Summer Happenings

Some stuff has been happening around here.  I decided it was time to again do something to see if my ankle can be fixed all the way or if this is the limit of my improvement.  My original doctor wanted a CT scan, but the closer it got to the scans, the less settled I was (I was FREAKED OUT by the radiation), so I cancelled them.  The next day I e-mailed my helpful physical therapist, Jake, and he suggested a second opinion.  He even recommended an orthopedist!

I was able to get an appointment the same day, which was wonderful.

Greg drove me there because my car, Clarabelle, was having a spa day (paint protection treatment and oil change), and he came into the office with me, too, which was wonderful.  Thankfully he was on vacation this week and was available, because he took wonderful notes and it was great to be able to share our thoughts and opinions after the appointment.

It was a bit of a drive for us (it's in Scottsdale), but the staff and the doctor were GREAT.  The doctor himself spent almost an hour with us, explaining the three things he thought could be going on, watching me walk, and talking through the MRI with us (which was neat).  His first step was to give me a shot of an anti-inflammatory directly into my ankle.  Then last night I tried doing things I avoided due to pain to test how they felt after the shot.  The medication was temporary, not meant as a fix, but as a diagnostic tool.  Depending on what happened to the pain (I was keeping track of the pain levels in two specific spots: the tendons along the outer side of my ankle and secondly, deep in my ankle when it bends).

 

Here's what I wore.

top: ? (Ross)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
sandals: Sketcher's (Amazon)
purse: Target

This clinic is on Princess Drive.  The scenery was pretty along the drive.

This orthopedist is a specialist in sports medicine, yet in spite of the sports jerseys and photos all over, his office was still nice.  I liked the photography in the waiting room.  There was even an office bulldog (named Achilles)!

I sweated so much during the appointment that all the curls fell out of my hair.  I was dripping.  I don't know if it was because I was nervous or if it was because of the fact that we still haven't figured out my hormone balance since switching medication.  This time of year we also get more humidity.

Here is beautiful Clarabelle after her spa day!

Since Greg and I were prevented from going to Minnesota for our normal time visiting our families by stupid COVID, we tried to make the week a little special by having a Zoom faux-birthday party with my family.  We usually give all the birthday presents for the whole year during our week at the cabin, so we opened those gifts during our video chat.  We also shared chocolate cake (mine is brownies!) and sang Happy Birthday to ourselves and each other.  It was good to see their beautiful faces and remember they still exist for real!

Greg was surprised to find some new surround sound speakers in his gift pile!  They are beautiful and work great!

My brother and his sweet family bought me some stainless steel pans for baking - hooray!  They are shiny and lovely and I'm excited to bake some stuff in there!

It was good to sort of pretend we were in a cooler clime!

During this staying at home, I wanted to spiff things up and bring some new sunshine (without any heat!) into the house.  I bought some lovely new yellow pillows!

The rectangle one is on the bed in the main bedroom.

It brings out the golden color in the painting above the bed.

Some of the chairs in the living room got one . . . 

Doesn't the living room look fresh and happy?

The cats don't notice much of a difference, but I do!

This is us watching online church on Sunday.

Lots of cute cat pictures are coming now . . . 

Relaxed Stephen:

Relaxed Allistair:

Relaxed Claude:

All three babies with Momma:

A dear sweet friend sent me her "home-brewed" honey all the way from Hawaii!

Thank you, lovely Sharon!

The boys appreciated the packaging.

I think they could tell that it came from a magical oasis!

Here are a few outfits I've been wearing lately:

top: Karl Lagerfeld (Ross)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
sandals: Target
purse: Amazon (gift from my parents!)

dress: Target
camisole: JKY by Jockey (Target)
socks & shoes: Target

t-shirt: Target
hat: Adidas (?)

My smoothie matches my skirt!

blouse: Maison Jules (Macy's)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)

BONUS:

Two magical and miraculous natural gifts!

The core of my lettuce!

It looks like an fancy tower!

And this feather, perfectly wedged in the chair.

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Hike Through Juniper Pines

Cindy and I took a day trip up to the mountains to enjoy some time away from home.  Being at home all the time is challenging, even for introverts!  We were both sort of irritable on the drive up, and we did some ranting, by the time we were headed home, we were both relaxed and happy.

Sunset Point was our bathroom stop on the way up, as usual.

"Poisonous snakes and insects inhabit the area." - !!!

When I parked, I noticed there was a sandwich under the car - free of charge!

Cindy wasn't interested.

Also there was FREE pudding!

Wildfires have been burning a lot of acres around Arizona this summer.  The area to the east of Sunset Point was all burned, black, and sad.

The area on the other side was still okay.  Dry (desert), but not burned.

There are the red hills of Sedona!

We decided to try finding available parking near the river, but all the hiking spots and riverside areas were full, so we kept driving up to Flagstaff, where the temperature is usually a further 10 degrees cooler than in Sedona (Sedona is usually 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix in the summer, and Flagstaff is usually about 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix).

We looked on the AllTrails app to find a reasonable hike and found this one through the juniper pines.  It smelled delicious.  

First we had a picnic, since we'd been driving a while.

I took a stuffed pepper with brown rice and baked sweet potato wedges.

Clarabelle (my Nissan Kicks) was happy to be adventuring out in nature!

The trees and the breeze both smelled fresh and clean and wonderful.

Here's our trail.  It was hot in the direct sun, almost chilly in the shade.

There were lots of pinecones:

We walked the path for about an hour.

It was pretty.  We read in the hiking app to start at the end of the hike instead of starting at the beginning, but we didn't know how to do that.  We plan to try again and research a little more beforehand so we can FIND the end of the trail first!

Can you see Clarabelle in the background?

She is happy in the forest.

Here are my footprints in the dirt going both ways!

We stopped in McGuireville on the way back for a potty break.

It was a pretty rest stop.  We were able to see the red hills of Sedona from the rest stop.

And *someone* fell asleep on the way home . . . 

I'm looking forward to another adventure soon!