Day 9.

Christmas 2012...I asked for Santa and got a nurse.

It may be because the sun was shining but I think I seemed a little better today than yesterday.  No involuntary screams, managed to do some PT and a record number of in-house laps.  Only three days until I get to take a shower.

Rule number 21 of the intertrochanteric hip fracture pamphlet I have says I shouldn't lay on my stomach.  Like I'd be able to lay on my stomach!  I'm getting faint just thinking about it.

An Athens neighbor and the reason Max likes to take a right out of the driveway when we leave for a walk.

Day 8.

Did what I could today.  The laps around the house are getting better/faster.  I'm less anxious getting out of bed.

I tried to do a set of the PT exercises but even at a really wimpy level my hip won't let me.  Like standing and moving my right leg out to the side should be easy enough but it seems like there is something stopping it.  Not the kind of pain that feels like you should be pushing against.  I don't even know what I mean...maybe it's all in my head but I don't think so.

I was reading over some info on intertrochanteric hip fractures and everything tells me a 'no pain, no gain' attitude is likely to cause further damage but that if I don't get up, move around and do the prescribed PT, I'm in really big trouble. Since almost any movement makes me scream, how is that supposed to work?  They talk about working on strength and flexion....I can't even imagine...but and worried about what will happen if I don't. 

I'm babbling.

My first follow up appointment is on Wednesday.  If I wasn't already worried about how I'm going to get from the house, through the snow to the car or how I'm going to be able to move to have x-rays taken, I would be looking forward to it.


Now.  If I don't have anything good to say I shouldn't say anything at all so I'm outta here. 

Day 7.

Looking out to the ski trail through the window by the toilet, I watched a group of skiers laughing and taking each others pictures with our house and view as the backdrop.   Normally I enjoy watching skiers stop to admire our setting but today it just made me feel sorry for myself.  Such a wimp.

When I thought I heard the groomer going by I plugged my ears.

Today when the home physical therapist moved my foot and I involuntarily screamed, she apologized then scolded me for not taking my pain meds.  After repeating herself a couple times, she moved on to plan B which was mostly walking.  With her behind me, arms outstretched as if she could catch me when I lost my balance, I gracefully circled the living room and kitchen.  Waaayyyy better than yesterday.....until by the stove, coming around the last turn, when I unfocused for just a second and out came the involuntary scream.  Shit.  It's no better than day 1!  I'm just better knowing how to avoid aggravating whatever is going on.  My progress is fake.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should be a little less impatient.  The therapist told me how well I was doing and I think she meant it but then I couldn't help but think she is comparing me to her normal home PT broken hip patients who are probably about 20 years older than me.

Home Health came by and changed my dressing today.  Looks good.  Healing well.

My right thigh is swollen swollen (dah) so I almost can't bend the leg.  Doc said there is a lot of blood in there.

Today's therapy:
4 sets of a living room/kitchen lap and isometrics
read
iced lots
1 set of standing PT exercises.
read
cleaned the bathroom sink and toilet
sat in the chair x2
  

WARNING! up to Day 6.

If you don't want to listen to me talk about the progress of my broken leg you many want to ignore the next few posts.  It's an easy way for me to keep track of my progress.

Dec 22.  Day 1.  I looked at my watch.  Thinking, "11:30 am? Already?  How'd that happen? We have to leave at noon to meet Liz and Meg in Hanover".   Two seconds later I was on the ground with what I was sure was a broken hip.  I always thought if I was in trouble somewhere I'd never be able to yell 'HELP' because I would be too embarrassed.   Come to find out it wasn't all that hard.

I'll spare you the details from the previous post and fast forward to some stuff I haven't mentioned.  Ketamine.  In order to take x-rays someone gave me Ketamine in addition to some other things.  I don't remember screaming, or any other part of the x-rays, but Vince tells me I was.  In 8th grade health class we watched some drug education films.  I remember a film with the premise:  'this is what the world looks like if you take LSD'.  It was like I was seeing that movie all over again except in the end I didn't put my hand in the open flame that looked like a flower.  Awful.  Similar to the computer screen hoopla following an online solitaire win if it was followed by  nausea and vomiting.

My mantra in the ambulance...call Liz and Meg to say that we won't make it*...cancel the Arizona airline tickets...cancel the rental car...cancel the bike rental...call Liz and Meg to say that we won't make it...cancel the Ariz.... 

