I don’t know about you, but the Friday before a long weekend always a pep to my step.
Having our first football game – on a Friday – makes today even more exciting!
I’m writing this as I wait in the Jeep for the Mr. to finish making his coffee. He’s still driving me to work as I continue to recover from my shoulder surgery.
I’m dressed to the nines because that’s just what you do when you work on campus and football season rolls around.
The bracelets on the arm in the photo above are not Sorrelli, but the one in the picture below is.
To finish things off, I always add my Auburn ring, which I received as a Christmas present. It’s not Sorrelli.
I found it on Amazon, if you can believe that. It’s the prettiest little thing.
I like to get out and about during my Friday lunches. Our population increases even when we are playing away. Lots of mamas and daddies visit their college babies on the weekends.
I’m going to pre-order a Pub sub and pick it up during my lunchtime stroll (with a toe that I think I broke this week when we went out for sushi).
My walk will take me through the heart of campus.
Can you tell how excited I am?
Kickoff is at 7pm; the Mr. and I will be watching from the comfort of our home, both of us wearing our Auburn apparel so as not to jinx us.
Football superstitions are a real thing, y’all.
I will be praying for the safety of those playing all across the country and that good sportsmanship reigns supreme.
Another week of my post-surgery recovery is behind me, y’all!
Today marks eleven weeks since I underwent my second shoulder surgery.
This has been another good week for me.
The pain level is about where it was last week, which was a vast improvement from the weeks before.
I made a rookie mistake last Thursday evening and washed my hair. The day following physical therapy is always a rough one. The exercises and stretching that happen the day before lead to a lot of soreness, and I’m usually pretty miserable. Throwing in a hair washing aggravated things worse.
Lesson learned.
Sunday, I told the Mr. that I wanted to try to ride in his Jeep to church. He loves his Jeep, but I haven’t been able to climb in since before my surgery.
I mainly used my back to brace myself, but I was able to get in. Jeep riding is a lot of fun.
One day last week, I misjudged the space I had when I walked into my office and hit the side of my arm against the door. I’ve been sporting a lovely bruise ever since.
Of all of the things to do, I pick the worst! My middle name certainly isn’t Grace. Ha!
Sleep is still challenging, but I am loving being back in bed.
I still wake up often during the night, and 3am seems to be the time when the ibuprofen and muscle relaxer wear off. Mornings are tough as I get my shoulder moving. The left shoulder still hurts a little at night too, so it’s rough all around.
D, my physical therapist, started me on some new exercises yesterday.
I did wall slides with a towel. I had started doing these back in May, a couple of weeks before we paused the physical therapy I’d was doing for my left shoulder in the lead up to my second surgery.
I remember hurting a lot while doing these in May. My right shoulder was a hot mess still since I was waiting for surgery, and the left one wasn’t really ready to do the work for both shoulders.
Yesterday’s attempt went so much better with no pain.
Little wins, y’all. I take them wherever and whenever I can.
I also rolled a large PT ball up the wall for more stretches. This felt so good!
D had me put a rod behind my back and try to pull it upward, using both hands. The purpose was to work my inward rotation. That didn’t go so well. I could barely move my arms.
The rest of my exercises were moves I’ve been doing regularly, which I appreciated. Introducing too many new things is challenging and results in a lot of pain.
I enjoyed the heat and TENS post-therapy self care.
I was given an updated at-home regimen, along with new bands.
Overall, I am happy with the way things are progressing. I am trying not to compare this recovery to the left shoulder’s.
I’m also trying to be very mindful to listen to my body, live life as much in the slow lane as I can, and remember that this is a temporary season.
I pray that the end of your week goes well and that you have a restful weekend.
I look forward to reading your answers to the questions Joyce wrangled up for us this week.
1. When someone finds out what you do or where you’re from, what’s a question they always ask?
When people learn that I work at the college, they always ask, “Oh, do you teach?”
It’s actually more of an assumption than a question – one in which I’m more than happy to answer with an emphatic “no.”
I did teach (high school and middle school) for over ten years, but that part of my life is way behind me. I have zero desire to return to the classroom.
