Where has the month gone?

It doesn't seem possible that July is almost gone - 1 day left. It seems like just last week was July 4th and our anniversary.

July 3rd Bible study started. There has never been a summer Bible study at Bethel before, so I didn't know what to expect. When the spring study ended in March, the ladies all said they didn't want to wait until September to have another study. However, I knew I needed to take some time after surgery (March 24th) for rehab and healing. We prayed for the Lord's leading in this matter and His leading was to do a summer study. We also prayed asking for leading in what study to do. The Lord definitively led us to Beth Moore's "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things." I then prayed that the Lord would put the ladies He wanted in the study. I had very low expectations as far as numbers went since it is summer. However, the Lord had other things planned. There are 14 ladies in the morning session and 12 in the evening session. I figured considering normal attrition of 50%, after the first couple weeks, there might be 6 ladies in the morning and maybe 6 in the evening. Again the Lord had other things in mind. There have been absolutely no drop outs! I am humbled and thankful. I enjoy leading the studies and the ladies keep me challenged with their questions. I love research and generally I wind up with at least one or two questions that need more biblical research after each session. It's hard to believe that there are only 3 weeks left.

Something else that has been keeping us busy is running to the doctor with my 97 year old aunt. She is developing aches and pains that are normal for her age, but since she's never had aches and pains she wants to go to the doctor each time something new comes up. We have been to the doctor's at least once each week since the beginning of June (he has found nothing wrong). Besides the visits to the medical doctor have come visits to the ophthalmologist for cataract surgery. She had her right eye done 4 years ago and has procrastinated getting her left eye done. She finally made the decision in June to have it done. So since July 14th, we have been at the eye doctor's each week. She had the surgery July 22nd. She stayed with us for 2 days following surgery to be sure everything was healing the way it was supposed to (which it did). She had an appointment today for her 1 week post op visit and the doctor was very pleased. She has one more appointment to get new glasses the middle of August. Hopefully we won't be running to the doctor's quite as frequently now.

We are also trying to get out and ride our bikes every day or every other day. We have biked over 200 miles since we got our new bikes June 2nd. Our longest ride so far is 14.5 miles. We are routinely biking 10-11 miles. Our average speed has increased from 9 MPH to 12 MPH. We have many bike routes that we enjoy. My favorite is biking out to the beach which is about 6 miles each way. The route takes us along the edge of Palma Sola Bay and it's interesting to see the different birds that inhabit the shore. We routinely see great blue herons, brown pelicans, egrets, ospreys, roseate spoonbills.

Well, I'll close as this post is long enough.

Wa-Hoo!!

Today we biked 12.5 miles! We have been trying to get past the 10-11 mile threshhold for several weeks. Today we did it! We biked down along the eastern edge of Palma Sola Bay which was just beautiful. There are many beautiful homes along the shore and looking out over the bay with the accompanying wildlife was just fantastic. The road along the bay is lightly traveled and the pavement is smooth for biking. Our next milestone will be 15 miles.

Tomorrow night we're supposed to do the same ride with friends. That will also be a milestone - biking 12+ miles 2 days in a row! However, the weather is supposed to be dicey at best, so we'll see if we can get the ride in.

Our Anniversary

Today was our 42nd wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem possible - where have the last 42 years gone? I can remember when we were newly married, friends of ours were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. We thought that was FOREVER!! And here we are celebrating 42 years. We went out for a bike ride ride this morning. We were hoping to do 12 miles (we've been averaging 10-11 miles a day), but after 9 miles we were totally trashed. We biked out towards the beach realizing that we had a tail wind going out which meant we would have a strong headwind on the way back home. Boy, did we!!! Normally our average speed is about 12 MPH. On the way home we barely hit 8 MPH. There is a bridge over Palma Sola Bay and on the way down off the bridge, we normally hit 20+ MPH. On the way home, our high speed was 14 MPH. Like I said a wicked headwind!! When we got home, we headed for the pool and soaked for about 2 hours.

This evening, we went on a dinner cruise on Sarasota Bay. It's something we've wanted to do since we moved down here and just haven't done it. Being our anniversary gave us the perfect excuse to do it. It was lovely. The food was yummy (prime rib and salmon) and the scenery fantastic. There was a complete double rainbow the entire cruise!






All in all, it was a wonderful day!

Update

Nothing exciting going on. We've been enjoying riding our bikes almost on a daily basis. We're trying to build up our endurance so we can do some of the rails to trails down here. We're up to 8 miles a day working on being able to bike 10 miles. We also got a new bike rack for the car so we can put the bikes up and drive to different trails around this area. Friday we drove up to Fort DeSoto and rode the bike trail there. It was beautiful - smooth and uncrowded.