Dec 23.  Day 2.
Still recovering from the anesthesia and pain medication.  Groggy.  Vince came bringing me food and good cheer.  The hospital staff knows me from my knees.  Not sure how that makes me feel.  All morning the staff is telling me physical therapy will be coming to see me....like I'll think that's good news.  The physical therapist comes and, just as I'd feared, makes me get up to walk.  Torture.  I beg her to forget she's ever seen me.  For a while she thought I was kidding.   It's hard to explain but I can't figure out how to move.  I tense up with each step which makes me tense up even more and I scream from surprise and excruciating pain.  Adding the anticipation of repeating that routine with each step makes me crazy.  Sitting in the chair next to my bed, I'm wondering if the catheter should be hanging at shoulder height like it is.  Little appetite. 

Dec 24.  Day 3.
Some of the staff is wearing Dollar Store Santa hats.  Those hats are never very convincing but everyone means well.  I keep expecting someone to look good in them but no one ever does.
With as much dread as yesterday, I walked with PT.   No more nausea and vomiting.   My knee surgeon popped in to assure me my accident was just a blip.  RN removed the catheter.  Using the commode is very dignified.   Vince and I watched 'Breaking Bad' on my laptop.  Awake most of the night again.  A hospital at night feels science fictiony with the beeps, rolling carts and squeaky footsteps.  At midnight it's Christmas.  Weird.  My friend Allison came and brought me some treats.

Dec 25.  Day 4.
Merry Christmas.  I'm going home today.  PT has the day off.  All I can think about is 'how am I going to get into the car?' and  'how am I going to get out of the car?' 
Entering the house I stood, surprised, facing the tree Vince had cut down and decorated.  It's the most beautiful holiday tree I've ever seen.  He waited with some of the ornaments so I could tell him where to hang them.  He put the guest bed in the living room for me.  Linda and Sheldon came over with Christmas cheer and an invitation to dinner.  Tried walking again but (and I'm not kidding) I forgot how.  No sleep.  At this point two new knees were more comfortable and easier than a broken femur.

Dec 26.  Day 5.
Didn't try walking at all today.  Too scared and seems like the payoff for waiting another day will be worthwhile.  Less pain and anxiousness.  Slept tons better.  Allison and Adrian brought over leftovers.   Janet called.  Elinor and George brought over the triangular pillow they loaned to me during my knee recovery.  Sleeping OK. 

Dec 27.  Day 6.
Less groggy.  Walking went pretty well...bending my knee when I bring it through seems to work.   Doing other PT.   Most of the pain is achy pain.  Like I fell really hard on my hip.  I still tense up and scream but much less.  The visiting nurse came to take some blood and a pulse.  He remembers me from my knees too.  Linda came by to feed me, chat and walk Max.  Gina brought me a book and a visit.
Snow storm today.  I love being out skiing in a snowstorm.  (don't worry)  The snow machine just went by packing the ski trail outside the house....now, that really hurts.

*By the time Vince called them they were already at the Dirt Cowboy in Hanover waiting for us, having driven from Saratoga Springs.  So.  Next time you're in Saratoga Springs please go and buy something at Blue Sky Bicycles.  Ask for Liz and tell her I made you stop.

A Blip.

Anyway.
I think I already told you, but we're in Vermont from Ohio for Christmas break.  Vince is in Craftsbury and I'm in Morrisville...in the hospital with a broken leg.  We were doing a ski-orienteering meet on normally snow covered trails that were ice covered on the day of the meet.   You can't imagine how many times I've replayed that downhill corner in my mind since then.  I'd been having such a great time up until the fall.  In orienteering everyone has a map with points printed on it.  These points are markers hidden in the woods.  Each skier follows the map trying to get to these points in the most efficient, fastest way.  Everyone starts at a different time and everyone goes a different way which is great unless you're laying on the ground with a broken leg hoping someone decided to go the same direction as you.  In ten minutes and before I got too cold, someone found me and 35 minutes after that I was in a warm shed waiting for an ambulance.  I make it sound comfortable but it wasn't (and still isn't).  The first responders couldn't have done a better job (other than not letting me ski on the ice in the first place) and if this ever happens again I want the exact same crew.  At the hospital I do (but wish I didn't) remember the nurse taking off my boot! but thankful I don't remember getting the x-rays.  When I started remembering things again, the surgeon said the procedure couldn't have gone better.  He just twisted my foot and everything lined right up for him to nail.  Nail.  Sounds icky.  So now, instead of spending in Christmas in Arizona with my Dad, I'm spending it in the hospital with a walker.

