Puzzle Mania

Jigsaw Puzzles!  Are you familiar? I can remember doing some in my youth, but recently Hubs and I have taken them up again - BIG TIME!  In the last year and a half, we have amassed a collection that is stunning!  I am going to post photos here of some or most of them.  I think you'll see some patterns.  I apologize now for the ones that are sideways or upside down.  I swear they all came from files that were turned the right direction!  If I delete and try to find them again, it will just make my head spin!  Sorry!

Yes, there really is a piece missing from the colored pencils.  

..... and yes, this is ME, photographing the feeding of a giraffe at the Columbus Zoo! 

Did seeing all of these put you in a mood????  Our fave puzzle company is White Mountain Puzzles, and they have a great website with lots of options.  Most of ours have been 1000 pieces, but some are 550 and some are 1500.  (I think there was one 2000 Piecer.)  Clearly, we like the ones that have little sections to work on.  The ones with lots of blue sky or lots of trees.... those are too challenging for us!

Let me know what puzzles you like!

Thanks for visiting!

:)Amy

Has it really been almost a year?

Hello Friends,

It is hard for me to believe it has been so long since I posted about Tillie!  On June 12, I will be going back to my Ortho Doc for my 1 year check up! 

As I mentioned in one of my last entries, I was still looking forward to being able to pedal the stationary bike, and eventually, I did get there!  I would have to do some research into the actual date, but it was either the last week of July or the first week of August.  I had to do 5 minutes of pushing back and forth on the pedal before it finally just went around!  When it did, of course, I cried, because that's what I do!  Even after I did it once, that didn't mean I would be able to do it easily every time I got on the bike.  I still usually had to work on it for 3-4-5 min before it would go around.  Even after my Office PT ended and I started going to the rec center, I still had to do the back and forth pushing for awhile before it would go around.  I haven't even tried now since last fall, so I have no idea what it would do at this point. 

I started back to school in mid-August, and things went well.  I was able to do what I needed to do, but I started having more pain at night.  I would wake up in the night and my leg would just ache.  I tried to avoid taking pain meds and relied on Ibuprofen, which helped, but I still had this night aching thing to deal with.  I went back to PT and my therapist gave me some exercises to do at home.  I did them, and it helped a little, but the turning point came over Thanksgiving break.  All of a sudden, I was able to sleep through the night without pain waking me up.  It was like someone flipped a switch.  Based on things my Doc had told me, I presume it was a change in the level of internal swelling. 

As the weather got better in the spring, I started walking at the local parks more, and that has been easy.  The fact that I now have NO knee pain after having had it for about 14 years, is just miraculous!  I am very glad I did both knee surgeries.  My biggest advice to any of my readers who end up doing this is YOU HAVE TO EXERCISE.  A LOT!  Several times a day for months!  If you do that, your recovery will be amazing.  If you don't do it, your knees will stiffen up, and you won't have gained anything. 

As of now, I have better range of motion in my left than in my right, but it's not a lot different.  I think my right is as good as it's going to get.  It was worse going in, so it really isn't a surprise that it's not making it to the progress of my left.  That's ok - I'll take it!

Thanks for visiting!  If you have specific questions for me about my knees or anything I've written about, please let me know!

Happy Reading!

:)Amy