Happy New Year!

Keiko and Katja wish you all a snuggly, warm and happy New Year! May 2009 bring you fewer hairballs, cleaner litter boxes, extra bouncy toys, juicy mice and lots and lots of bonito flakes!

Oh These Kitties

Yes, I was wondering the same thing. How did that awkward, clumsy Keiko manage to get on top of the bedroom door without falling splat on the floor? Katja I can see... But Keiko?

I can SO Relate!

This poor little Cute Overload kitteh and I are so on the same page... someone send him some flowers and maybe a catnip face mask!

My physical therapist, Mary Edna, says I can go ahead and try a little knitting. She thinks doing some things that will get me back to a more natural habit will be good help in loosening the muscles. She did note that I shouldn't, uh, promise any finished projects anytime in the near future, though. Heh. I found a simple seed stitch hat pattern that I'm going to give a try, provided I can get a good gauge. M.E. also suggested trying some other natural movements, like splashing water on my face. That one didn't go to well since I couldn't really get my hand close enough to my face. I did, however, manage to butter and jam up some toast using my right hand! You may scoff, but if you had seen me in the beginning trying this with my left hand you'd be happy to see my progress with the right. :-)

Overall the day has been boring. The slacker bro was supposed to come up for a visit, but his back is bothering him so he had to pass. Instead, I've been pretty much doing nothing except thinking about the organizing of my living room and looking for some easy knitting patterns to try.

Belated Birthday Posting

I meant to post this ages ago. Well, at least 2.5 or so weeks ago. Suie called me up to wish me a happy birthday and sang me this special birthday song.

Happy birthday to you!
Your elbow's askew,
Although you are broken,
We still all love you!

We really doooooooooooooooo!

Okay, is that not the cutest?

Desk Placement

Thanks to Lisette and Ebru for furniture rearranging. After several machinations we settled on the set up in the picture. We moved my short but long red bookshelf into the bedroom and put it against the north wall, adjacent to the foot of the bed. We then moved the tall bookshelf along the west wall of the living room closer to the living room entrance and put the desk in the corner, flush against the west wall. Lisette used her super human strength to relocate my enormous iMac onto the new desk. I will have to get all the pictures re-hung and there is still a bunch of junk I'll have to find a home for that is currently littering the living room, but progress was made.

Lisette and Ebru also took me shopping and we had sandwiches together. It was a nice afternoon, but as always the visit with them was too brief.

Those Silly Furniture Showrooms

Even after measuring the desk and trying to show that measurement in my apartment, the desk still looks so much bigger then I thought. The mind is easily deceived by the use of space. I can't decide, now, where best to put the new piece, though it is quite lovely. Maybe I'll move my short, but long, bookshelf into the bedroom and put it opposite the foot of my bed and then put the desk against the wall in the living room. Sigh... When I figure it out I'll post a picture.

Now to my morning arm exercises... blech and double blech...

The Day After Christmas

I am back at home now after my little visit to the Humphries Household for Christmas. Boy, did we have a great dinner, a la Suie. Roast pork, veggies, crunchy potatoes, salad. Ian even cut my meat for me! I am totally spoiled!

Sue took me to PT today. Bits of improvement of some things... Can bend the arm to about 125 degrees, straightening is still in the 130 degree range per the doctor's request, pronation at about 80 or 85 degrees. Supination still the struggle. Managed 5 degrees on my own, but not much further with Mary Edna doing her magic. Maybe by next week I'll get it out to 10 degrees. I got copies of my disability paper work in the mail and in the section of physical impairment Kaiser checked me off as Class 5! That's, like, the worst. "Severe limitation of functional capacity; incapable of minimum (sedentary) activity (75-100%)." Yikes! Class 4 is "moderate limitation of functional capacity; capable of clerical/administration (sedentary) activity (60-70%)." I guess Class 5 is on target for my current state, even though it sounds so awful. If I had to go back to work right now, it would be seriously hard. I'm not even sure I could get through a full day. As it is, even doing little things part of the day, like going out to lunch or socializing, is exhausting. But I think that will start getting better soon, as I try to do a bit more each day. My mood has been pretty good this week. Some little rough spots just before time for pain meds, but overall okay.

Tonight I am off to the Walrus Arms for dinner. I'm really looking forward to it...