We're having a potluck and showing a couple of our films at the Stardust Bookstore Cafe on January 9.

School.
We got our first semester grades.  Somehow the A minus I was going to complain about doesn't feel quite so important.

This was fun.
Vin and I had four pretty big assignments to get done in the 3 days after we got back to Vermont.  Saving the worst for last, we each had a 2500 word final Film Studies paper due on December 13.  Neither one of us started it until 9:30 that night but figured as long as the Prof had the paper in his inbox by the time he got to his office the next morning we could sneak it by him.  Emailing word counts to each other we kept each other awake.
"183 words"
"200"
"212"
"oh no"
"676"
"a race" 
"now i'm nervous"
"984"
"That's it.  I quit"
"1071"
"1245"
and so on. Vince from his basement office and me from the living room couch, we finished.  For Vin it was 6 am and for me it was 7:20 and sunny.

Our classmate Kelly (not his real name) was an hour late for a 10:30 am class the other day.  Reason was that his power went out so his alarm didn't go off.  Yes, I did say 10:30.  Vince and I were the only ones that realized needing an alarm for a 10:30 class was really funny.

Interesting Arizona trip fact:
The rental car was $5/day (plus I found a coupon for 10% off) and the bike rental was $30/day.

Now what?  Follow-up appointment in a week.  Until then we'll wonder if it would be possible to work on a film shoot or sit in classes or drive to Ohio or get to class.......

As we say in Minnesota, 'It could be worse.'

Now What?

Looking at our Ohio University calendars the other day, Vince noticed that mine was different than his.  His said school starts again January 14 and mine said we start again January 7.  Sounds worth looking into.  My calendar, the one that says they want us back January 7 (and the one we've been using), said we were through with classes December 6 (the day we left) and Vince's said we were done on December 8 when we were already back in Vermont.  Looking more closely we see that the my calendar is the one for Ohio State University which is not even our school.  Vince's calendar is for Ohio University the one we should have been using and weren't but would explain the funny looks we got when we took off two days early.

Max guarding his Ohio domain

It's hard to know for sure whether Max likes it better in Vermont or Ohio.  In Vermont he has the stressful job of guarding a great big field but we reward him with bones.  In Ohio, our fenced-in yard gives him a very defined work area so guarding is pretty straightforward.   We've tried giving him bones in Ohio too but he's convinced that anyone walking by is going to steal them so he stands and growls and barks.  It's scarey .  He's big and his teeth are really big so bones in Ohio don't seem like a good idea.

Knees.
Last Wednesday an appointment with my knee surgeon determined that while the recovery of my left knee is GREAT, I'd lost 15 or 20 degrees of flexion in my right.  A mild scolding for not seeing him before now, another final cortisone shot and plans for an aggressive month long therapy regime to stave off a yet tbd plan B, we made a physical therapy appointment.  Vinny the therapist took some measurements. 135 degrees of flexion on the left (the most he'd ever seen..on anyone) and 110 degrees of flexion on the right after yesterday's cortisone shot.  Working on it for an hour (imagine surrounding the inside of your knee with shards of glass) gave us another measly 2 degrees which means it's going to be pretty stubborn.  In an effort to find the missing 20 degrees, we scheduled four more PT appointments.  I think I heard the surgeon say something about maybe having to go back in...can't let that happen.

A few days ago I was telling Vin that it was weird being in Vermont with no doctor appointments to structure our stay so now it feels more normal.

Exciting News.
I rarely speak of anyone but myself (and once in a while Vince)  but our niece Olivia got into an Italian Master's program at Middlebury College.  A linguist just like Vin's mother, Nel.

Always Something

Just for fun....our friend Joe naively agreed to help us with one of our films this summer.

I still can't believe we live in Ohio.  I can't believe it's going to be 60 degrees tomorrow and I can't believe how good the mountain bike and road riding is here. 

School.
School is good because I like having more to do than I could ever possibly get done.  Vince likes it too.  Even though we feel really lucky to have this opportunity, we complain about things all the time because we're students and that's what students do. 

