack and I were so pleased with the bright colors, fun and mystery, and low stakes of this movie. Later in the franchise it becomes so dark and grim. Still, Sam had to cover his eyes during the troll scene - it was a little too scary. Afterward we made mini treacle tarts.
LEGO day was also easy to do on a whim. I picked up a Jello Jigglers kit at the store as a special treat. Otherwise the kids occupied themselves with "Master Building" their own creations, played Lego video games, and watched the Lego Ninjago movie. We had Lego shaped pizza for lunch and sandwiches on Eggo waffles for dinner.
The last day (above) was Freedom Day - a repeat from the start of summer. It meant the kids could do whatever they wanted all day (aside from usual safety rules) until 5pm. Sam stayed in pajamas until dinner time and had Teen Titans Go on the TV for literally hours. They slugged around the house and didn't have to do any chores or go outside to play. They were in charge of their own food too. I think Sam ate nothing but frozen yogurt tubes until dinner. Jack made a few more smarter choices about getting dressed and eating a varied diet. But he indulged in a marathon of youtube videos by the Carlin Brothers and Mark Rober.
The kids had a memorable last few days of vacation. Much fun.
This morning the kids went back to school in-person. Nerves were high. Their packs were extra heavy with supplies because there was not a back-to-school night when we could have delivered classroom items earlier. Also, they had their masks and shields and hand sanitizer bottles to deal with.
Also a friggin' SNOW STORM.
They felt unprepared and unaccustomed to the cold weather. They refused boots and gloves and umbrellas when I was getting them ready, but I think they regretted that. Their hands were frozen as they waited to be let in the building. Sam's eye shields fogged up but he claims he likes it and it looks like a video game and he refused my offer to get anti-fog spray. Jack was so very very nervous about everything. All week he's had butterflies and keeps thinking he has COVID symptoms. (He doesn't.) He's normally a little hypochondriac, worse so now. The wildfires have been pumping smoke into the air for weeks, so I think we ALL have a little sore throat these days.
Special screening entrances meant we had to skip the traditional front-of-school photo, and I had to give kisses good-bye separately because they enter on opposite sides of the building. I peeped in the windows as I walked away and was happy to see happy kids. Inside in familiar classrooms with smiling teachers and out of the icy rain, they looked calm and happy. Sam took a seat in the front row near the door (excellent for airflow!) and Jack appears to have a seat next to his best friend (score!). I saw Jack dutifully put on his face shield in addition to his mask, despite concerns all week that he would look dumb and different.
I'm still hella nervous. I think we should all be in remote school still, that's the safest option. But our elementary is putting all possible precautions and protocols in place. The kids are ecstatic to be back in real school around other kids. They will learn and grow much better in a school environment. But is all that worth risking? We will see.
For now, it's freezing outside and my house is warm. When I opened the door it was deadly quiet inside and the scent of waffles cheered my soul. I sat down to write this and Nimbus snuggled up to my side and has been fervently purring. Obviously I'm not the only one pleased to have a break from the kids and the heat.
Little Sam turned 7 years old! We had an extended celebration. The week prior, my parents came out to play and have some NIJ time. I can't believe it, but this is the ONLY picture I took all weekend.
Not pictured: swimming at their hotel and visiting Edgewater Marketplace to enjoy their large variety of food and little art show.
Saturday we hosted a small party with appropriate precautions. Just three friends, entirely outdoors, wearing masks, with non-contact game. Sam has been very into Pokemon lately, so we had a Pokemon party. I made a two flavor cake (chocolate and strawberry). I made pokeball beanbags and a toss target with all his favorite pokemon. The kids went wild with it, and then got their sticky hands out of their goodie bags, attacking the board and each other.
The main game was a hunt. I laid out 11 pokeballs (made of paper plates) with 5 similar cards for them to collect (3 friends +Sam + Jack) and a clue for where to find the next hidden ball. They were less delicate with the game than I expected, roughly tearing into the prizes and racing off before the clue was read as soon as they had an idea where to look. I think they had a great time with it.
