Well surgery did happen and it went well overall.  For the first time ever I did not get sick from the anesthesia at all.  I didn't wake up "well" according to Bruce but did wake up and make it home. The damage in the knee was worse than the doctor expected and surgery did take longer.  I'm looking at a knee replacement sooner rather than later.  That however will have to be done over a summer break when I can have a boy handy at home and don't have a job to worry about. 

I'm recovered to the point that I want to be doing and walking...not just sitting trying to entertain myself.  So today I'm grumpy I admit.  I have stuff to do but it's not convenient to get it and no one is around to help.

Guess I'd better post this and be done.  Maybe next time I will be more cheerful.

Feeling Stuck

Feeling stuck today.  My knees have always been an issue - way back to high school days.  I've not been able to drive a stick shift vehicle partly as a result of the knee issues as clutching was a challenge.  (Hubby would say it's also that I can't "hear" the engine when it's time to shift).  Either way...last spring I fell and ended up injured.  I have a torn meniscus now in the left knee that is scheduled to be "fixed" Wednesday morning.  Fixing basically involves going in, cutting out the torn portion and then smoothing/shaving off any rough edges of bone.  Then I will be on crutches for 5 days not allowed to put any weight on it.  We have the following Monday off for Labor Day so that means only 3 days off work if all goes as planned. 

However I pulled a "stupid" and have a severe case of poison ivy reaction - one friend told me I look like I've been beat-up.  My face is swollen and bright red, one eyelid is swollen...Usually when I get this reaction it requires steroids to treat it.  However having surgery scheduled for Wednesday may mean I can't take the steroids or have to reschedule the surgery.  I don't want the surgery but nor do I want to reschedule it. 

I'm waiting now for a call back from the surgeon's office to let me know what to do.  I also do have an appointment with my family doctor so I can at least get a prescription for the steroids.  In the meantime I'm also doing all the non-prescription and folklore type treatments I can...including taking an antihistamine that tends to make me a little sleepy every few hours.

Sorry this post isn't very positive - just needed to get stuff out there. 

Writing again...

It has been a coon's age since I've written.  What else is new in my life?  However, having said that, so much of what I've read and heard recently - in devotionals, blogs, and even our current sermon series at church is the importance of telling "our" stories and remembering what God has done in our lives.  While I certainly am not a writer and am not always good at remembering those things I am encouraged again to make writing more of a priority.  (I notice I wrote about this back in May of this year as well - wish I knew where the blog entry I wanted to link to was.  Yikes.) 

School has started back up again already.  I've had a really smooth start to the year in spite of the fact that my bus has been crowded in the mornings.  The "country" part of my route only has maybe 2 new students on it.  However when I get back to go through town my numbers easily triple in just 4 or 5 stops.  Most of the kids who challenged me so much last year are freshmen in high school now so I only have them on the bus for a very short time which means less time for them to challenge me and problems to arise.  Having said that I do have to watch for some inappropriate boy-girl interactions.  My afternoon route has more "new" students but is not nearly as crowded as it was last year and the year before.  That makes it nice.  I will still do a seating chart - it makes my life much easier and I don't tend to not realize someone is on that way.  Plus the kids seem to do better overall knowing they have a "reserved" seat each day.

Lately I've been busy with canning and freezing apples.  Was blessed with probably 4 bushels of "wild" un-sprayed granny smith type apples this month.  All I had to do was go help pick one afternoon.  A few were run through the dehydrator - I've decided in order for that to not be frustrating it would be nice to have more racks.  There are probably enough peeled and sliced in the freezer for 3 or 4 apple pies as well as a couple cups of chopped pieces for muffins, etc.  Then for the first time ever I did canned apple pie filling - got 5 qts of that and 13 pints of unsweetened applesauce as well as two batches of apple butter.  I've also canned tomatoes - would have liked to try drying a few of them as well but forgot in the rush to get them done.  Have 6 or 7 qts of sauce and probably 8 or 9 pints of diced tomatoes, mainly yellow ones.  Peaches are ready and I would like to do some of them.  And I really would like to go pick elderberries for jelly this week.  Earlier this year I canned and froze raspberries.

However the challenge at the moment is pain that has greatly increased over the past few days.  I'm not at all sure if it's simply that it really is increasing or the fact that I finally admitted that there was a problem in the knee and went to the doctor to confirm it means that I can no longer ignore or deny the pain.  Either way - I'm scheduled for knee surgery next Wednesday morning (week from tomorrow) to repair (cut out the torn part) my medial meniscus.  It is supposed to be an out-patient surgery where I'm home by mid-day and on crutches for the next 5 days.  If all goes as planned I should only have to take 3 days off work and be able to return after the long Labor Day weekend. 

I'm sure there was more I wanted to write about - need to update on the boys.  But it's time I got around for work this afternoon.  So that will have to wait.