To everything (turn, turn, turn) – There is a season (turn, turn, turn) . . .
2. Did you participate in ‘Greek Life’ when you were in college, or have children who did? If so what was your experience like? Taking another tack…have you ever been to Greece? If not, is that a destination on your bucket list?
I did not go away to college. I commuted back and forth to a community college 45 minutes away from home. As a result, I missed out on the sorority experience. I doubt I would have gone out for rush anyhow. I wasn’t very confident when I was younger. I was a little socially awkward.
My daughter attended a private Christian college that didn’t have sororities. My son attended Auburn for a year. He joined the Christian fraternity on campus and met a few lifelong friends.
I have not been to Greece, but it’s definitely on my bucket list!
3. Do you like Greek food? If so what’s your favorite dish?
Most Greek dishes are not vegan friendly. I’d be open to try vegan versions though.
4. What incredibly common thing have you never done?
I’ve never had Botox.
5. What is a telltale sign that you’re upset?
I’m a talker. I was once told that I tried to talk even after being put under to have my wisdom teeth out.
When I get completely quiet, you know I’m upset.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Sunday, I finished reading this book . . .
Joyce reviewed it a week or two on her blog, so when I needed something new to read, I checked it out.
I don’t often cry when I read a book. I did with this one. What Japanese Americans endured during this dark period of history was shameful.
Alright, y’all! Have a wonderful week! Auburn kicks off its first game Friday night. I’m sure we will gather with friends somewhere to watch.
After an extremely busy week, I was ecstatic to see Friday roll around.
After making my usual cup of tea, I got down to the business of the day.
We had a serious issue with one of our databases last Monday, which rendered it unavailable all week. Fortunately, IT fixed it Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately. I had to input three and a half days worth of data first thing Friday morning. Whew!
I’m grateful that God blessed me with a tech-minded skill set because I’d created an Excel spreadsheet that mimicked the database, so importing everything was a breeze.
My day literally flew by. By lunchtime, my brain was mush.
I normally take leftovers each day, but I’d gone through all of them by Thursday, so I ordered in Friday.
I’m convinced that chips and salsa are the fix for everything.
My colleagues and I hightailed out of there at 4:45. I don’t think we could have strung two coherent sentences together.
The Mr. and I opted for an easy dinner before settling in to watch the first two episodes of the second season of Wednesday.
This is a strange show that I have to mentally separate myself from every time I watch it. I do love the nostalgic nods to the original television series.
After reading awhile, I called it a night.
Saturday
I managed to sleep until 6am Saturday. Go me!
I sipped a cup of tea and played my word games.
I love the Emoji game, which is part of the Apple News offerings.
Mr. and I watched the last day of 21 Days of Prayer, which my church does twice a year.
After church, I had to reach out to Amazon’s customer service because we were charged for a pair of pants we returned the first week of July.
Have y’all ever tried to contact an actual person at Amazon?
This is one of the most frustrating experiences ever!
There’s a live chat feature that, if you’re lucky and persistent enough to hunt for, is available.
I’d contacted them TWICE before Saturday regarding these pants, which they claimed they never received. We always opt to drop off our items at Kohls. Kohls will return Amazon purchases, and we always get a 20% store coupon in the process.
It was a mess.
The rep I talked to refunded my money and provided the following instructions for accessing the chat:
For the record, these instructions didn’t work for me, but hey, it’s worth a try next time, eh?
It was a tech-help sort of day, y’all, because later that day, I tried to help the Mr. get into one of his apps.
I’m starting to feel my age. Things are getting more difficult as technology gets more complicated.
Fortunately, and I give all credit to the Lord, we finally got him in. My legs were actually shaking by that time. I despise tech snafus.
I took it easy the rest of the day. I did my PT exercises, and we had some football games playing on the TV. It was Week 0, so there weren’t a lot of games.
Sunday
I slept until my alarm went off at 7, y’all! Yay me!
Hubby and I attended church and then spent a quiet afternoon doing our Sunday chores.
I finished a book while keeping an eye on the U.S. Open.
