TRT

Whenever a holiday came up, Paul would go bird watching and I would play tennis.  We were both happy, but something was missing. It’s been a fun change for us. . . . some holidays we go hiking TOGETHER.  What can be better than spending time with your best friend?
Paul picked out our hike.  With lots of birding adventures under his belt, he knows a lot of cool places to go to.
We went up to the lake and drove up a dirt road to get to our starting point. I never knew our car was an off road vehicle but apparently it is!

After lots of twists and turns and dips, we reached our starting point. . .

(TRT = Tahoe Rim Trail)  Paul grabbed his camelback and binoculars while I armed myself with a hiking pole and my camera.
Let’s just say one of us is used to these trails and the other was huffing and puffing. . . in which case you have to find excuses to catch one’s breath. . . thus we have photos!

While it was mostly deserted, we did see:

• 3 hikers going the other direction
• 3 bike riders zipping by
• a man with a horse and a dog

This is Paul pointing out the bear he claims he saw . . .

Paul likes figuring out what kinds of trees we see too. . . .

After what seemed like hours,
we reached our destination . . . a bench overlooking the lake where we had decided to eat our lunch.

Why does the hike out always seem a bit shorter?  Perhaps it is because it was mostly downhill. 
Nevertheless I was getting tied and required alternate entertainment!

see the bird on the rock?  Yea, me either. . .
but if you look closer. . . near the top on the left. . .

I’m not sure he was ready to leave. . . there are usually phone calls and people wanting something out of him waiting. . . .

but leave we did. 

It was a great day spent with Paul.  It was nice to not have any “outside” distractions.

Once in a Blue Moon!

It was a Friday night which means date night.  Sometimes we go out to eat, sometimes we go to the movies, sometimes we just hang out at home, but sometimes we take advantage of where we live!

We headed to a spot up at the lake.

Paul didn’t need to look at the map because this is a place where he has gone snow shoe-ing.

We were racing the sun which we don’t normally see much of a sunset (it just disappears behind the mountains . . .I feel cheated.)

My fearless leader <3

We passed by a crowded campground and found ourselves at a deserted beach. . . and watched the sun set.

Ack . . I am not a fan of hiking in the dark. . . so I walked FAST-er than the way in.

By the time we got back to the car, we were able to get a great view of the blue moon.

It was a great date night!

Healing and Blessings Continue

I had no idea what a challenge this surgery would be.  Not only did it HURT, but I was frustrated with the things I could not do on my own.
I was grateful for the things I could do.  I managed to master driving one handed, the hardest parts were turning the key to start the van and removing the key after turning it off.  That freedom was HUGE and kept me sane.
But my splint was still my constant companion. . .

Ugly swollen fingers . . .
I could not straighten my arm much less scratch my nose. 

It was hard to hold my arm up or let it hang down so I had to prop it up constantly.

I went to my first doctor’s appointment (after surgery) and he took the bandages off. . . what relief!  But then he put it right back on after admiring the stitches and removing a few pounds of cotton.

I was blessed by a wonderful friend (and visiting teacher) who came over and cleaned my kitchen (I was living with nothing but males  who don’t *see* dirt and messes the same way I do. . .)

A clean kitchen can really lift your spirits!
(Note I still could not take a shower because the stitches were still in.  Why did no one tell me about this horror?)
A several weeks after surgery, I was instructed to remove my splint a few times a day and *try* to straighten my arm. 

What do you mean that’s not straight?

And then my friend came back and cleaned my bathroom!!!!!  (tears of JOY!)

I was going a bit stir crazy and just wanted to go somewhere. . .anywhere.  How lucky are we to live so close to Tahoe?  So off we went. . .

That was the end of that hike. . . but I could totally see a tennis court in the distance. *sigh*
Another friend. . .another blessing!  Everyone deserves some sunshine a box

So many little things helped me endure this tough time.  I felt so guilty that so many people were doing nice things for me.  I didn’t HAVE to have the surgery (but I really wanted to be able to use my arm pain-free . . though at this time, I doubted it would ever be that way.)