Thankful Thursday: April 3, 2025

I Am Thankful For:

A beautiful day for travel

A yummy brisket sandwich

The motion sickness glasses seemed to help

Visiting my grandfather's grave

Discovering more about my family history

Genealogy libraries

The new moon

Being home again

Early to bed

Sunday breakfast

Finally getting some rain

Chocolate

Tulips blooming

Watermelon

A quiet day

The pear tree in bloom

April

A new book

A project completed

A misty day

The Best of March

In like a lion - out like a lamb.  That's what they say about March. March is carried in on the cold winds of Winter. And flies out on the warm breezes of Spring.

March celebrated Mardi Gras. It had us changing our clocks for the start of Daylight Savings. She brought us a lunar eclipse during the full Worm Moon. And saw the balance and rebirth that hails the Spring Equinox. 

March is a busy month for birthday celebrations in my family.  I wished my mother, my son in law, my cousin's husband, and my uncle a happy birthday this month.

On the blog we talked about keeping your knees healthy in midlife and beyond. This was inspired by an unexpected trip back to my Orthopedist when I once again experience pain in the knee I had surgery on last fall.  

I put my love of books to work in March and started volunteering at my local library.  It is a dream come true to spend a few hours each week shelving books and reading the shelves.  It's not doing my endless TBR list any favors though as I discover interesting looking books in the process.

In March I read "One Dark Window " by Rachel Gillig, "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, and "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" by Kim Michelle Richardson. I also started listening to  "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old" by Brooke Shields. 

At the end of the month I went to west Tennessee with my father to visit the town where his biological father grew up. We visited his grave and those of his parents.  We spent time at the local historical and genealogical library and learned some things about the family.  It was a worthwhile trip.

All in all, March was a good month.  The world may be burning down, but I am still able to find joy in my little part of it.

How was your March?

Sunday Inspiration: Opportunities

 

Thankful Thursday: March 27, 2025

I Am Thankful For:

My husband and son going on a weekend fishing trip

Having nothing to do

Having time to clean out kitchen cabinets and reorganizing 

Self care day

"Girl Dinner"

Reading late into the night

The guys are back home

Morning at the library

Healthy lunch

All the clean laundry is folded

Beautiful blue skies

Doggy smiles

Healthy Knees in Midlife and Beyond

This post is in no way intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new healthcare regimen.  Never disregard medical advice or delay seeking help because of something you read on this website.

Last summer I had an "injury" to my knee.  I put quotes around "injury" because, well... let me just explain. I was sitting on the ottoman throwing a toy for the dogs to fetch.  As the game finished I stood up and turned to walk into to the next room.  That’s when I felt a POP and a sudden pain in my knee. I couldn't put any weight on my knee without excruciating pain for about 30 minutes.  Then I felt a smaller POP and the worst of the pain eased up.  A trip to Urgent Care, Xrays, a visit to the Sports Medicine doctor, a MRI, and a consultation with an Orthopedist later - I was having surgery to remove "loose bodies" (loose bits of cartilage and bone) from the knee. 

All was well until a couple of weeks ago.  I say down to have a cup of tea and read.  I put my feet up on the ottoman, and as I straightened my legs there was suddenly an intense pain in that same knee.  I couldn't straightened it all the way due to the pain, and walking was also painful.   It was almost exactly the same as last summer but without the POP sensation. I was back to the Orthopedist for more Xrays. I have some osteoarthritis in the knee, and there l ossifications located at the fibular head. No surgery recommended right now, but at some in my future I'll be needing a knee replacement. 

I was feeling very alone in my experiences with knee problems, until I read an article from AARP that said joint pain can be a common symptom in menopause. Other common causes of knee pain iinclude typical wear-and-tear, osteoarthritis, and injuries. 

My Orthopedist explained it to me that some people have bones and cartilage like oak, and some like pine.  If you have oak floors in a home, they can take a lot of walking on and will hold up for the lifetime of the house. If the floors are pine, after many years they will start to show signs of wear.  Apparently, mine are like pine. 

Fortunately, there are things we can do to protect our knees and keep them healthy for as long as possible.

• Stick with low-impact exercise to minimize stress on your knees. Examples include: walking, swimming, biking, and elliptical training. Avoid or limit high impact exercise or those with a lot of contact or sudden pivots.
• Do exercises that strengthen your hamstrings and quadriceps.  These muscles support the knee joints.
• Stretching regularly to improve flexibility, and as a warm-up before exercise to prevent injury.
• Maintain a healthy weight to reduce pressure on the knees.
• Wear shoes with good support and cushioning. 

