Catching Up

School's out for summer! (Can't you hear the Alice Cooper anthem?!) A little more than 9 months ago, Kevin was heading off to his first day of 5th grade. I snapped these photos of his smiling face and scrapped them recently. Supplies: Patterned paper, cardstock stickers-October Afternoon, chipboard-Maya Road, chipboard letters-American Crafts, acrylic accent-KI Memories, and buttons.



A couple of years ago, we evacuated for a hurricane, spent an interminable two days in a hotel and couldn't wait to get home, even though our house had no electricity. Home sweet home! Supplies: Patterned paper-, acrylic shape-Maya Road.



Now that Kevin is a Boy Scout, I'm missing the twice yearly family-centered Cub Scout campouts. Sniff-sniff. These pictures are from our last campout before his "graduation". Supplies: Patterned paper-Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, Ribbon-KI Memories.



Our little Super Hero shows off his web-throwing skills as Spiderman. Supplies: Patterned paper and journal block-October Afternoon, Bingo card, month card, and letter stickers-Jenni Bowlin, cardstock sticker-Sassafras, chipboard letters-American Crafts, brads and ribbon.



Whew...still going strong and scrapping from the stash.

Four More

I've been wanting to do this FOREVER...take leftover letter stickers and collage them on a page. I love how it turned out and can't wait to try it again...maybe in a shape next time! Supplies: Patterned paper-Basic Grey, Bingo card, chipboard button-Jenni Bowlin, Cardstock stickers-Sassafras, letter stickers-Basic Grey and more.



Boy pages can be pretty too! Especially when the pictures include rainbow colored bubbles! Supplies: Patterned paper-Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Transparency frame-My Mind's Eye, Foam and chipboard letters-American Craft, Acrylic sticker-KI Memories, Flowers-Prima, ribbon, and heart pins.



Easter morning and it's all about the candy! Supplies: Patterned paper-Basic Grey and The Girls' Paperie, Cardstock letters-Basic Grey, Flowers-Prima, Chipboard "K" accent-Sassafras, Acrylic sticker-KI Memories, ticket stub-Jenni Bowlin, metal egg accents, buttons, ribbon, and flower pin.

Weddings!

So many weddings! Life's come full circle as nieces, nephews, and friend's children are all getting married, all at the same time...it seems. Already this year, we have been to three wedding ceremonies, have one this weekend, and another two this summer! A few weeks ago, we went to a gorgeous affair at Holy Name of Jesus, complete with a small orchestra providing the church music. But the absolute best idea for fun and memories was a photobooth at the reception. How cool! Guests took turns donning hats and masks and other props, then having their photos taken in the booth. One strip of pictures went into the couple's book and the other the guests took home for themselves. Here's what I did with ours:



Supplies: Patterned paper-Basic Grey, KI Memories, Sassafras, October Afternoon. Letter stickers-Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin. Chipboard elements-Cosmo Cricket, KI Memories. Label stickers-October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin, Sassafras. Card-Sassafras.

Blast from the Past!

Aside for the occasional piece of cardstock, I haven't spent a dime on scrapbooking supplies since the middle of last year. And it's not a problem. After several years of DT work, my stash is overflowing with papers and embellishments perfectly suited for today's pages. I am out to prove that you don't have to have the latest and greatest to put together fun and pretty layouts. Here are a few of my favorite recent creations.

White space. Always a problem for me...because I want to fill it up! The clean and sparse style is not my forte. But looky here; I did it! And I've put to good use a trio of fabric rosettes given to me by scrapping friend, card-maker extraordinaire, Nancy Thomas. Thanks Nancy! Papers,journaling cards-October Afternoon. Chipboard letters-American Crafts. Ticket-Jenni Bowlin.


Believe it or not, the bright rainbow colored background papers are from an old MME Christmas collection! Topped with overlapping strips of various sized Sassafras papers they take on a brand new look. Sheer letters-Heidi Swapp. Fabric letters-American Crafts.