We complain about stuff like when the professor scolds us for being 30 seconds late but it's OK if they cancel a class because of having to pick someone up at the airport.  Or when we're up until 2 am finishing an assignment that's due the next day and because no one else gets it done, the professor gives everyone another week.  Or when a professor goes to the west coast for a week and tells us how lucky we are because they're giving us time to catch up.   No one else in the class complains about stuff like this but then no one else thinks of a class as something that cost them a hundred thirty dollars.

Election.
Being in Ohio for the election and voting made me feel oddly important.  Obama came.  I rode my bike to the rally where I was joined by 15,000 others.  I cabled my bike to a lamp post, snapped the lock closed and realized I didn't have a key but decided to worry about it later.   Vin happily (not) rode up and gave me the key.  It was a nice night.  I had a light and my bike again so I decided to go for a little ride on the bike path along the river wearing my overstuffed backpack.  Behind the university, blocking the bike path, a police car with lights surrounded by a handful of spectators tried to catch a glimpse of the president sneaking away.  Thinking about how it was such a nice night, I rode around them on the grass.  Someone yelled something.  Probably still pumped from the rally.  Ahead I could see I had the path to myself.  The big dipper was on my right.  I heard crickets.    "Oh look there's a really big guy running," I noted.  "Ha.  Looks like he running toward me....shit, he is running toward me."  All of a sudden, he tackled me.  I didn't go down like 'tackle' might imply, but I could have.  Still running, he immobilized my arms (just as he was trained, I'm sure) and in one smooth motion, turned my bike and me 180 degrees toward the siren and lights racing down the bike path for me.  Yelling something that meant 'you can't be here and how did you get past our barricade'?, he let go of me.  I put on my 'I know exactly what I'm doing' demeanor and rode past the police car toward home.  Always something. 

Our typical day.
We get up.  Maybe take Max for a little walk.  Hang out some laundry.  Ride our bikes to acting class.  Get a coffee at Court Street during our break.  Ride home for lunch and to walk Max.  Ride to screenwriting class.  Get a coffee at Court Street during our break.  Stop at the food co-op on our ride home.  Walk Max.  Go for a real bike ride.  Get home.  Make pizza.  Eat, while watching something on our big screen.  Do homework.  We're so spoiled.

Our little house is perfect.

It faces east to the brick street.

whew

The final film is in black and white.  What a shame.

I got an email from a friend that reminded me I'd promised to do at least one post a month and that it would be November in a few days.

So now, tonight, October 31 at 11:45 pm, to fulfill the obligation I'd forgotten about, I'm posting a few pictures from my latest film.  Bet you can't guess the premise.

Vince taking instructions from Kathy the director.

I'll be so happy the day I graduate to digital.

It's hard, even for Vince, to ride up a hill with a toaster under his arm.  (that's me pushing him)

School is good.  I get frustrated once in a while because even though I try as hard as I can all the time my stuff isn't perfect.  Vince doesn't have to try as hard as me.  But at least his stuff isn't perfect either.

ACTION

We're in Athens, Ohio doing an MFA Film Program at Ohio University and most days it seems like it was the right decision even though I'm so far out of my comfort zone I need a map. 

Test today.  He called it a quiz.  Cinematography.  I knew more than I didn't, but not much more.  Seemed like a lot of trick questions.  No multiple choice. 

Tomorrow I'm shooting my first 16mm short (that's film like in the old days before video).  Vince is my actor.  I'm going to have him eat steak and dress up as a football player which is better than last weekend when he had to grill meat and smoke a cigarette in our classmate Jorge's film.  I'm shooting on the football field and no one can believe it.  "You mean the real football field?" 

The hardest part about my film has been finding a football uniform.  I made a special trip to 'Halloween City' (Halloween is big here).  Seeing a baseball uniform in the window got my hopes up for nothing.  Goodwill?...all out.  Figuring that the worst thing the athletic office could do was say 'no', I called them.  "We'd be happy to help you out."   These Ohio people are nice.  Wandering around the football stadium looking for the equipment room I opened a door, sort of hoping it wasn't the men's locker room, and found myself in a candy store of green football gear most of which I couldn't identify.  Asking for my guy 'Matt', the intern guarding the place told me he was the the one in the green and pointed to the back where everyone was of course wearing green (by choice....support the team).  I told Matt Vince's height, weight and shoe size.  When he asked me if Vince had a big head I said I didn't know how to answer that.