We got in a nice little FaceTime session with our oldest grandchild. She’s going to be five in a few months, so her conversational skills are at the point where we can actually go back and forth for a few minutes.
It was nice to catch up with my sweet son. He’s working his way through an online MBA program, so I enjoyed hearing how his first week of class went.
I watched a bit more tennis before tuning the television to Big Brother.
I read a free short story I’d downloaded form this month’s Prime First Reads.
I did not enjoy this. The topic was disturbing, and the characters were unlikable. I rated it ⭐️⭐️
I’m at the ten-week post-surgery milestone, y’all!
This week has been the best so far during this recovery.
The turnaround began last Wednesday when I woke up, I immediately noticed that I didn’t have much pain. I also realized that the back of my bad shoulder seemed to have loosened up a bit.
One of the things that I’ve experienced post-surgery with both shoulders has been severe stiffness. The first shoulder (my left one) was very tight in the front of my shoulder.
I remember the day the left shoulder loosened up. I was at work walking out of the bathroom when I felt a pop – a release really – in that shoulder. It scared me a little, but I didn’t have any pain, and from that point forward, my progress amped up.
The right shoulder (the one I had surgery on in June) has been different, with the stiffness being in the back of my shoulder blade.
Wednesday morning, a lot of that stiffness was GONE! I never felt a release like the other shoulder. I suspect something probably happened while I was sleeping.
I spent Thursday and Friday cautiously optimistic – not wanting to count my chickens before they’d hatched, but y’all, I felt so much lighter without the heaviness of the extreme pain I’ve been carrying around since last September.
What a turnaround from the fear I’d been enveloped in Wednesday night after I’d suddenly reached for a piece of fruit I had dropped and had completely scared myself.
Thank you for your prayers. All seems to be well.
I had physical therapy last Thursday and mentioned what had happened the night before. My therapist was not concerned at all. He said that the sudden movement was to blame for the pain, but that he didn’t think I’d hurt my shoulder again – especially since the pain had abated after a few minutes.
I wasn’t even too sore after physical therapy that day, which reassured me a lot.
I’m sleeping a lot better. In fact, I started sleeping in my bed Saturday night! Hallelujah!!
I’m making it through the work day without the use of a pillow under my arm.
Last week, I asked my physical therapist to define exactly what I’m currently allowed to do and, most importantly, what I cannot do. I need parameters because I’m an overachiever who tries to do the most when I’m not supposed to.
He encouraged me to start using my right arm to brush my teeth, wash my hair, and reach into a cabinet.
I cannot reach the cabinets above my kitchen counters yet. I still need more time in physical therapy. This took awhile for my first shoulder, so I’m not worried.
I have a very hard time putting deodorant on under my left arm because my right arm will not stretch across my body. I can’t shave that armpit either. This will get better in time.
I can reach for my computer mouse and over the edge of my desk a bit to write things down.
As far as what I cannot do, my physical therapist expressly told me not to lift anything over one pound. He didn’t say I can’t push or pull anything, but my surgeon had laid out these restrictions for me during my last visit, so I’ve been following them from the get-go.
I also learned, the hard way, that I am not ready to drive yet.
Saturday, I decided that after the good days I’d had with less pain, I wanted to go for a test drive. I had a library book on hold and figured that since the library wasn’t too far away, it would be an easy drive.
The last time I had driven was the day before my surgery – mid June. I couldn’t remember when I started driving after my first surgery. It seems like it was some time in February – possibly March.
The drive started out fine, although I had to use my left arm to reach over and down to change the car from park to reverse to drive. I cannot pull anything with my right arm yet.
By the time I got to the library, my shoulder was on fire. Turning my head to look over my right shoulder was incredibly difficult and painful.
It’s crazy how the smallest movements can absolutely rock your world when your body is a hot mess.
When I got home, I had to sheepishly tell the Mr. that he had been right. He had tried to dissuade me from my Miss Independent excursion.
So, driving is still off of the table for me. Boo.
I hit an upswing Sunday, and every day since then was good.
