Friday, March 27, 2009

Arghhhh...Knee Surgery!



Well, I found out the hard way that just believing something would get better over time is not always right. Several months again, we were playing wallyball and I slid across the floor on my knees trying to save a hit. With kneepads, you can get a little extra speed and get to the ball faster. However, in my haste to save a point, I neglected to factor in the reality that I've gained some weight and that compressing all that weight onto my poor knees was just a little more than they could handle...and my right knee took the brunt of it. Well, even though it hurt, I tried to tell myself it would go away soon. Fallacy #1 when it comes to knees. Then, in January, we went to eat at Market Street Grill. I stepped out of the driver's seat and my left foot hit a patch of ice, sending me sailing. Unfortunately, my right leg was still in the car and got tangled between the seat and the running boards in a weird twist. Strike two on the knee. Well, I didn't need a strike three to get me into the doctor's office....the pain was convincing enough. I checked our insurance and found a knee specialist, but he had moved his office to Park City, Utah. Since that's only a half hour or so from Salt Lake City (and they have a pletheura of Factory Stores up there always worthy of perusing!) I made the trek. I really liked the doctor, Thomas Rosenberg, and after a ton of xrays and even an MRI, it was determined that I had indeed torn my meniscus. And, because I had waited so long since the initial injury, I had developed something called lateral compression with chondrosis. This meant my lateral muscle had tried to compensate for the meniscus and was pulling my knee cap over to the right. Even with the MRI it wasn't conclusive that I would have to have this surgery, so yesterday when I went in for surgery we still didn't know if I was going to have just the meniscus surgery (a two week rehab) or meniscus and lateral release (a four month rehab). Chris says the first thing I said when I was coming out of the anesthesia was, "How many things did they do to my knee?" I tried to see for myself, but my leg is so wrapped up it looks like a tree trunk! When Chris said they only had to do the meniscus, I was elated! I had had visions of my whole summer of waterskiing, wakeboarding, air chairing and kneeboarding being shot, but now I'll be able to do all that...and train for the Little Red Riding Hood bike ride in June. Yahoo! P.S. I found out later what good hands I was in...Dr. Rosenberg is the top knee surgeon in the NATION! He did Tiger Woods knees!!! Thanks, Dr. R! And thanks to all my friends and family for your prayers and well wishes. I love you all--and that's not the Percocet speaking!! P.S.S. For those of you that understand medical pictures, here's some of the inside of my knee!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Wow! What an Experience! 31 years later....


So, most of you know that there is a new LDS temple in corner canyon in Draper. It is absolutely beautiful and literally glows at night sitting up on the mountain. Well, there is an open house that is held for everyone before they dedicate the temple and it ran from the middle of January until the 14th of March. Over 680,000 people went through the open house in that time. It was the third largest attended open house out of 129 temples throughout the world. Chris and I were lucky enough to be able to volunteer to "work" the open house. It was a great experience and though my feet were killing me after standing on them for eight hours in high heels, I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything. It absolutely amazed me that so many people came through to see this wonderful landmark. After the open house, they closed the temple for a week, removed all the carpet runners and cleaned it spotlessly in preparation for the Dedication ceremonies. Well, lucky for me, one of the women in our ward that had volunteered to work the Dedication had something come up that prevented her from volunteering, so I was able to work the Dedication on Friday--for the Cornerstone ceremony and the 2nd Dedication session. I was stationed upstairs in one of the ordinance rooms next to the celestial room where the First Presidency presided. It was a very humbling experience to spend six hours in the presence of our latter day Prophet Thomas S. Monson and his apostles. I felt honored to work with the people that were invited to attend that day, as well as with those with whom I served. At one point I looked down the hall and saw T, Vinny and Jackson seated in one of the sealing rooms. Jackson was so sweet and reverent. It is so hard to sit that long, but they were some of the few that were lucky enough to see President Monson in person. Needless to say, I loved every minute of it! The temple glows inside as beautifully as it grows outside! This morning, it was our ward's turn to be at the 9th (out of 12) Dedication ceremony. We had to be on the busses at 7:00 AM and then be in the temple ready for our session at 9:00 AM. That left a lot of time to sit and ponder. It hit me during that time that 31 years ago today I was in the Oakland temple with my Mom and Dad--on their wedding anniversary--preparing myself for my temple wedding on the 31st of March! Wow! How great is that? The Oakland temple on March 22, 1978 for my first time and the Draper Temple on March 22, 2009--and this time with the Prophet! I felt very blessed and humbled today. I wish I had this feeling every day!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Danger! Do Not Succomb!

Well, as a result of a dare by my son at Christmas, and a strong push by an old friend that we ran into when we were working at the Draper Temple Open House, I finally buckled and joined Facebook! Here's how it happened: Last weekend, I went down to St. George with some friends and just had them drop me off at our house, so I had no vehicle. I rode my bike anywhere I needed to go, but soon found that was getting old. (Why didn't I remember our neighborhood having so many hills?). Anyway, I suddenly remembered that Skyleur had tried to talk me into joining Facebook when he was here and I used the excuse I never had time. Well, here I was with time on my hands, so I succombed. BIG MISTAKE! I love it just a little too much. I think I could put it in the addiction column. I'm seriously hoping that it's just a passing phase and I won't be checking it every couple of hours to see who my new friends are. The interfacing on that program is incredible! People from my childhood, school days, etceteras are finding me and we are reconnecting. It's so fun. But, I need to start restricting myself. Today Chris left for work and I was at the computer...hours later he came home and I was still at the computer. Really, I had done several other things in between, but to him it appeared that I was still in the same place for all that time. I think he may try to ground me from Facebook. Yikes! Until then, I'm loving every minute of it! Give it a try!

Dang! I've Been "8" Tagged! Here goes....

Thanks, Bob a Lou--see if I log onto your blog again! Just kidding. So, here's my series of 8's...

8 Shows I Watch...

24
The Bachelor
Lost
Prison Break
The Biggest Loser
The Office
Everybody Loves Raymond
The Price is Right

8 Things I Did Yesterday...

Rode my bike on it's trainer in the house
Declined a Job Offer
Played on Facebook
Had lunch w/Critty at Sweet Tomatoes
Visited my Mom
Picked up a prescription
Had friends over for a Pizza Parth
Watched 24/The Bachelor w/friends & Family

8 Things I Look Forward To...

Spring/Summer and it's outdoor activities
Bree's Baby coming
Starting a new job/making new friends
Going to our house in St. George
Going to eat Crab in Mesquite
Draper Temple Dedication
Bi-Annual Vacation with my sister
Next Episode of my favorite shows

8 Things on my Wish List...

Going to Greece, England, Scotland, Ireland
Losing Weight
Drywall Industry to Pick Up again
Bree to have healthy baby
T/Vinny to find jobs they love
Me to find a job that I love
Find my temple recommend
My Mom's memory to get better

8 Places I Like To Eat...

Zupas
Eureka Buffet
Sam's Town
Red Lobster
Melting Pot
Cheesecake Factory
Market Street Broiler
Magelby's

8 Things I'm Grateful For...

The Plan of Salvation
My Family
My Friends
My Home
My Health
Food/Water
Clothing
Happiness

8 People I Tag...

Tierney
Breezy
Jenn B.
Heather
Jen M
Jessica
Jaci
Anyone and everyone who reads this!!!