Knees.
The left knee is pretty good.  I'm guessing the right knee will take the allotted full year they talk about to heal but I don't blame it. 

Other.
We've had classes everyday since we started (really) but today after the quiz/test we had an extra hour and enough time to get the haircut I'd put off when I was in Vermont.  Up until tonight I thought that all shampoo bowls were comfortable and all salons used hot water for a shampoo but for 7.99 I can let it go.  The new haircut looks good if it's wet.

I can go a week here without seeing a Prius.

The next time someone calls me "ma'am".....



MORE later.

Selkirk International Film Festival Take 3

Before I forget, the film festival is this weekend.  I was wrong in thinking that putting on a 3 day event wouldn't be all that much more work than putting on a 1 day event.

Speed Limits and Toes That Point Up

Max and I traded off being Vince's nurse.

"Put on your signal," said Vince.    
"It is on," I told him.
Two minutes go by.
"Put your hands at 10 and 2."
How long did the doctor say he couldn't drive?
Another couple minutes pass.
"You can get closer," he said
"In Minnesota it's one car length per second,"  I corrected.
he mimics me but I think he knows I'm right.
"The speed limit here is 40."
I'm not listening.  I wonder if he could start driving again right now and we just won't tell the doctor.

Two days later.

Although, (other than the back seat driving) I enjoyed being Vin's nurse, I don't mind that today's 5-star cielectomy (official name of Vin's toe surgery)  follow-up marked the end of my chauffeuring era

(plus the end of him tying up my crutches and not putting my ice packs back in the freezer). 

His toe appointment was fun.  I liked being support for a change.  We listened while the surgeon detailed the operation.  Evidently Vince had agreed to an operating room description of the procedure and missed the part where the doc said "since you're an athlete, I'm going to 'cut a notch in the joint and suture it so it will heal pointing up a bit.  It will add about a month to the healing process."  Even though Vince doesn't remember this conversation it's too late now so we're hoping the resulting competitive unfair advantage from having a big toe that points up is big enough to justify the extra month.

Guess what's happening here.

 More later.

This Might Be Cheating

So many textures.  Our pond in Vermont.

More textures and our sunny little house.

When I promised myself I'd publish at least a post a month I thought it would be easy...is this cheating?

Eighty-Four Cents

Knees.
I got the bill for my new knees.  Guess how much?  $95,000.  Of that I owed 84 cents.  The insurance company paid the rest (I thought they were going to pay the whole thing) and even with a discount it was still a really huge amount. 

Although I'm not jumping up and down screaming "I love my knees" (I've heard this does happen), I feel like I could travel in a third world country now when before the surgery, with all the spontaneous swelling and emergency room visits, that kind of traveling was a really scarey thought and an impossible reality.  Needing to be able to travel in a third world country may seem like an odd criteria for having knees replaced to some people but it's important to me.  Currently I have no plans for traveling to third world countries and maybe I never will but it's good to know that I feel like I could. 

Ohio.
I'm still suffering from Ohio Film MFA commitment anxiety.  Vince is too.  The pros are still the same.  So are the cons.  We talk about it every day a lot.  We signed the papers so 'Ohio' is expecting us.  Once the program starts and we're there, August 26 (that's so soon), we'll be totally present and committed but until then we're staying less anxious by feeling like we could still change our minds and our spots could be filled with any one of the hundred plus now disappointed applicants.  It's such an amazing opportunity/adventure.  Part of me worries about disappointing the program's decision makers (faculty).  Did I appear more competent on paper than I actually am?  I'm from Minnesota.  We worry about things like that.

Anxiety aside, we'll need a place to live when we're there.  Renting is really expensive and houses are really cheap.  If we rented for the three years, we could easily spend upwards of $50,000 (the cost of one new knee) so buying makes a ton of sense.  Not only is renting expensive, it's also unavailable.  Searching for rentals, I left no stone unturned and of the fifty or so rental houses* I found, only two were still available for this school year** and I wouldn't dare walk in to either of them.

House shopping.
Driving to Athens would have only taken about 3 hours longer than it took us to fly and I would have had my luggage when we got to the hotel.   The only flight (out of four) that was on time was the one on which we had first class seats and it left without us. 

