Just four months after being minus a knee, I was shaking it at my wife’s office party. Although if you ask me this photo looks more like I’m taking a leak, but that’s beside the point.

The girl’s are home, which is great, but it does disrupt my quiet empty nest existence and exponentially increase the household hormone levels. Poor Quinn, when she moved into her apartment on campus, she took her bed with her and Mom converted her bedroom to a reading room. So she’s home for the holidays and has had to sleep on an air mattress, which leaked and on the hide a bed couch in the family room.

Lucia arrived at the airport from her semester in Italy at 1:30 yesterday morning. We probably were up until 4 and then were awakened by the credit card security folks to tell us that someone was using our card on the east coast. Turns out they can put a chip in a card reader and copy the info on your magnetic strip and use it to make a duplicate of your card. Fortunately they caught it and we won’t be on the hook for any charges. But it sucks to be waiting for a new card at this time of year.

We went to a wedding yesterday, and I danced. Just a couple, but I’m ahead on my promise to dance at Bec’s holiday party.

I spent most of the weekend walking around without a cane. I’m not sure that’s the best thing…I’m still limping pretty badly, but I guess it’s getting better. I have to concentrate on walking normally.
Being back at work was a trip. I was supposed to be back for half days but they’re piling so much work on me that I’ll never get done if I just work half days. I seem to be able to get through the day without getting too tired. But remember I’m accustomed to naps these days.

A little Garage Band fun.

Today might be the dreariest, dampest, darkest day ever. And my psyche is pretty much in tune with it.

I started this entry back on October 2, and I guess my mood was just so black that I couldn’t continue. Since then we’ve had some of the bluest skies ever and for a couple of days it got uncomfortably hot, into the eighties with high humidity. Once again the old Minnesota adage is proven out. “If you don’t like the weather in Minnesota, wait 10 minutes, it’ll change.”

That kind of applies to my mood these days as well. I’m on the mend and every day I seem to be getting a bit better. I can drive now and next Monday I’m returning to work, half days. But I still can’t walk without a crutch and that really frustrates me, I’m impatient with the process of rebuilding leg muscles that were inactive for for three months when I didn’t Have a knee. Although it’s more the hip that’s keeping me from walking. I also have more pain than I like. It’s not as bad as it has been at times, but still it kind of works on your mind.

I’m tapering my pain killers, I’d been on them for a long time and the docs want me to cut back. The last time they filled the script, they said no more. I’m down from 12 a day to 2. At this point I was taking them more to avoid the withdrawal than for the pain. But there’s been some nasty withdrawal, my body gets all twitchy and nervous and I get really crabby. Back on the 10/2 when I began this post I spent most of the day sleeping and weeping. Throwing myself a major pity party.

The above was written over the last couple of weeks. I’m back to work now. I feel like an old man. Still pretty gimpy and using a cane most of the time. Sore too. But a little better every day.