Cake and presents and playing with Sam's new hover drone rounded out the short party.
Sunday morning we celebrated Sam's real birthday in the usual fashion - presents, favorite meals, and playing whatever he wanted.
Happy seventh birthday Sam!
We've been busy bees since school started again. Let me try to catch up with some photos of notable days.
Not pictured from the last month: my bouts of mask-sewing, my packing 90 craft kits for classroom Halloween parties, and Ben's quarantine 6 day quarantine while he was sick with a cold and we waited for his COVID test result. (Negative, and he's feeling good again, and no one seemed to have caught the cold).
Nimbus loves it when I put on the electric blanket. We cozy up after lunch while I work on my computer. She puts toes in the air when she reaches peak comfiness.
As mentioned briefly last time, I have been building craft kits for the school Halloween parties.
Parents are not allowed in the school year, and no outside food either. The party solution from the PTA was for volunteers to supply holiday crafts for their kids’ classes. I’ve always served as a room parent/party committee. It was a no-brainer to sign-up this year again - ONLY a craft (versus the traditional craft + games + food) and no obligation to coordinate with other parents! The hardest part has always been scheduling room parent meetings to agree on each item, waiting for emails to be returned, and crossing fingers they supply what they promised. Much easier by myself! I waited a couple days to let other parents have a chance to sign-up. When none stepped forward I signed-up for both my kids classes. Then last week I got a text that the other fifth grade parent dropped out, asking if I could cover the crafts for their class too. Of course!
Today I dropped off 84 craft kits with prepared supplies for each kid to complete two crafts, four different crafts all together. Plus spare parts for the teachers to hand out as needed. They were organized and split between 5 boxes for classes with both in-person and remote students.
We were supposed to include written instructions for the teachers to do the crafts. I thought it would be more helpful if I demonstrated each of them on a video for them to pause/replay as needed. Then the teachers would be free to roam around helping and encouraging kids. Of COURSE I had to set the stage with props, light the candles, and wear something spooky. If you want to do some crafts with your own supplies, watch my videos here!
Tonight had some new excitement with video games. Ben treated himself to a Switch Ring adventure game to try to get more regular exercise. We used to go to the gym 2-3 times per week, but obviously stopped in March. Jogging is unbearably boring and I’ve become a poor walking partner since the weather has cooled and darkened. This game looks like a fun way to get more exercise. Jack was jealously watching Ben break-in the game. He eagerly starting his own save file when given the chance. Maybe some competition between the two will keep them playing longer! I had a fun time watching them while I brewed a pot of herbal tea and stirred a large batch of steel cut oats for breakfast this week.
The ash tree usually decides to dump all its leaves within a couple days. We had a brief day of good, sunny weather afterward, before a winter storm was forecast. We all pitched in to clear some of the leaves so the kids could enjoy a giant leaf pile.
Friday the kids got to wear their costumes to school. No parade or elaborate parties this year, but they got to wear the costume all day, instead of changing out of it after the class party. I enjoyed seeing all the costumes at drop-off and pick-up. I heard many thanks from students for the crafts I provided to their classes, and several mentioned that they loved when the cats interrupted my video tutorial :-)
By some miracle I was saved from making Pokemon costumes this year. It's been Pokemon Pokemon Pokemon non-stop out of their mouths all fall. Yet for some reason they asked for Hogwarts costumes, with robes from each of their houses (Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff). I happily agreed and gave quiet thanks that I wasn't being asked to make a Slurpuff or Sirfetch'd or some other obscure thing.
This morning we carved pumpkins. The two largest are from the store, and the the three smaller pumpkins were grown in our garden! We had two little green baby pumpkins appear October 1st. They didn't get big enough to carve by Halloween, but we put them on display all the same.