Of the sixteen houses we looked at, Vince and I decided on one of them but the one I decided on was a different one than the one he decided on.  The one I liked probably needed a new roof.  The one he liked definitely needed a tree and some character. 

We had 'mine' inspected.  Vince was right about the roof.   We made an offer.  They countered and we didn't.  Later that day they changed their mind.  So, as of June 29, we'll own a house in Athens, Ohio.

Portlandia looking don't you think?  So so sweet.

 
I told Vince that having a house there pretty much commits us to the program.  He said, "Not necessarily."***


*we don't want to live in someone's basement apartment
**the others were already rented for the next one to two years
***actually, having a place to live is huge and was one of the things keeping us from looking forward to the program

Other.
I was among the 5,980 entrants that didn't win the NPR 3 Minute Fiction contest.

Aerial Shots and Realtors

Vin's Film.
'The One Hundred Mile Diet' is the film Vince is working on for his Digital Media class.  It's a 10 minute short in his favorite genre, horror.  If there is a film community in Craftsbury, we haven't found it.  Vince posted audition announcements at the local college.  7 pm on Wednesday.  Simpson Hall.  We planned to get there a few minutes early to get set up.  Vin had printed out several scripts, synopsis' and outlines for the group.  We parked and Vin realized he's forgotten his yellow notebook.  I 'ran' to the Hall to organize the auditionees while Vin sped back to the house to get the notebook.  Breathless, he burst into the hall, notebook in hand, where I was the only person.  We waited 15 minutes, admitted defeat and left.  Skunked.  Later we found out there had been a water dowsing workshop on campus at the same time.  Standing room only.

Rewriting.  Swapping out the three kids for the Grandmother within the confines of the newly constructed set-wall.

Vince convinced himself (and tried to convince me) that he needed aerial shots.

  See the camera?  That thing flies.

Of course Vince would write a script that had to be shot at night.

So, Vince had this great script and no actors.  He needed two or three kids and three adults.  He somehow managed to round up the three adults.  I volunteered myself at the last minute to take the place of the three kids by playing a cranky, senile Grandmother.  (Not sure how that makes me feel even though it was my idea)  With peppermint/tea tree Uncle Roy Foot Powder in my hair, my cane, temporary limp and new knees, I was pretty convincing. 

I took the place of three children in Vince's film.

More School.
Did I tell you about the Film MFA Program in Ohio?  The one we got in to and had to accept or reject by April 24? 

Writing.
So far my NPR 'Three Minute Fiction' piece hasn't made it to the NPR website as one of the favorites.  When the judges are done reading the 6,000 submissions in a few weeks, they'll choose a winner so I still have a chance.  Vince thinks I'll win, isn't that sweet?

Eating.
Went to Russell and Janet's for supper tonight.  Janet is 89 and Russell is 86.  We talked about a lot of different things.  Like, Janet needing a new bike, one that's easier for her to lift to the bike rack on the back of the car than the one she has now.

House.
When I asked the realtor in Athens, Ohio how old the roof on a particular house was she said, "probably not real old".
When I asked her about the age of the furnace she said, "not real old and not real new".
When I asked her about what utilities bills ran a month she said, "probably not too much".
Now there is someone I could really trust.

Thinking Out Loud

Downtown Athens, Ohio

Part of the 18 mile bike path that goes through the University

Athens countryside

It's times like this when it would be nice to have a burning passion.  Too bad you can't just pick a passion...that it has to come to you.

Possible Passion, Film MFA. 
Three programs interested us enough to spend millions of hours filling out applications.  We spent November filling out Florida State,  January, filling out Ohio University and February, filling out City College of New York.  All of these programs are production oriented in a place that we wouldn't mind living and didn't require a GRE (my requirement).  Even with our ages on the applications, we made it through to the interview stage at Florida* and Ohio. We're thinking that City College may have lost our applications.  Flying, hotel, interview, new place, new people....the interview process in itself was an adventure.

Pretty Big News.  
Vince and I were just offered 2 of the 10 spots (126 applied) in the Ohio University MFA Film Program.  Until that phone call, my knees were the only things I really had to think about and now we have to decide, by April 24, if we want to live in Athens, Ohio for three years.   April 24th isn't all that far away and to add to the DD (decision difficulty), there are exactly the same number of pros as cons.
 