Taking care of our knees can keep us active through midlife and well into the senior years.  And isn't that something we all hope for?

Sunday Inspiration: Spring

 

Thankful Thursday: March 20, 2025

 

I Am Thankful For:

Opening windows to air out the house

Family resemblance

8 hours of sleep

The Lunar Eclipse

The full moon

Errands and lunch with my husband

Irish whiskey

Finishing a crochet project

And starting a new one

My husband cooking breakfast for me

Sunshine after the storms 

Feeling cute

A delicious Irish stew

Guinness

Adding to my TBR list while volunteer at the library

A Spring breeze

Sunday Inspiration: Dreams and Kindness

 

Thankful Thursday: March 13, 2025

 

I Am Thankful For:

My daffodils about to bloom

My daughter

A quick appointment with the orthopedist

Small local businesses

My son

Oil change done

Getting a same day vet appointment

My grandsons 

A trip to the garden center

Beginning a new routine

Laundry put away

My husband

Crepes for Breakfast

My little dog is feeling better

Reporting plants

Insightful book discussions

Unhurried mornings

Our son-in-law

Planning a short trip

Old family pictures

Volunteering at the library

Sunday Inspiration: Lock it Up

 

Thankful Thursday: March 6, 2025

 

I Am Thankful For:

Volunteering hours scheduled

Things starting to get back to normal

Cozy mornings

Ruining errands

A day without needing muscle relaxers

Family

A Spring-like day

February is over

Brownies and ice cream

My husband making breakfast for me

Family safe from local wild fires

My husband

A pain-free day

Clean doggos

A good check-up for Max

Daffodils blooming 

Pancakes for dinner 

Lunch with my husband

Sunday Inspiration: Risk

February Flashbacks

I am so thankful that February is a short month. I am oh-so-ready to put this month behind me! I definitely don't want two or three more days of the energy that February brought. 

The most popular post on the blog for Febrary was actually the first Sunday Inspiration post of the month, followed closely behind by "A Giant Pain in the Back" where we talked some tips for dealing with back pain that often comes along in midlife. 

It was a quiet month in our house.  Especially for me. Honestly, I spent most of February lying on the couch.  Not by choice.

First, I caught a nasty head cold that knocked me off my routine for a few days.  Just as that started to clear up, I somehow hurt my back.  The back pain ranged from sore one day and annoying the next for almost two weeks and then suddenly went straight to excruciating.   

A trip to the Dr led to a diagnosis of "probable herniated disc", a prescription for prednisone and muscle relaxers and two weeks of rest to allow it to heal.  Fortunately things have greatly improved.  As I draw toward the end of the second week of rest,   it's still a little achy, but SO much better than before. I no longer spend the first few of hours of my day almost crying from the pain.  A few days ago I experienced the first shower in a couple of weeks that I wasn't miserable and rushing to get it over with. Yesterday was the first day I haven't needed to take any of the muscle relaxers.  Yay!

Because of all this, Valentine's Day was at home, quiet, and extremely low-key.  We had homemade pizzas for dinner and the Mr picked up a delicious chocolate pie for dessert.  He gave me a couple of books from my list and some chocolates. I gave him a game pin from the Ravens/Browns game we went to last month. (He collects them from each game we go to and somehow this one got lost in the process of traveling home from Baltimore, so i found a placement.)

We celebrated our youngest grandson's second birthday this month.  I had almost forgotten how fun birthdays are at that age.  He was having so much fun and was so excited about opening presents and his cake. 

I am excited to say that earlier this month I turned into my application to volunteer at the local library and received a call this week that it has been approved.  Starting next month, I'll be helping out one morning a week. This is like a dream come true for me.  I have loved the library since I was a very little girl, and I can't wait to give back to a place that has given me so much joy

And since we're speaking of books - this month I read four books and listened to one. My audio book for this month was "The Pirate's Wife" by Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos.  The four books I read were "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store " by James McBride, "The Boyfriend" by Freida McFadden, "Witchcraft for Wayward Girls" by Grady Hendrix, and "I Need You to Read This" by Jessa Maxwell.   

How was your February?  Any special memories from the month?