They kids were delighted to learn they had a remote lesson from Hogwarts scheduled in the afternoon! Who is Professor S? Is it Snape? But Snape doesn't like to teach! Who is going to be playing Snape? Will there be other students? They were in wonder all morning, and then absolutely delighted to see their uncle Andy sniveling criticisms at them via Zoom.
Andy did an amazing job setting up the lesson. First they chatted about their school and dress. Then he had them "clarify the handwriting in their assignments," filling in the adjectives and verbs as with Mad Libs, and then read back their hilarious Halloween essays.
The lesson was interrupted by the new Herbology professor who needed help with her over-sized pinecones, and then by Professor Dumbledore who warned of us a loose troll and said there was a problem with the Halloween feast.
Professor Snape then turned to potions, asking the kids to make Lemon Quaffles (inspired by this clip from QI). He had funny terms for all the ingredients - ground troll dust powder and minotaur's tears and such.
Their professor claimed that if they mixed it correctly it would form a self-baking lemon cake. Instead . . . .
Lastly Snape gave them what he thought was a traditional muggle treat "candy corn", but instead was "canned corn." The boys drank dragon's blood (red colored chocolate milk) in their cauldron cups and toasted their professors a Hoggy Hogwarts Happy Halloween.
Professor Snape gave them a homework assignment to create and original spell. Here's what they came up with:
After a relatively quiet afternoon, when Ben and I stole away for a few minutes to pick up dinner and drinks, it was time for trick or treating!
Sam had a cold today (runny nose and cough - our pediatrician recommended against covid testing in favor of a visit on Monday to clear him for school). We cancelled meeting up with friends to trick-or-treat. Ben took the boys out with masks and tongs (to pick up candy and ring door bells) and safely guided them to obvious buckets and away from interaction with any people. We busted out the old stroller to help Sam stay out as long as his brother. After and hour they came home with full buckets and frozen fingers. It was an incredible and memorable Halloween!
We made the sad decision to stay home for Thanksgiving this year. The risks of catching or giving the virus unknowingly is just too dang high.
I made a list of possible dishes to serve and asked the household to vote for their favorites. It’s just the four of us, so why not cater to our tastes?
Apparently vegetables are not the popular clique in our household.
We were all shocked this morning to find the world changed to a winter wonderland!
I got to try out my new snow tires that I got as an early Christmas present. They were great!
When the sun came out the boys mucked up with yard with an epic snowball battle. Eventually they allied forces and built a fort to secure the territory.
Like other cautious people, we celebrated Thanksgiving as a household. I was very sad not to see my family on one of my favorite holidays. But we did a good job upholding traditions and feasted well.
I cooked a couple dishes every day in the week up to Thanksgiving, so we could enjoy a full meal without me absolutely slaving it in the kitchen all day.
I got some nice table linens and a candle display to make the meal feel special. The kids made adorable turkeys to decorate too.
Season's greetings to all!
It’s been about six months since I started physical therapy in June. I have finally accepted that it might take me the whole year, or even longer, to get to where I want to be.
The pain during exercise is still worse than before surgery. But the pain while plain walking is less than before surgery. I still wear only my MBT shoes when I am active.
One sign of improvement is that I can wear my Dansko clogs and my snow boots for short periods of time. My feet ache afterward, but prior to surgery I couldn’t wear those shoes for even a minute without acute pain.
I’m still diligent about my physical therapy. I keep track of my exercises everyday. I do yoga or tap on MWF and hit PT hard afterward. TTh I do PT only, and weekends I do just 1 or 2 sessions. I used to go hard every day, but my therapist agreed it wasn’t sustainable. Before I ran out of sessions with her in August, I worked out this alternating pattern. Never a day off, but some days have more rest. (Actually, Thanksgiving day was the first day I skipped PT entirely! But I was on my feet cooking all day, so it wasn’t super restful 😅 )
Adding yoga was a no-brainer. It's gentle on the joints. The stretching helps balance all the strengthening exercises I do in PT. I decided to add tap classes online because I missed dancing. I tried doing remote Zumba classes over the summer and it was an empty echo of the classes I used to attend. I think if the gyms were still safe and open I would have jumped back into my old classes and limped along. But all alone with a screen in my kitchen, with aching feet and no smiles to share, it was disheartening.