Top Eight Pros:
•It was hard to get in.
•The countryside surrounding Athens is our kind of countryside (tiny rolling country roads with little traffic, TONS of mountain bike and hiking trails, a 18 mile paved bike path, easy to get out of town into the country).
•The town is funky (coffee shops, old timey food co-op, vegetarian restaurants, brew pub).
•The faculty seems to love their jobs and to like us.
•The program is fairly renowned.
•It's a new environment.
•It would give us a structure.  Without the structure of being in school we doubt we would get around to producing a noteworthy film.  One that people could watch without us being there to explain it. :) I don't care about winning an Oscar but Vince wants to.
•It would be fun** and provide a real sense of accomplishment.

Top Eight Cons:
•It's not Paris, Portland, Madison, Bozeman or Amsterdam.
•It's three years and we're 55.  Do we want to spend what's left of our youth in school? (i.e. tied down)
•There is an off chance we would make a noteworthy film without being in school.
•It starts August 26th and we have to put the Plainfield property on the market, open up Cape Cod, close down Vermont, make sure my knees work etc.
•Max is 11.  Do we want to introduce him to another new environment? 
•I think the town is pretty run down (student rentals, depressed) Vince doesn't see it as run down.  Admittedly, when we were there, it was a pretty dreary day.
•Do we want to miss skiing in Craftsbury those winters?
•We kind of like what we're doing now.  (what are we doing now?)

We're not trying to chose between a couple different schools but between doing it and not doing it.  So I guess the big question is, "Do we want to do it more than anything?" because that would have to be the case.  

*Florida decided for us. (we're sure it was because of our age) but we'd already decided we didn't want to live in Tallahassee partly because the healthfood store didn't list all of the ingredients in the hot table foods and the one funky restaurant in town didn't have a single vegetarian entree'.  

**Almost nothing could have been more fun for us than having a copy of 'You're Not Cindy' (our first 'real' film) in the car with us at all times and showing it wherever/whenever.

I Saved The Staples

When Vince and I went to Ohio for our film MFA interview Max was the bookstore dog at the Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick

My staples are out which is a huge mental move forward for me.  The only way it could have been worse is if I'd had more knees.  In twenty years when I have to do this again :(, I want to be put asleep.

I'm thinking that the toughest component of my healing process, even with all the physical discomfort, will be the patience part of it.  I've spent most of the last couple days fretting, that after all my stretching, my flexion was getting worse and when we measured it with hand-held calipers rather than my head-held calipers, it had actually gotten better.*  Not as much better as I (the expert and knee owner) thought it should be, but better which is way better than worse. (that's a lot of 'betters'). 

I will admit that I am excited to 'get this show on the road', but just the same I am being very careful and thoughtful with my physical therapy.  Like today. My physical therapist tried to keep a non-judgmental look on her face as I described my plan for using the rowing machine as therapy.  I told her the hardest part about it is that it sits so close to the floor so I was thinking I could have Vin hang a trapeze contraption from the ceiling that I could use to lower myself on the the machine.  All she said was, "why don't we wait until next week," and I was OK with that.

It took me most of the day, but Sunday I figured how to link my blogs together with html code.  I am so much smarter than I thought I was.  It's fun seeing (stats page) that people actually use the new feature to go from one blog to the other like it's a real thing that a person who does that kind of thing did, and not me.

MY DAD

It looked like flying from Mesa, Arizona to Sioux Falls, South Dakota on April 18 was going to be cheap, so one weekday afternoon when all the Minnesota snowbirds were over at Janis J's for no special reason, Dad had her get him a ticket.  She has a printer so she could print it out while he was there too which made it even more of a great idea.  (when something seems to good to be true, it usually is)

Good Life.  Sustainable living.

Water aerobics on St Patrick's Day at Good Life.

A few days later he got to thinking that hanging around 'Good Life' resort for two weeks by himself (since people are starting to leave now), when it might even be warmer in Minnesota, may not have been worth saving the fifty dollars and leaving sooner would be worth any amount of money.  I'd bought my brother Dale a ticket to Mesa last Christmas time.  He didn't go so I had a voucher sitting in a file with all of my other unused airline vouchers.

Aunt Marlene had Janis email Dad, me and her a copy of Dad's itinerary so we would all be on the 'front' page.  I called the airline (Allegiant) but since Janis J. had made the reservation, she would have to make the changes (that's what she gets for being nice).  She gave me a list of the several passwords she may have used so I could get into her account.  One worked and up came a long manifest of tickets purchased and printed that afternoon at her house.

