What We're Loving Wednesday

Let's see if I can keep my streak of posts alive that don't get censored from Abi and go 4 for 4. When I was on Facebook half my posts would get censored by her for some reason...

For this week's What We're Loving Wednesday it was grilling last night...

Abi was able to leave her job early and we decided to grill with our great weather last night. I am the crazy one who was grilling in the snow during a January snowstorm.  Due to me on crutches I can't exactly grill nor would it be safe for me to do it. So I got to play consultant and mentor Abi grilling dinner last night...

I just sat back and hoped that it didn't cause my hair to turn gray while I provided Abi instructions since she rarely uses the grill. Which in fact Abi did a better job than I would have...

The only thing was Abi couldn't understand the directions so I had to help her with them so I guess I can claim that I officially contributed to the dinner. The finished burger was soo great that I eat mine too fast to take a picture of it..

Maggie spent the evening in sensory overload with all of the sounds of frogs and canadian geese in the backyard...

We also love Weber's Grilling Spray since its better than any non stick spray because when you spray it directly on the hot grill you don't get massive flames. This is something I found in Lowes a couple of years ago and I buy two or three cans at a time. It's well worth the extra money to be safe when grilling...

  That's just a glimpse of what We Are Loving This Wednesday thanks to my IPhone...

Boring Life In Pictures Thanks to an IPhone

Up until moving back to North Carolina this fall. I always pleaded with Abi for "a lazy weekend" because she always was wanting to do something. I loved being able to just get caught up on rest and being able to watch whatever ballgame or NASCAR Race which Abi has never understood. Now that I am on crutches and unable to drive. I look forward to doing thing's on the weekend even if its just going to the grocery store. Poor Abi just looks forward to the weekends since she is basically having to do the chores of two since I am worthless at doing just about anything productive. This weekend was just that. A weekend to get caught up around the house. We (ALL ABI) used this weekend to run some errands around town and get caught up around the house.

My ankle is still sore and is only feeling slightly better. I am having my doubts about having the Hip Replacement as planned in June but ultimately its not all my call. It's the Doctor's. However, before we can get the hip replaced I have got to get the tendonitis calmed down so that we can focus completely on rehabbing the hip. Calming the tendon is just going to take time and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be on our time frame. I am almost ready to find a Copperhead Handling Tongue Speaking Pentecostal Church in rural North Carolina to speed the healing process up.

Since Abi has required that I have my IPhone on me at all times because she is afraid that I might fall and hurt myself I thought I would share our boring life since I have been on crutches. Let me apologize for the lack of quality pictures because I can't exactly carry our bulky DSLR Camera around my neck...

The view from a couple weeks ago when I first laid eyes on my cast and realized our lives would be changing for a couple of weeks...

The view did not change for three straight weeks other than me wearing a sock. This is me keeping the recliner warm surfing the internet...

The view of the leg got so boring that I couldn't even take a nap...

Even going for a ride to run an errand or grab a bite to eat I couldn't get rid of the view...

The view has changed only slightly from green to black but I am still the same mobility wise which means keeping the recliner warm. If you notice you will see how my bad hip sits naturally to the side. This is why it needs replacing...

When I get tired of looking at my leg, TV or the dog. I get to look at the dinner stand with all of the essentials to get me through the day with everything except some munchies...

Occasionally I do let my leg out of prison and stretch it like the Doctor wants me to. Due to the bad hip I can't even move my leg enough to take the boot off which is another thing Abi has to help with...

Thanks to Abi. I have been a good patient and followed Doctor's orders by giving my ankle a heating pad treatment...

DirectTV has been a blessing and the best part about living in High Point is that I can watch every Atlanta Braves game. Something I couldn't do living in the other towns that we have lived in because I am not a huge Baltimore Orioles fan. Our picture in picture feature is also great for trying to watch Saturday Night's NASCAR Race and Baseball at the same time!

When we do go out. I have to use a motorized scooter. However, most of them tend to be worthless because they always breakdown which is why I am starting to prefer using the manual wheelchair because this has happened at Target, Wal-Mart and most recently at Food Lion which aint cool...

This is what it should look like although this one needed a new suspension because it was very bumpy...

On Saturday Abi decided to leave me at home and go Thrift Shopping. She thought I needed a walker for my hip replacement instead of the crutches which I am not so sure of...

We were thrilled to get my other woman happy which is our Volvo running again because the battery was dead. Apparently she only likes to go a couple of days without being driven. Abi complied with her demands this morning by driving her to work after we drove her all weekend...

When we aren't feuding with the car. We feud with the dog. She looks like a Saint in this picture but she's always finding something to get into trouble or refusing to obey us like sitting at the door to go out or come in. This one was taken while she was sleeping since it was before her 11am alarm clock went off...

When she misbehaves I put her timeout and work on my muscle toning at the same time. Maggie can't stand this but its always funny. She has figured out to use her timeout as a way to recon her next mischievous prank...