I had physical therapy yesterday, and my therapist immediately noticed that my arm is hanging a little more normally when I walk. It was also noticeably less stiff when he stretched me out.
He ran me through my paces with the bands, and yes, I’ll probably be feeling all of the things tomorrow, but this is not a whole lot different than a workout in the gym.
D told me that twelve weeks is the magic point where the soft tissues have healed enough to incorporate more rigorous strength training, so I have a couple more weeks to go before I’m pumping the heavy weights.
And by heavy, I mean one pounders. 🤣
Thank you for your continued prayers as I gingerly make my way through this lengthy recovery process. I sure do appreciate them!
Happy Wednesday, y’all! Thank you for visiting my little corner of the internet world.
I hope your week is finding you well. Classes started back Monday, and I have to say that I absolutely adore the energy that these college students bring to campus.
Even though the traffic is horrendous, the joys of living in my favorite college town and working on campus far outweigh everything else.
I’m not that impatient of a person, so I honestly don’t mind waiting in line for things.
Waiting to board a plane that’s about to take me to my grand babies’ house is definitely worthy of a line.
I don’t mind waiting in line to be seated at my favorite restaurant.
Waiting to get into the football stadium to watch my beloved Auburn Tigers play is something else I don’t mind. Hello football season!
2. Tell us about a favorite food related memory.
My favorite food-related memory is recreated every time I have both of my kiddos and their families under my roof.
We always try to plan one big family meal with everyone around the table. The Mr. grills something he and the guys have shopped for, and my girls help me prep the sides.
There’s a lot of going inside and out to check on food – lots of chasing grand babies – lots of laughter and pure joy.
Any time I am with my kids, there’s always food and fun involved.
3. What are some things you find particularly peaceful or calming?
Saturday mornings before the Mr. has awakened, and I’m sitting with a cup of tea . . .
Lazy Sunday afternoons with the TV off and my dog snoring beside me . . .
The start of a weekday before everyone else has gotten to the office, and I’m setting up for my day . . .
An overcast evening spent porch sitting, watching the approach of a storm while hearing thunder in the distance . . .
4. Is there something you do now that gets you just as excited as it did when you were a child?
Going to bed Christmas Eve is just as exciting for me now, as a middle-aged adult, as it was when I was a child. I always had trouble going to sleep the night before Christmas, and I still do to this day.
Granted, it’s just the Mr. and me nowadays, which makes me sad, but I still love the magic of the night before.
5. To what degree are you in touch with friends from grade school? high school? college if you attended college?
I moved a lot when I was in elementary school. I don’t remember any friends from those years.
My life settle down after we moved to a tiny town in Alabama. I went to school with the same group of kids from sixth grade through 12th grade, and I still keep in touch with many of them. Our class numbered 18 on graduation day. Social media has made it easy to keep up with everyone.
I have never, though, attended a class reunion. We had our first one when my daughter was starting kindergarten, and I didn’t want to miss that day.
I think they had an impromptu one years later, which I regret not attending. It was the last time our class was complete as one of our classmates passed away from cancer a short time later. I had no idea that she was sick. I had an appointment with the surgeon who’d operated on my ankle after I had broken it a few weeks before and couldn’t cancel it. This still makes me sad.
I only attended college for a year before I got married, and although I did stay in touch with a couple of people for a while, we eventually stopped communicating. The internet didn’t exist back then, so it was a lot more difficult.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I work in a fishbowl.
Literally.
If you were to visit my office, you’d come in via a glass door that sits beside a floor to ceiling window. My desk is visible from the hallway.
There’s a classroom and two bathrooms a stone’s throw away from my office.
I’m sorely tempted to buy stickers like this one, which I saw in a meme recently.
I can imagine hearing students and staff yelling at the paper towel dispenser.
I’m experimenting with my photo uploads, so there are going to be some inconsistencies with regard to photo sizes.
I have been uploading photos to my WordPress account; however, I have had a Flickr subscription for a number of years, so I want to use what I’ve been paying for.
I compose my blog posts from my phone’s app, so the options I have are limited. I’m finding this to be true of the Flickr app as well. I used to be able to select different sizes for my photos but can’t figure out how to do now. As I get older, I find myself will less desire to figure out such things. I’m looking for the easy button!
