My knees hurt

 

So, I have been diagnosed with CRPS. It's always something! It stands for Complex regional pain syndrome. Most likely caused by the trauma from falling on both knees about a month ago.

Oh well, it is a pain, but I can still knit!

 

 

life seems to go on.

 I have leased my last two cars.  Not sure why, but Nick said we should try it, so we did. I've been happy with the cars.  Since my current lease was about to end this month, we went out and got a new car.  It's the same model as I had before- a Honda CRV 2025.  But it's red.  And it does not have Sirius radio which I had gotten used to.   Anyway, here's my car!

 

I am still dealing with painful knees- ever since I fell about a month ago.  I went to the orthopedic surgeon today to make sure I am okay.  He noted the swelling and told me that I need to be wearing compression socks during the day.  I have only been sleeping in them.   He told me what I have but I cannot remember what he called it.  When I am sitting with my legs down, they look red.  When I lift my legs they return to normal/ white.  

 I am still doing physical therapy.  The other day I decided to sit down on the floor to see how well I can straighten out my right leg.   I am doing okay- not prefect but getting better.  The problem is- I could not figure out anyway to get up off the floor.   I am not able to put any weight on either of my knees because the hardware/ artificial knee parts, make it painful.   I scooted around the family room looking for something to pull myself up on.  There was nothing I could use that was safe.  Nick came and tried to help me.  Trouble there is that I am too heavy.  If Austin was here he could have lifted me, but Nick and I both would have gotten hurt if he tried.    Eventually I backed up to my recliner and pushed myself up.  Honestly, the fabric on the recliner caused too much friction on my shirt and I was choking myself.  I had to take my shirt off so I could get up using the chair to lean and push on.  Yikes!

 Knee pictures

 

I think that I am going to recommend that getting up from the floor should be routine in physical therapy.   

My uncle who had polio told me that one of the first things he was taught in his rehabilitation was how to get up from a fall .

Monday, January 20th is the inauguration.    I am being mean- but I hope that the weather is terrible.  Maybe even a blizzard!  Yeah!

 

 

Life is not fair- my friend's grandson, Miles, died on January 5, 2025

 

We got snow!

 Snow was in the forecast. And they were right.  Not sure how much fell, but it was enough to close National Airport and close schools for most if not all of the week.

 I love snow.  At least I love the idea of snow.  It is so pretty and makes everything seem so fresh and clean.

 But I am having too much trouble with my leg (pain) and do not feel stable enough to go outside and enjoy the snow.  Also it has been windy which is hard on my ears.  Need to remember to wear a hat.

My mother in law hated snow.  After we lived in Northern Norway for two years, my mother in law asked "have you had enough snow now?"   The answer was "No".

I thought that I would be clever and put a pic plate full of bird seed on the deck.  I cannot safely get to my bird feeders.  Well, I was right.  The birds love it.  But oh what a mass!   Birds are not tidy!   They are fun to watch though.

 

Rida rida ranka

 My father used to say this Norwegian rhyme when I was little, while rocking me on his knee or his foot.   He did it with his grandchildren as well.

 Somewhere we have a sound movie of Courtney, age four months, sitting on my Norwegian grandmother's lap, in 1978, while my grandmother said it.

My dad always ended it with "woof woof woof".   I went to visit my dad when he was in a nursing home, with dementia.  He remembered the whole rhyme and for the first time I cam remember, he actually translated it for me.  That was the last time I saw my father.

 

 

This is another version:

The children's version is different. It's delightful, rhyming nonsense. My English interpretation:

Ride, ride the horsie

To the Miller's house

There's no one there but two little cats

The cat calls

The mountain girl "squalls" (my word to make it rhyme)

Two small dogs say,

"Woof woof woof"

Snow and other things

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a big snow storm being predicted in the next few days.   I usually don't really believe the weather reports because they are so often wrong about snow.  But, maybe they are right this time.   It snowed here the other day- hence the picture of the snow falling in my back yard.

I love snow.  At least the kid in me does.   It is so beautiful and peaceful.   But I am not as keen on the cold as I believe that I must have been at some point in my life.    I will look at and photograph the snow.  But I doubt that I will be out tossing snowballs or making a snow man.

Buddy, the dog, likes snow.  He likes to run around in it.  I wonder how his old body will feel about it this year.

The kids were all here for Christmas and now, all but Austin have gone back to their homes scattered around the US.   Austin plans to leave soon, but he has some dental work to attend to.   he was scheduled to go to the dentist Monday morning and fly to Maine Monday afternoon.  But the airlines are already allowing flight changes with no penalty due to the expected snow.  I know he's anxious to leave and get on with his life.  And he will.

I just had a thought pop into my head.    Thinking about Grandma Thompsen, my Norwegian grandmother.  In one of the letters she wrote to me, she said that there was snow at her place.  She asked some neighborhood kids to build a snowman in the front yard so she could see it.   Growing up in Norway she certainly saw a lot of snow in her life!

My friend Shannon is not doing well.  Her husband wrote to me about eight weeks ago saying that Shannon is declining.  Shannon and I started exchanging daily emails when she first got sick- in 2021 I think.   Whenever she missed writing to me for a day or two I would check in with her husband to see if she was okay.  And there was always a reason for not writing.  Not feeling well.  Phone not working right.   I figured out the other day that between August 2022 and October 2024, Shannon and I exchanged close to 800 emails!   I also sent occasional gifts, like yarn for Shannon to crochet, or coloring books for her girls.  

I have visited Shannon as often as possible (not often enough though).   I went with our mutual friends, including my sister.  But more often I went on my own.   The last time I visited I read Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass".   I got a large print Readers Digest so that we could read together.  But it never happened.    

Since my surgery  and recovery, and subsequent fall, I have not driven very much.   I am sad to think that I might not visit Shannon again.  I don't think she is receiving visitors.  I know that she is not writing any more.

Caring and loving can be so hard sometimes.   I miss my mom and Nick's parents.  They would be so happy and in love with Galileo their great grandson.    

This year, for the first time in our household, we lit a Menorah.    My daughter in-law Kim,  and Courtney's boyfriend Zach are Jewish and they did the honors.   It bought a little light and hope into our home. And reminded us that perhaps there are miracles in our lives.

 

Good Bye President Carter