I've been lazy...

But I completed a project and am moving forward with things that should've been done over a year ago.  My new goal is to finish the projects I already have started before trying to tackle something new.  What sucks is that this new goal is going to take me the rest of this year and probably all of next.  Yeah...I have that many half complete things lying around.  I get far too excited about new things to be bothered with silly old projects.

I'd provide a small sample of the next project to finish up...but it's late for me and I can't seem to get into my pictures at the moment.  Oops.

I've been thinking

And I've decided it'd be pretty sweet to have custom made knitting needles and crochet hooks.  It'd be like having a custom made pool cue...only more useful for me.  Besides, the last thing I'll do is shell out $350 for some aluminum needles that don't even have cool designs or sayings or my name on 'em.  Maybe I'll just invest in some sweet metal and hang out around the nearest friend with a lathe?

How rad would that be?  Showing up at the local knit meet or craft get together and excusing myself to go out to my trunk to procure my custom knitting needles?  There will be songs written about such an event and I'll be the local bad ass with the killer goods.

You're on infinite repeat

I've already started thinking about Christmas and the presents I wish to create.  I have a few ideas and I think they're pretty good ones.  Hopefully I will be able to pull them all off.  If not...everyone is getting crocheted coasters.

Didn't get to see fun. today, but Lawrence Arms on Thursday.

Words to live by:

Let's turn good into fantastic.

I wanted to throw my crutches away today.

This afghan flabbergasts me.  It's crocheted, which means that it's already harder to make a good looking picture, but the artist pulled it off, and quite well.  If I were at all artistic I would attempt something like this, but I know it wouldn't end up as nice...or looking like I would want it to...or ever be completed.  Perhaps one day.  I have ideas on how even I would be able to complete something like this, but it's a lot of work and I'm afraid to take on such a task, especially since I don't know what the outcome would be.  One of these days I'll get over worrying about it and just get it done.  One of these days is just far away, long after the smaller projects I want to attempt are completed (or I've been defeated by them).

Audrey.  Oh dear Audrey.  So elegant and stunning with such large feet.  I love her style.  Everything about it.  Completely timeless.  She dressed to her body style and never strayed far from it.  Her slim pants, collared shirts and a-line dresses.

If only.



Physical therapy today was good.  I did a lot of stretching and I can tell I'm gaining muscle.  Although it was pointed out later in the evening that my legs are obviously different sizes.  That's okay though, I'm going to be diligent about regaining my strength, muscle and mass this time around.  I don't want another surgery and stabilizing my knee through my quads is a high priority.

Not only did I eat breakfast today, but I also had dinner and dessert.  Lemon bar.  Delicious.  Good company too, but the visit was cut short and I went to pick up Brother and Amy at the airport.  Did you know they have a free "cell phone lot" at the airport now?!  Up to 3 hours free parking while you wait to get the call to go to the loading zone.  That means no more hanging out in the gas station parking lot!!  Woot woo!!!!

Where the Wild Things Are this weekend!!!  I've been ramping up all week for this movie and I'm totally excited to get to the theater to finally watch it in all it's glory.

FIVE FREAKING DAYS.

Farming an astronaut

My attempts to get on a "normal" schedule are failing horribly.  I woke up earlier today than I have the past 2 weeks, but it still wasn't even close to when I wanted to be up.  Then again, when you go to bed at 7am, how do you expect to be up by 10?  Although I woke up at 10, I felt the urge to seize the bed and lay in the comfort of covers.

I got new gloves AND a new pair of Keds today.  I no longer need shoes for my uniform next year since I made the purchase today.  My folks made left overs and Brandon and I went over to their house and watched How I Met Your Mother.  After we left Jeannie Mae's we headed over to the fabric store so Brandon could pick up some canvas for Jeannie Mae to make him a bag for his moto and I needed some small supplies for tiny projects I've wanted to dive into for a while now.  I also got 2 more skeins of yarn for a quick project for the night. 

I haven't been able to start and finish a project in a day for quite a while.  It's probably because most of my projects have been blankets and those aren't exactly 1 day projects.  I made a few more coasters for our house and I also made a winter cap.  

So if anyone wants to purchase a fantastic winter cap, let me know.  It's taupe in color and is a wool blend, so it's super warm for those cold windy nights.  It's got a tiny bill on it in case it gets a little sunny during the day.  I've made a few others and everyone who's worn them always gets fantastic compliments.  If you don't want to purchase it...but want one and are willing to trade, let me know what you've got!!!!  I'll also take a couple pictures later and post 'em up in case anyone is interested.

