Missing Pat

I don't know what happened. Where I'm writing, I have appropriate paragraphs and indentation ... something else I have to learn. Enjoy anyway. What a wonderful few days I had in Tucson with Bernd, excluding the canceled flights and the baggage that was lost at the end, but that was fine. I really felt I needed to be a part of the celebration for Pat. I can’t believe she is not with us and that she functioned so well up to the end. Pat was quite a lady and I’m so glad she was my sister-in-law. She was a wonderful wife for Bernd and at the celebration I kept hearing what a wonderful husband Bernd was to Pat, which I knew, but perhaps I’m a little biased. I also had the good fortune of reading all the notes sent to Pat and Bernd so I got to appreciate how much she was loved, not just by us. She touched a lot of lives. Most people remember her fondly for her cookie baking and giving, which I enjoyed, too ... but not all parts of the cookie baking. Well, the baking was fine, but the dough preparations! That’s another story. Neat? Clean? You betcha! Susan sent a note that said Pat left us too soon because she still didn’t know what portion of the raw cookie dough she had to eat before the baking. Pat loved the raw dough and that horrified me, because there were raw eggs in the dough ... and the unbaked flour is not easy to digest either. (I do have to admit that I, too, like the dough and sometimes eat a very little ... even with the raw egg in it and think of Pat as I’m licking the beaters or spoon.) So, Susan, as a former home economics teacher I’ll tell you that the proper amount of dough to eat is NONE!! But some of my fondest memories is Pat teasing me as she would take a spoonful of dough and lovingly relish each mouthful while making sure I was watching ... and we’d laugh! Our trip to Germany would not have gone as nicely without Pat as she made all the arrangements and was so good at it! We stayed at great B&B’s and at reasonable prices. How she found the hotel in Hamburg, I’ll never know as we drove by it several times before Chuck saw the doorway. Pat was the best organizer and researcher. We had fun. Our trip was just before the last presidential election and the first question she asked us is, “Who would you like as president?” We gave the right answer because Pat told us that we would get along just fine!

This is one of the few pictures I have of Pat. Pat was an avid photographer, but rarely in the pictures. That’s another thing I liked about our trip together because I rarely have pictures of Chuck so we exchanged our photos and each have a nice variety with each photographer in it. This picture was taken at the farmer’s market in Göttingen, Germany.

This was taken in Bremen, Germany where we each grabbed the Bremen Town Musicians legs for luck. It was a wonderful trip. (... and if you want a detailed blow by blow of that adventure, start from my first blog entry.) Steve Gottlieb used Pat’s camera at the celebration and took lots of pictures, which Bernd asked me to download onto their computer. They are great!! That’s when I noticed how many pictures she took on their trip before she went to the hospital. I only have 1 picture as I still have to learn how to work the computer and how to transfer from one computer to another. There wasn’t time to make CD’s on this trip. I’ll get it, but with practice. Pat spent hours “fixing” an old photo we had with a sun streak across Uncle Fred’s face. She finally took his face off another photo, copied it and pasted it on the damaged one. She kept photo records of all occasions and loved sharing them. We were lucky recipients. That’s another gift Pat had. She was very giving of her time and talents. One of the best compliments were the clients that came to Pat’s celebration from the Aphasia place where Pat volunteered by teaching computer skills. Pat would have loved seeing us all having such a good time telling “Pat” stories.

For Harry Potter fans

I belong to 2 book clubs. One we all read the same book and then discuss it. The other we all buy a current hard cover book and pass it around. So we get to read a wonderful variety of current fiction or non-fiction books. We meet once a month and have a speaker talk to us, usually stimulating us to read something else.

Last night Judge Karen Morris spoke to us about a book she wrote. She is a local judge and also teaches at Monroe Community College. Because she teaches, she also writes text books so went to a book sellers convention several years ago. As she tells it, she loves the law and because she teaches, she likes to make what some people think is dull, fun.

Karen had not read any of the Harry Potter books, but at the same time as this convention one of the books was going on sale at midnight and she wondered who would turn up for a kids book at midnight. She was amazed at the crowd and the variety of ages. And subsequently found out that other authors were writing books such as 'The Science of Harry Potter'. Karen got the idea that it might be fun to write a book about the law and Harry Potter.

So Karen Morris wrote 'Law Made Fun Through Harry Potter's Adventures'. Her review was fun and the book is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble on line in paperback and e-reader. Last night I couldn't resist and ordered it on my Kindle and have started reading it. It is interesting the way she compares "Hogwarts" law to "muggle" (regular people) law. This is a fun book for Harry Potter fans. The good thing about the e-reader is I have the book right away and the problem with the e-reader is that Karen can't autograph it for me. (She only had a few books with her)

Where Does The Time Go?

Colleen was here for a visit a few years ago and asked me what quilt projects I was working on. So I showed her and was surprised to find I had 10 projects in various stages of being done ... or not. I have moved on from there, but still have projects I'm trying to complete.

Last night Colleen called to chat and during the conversation she mentioned an organization that might like some pillowcases ... "and it shouldn't take too long to make 25 of them by Christmas, would it, Mom?"

So I dismissed it after I counted up all the projects I had in various stages of "doness" now. Let's see, 2 baby quilts (I Spy) for expecting neighbors, 3 comfort (charity) quilts basted ready for quilting, a quilt for our bed because the one we have is getting thread bare (1/2 hand quilted), a neighbors quilt top I acquired at a sale (3 years and still hand quilting), a Germany remembrance and a small Thanksgiving wall hanging that I finished last night.

