It is March 15. Clocks turned forward an hour yesterday, normally a cause for irrepressible glee. Let's settle for happy this year. A long absence from work (since Dec. 3) ended today, without resentment, surprisingly, but with an indifference absent from my relationship with NASA before. Even that is okay; life with Randy is my "real" life and work is simply something to do to take care of necessities.
Had a total knee replacement Jan. 11. Mom and Pops invited me to recuperate at their house during the first few weeks, while in-home nursing and physical therapy care was in progress. What a stroke of genius (Mom!!). Two whole weeks of enforced laziness, with not a single responsibility or worry. By day 5, after surgery, I was walking around the house without any external support. Now, three months later, the right leg is improving nicely, but my energy levels are limited. So work, at least for this week, is limited to half-days.
I had a car accident in November and the Echo was totaled. No damage to me, thankfully. Last Thursday, Randy and I replaced my little all-manual gas sipper with a Nissan Murano. It is gorgeous...and decadent. Everything is automatic and there are luxuries that defy imagination. We are taking off this coming weekend, to celebrate my return to work and to take a break from our usual version of reality. I can't wait for some napping during the drive...the passenger seat lies flat and there is a sun roof to watch the clouds and singular blue of heaven while I drift into dream. Randy has some surprises planned...he did find an antique store to turn me loose in, but beyond that, I don't have a clue.
We have a new bed. Big whoop??? You bet! It is a Comfortaire...an air bed with dual controls to determine the firmness/softness on each side. Yes, this is just like the Select Number bed, but it has a far smaller customer base...and is the original air bed. Proportionally, Comfortaire has the best customer satisfaction ratings of ANY bed. Innerspring mattresses, no matter how well made, start to sag after a few years. There is nothing to sag in this bed. There are layers of various types between the air pockets and the mattress topping, so the cats cannot puncture anything and ruin the bed.
Does the bed help with arthritic aches and pains? YES. Randy has not had a back ache in the morning since we got it! My right knee and leg still ache a bit, but other usual stiff joints are barely noticeable.
Last, but not least, we bought each other our big holiday presents for the year. Some great sales landed Randy an SLR camera so he can expand his artistic talent with this media. I have yet to remove the virus that has my laptop computer frozen, and have lusted after something more portable anyway. A sale offered one of these new, tiny netbooks for $250, and I asked Randy for it. May I say now that it is adorable and does everything my desktop did. It has 1GB of memory and 150GB of storage...not much by today's standards, but exactly what my desktop has and more than enough for my purposes. It also has a built-in webcam and microphone!. It weighs a couple of pounds and has a screen that is barely more than 10" in size. This is not a problem, but should it become one, there is a port to connect a regular monitor. It has USB ports, too, of course, and external speakers can be added. It also came ready for use with a wireless network, so nothing more was needed to connect to our wireless account. The battery can last almost 3 1/2 hours without recharging, giving me the freedom to sit outside and write when the mood strikes.
Guess that is all for now. This blog is going to get more use than it did when I first set it up a couple of years ago. After the scare with Kimberly, nearly everyone in the family is familiar with how to use a blog...and well aware of its benefits. You can share your own news and views as a comment (I am fairly sure comments can be hidden, if desired, but will check into that). Pictures, videos from the web, all sorts of things, can be included here, making it a more varied and entertaining mode of communication. There is not enough time anymore to keep up with everyone through email alone, anyway.
As usual, hugs by the bushel are attached. Take as many as you like and pass them around!
Love,
Charlotte