I made Dad's new reservation but I couldn't use the voucher because my step-sister Janet had put Dale's Christmas time ticket on her credit card so the voucher was in her name.  To use it Janet would have had to call Allegiant, with an average wait time 28 minutes, and OK the voucher transfer, then Dad would have had to call Allegiant, with an average wait time 28 minutes, and make the reservation over the phone.  TOO MANY COOKS.  We used a credit card so Dad's cheap ticket ended up being 91 dollars more than the one Janis got for him and I still have a voucher in Janet's name.

My dad just got his girlfriend her birthday present.  I can tell you what it was because, even though her birthday isn't for a few weeks, he couldn't wait to give it to her.  A card shuffler.



*In case you are interested......I have another blog.  I call it my knee blog.  It's like a journal and is only about my knees.  I update it almost everyday whether something is newsworthy or not.  I started it because, at the beginning of this whole process, I really wanted to see how my progress, pain and decision making compared with others and I couldn't find a site that had the information I wanted.  It's at the top right of 'Kathy's Big Adventure' under MY BLOG LIST. Anyway....go ahead, stalk me.

Being Out Of Joint

If everyone says I'm doing so well, how come I feel so miserable?

Pathetic looking.

I can't believe this is me.  Looks like a football.

I'm not nauseous anymore but I still have a hard time eating enough.  I made a chart and started counting calories.  That way if I need another 200 calories at the end of the day, I just grab a handful of nuts or eat a spoonful of wheatgerm.*  I've managed to turn eating into work. 

I can walk with crutches.  In fact I can walk with one crutch.  Physical therapy came to the house.  She said I was doing great (of course).  She comes again tomorrow.  I'm going to ask her if she hears my new knee clicking too.  I can lift my left leg off the ground but not the right one because the muscle that used to be there disappeared completely which makes me even more amazed and thankful I was able to limp through the ski season.

The visiting nurse people sent someone too.  He seemed present and experienced albeit a bit sloppy.  Tell me if you think this is sloppy.  He put on some rubber gloves, rooted around in three dirty bags and and then took the dressing off my knee.  The dressing that no one is supposed to touch because there is such an incredibly high risk of infection.  I told him I was surprised he put on the gloves and then rooted around in the dirty bags and he said that the gloves were to protect him not me.  (maybe that's right?)  Anyway, once he was all protected (from the insides of his bags?) he started putting piles of gauze along the wound (he was out of the real dressing) and had me hold them, with my dirty hands, while he taped them with little pieces of tape...conserving because he didn't have more tape either.  Then there is this sticker.  "I'm going to leave you this, make sure you call if you need anything at all."  A known quantity, he's coming again tomorrow.

One of the things that made me think the visiting nurse was sloppy.

Today and yesterday I moved a chair outside (no small feat) so I could sit and read.  I wasn't going to let a sunny, 75 degree Northern Vermont day in March go by without me.  I didn't actually read that much but just sitting was nice.  Max joined me.  He didn't read either.  It was hot so I pulled my sweat pants down around my ankles (but not all the way off since getting them back on would be even harder than getting the chair outside) to bring my ace-bandaged legs one layer closer to fresh air.

Tomorrow Vince is going to pick up a rocking chair for me...so there's that.  Then there's the sitting outside reading in the sun.  Sounds like a post from someone in a nursing home.

NYC Trip

Sarah eating oatmeal at Bread and Butter

Only Linda would wear a faux fur skirt.

My Tyler, Minnesota High School girlfriends** (class of 74) met me in NYC a few weekends ago.  It could have been really cold but it wasn't.  My knee could have kept me in the hotel room but it didn't.  And 'Jersey Boys' may not have been as good as everyone said but it was even better.

When we all get together it really doesn't matter where we are or what we do, which is good because even though my knee ended up OK, it may not have and I know they wouldn't have minded spending the weekend in the hotel room which was good but not as good as it looked online.

So.  Even though it didn't matter what we did, we were glad we got to see Mamma Mia (closure to our Greece trip), Jersey Boys, the High Line, and a bunch of other things.

I probably set the world record for overland crutch travel from 27th to Columbus Circle/Central Park and back.

*theoretically that is...right now I don't have any nuts or wheat germ.

**now from Idaho and Oregon (i.e. long flight)