Five weeks

... plus two days. Doing well! Doctors, PTs, and especially my husband, tell me that they are happy with my progress.
What do I say? Ha-ha, my patience is tested ... but I am grateful! No regrets.

Lots has happened in this time ... and I didn't get around to blogging. So, now what? I think I have to blog in several sections. I will try to organize myself.

Not much indian summer this year. We had some warm days. I was able to go for my first walk here on November 7. Since then I did one 1 mile walk and enjoyed it very much too. But, that chance is rare because most of the time it is very cold and we also had a lot of rain. Where are those nice days?

I knew I was going to be stationary for a while and had prepared the binding on this latest quilt so I could the hand sewing on the sofa with the leg up. James was eager to put it up on the high wall the next day.

Twice a week I have to go to physical therapy now, have a list of exercises I am supposed to do at home. Riding a stationary bike for 10 minutes every day was highly recommended so the gym in our community is very handy. More or less around the corner I could even drive myself from the beginning. I must say that for somebody who never cared about sports I am doing pretty well.

Saturday November 17 we celebrated Caleb's 5th birthday (which will be a separate blog). But in the evening we also had our first Richmond Forum. James had been very concerned whether I could endure the long sitting and had called in advance whether they could change us to handicapped seats but they told him that they were all reserved. When we were there we asked an usher. She was so nice and called the head-usher which did find seats for us and it was great! The speaker, the astronaut Captain Scott Kelly, was both brilliant and funny. 

For the next day, Sunday November 18, we had our next Richmond Opera. As you can see: Don Giovanni. Our tickets are for the matinee but before that there is always a free lecture. The professor is both interesting and amusing. We are enjoying the operas totally differently after  the benefit of the lecture. This one was no exception.

When we went from the lecture to find our seats, James insisted that we would take the elevator for me to save my knee somewhat. (Again, he had called ahead for handicapped seats and they had them.) 

They elevator was attended to by a "little fragile white hair lady" volunteer which had no idea what she was supposed to do. She pressed several buttons at the same time which the computer obviously didn't like because the elevator did a jerk and stopped ... between floors. She was flustered and pulled her telephone out asking "what to do"? She wanted to press more buttons which we persuaded her not to. Well, one of the other guests next to the button panel on the other side (the elevator had a door each on opposite sides) pressed the "call button". A voice came on and asked us how she could help. After asking whether all were o.k. and nobody had breathing problems she promised to send help asap. In a short while I could hear somebody working on the outside panel. When they finally forced the door open I could see that the outside floor was 3 feet lower. I was closest to the door but said I couldn't jump because I just had had a knee operation. So James jumped first. I was told to put my arm around him and another gentleman and was lifted out. A bit embarrassing but I got over it because I found the whole thing rather amusing. First time ever I got stuck in an elevator in my live ... and just at this time?

We made it to our "new" seats just on time (still chuckling) and totally enjoyed it all. The seats made all the difference for me.

Joy can be all around us. This amaryllis bought at LIDL for $4.99 certainly makes me smile every day ... and reminds me of my father.

I couldn't help much with the Church Holiday Market and CR Bazaar but I did what I could and ... most important ... I am getting better every day. And there are lots of things to look forward to.