  

8 days.

Grandma gives good advice.

Since Gma was in town, I went over to Mom & Dad's to hang out for a while.  Just as expected, as soon as I got there Gma had her hands on some yarn and a needle.  She was attacking some needlepoint my mom had been working on for a Halloween present.  I asked her why she wasn't working on her own project and she tells me, "Ohh...you know your mom don't do right.  I fix!!!"

Now...my mother is a FANTASTIC craftista.  She can do every possible craft that involves a needle and thread or yarn AND she does it very well.  But whenever Gma comes to visit Mom finds all her latest unfinished projects and other items she couldn't get JUST right.  Then, grandma being grandma...she sees these projects, throws her hands up in the air baffled and goes, "Oh my gosh.  YOU do dat?!"

We concede.  Tell her we'll never be as good as she is (which is ridiculously true) and hand over the project.  Not only did we spend over 2 weeks to start and get to the point where we stopped, but we thought we'd done a pretty good job.  Grandma.  Grandma takes the project...gives it a once-over then tears the entire thing out.  Before she leaves for home (sometimes only a 2 day visit) she hands us back a finished product.  Better than it was when she was first handed the project.

As Mom, Gma and I were sitting around crafting on Saturday night I asked my dad to get me a pair of socks since my foot and toes were on the cold side.  Gma asked if it was circulation that was keeping it blue and I told her it probably was.  She stops and puts the needlework on her lap.  She looks me dead in the face and says, "Then you need to get up and walk around.  Stop be so lazy all da time!!"

"Grandma.  I'm on crutches!"

She starts laaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuughing!!!!!  It was the most darling laugh.  Her and my mother couldn't breathe because they were laughing so hard.  Then again...neither could I.

Free food, Temple mocha, Link 80...

Could today have gotten any better?!?!  Probs not.  Okay, okay...probably, but today was quite fantastic!  Brandon and I went out to Johnny Garlic's and I'm not gonna lie, the food was pretty good.  My friend Peter works there and he's been telling me to go in and try the food.  He wasn't working, but he came down and hung out with B and I anyway.  We got the garlic fries as an appetizer and by the time our food came, we were barely hungry.  The 32 oz. Shirley T may have had something to do with it, but who knows, right?!  Brandon and I both got pasta dishes and as we were finishing up our drinks a fantastic brownie delight showed up on the table out of nowhere!!!  It was like freaking MAGIC!  We were so full we barely finished half the brownie.  Peter and his roommate (who served us and was VERY sweet and amazing) ended up picking up our tab too.  Score!!


Grandma called me today to check on me too.  I got to hear her voice and listen to her talk.  Most.  Amazing.  Accent.  EVER.  Double score!!


After Brandon and I got home I coerced Grant the Veggie to venture downtown and hit up Temple for sweet sweet caffeine.  We hung out at Temple for a bit.  It was nice to be out of the house surrounded by something other than furniture and a semi-empty house.  Grant said he might get the change to go to Portland soon and he said he planned on visiting Voodoo Doughnut.  I got so excited when he told me that!  I told him he NEEDED to get a bacon maple doughnut!!!!  Yeah...I told Grant the VEGGIE he needed a BACON maple bar.  I know he's a vegetarian and have known for years, but I still tried to convince him that he should eat one because they are THAT succulent.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about that doughy goodness.


Grant and I also went to WalMart so I could pick up some yarn to make him a soda can cozy and I even threw in a couple to-go cup sleeves for good measure.  Maybe that will guilt him enough to either bring me a doughnut back, or just try one on his own!!!  But mainly bring me one back...

Tin Roof Sundae

Is by far my favorite ice cream. Ever. And I'm happy to announce that I have at least ONE good roommate who cares enough about me to venture to the country to visit. This particularly amazing person is (obviously...I DID say amazing) Alissa. She made the trek out here today while our other cubby, lazy roommate sat at home (probably doing nothing and posting on facebook about how he is bored and doing nothing and begging people, aka: girls to bring him cookies...and then making the obligatory "what's going on tonight?" post that no one in Sacramento responds to because that just means they'd have to hang out with him and listen to him whine about being bored even though he's hanging out with someone other than his 42" lame-o computer monitor/tele).