The Cubs were in town to play the Tampa Bay Rays last week. It was the first time they had been to Tropicana Field. We went to the game on Tuesday. Unfortunately the Cubs lost. But we enjoyed being at the game. We had been to one other Cubs game since we moved. They played the Florida Marlins who play in Dolphins stadium in Miami.

I had my last ortho doctor's appointment on Monday. The doctor said he was blown away by my recovery and wishes all of his patients had my self motiviation and discipline. He stated it would make his job a whole lot easier. I don't have to go back until next March - the 1 year anniversary of having my knees replaced. I really hadn't realized how much arthritis had "stolen" from me. The decline in the function of my knees was so insidious that on a daily basis I didn't notice any difference. But over the long haul, I now realize how "crippled" I had become.

I'll close for now, chores are calling.

Nice and Quiet

Our schedule has been blissfully quiet. Other than normal activities (church, choir, taking my aunt shopping), nothing out of the ordinary has been going on.

Friday we met Eric and Sarah at a movie theater and saw the new Indiana Jones movie. We had been to see it before and it was so good we wanted to see it again. After the movie we came home and went in the pool for an hour or so and then grilled hamburgers. After eating, we spent the night scrapbooking and watching "National Treasure - Book of Secrets" another great movie.

Monday we bought new bikes. Our old bikes are 32 years old and we figure they have somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 miles on them. The only original equipment left on them are the frame, wheels and seat - everything else has been replaced at one time or another. They have served us well, but we figured it was time for their retirement! The bikes we got are 21 speed Trek bikes with seat suspension and front fork suspension. What a different ride! Shifting gears is now a pleasure as opposed to a chore. We've also ordered a new bike rack for the car. We're now looking forward to putting the bikes on the car and exploring parts of Florida we haven't done before.

Tuesday afternoon, Aunti Vi's step-grandaughter (and her husband) and Aunti Vi came out and visited for a little while. We then went to dinner at a restaurant out on the island that fronts right on the gulf. The restaurant isn't fancy, but it does have good food!

Yesterday we took groceries down to Aunti Vi - she didn't want to go out as she was tired from having company. We also had choir last night.

The rest of this week is wide open. We'll probably spend some time swimming and biking. I also need to continue to prep for Bible study which starts July 3rd.

Today was a great day!

I have been trying to figure out a way to recap the last 2 months. I have several drafts but haven't been happy with them. So -- I've decided I'm just going to start fresh and not try and catch up.

Today was a wonderful day. We went for a bike ride early this afternoon. It is so incredible to be back on my bike again! I haven't been able to ride for over 2 years because of my knees, but after surgery, I am now able to ride pain free! After we got home from biking, we spent 2 hours in the pool, not doing much of anything except floating. By this time it was time to come in and start dinner. After dinner, we walked up to DeSoto Park to watch the sunset. It's a mile each way to the park. Again, 2 months ago, I couldn't even think about walking that far. When we got home, we just sat and cooled down. We may head for the pool again. The water is 90 degrees and the air temp is about 82.

Tomorrow will be another day like today if nothing comes up. We are thoroughly enjoying these down days.

April Update

Where to begin? Where I left off (March 24th)? Current?? 4 weeks with no post - much to update - probably too much for one post -

I'll start with today and work backwards - today was my birthday. Didn't do a whole lot. We talked about going over to Disney but decided not to. We swam this afternoon - the pool is 90 degrees. The main problem today was the air temp was 80 and breezy, so it was cool when we got out of the water. However, it did feel good to swim again. We also were able to swim yesterday - the pool was 92 degrees - again the air temp was cool (80'ish) but the water was delightful! After we swam, we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in Sarasota for dinner. We came home by way of the island drive (Bird Key, St. Armand's Key, Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island) and parked by the beach and watched the sunset. It was just beautiful! Yesterday we took Aunti Vi to the doctor. No major problems - she just wanted reassurance from the doctor about a few issues she's having. Basically the doctor said if everyone was in the shape she is, we would have a lot less people "pushing up daisies." After the doctor's appointment, we took her grocery shopping and then home.

Last week, was doctor's appointments for me. Monday, I had my first post-op ortho doctor's appointment. He's thrilled with my progress and told me I was way ahead of the normal recovery curve. The only issue is the flexion in my knees. My right knee flexes 92 degrees and my left knee 91 degrees. He wants both flexing at 120 degrees. I reminded him prior to surgery I had about 80 degrees of flexion in both knees! Tomorrow I have my first outpatient ohysical therapy session. We'll see if I've gained any more flexion in the last 2 weeks (I have been working on my flexion independently). Tuesday was my post op appointment with my family doctor. He too is thrilled with my progress and said I didn't need to come back for 6 or 7 months (which is when I'm due for my annual physical).

Wednesday was choir. It felt good to be back even though I didn't go up on the platform. Just seeing everybody and sing along felt great! Friday night we went out to dinner with friends who are leaving to go back north for the summer this weekend.

Well I'll close for now - this post is long enough. More later.