Anyhoo, please forgive me for the lack of eye appeal you may occasionally encounter.
Alrighty – onward to my actual post.
Of course, you know I always include Friday because it really does feel like the weekend finally kicks off that day.
During my lunch break Friday, I ran to a local jewelry store and got my Pandora bracelet cleaned. It was tarnished and looked horrible. The store did a great job and didn’t even charge me!
A stop by Toomer’s Corner for a cup of lemonade afterward was a must.
When I got home from work, I immediately changed into my pajamas.
The Mr. and I started a new Amazon Prime TV series, Butterfly.
I have loved Daniel Dae Kim since his days on Lost.
We watched the first two episodes. I’d rate them as a 3.75. Some of the acting is decent. The action scenes are great. I’m concerned that the storyline is going to conclude in a predictable fashion. There are only six episodes, so at least this won’t be a long-term investment of time.
I finished a book after we turned off the TV.
This was a free Prime First Reads download. It didn’t live up to the hype. The basic facts are correct; however, the author added too much fiction for my liking, and there were some graphic descriptions and verbiage that were unnecessary.
I was ready for bed after closing my Kindle.
I woke up a little after 5 am Saturday. I just cannot seem to be able to sleep in.
My church is starting its third week of 21 Days of Prayer, so we put that on the TV at 9.
Afterwards, I ran to the library to pick up a book I’d placed on hold.
The night before, I’d watched a trailer for Sarah’s Oil, which is coming out in November.
The movie is based on a true story.
Hence, my trip to the library.
I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon icing my shoulder.
Gambit sat with me, as he’s wont to do whenever I’m home.
Yes, he’s sitting on me. This old guy is just one big baby.
Midway through the day, I stretched out on the couch for a much-needed nap.
We watched a couple more episodes of Butterfly before heading to bed.
Sunday morning, we attended church. With the college students starting classes today, the place was packed.
I’ll share notes on the sermon later this week.
I changed into something comfortable when I got home because chores are messy business (and I usually wear the outfit from church to work later in the week).
I also prepared a bottle of my ginger-turmeric juice.
I peeled the fruit by myself, but the Mr. had to help me with the juicing. I could feel my rotator cuff in my good shoulder getting angry from overuse.
After all of that, plus the cleanup, I stopped to relax and ice my shoulders (plural because both were quite sore this weekend).
I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, playing my word games, and simply enjoying the beautiful view from my window.
Sunday evening, I watched the latest Big Brother episode, read a bit, texted my girl about ordering my grandson a birthday present, and chatted with a friend.
Gambit, meanwhile, got a head start on his sleep . . .
There’s not too much to report during my ninth week of recovery from my second shoulder surgery.
The week was a bit of a roller coaster ride with good and bad moments.
I experienced random stretches of extreme pain – where I was brought to tears.
Eventually, the discomfort dialed down a few notches.
I am still working on finding a sleeping setup that works well on a consistent basis. Sleep deprivation is hard after almost a year of this.
There have been some good moments.
I had a couple of decent nights of sleep. Yay!
Yesterday, I woke up without much pain, and I wasn’t even very sore when the Mr. picked me up from work.
In fact, it was the best day I’d had in months.
Unfortunately, I scared myself later in the evening when I dropped a strawberry and suddenly jerked my right arm to grab it.
Oh. My. Goodness.
The pain in my shoulder took my breath away.
Fortunately, nothing popped, and the pain dissipated, but I’m still freaked out.
I’m monitoring myself to see how I feel today and will definitely discuss what happened when I go to physical therapy this afternoon.
I was supposed to go yesterday, but the office called and rescheduled it due to my therapist being out.
God knew, y’all.
Please say a prayer for me. I don’t think I re-injured myself, but I’m scared because of everything I’ve been through this past year. I’m over analyzing every ache and pain and driving myself a little crazy with worry.
During my last appointment, my surgeon specifically told me not to jerk my arm. He’s only had one or two patients tear their rotator cuffs after surgery because they did something like this. I couldn’t bear the thought of starting over again.