I made it up to 85 degrees of flexion today. It was...gnarly. Seriously, it hurt having to stretch that skin and those stitches. I can feel the scar tissue that's been building up. I didn't do as much time on the machine as I wanted to, but that's because I came in here, my bedroom, at about 1 am hoping that I'd be going to bed soon. I made the mistake of bringing along my computer and now it's going on 4 and I'm still awake. Wide awake. I should be sleeping. Rumor has it that I am having a visitor at noon. Hopefully she can make it! I know it's a ridiculous drive to come see me and I know I say it a lot, but I REALLY am excited and happy that people are willing to make this trip. When I can drive again it won't be so bad...and when I can go back to my house downtown it'll probably be more enticing for people to hang out since there's stuff to do near my place.

I've been working on the baby blanket lately too. I'm almost halfway done and have started on the 3rd color now. If I keep it up...I could have it done by the weekend, but I probably won't be that diligent with it. Damned internet keeps me from my yarn and hook.

I think it's time to try to get some shut eye.

A full week

And I still can't lift my leg up on my own. I think it has a lot to do with the surgeon dislocating my kneecap in the first place. It hurts when I try to tighten my quad, so I haven't been doing much of that. When I went in for my pre-op they gave me a list of exercises to do once I got out of surgery and on my way to recovery. This list looked just like the lists I got from my previous surgeries. I know the drill, I know what to do when I get out of the hospital. Although, a week or so before I went in for my procedure, I got a packet in the mail from the cartilage replacement company. Inside this packet there is another set of instructions for physical therapy after surgery. I flip through this information and it includes the use of the CPM machine (which by the way I never knew I was getting until being discharged at the hospital on surgery day) and 2 exercises which were on the list from the doctor.

Between waiting for the CPM machine to show up and calling the doctor's office every hour on the hour, I was lightly doing the quad reps both instructions indicated I was supposed to be doing. Once I had finally talked to the doctor on Wednesday, he told me to do absolutely no exercises (except the knee raise) until the CPM machine showed up, including the quad tightening one. He told me not to do anything until that machine showed up. I listened. I listened really well and even asked him, "Are you sure? You don't want me doing the quad reps or anything?" just to be sure. He told me no. Twice. Since I'm tired of having surgeries and really want this one to work out to my benefit, I'm doing everything the doctor says to do. I'm following every instruction to the exact specifications. Including being on that machine 6-8 hours a day, which can get extremely tiresome and can make one restless.

The problem I am now struggling with is that I cannot lift my leg without the help of my other extremities. Especially if I have this huge bulky brace that adds a couple pounds strapped on. To get in and out of the machine I've got to use both my hands to lift my leg up and place it where it needs to be. After a week, I'm trying to figure out if that's necessary. I'm going to have to call the doctor's office tomorrow to see if I should resume with the quad exercises. I shouldn't have to rely on someone else, or my arms to put my leg in a comfortable spot.

The machine isn't so bad either. It makes me move, which is nice...and actually keeps my ass from becoming numb and painful. I'm up to 40 degrees of flexion, but according to all the pamphlets I'm supposed to be at 90 degrees by next Tuesday at my post-op. If I go up 5 degrees a day, I think that only puts me at 80 degrees in a week. Oops. Maybe they should have gotten that dumb thing to me when they were supposed to have.

The machine itself doesn't make much noise and I can hardly hear it when the television is on, but today for some reason it caught my attention. While I was sitting there and my leg was straightening out, I could feel my kneecap stutter across the bone as it was resting into place. It didn't hurt, but it felt freaking weird.

For visitors today, my cousin Cyndi and her daughter Callee came by for a bit. They brought me a Blow Pop and a really cute plastic turtle ring. It was super cute how apprehensive Callee is around me. She knows I'm hurt, but thinks I'm broken...so she's afraid to get too close because she thinks she's going to damage me more. It's ridiculously adorable. Later on..after both my folks went to bed, Katie and Julio came by. Katie was kind enough to bring her new camera over so I could make her a case for it real quick. Katie picked out the yarn and I whipped one up for her. She likes it, but I feel the work is kind of shoddy. I wish I had different yarn and I probably should have used a smaller hook. It's one of those things that I'm going to notice and get irritated at every time I see it. I worked on the baby blanket today too. I'm really starting to want to crochet lately. I think this is a good sign. Hopefully it means I'm getting back in the mood for it.