This morning I had to go down to the sewing room for some laundry and what did I find myself doing? Laundry? Oh, no! I was going through my stash of fabric to see what I could use for pillowcases! Now my mostly cleaned up sewing room is not so pristine ... again!

And that's where the time goes. Not to a current project, but to new ones. Now I'm going to work on finishing ... something ... but those pillowcase fabrics are calling. I think I'll email Colleen the directions for making the pretty pillowcases. She can do some, too.

Oh, yes, PT is working. I'm bending my leg back to 120° so PT is almost over, although Mike (PT) said that in order to keep in this good shape I should think of exercise as a life long activity. But there are those pillowcases to get done!

WooHoo!

It's been 4 weeks and 2 days since I had my left knee replaced and I'm making headway. Today I had PT and Lynelle had me do several exercises all the while encouraging me to do my best. I knew I was further along than I was with the right knee at the same time & Lynelle was also curious so she looked up my records.

At 4 weeks and 2 days with my right knee I was bending my leg to 74 degrees and today I'm bending my left knee to 100 degrees! And this time I'm also able to straighten my leg better. I am very pleased!

The funniest part of the day was when Lynelle wanted me to do some exercises on the floor so she asked me if I could get down there. I said, "Sure, but could I get up again?" Down I went and went through all Lynelle asked of me. Then I had to get up. I'm SO glad there was no camera. We laughed a lot, but with both legs not 100% healed it was a challenge, but I made it. I sure do need to work on getting off the floor gracefully. Did Chuck or Lynelle help me? No. They were too busy laughing along with me. I'll not be gardening for a while. Next spring will be better, I'm sure.

New Left Knee

This is the year of replacements ... my right knee, Chuck's left hip, refrigerator, floor in computer room, both bathrooms painted and now my left knee. We are so lucky that all physical problems have gone smoothly so far. Well, except for the first schedule of the knee when I went into atrial fibrillation ... but that is under control and seems to have been a fluke. How quickly we forget.

This left knee seems to be easier than the right one for me & I don't think it's just because I'm familiar with the procedure. The medical staff have told me they usually find the opposite; people have more problems with the second knee. My problem is not doing too much as my bone is still weakened. It feels so good to stand at the sink with equal weight on both legs and be comfortable.

Bending the leg is pretty good, too. I was not anywhere near 90º after 2 weeks last time nor was my leg as straight. I am not as swollen, either, but a lovely black, blue & green. And, yes, I am taking those pain pills. I'll be so glad when I can situate myself in bed comfortably. I like to sleep on my side and have difficulty as my knee says it doesn't want to move that way.

We have had some meals delivered and they are such a wonderful help. Chuck has been doing a great job of waiting on me and I love that the weather is warm so I can be outside. I've picked a few weeds and dead headed some blossoms and the yard looks pretty good. What I really want to do is some real digging in the soil. Some of the daylilies need to be divided. I know, it won't be long. Patience, Claire.

So I'll sit and read. "The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth" is an interesting book about cliques in school & I enjoyed the new Ursula Hegi book & if you like a different mystery "Sister" is very good. And I forgot to add Ann Patchett's new book "State of Wonder. Good reading!

Time for my pain pill as I have physical therapy in 1 hour. Those PT people are so good at encouraging me to push just a little harder. It hurts, but the end result is SO worth it!

Got it!

We now have the new refrigerator in the kitchen and the one that was in the kitchen is in the basement and the "broken" one from the basement is gone. When the men were finished Chuck asked me if everything was working OK ... and I said no. The basement one was plugged in, but was not running. So when Chuck went down to look at it, he saw that it was not plugged in to the correct socket. I didn't know there was a "correct" socket. I used the one that was used before.

What we finally figured out was that the electricians who were doing some electrical work unplugged the refrigerator and then plugged it into another outlet that was right next to the one that was supposed to be used. Now every time we turned off the light we also turned off the electricity for the refrigerator. Of course, we didn't realize this until we got the new appliance installed. And by that time they had tossed ... yes, actually tossed ... our perfectly good basement refrigerator on the truck and hauled it away.

The moral of this story is that I need to pay attention to the things Chuck has been doing. That means I need to pay attention to car care. Luckily I am in the know about our finances.

The great news is that Chuck went for his 6 week checkup for his hip replacement and the doctor said he was in excellent shape with no restrictions. He is at the 3 month stage after only 6 weeks. He is SO glad to be independent. We are very lucky to have our older years just be inconveniences.

Getting it!

We went window shopping at Home Depot for a replacement basement refrigerator/freezer. I was explaining to the salesperson what I REALLY wanted (see previous blog) and when I said it was too wide to fit down our stairway she said, "Even with the doors off?"

So when I got home I measured ... and it will go down with room to spare! I called and asked if when they delivered, would they make a 3 way exchange ... bring my kitchen refrigerator downstairs, take the basement one out and bring the new one into the kitchen. The answer was, "No."

Next I called Charlotte Appliance and they said, "Sure!" It will be delivered on Monday and is the same price as the one at Home depot.

Now I'm taking a break from cleaning up the basement so the exchange will go smoothly. We have 3 big coolers to store cold food in, but they aren't big enough for all the food to be out before the big, strong men lift, haul, push, or lug the appliances into their proper spots. I'll have to cook (ugh) and eat (mmm) before they deliver the new beauty. No more perishable food shopping until Tues!