This fall I embraced a new physical therapy attitude - Do It Now. To reach my activity goals I need to practice them now. First, I incorporated the pique step, which I haven't been able to do for 4 years. I still can't. But I'm getting closer. I can pique to retire, instead of only coupe. Sometimes I can do a few without a barre assist, but either the pain or the bad balance (from not being up high on my joint) takes me down.
Then I started looking for free tap classes on youtube. I fulfilled a dream to learn tap in 2014, and if I had time and money I would attend more classes. Tap is super hard on my joints. It's literally pounding my joints into the floor. It's balancing all my weight on the ball of my foot. It's about control of feet articulation. It's everything I DON'T want to do with my feet. But I realized there's no finish line to recovery where I will suddenly be able to tap easily, so I might as well start now.
At first it was so painful to wear the shoes with short heels and do basic flaps and shuffles. My first attempt was only 6 minutes of an online class. Now I can go a full hour! I'm pretty terrible, and it still hurts like the dickens. But I'm proud of my progress and I look forward to tap class days. (I LOATHE yoga. I only do it because it makes me feel good later.)
I’ve been taking photos to track my progress. At first I took them every week, but after the first few weeks post-op progress slowed down and it was bumming me out. Now I take them at the start of each month. It's easier for me to see slight changes.
I think I finally turned the corner and have more flexibility than I did pre-op. Let me point out that prior to surgery I had been working my feet really hard for 6 months. This photo shoot was the MOST flexible I had been for a couple years. If I had taken photos at other times, my heels would barely be a half inch off the floor. So these pre-photos are the best I'd achieved with my own efforts.
Before surgery my right foot was more restricted. The unevenness drove me crazy! You can see the difference in this parallel releve:
After surgery my right foot recovery has been steady. But my left foot has been problematic. It has a sliding joint that clicks, it's much more painful to put weight on the joint, and the flexibility seems more prone to "good days and bad days."
I’m really grinding in every photo and holding onto the counter. So the height and strength shown isn’t sustainable. But I’m getting there!
Purple tights are from the day before surgery, May 10. Red sweats are from my first day of physical therapy, June 1. Green tights are from this morning, Dec 2.
Hopefully in another 6 months I'll have a higher releve and a decent pique, maybe even a pique turn? Shoot, while I'm dreaming big, let's pretend the vaccines roll out widely and the dance classes are safe to attend again!
The single in-person social engagement I have maintained is my monthly book club. We tried zoom back in April, but conversation is not as spontaneous and fun. We decided to meet outdoors - always distanced and with masks.
I’m proud of my friends for our tenacity despite the Colorado cold. It paid off - five days after our November meeting one of us emailed to say she tested positive for covid (she tested 2 days after our meeting).
I took a test a 7 days after the exposure and it was negative - as I suspected it would be. Science works! Our precautions were all validated! (And she had a mild case and feels fine now, thank goodness.)
Last night we gathered again around a fire and talked until the snow thickened and chased us away. There were fewer of us than usual, but we still had a great time talking about the book and general chit chat.
The host’s husband took a photo of us to commemorate our crazy meeting. (We scooted the chairs together for the photo; we were in a circle around the fire until the end.)
Two socks, two pants, shirt, sweater, heated vest, down parka, arm warmers, heated gloves, scarf, hat, mask, thermos of mint tea, and three quilts.
Worth it for 1 1/2 hours with my friends.
It's been a cozy and jolly holiday season so far. The kids are doing great with remote school. Only two more days until Winter Break! Here's some of the other things we've done for fun.
Jack has been pushing himself on the violin, gobbling up every challenge his orchestra teacher sets for him. Here's a performance of Jingle Bells (the same day the song was introduced to him).