I’m so thankful for Joyce and her fun link up each week.
I apologize for not getting back to many of you last week. Work has been crazy, and when I get home each day, I’m exhausted. I’ll try to do better this week.
Alrighty – let’s get to the questions now.
1. August is National Golf month…do you play? Do you enjoy following golf? Have you ever been to a professional tournament?
I can play putt putt. I’ve also been to Top Golf. Do these count?
I’ve never played a round of “real” golf though. It will never be in my wheelhouse. I doubt I have the strength, eyesight, or accuracy to get anything off of a tee.
I don’t really follow golf, but I don’t mind watching the big tournaments. I’ve also never been to a professional tournament.
2. Astronaut Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 fame passed away this past Thursday. Are you interested in outer space and what’s happening today in terms of space exploration? If space travel became common in your lifetime would you go? How do you personally relate to the idea of exploring something vast and mysterious…does the idea excite you, intimidate you, or something else?
I have always been fascinated with space. One of my favorite field trips was to a planetarium when I was in elementary school.
As a Christian, the discoveries that are made increase my awe of God and how He ordered the universe. What beauty and creativity, not to mention sheer power, are in His mighty hands.
Despite my love for all things space-related, I’ll keep my feet firmly planted on Earth except for the occasional airline flight to see my grand babies.
I see nothing wrong with exploring vast and mysterious things, but we need to be mindful of Who created everything. We are not owed answers. It is my belief that many mysteries are intended to remain undiscovered and unknown until the day the Lord chooses to reveal them to us, which He may never do.
3. Describe your communication style in three words.
Verbose
Flowery
Mindful
4. Do you have a favorite cookbook? A favorite celebrity chef? Do you watch any cooking shows on TV?
Although I prepare a lot of recipes from Instagram posts I come across, my go-to recipe book is this one.
I’ve been following Megan Gilmore for almost ten years. She has three or four cookbooks. All of them are fantastic.
I don’t have a favorite celebrity chef, nor do I follow any cooking shows. I used to, but life got busy, so I curtailed what I was watching.
5. As a child did you have any back to school traditions? If so, did you carry on those same traditions with your own children? Do you have any back to school traditions you’ve started on your own?
I can’t remember any back-to-school traditions from when I was growing up. I attended a small private school in a tiny country town. I don’t remember going shopping for clothes or school supplies. Was that even a thing back in the 80’s?
When my children were younger, we did go shopping for clothes and supplies. It seemed as though they’d outgrown everything by the time August rolled around.
Backpacks always needed replacing, and the kids certainly couldn’t start off a new year with old crayons and pencils.
Funny story.
I was a stay at home mom for eight years, and money was tight, so I shopped sales and often maxed out my savings by submitting store rebates. One year, I bought drug store brand crayons (Walgreens, I think) when it was time to get school supplies. My kids were in elementary school, so they went through a lot of crayons and markers.
My kids were okay’ish when I told them I was buying the off brand; however, this decision became an epic parent fail when my kiddos discovered that these crayons were horrible. They did not color well at all, let me tell you, and I finally caved and bought them good old Crayola brand from that point forward. I think they were a little traumatized. 🤣
We talked about this for years. Bless it.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Last week, I asked one of our student workers who stayed in town during the summer to make a copy for me.
I got a blank stare in return.
Y’all, she didn’t know how to make a copy.
She’s used the copier to scan documents and email them to us, but she had no idea how to actually make a copy.
Despite the fact that every generation since mine (Gen X) has grown up with computers and other fancy tech gizmos, the up and coming kiddos don’t know how to complete basic tasks, like make a copy or edit a PDF.
Back when I was a classroom teacher, I remember my students not knowing that Ctrl C was for copy and Ctrl V was for paste.
It’s not just those kinds of skills that are lacking.
The ability to answer a call professionally, take a message, ask someone how to spell a name, and even repeat a phone number are soft skills that have to be taught.
I enjoy working with the students in our office because these are skills that will set them apart when looking for employment in the future.
AuburnChick's Adventures 