Since I've been up so late and mom's gotta work in the morning, she's been up twice to check on me. She gets all concerned and well...motherly when I'm up super late. I think she's concerned about me having to get this gnar gnar brace back on and hobble down the hallway with all my goods in stow. She's incredibly sweet.

Day 6 - Love means never having to say you're sorry...

After waking up super late and hopping on the machine, Amber came over bearing gifts and we played cards for about 3 hours. While Amber was here, Brother and Amy showed up bearing coloring books with crayons and colored pencils. When I saw Brother come in, I asked if my sick burn on Facebook inclined him to swing by. He denied it...but I'm pretty sure he felt like an asshole. I think he felt like he had to show up since he's my own flesh and blood hadn't come by after all my friends had. Katie and her mom also came by to see how I'm doing. Katie made me steam cake. Then she told me that she basically flew here, all the way from New York just to make me steam cake. I believe her. She's IS my best friend after all. I was a little off from meds...and decided that she was about to fly back to New York now that her sole purpose to be in Sacramento was now complete.

Amongst the television I watched today, I also watched 3 movies. I watched The Never Ending Story and remembered why I love that movie. I don't know why I haven't watched it every day since surgery. I followed that up with Love Story. I'd never seen it before, but am glad I took the time. It was a very good movie and I definitely cried at the end. Last, but not least was Goal! The Dream Begins. The movie was good enough for my mom to stay up 'til 1:15 when she's normally in bed by 11 at the latest. Looking back, all these movies are pretty genuinely good considering I love horrible teen pop sensation films. I'm gonna have to watch some bad movies tomorrow to make up for lost time.

I finally did what I said I was going to do today. I crocheted. I picked up my hook and my yarn...and I did a couple rows on a baby blanket I've been working on. I felt accomplished. After I conquer this baby blanket, I have a hat to work on and another baby blanket to start. Katie also put in a request for a camera case and yoga mat bags. I've also still got those juice box handlebar cozies for Kip and Todd to figure out.

After Amber had left and before Katie had shown up tonight I decided to throw myself a pity party. Apparently it wasn't a very good party because I fell asleep.

Day 4...

Today was much better than yesterday. I only ended up taking 5 pills over-all today, which is probably close to half of what I had the day before. I also woke up later than I have the past couple days and it wasn't because of discomfort (woot!). I think I settled in to my couch spot around 8:30 or 9 this morning and made my first call to the doctor to follow up on the CPM machine that still hasn't arrived. Dad and I watched some television, napped, then watched some more tele. The hard life, right?

Around 11 or so dad helped me take off the huge brace. I did my exercises, 3 sets of 15-20 lifts. When mom got home at 4, we took off the mummy wraps to get me ready for my first shower in 72 hours. Once we got all the bandages off and I finally got to see the carnage, I was pleasantly surprised. I was not bummed out or overly disgusted. There is a 4-5 inch incision directly on top of my knee cap. I thought for sure they would have gone around the knee cap. I'm happy to say that this will leave me with a pretty good scar (so I can prove I've had 5 surgeries...and at least one invasive one).

After the shower I was able to leave the brace off most the day, which may have contributed to me feeling better. Having my leg without restraint is beautiful. I didn't have any pity parties today and I got a call around 3 from the doctor's office. They let me know that they were waiting on one piece of paper and then they could deliver the machine. They said it would be here by either 8pm or early Saturday morning. Since I'm not strapped in it right now, I assume it's going to show up early tomorrow morning.

I also had quite a few people checking in on me to see how I was feeling and even visitors!

Brandon came over in the morning/afternoon. Brought himself a burrito. Dad came in the house and gave him shit for not offering to pick up anything for anyone else. Apparently he thought his company was good enough (which I was grateful for, but c'mon...no offer? Really?).

Jody and Amanda showed up after I had showered (lucky them!). They brought me a gigantic mocha, a rice krispie treat, a Kate Hudson movie and a get well card. They definitely showed up Brandorz in a big way!!! Even though Brandon and Alissa did show up yesterday and wake me up with a butterfinger milkshake in my face. Having company is always nice, especially when all I'm doing is sitting around watching crime dramas and shop shop shopping. Lucky for me...I've only made 2 purchases so far. I think tomorrow I'm going to start on movies and yarn.

And if anyone wants to get me a recovery gift, this would be a good idea: Get well Rijel, it's been a difficult surgery...you deserve this!