Assembling this page was a real blast from the past! At the bottom of a drawer of supplies, I found those old acrylic Junkitz letter discs and the metal art dragonfly. The distressed metal was coated with acrylic paint and rubbed off slightly with my fingers. The flowers are a combination of ancient artifacts from Prima, Heidi Swapp, Imaginesce, and a flower punch. Remember those HS sheers?! The mini brads are from one of those famous LM swaps. Sigh. Good times. Patterned paper-My Mind's Eye, Scenic Route. Fabric letters-American Crafts


My old scrapping friends might remember some of the elements on this page. Most are repurposed from old design team work: the Christmas tree and poinsettia from a card, the woven paper heart from an ornament! LM projects reborn!


I can't even remember the company name, but the patterned papers and coaster board elements on this page have to be 7-8 years old. Yikes. Why did it take me so long to use them?!




Stay tuned. You never know what I am going to find and use next!

Back to Spinning

The final test. I went to my first spinning class since surgery...and it was great! I seemed to get a good range of motion, even better than when I was on the bike at physical therapy. I could set my seat height same as before and it felt like old times. Yeah!

Closer to Fine

At over two months out, the knee is great. Although I'm still attending physical therapy twice a week, I should be "graduating" soon. Then it will be all on me to keep up the strength and flexibility that I've accomplished. I'll have to get over the fact that it will never bend to the degree that a normal knee will, but I'm told that with 130 degrees (the maximum that I've mastered, and possibly the maximum that this knee is capable of bending) I can do most things necessary in everyday life...like climb up and down stairs comfortably, ride a bike (back to Spinning!), etc. There's still some swelling and the numbness of my shin is looking more and more like it's permanent, but I can only hope that my left TKR has as great a resolution.

Physical therapy additions:
*Eliptical-10 minutes. When I began, the PTA asked if the resistance was too hard...or too easy. It seemed doable. A few minutes later, whew! It was really quite a workout.
*Stair stepping-Up and down, 25 reps, slowly, leading with left leg, working the quad.
*Balance and strength- stand on left leg, slight bend, 1 minute x3. Look ma, no hands!

Therapist insists that I should continue to ice the knee. Brrrr. In this weather?! At night, I just stick it out from under the blanket and it's cooled down naturally. LOL! I must remember to take time out during the day and use the ice.

A New Normal

I'm beginning to "forget" about my knee at times. Which is a good! Walking is pretty much back to normal, with no limping or favoring one knee or the other. You wouldn't even know I'd had surgery except for the 6 inch scar. The only things that slow me down are stairs and getting in and out of the car when the seat is pulled up. Stairs are pretty easy going up. I can take the steps alternating legs, without hanging onto the rails. Going down is another matter. Shallow steps are no problem but steps such as those outside my back door cause the knee to bend more than is comfortable. I take them gingerly while holding onto the rails.

I recently reduced physical therapy to twice a week, in order to "save" days for the right knee replacement, in case I schedule it for the fall. I feel like I've accomplished most of the goals set forth, and can do further strengthening on my own. Once released I'll take my exercises to the gym at Elmwood and work out a work-out.

It's official. My knee length discrepancy is 2.5 cm. or approximately 1 inch. That's quite significant, so I had a of heel lift made for my right shoe. Sidney Stokes, of Fit Feet, measured me and created the custom cork-like lift. The lift itself is NOT 1 inch. 1 inch is undoable. It wouldn't work with most shoes, and would probably be a bit uncomfortable. Instead, it's about 1 1/2 cm. Now I feel a lot better balanced. Hopefully when the next knee is done it will even things out and result in legs that are closer to the same length!

Problems that I am still experiencing at 7 weeks:
*Swelling. It's not uncomfortable, but the left ankle seems to have disappeared for good. Even after a night's sleep, the swelling remains.
*Numbness and hypersensitivity. The left side of the left leg is still extremely numb in places (and may be like that for good). The hypersensitivity doesn't seem to be as severe. I've decided to slowly decrease and then discontinue the Lyrica that I've been taking for the nerve ending pain so that I can see if it is getting better or if it is the medicine that is keeping it in check.
*The unexpected appearance of a dark purple line directly under the skin of the scar, which may have been caused by a tiny ruptured blood vessel. After a week, it is hardly noticeable.
*That "band around the knee" feeling that I've heard mentioned on TKR health boards is still there. It is really weird. It feels like someone has placed a think rubber band around the knee. It's not painful, but a very strange feeling for sure.