Abi has spent a good bit of time removing all of the weeds in our backyard and is having fun seeing if she can grow some herbs and veggies. Let's cross our fingers and look forward to her sharing her latest recipes using stuff out of our small garden...

While we hate that I can't cook to take pressure off of Abi. The tradeoff is that I can't mess the kitchen up either. Here's what Abi's immaculately clean kitchen looks like...

The clean kitchen means that I have been at the mercy of Abi and what she wants to fix along with her great cooking which I am not complaining about because I burn boiled water...

Here's just a glimpse of our wonderful but boring life these days. We are certainly looking forward to getting me getting better and getting back to work. We are very glad that Abi has a good job but she hates how boring it is and the fact that she has two long 11 hour workdays.

Abi Fired From the Blogging...

Abi's momma this week told Abi that it was time for another update from me since Abi hasn't done as good of job of posting updates... So here's my update...

As mentioned earlier I was put on crutches and told not to put weight on my right ankle due to Posterior Tibial Tendonitis. The past couple of weeks have made me completely worthless other than for keeping the recliner warm. There is so much that I can not do that Abi has stepped up to the plate and has been AWESOME. You don't realize how much you miss when you can't carry anything. I can barely let the dog out on our back porch. It was all I could do to try and put the dog on a tether in our front yard one time. I would like to think that I am a better patient because I've quit worrying about the stuff I can't control and have been better about being more flexible.

Prior to me being put on crutches Abi had bought a plane ticket to Boston to visit her brother Patrick and Sister in Law Jen to celebrate their son Peter's first birthday. After two weeks of me being on crutches Abi was ready to get rid of me for a couple of days which I don't blame her. Her United Airlines flights out of Greensboro & High Point, NC's Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI) were good and cheap. She flew out of PTI for the first time and was impressed how convenient it was. All told it was a great trip to Boston.  

While Abi was in Boston on Friday night Maggie the Terrorist and I had to fend for myself. I ordered a Pizza from Papa Johns Pizza. When the driver came by somehow Maggie got between me and the driver and escaped out the front door. The Driver did a great job at getting her back into the house. I even sent an e-mail to his boss thanking him! Saturday and Sunday Maggie and I were babysat by my Parents who live in Oak Ridge, NC about 15 miles from where we live. We can not thank them enough because Maggie was a complete pest the entire weekend. She lived up to her name Maggie the Terrorist! I just hope she did not get permanently banned from their house.

During the week we realized that our Volvo XC90 doesn't like not being driven when we woke up to the car alarm going off. According to Google the alarm goes off when the battery is weak from not being driven. We had only not driven it for a week and somehow managed to kill the battery. Go figure! Once again my parents are bailing us out by loaning a battery charger. Luckily our Ford Focus is running like a champ.

Last weekend Abi cleaned up our back porch area which looks great and even planted a small garden. About the only thing I could do was work on my suntan. We then spent Mother's Day at Blews Lake with my family having a Low Country Boil.

Yesterday we went back to my Podiatrist who removed my cast and put me in a boot. I was told to stay on crutches for at least two more weeks. My ankle is still very sore and is not feeling much better than a couple of weeks ago. We were told that in two weeks he would make the decision about clearing me for my mid June 2013 Hip Replacement. As much as we are ready to get the Hip Replacement done we know that we have to get my ankle better first. Unfortunately this may come at the expense of delaying the Hip Replacement. We will keep everyone updated on when I will have the Hip Replacement.

I am also working on a series of posts where I discuss my accident and Hip Replacement in my words since Abi was the one who blogged about the accident at the time. We also know that there aren't that many folks in their 30's going through Hip Replacements and look forward to sharing our experiences. I have not found much information online about people in their 30's having this type of surgery since 60 is considered young for a Hip Replacement.

Andy

A Week Into Using Crutches

Friday I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon to figure out where we go with the Total Hip Replacement. We are thinking that it will be taking place during the middle of June 2013. All of the paper work needs to get lined up to make it happen. Also I have to get my Posterior Tibia Tendonitis in my ankle under control.  I will be sharing a lot more in upcoming posts about the whole Hip Replacement stuff...

It's been a week since I left the Podiatrist's Office with a cast and crutches. I still have at least two more weeks to go. The cast certainly aint cool but its the crutches that really are miserable because I can't carry anything and limits my already inability to move around even more. I also can't drive because my bad leg is the leg that I drive.

I thought I would share some of the pro's and con's to me being on crutches from my perspective...

Pro's

Abi never has to worry about me sneaking out to Bojangles for lunch.

I get to wear my Mechanixwear Gloves around the house and Abi can't say a thing.

I only have to worry about wearing one shoe.

Maggie doesn't hang around my feet because she can't stand my crutches.

Abi can't complain about the kitchen being messy since I can't cook.

Abi has a color to match her wardrobe to...

Con's

I am a bad patient. Granted I am not as bad as I was following the accident.

I can't do chores around the house.
Abi has to work twice as hard.

Taking a shower is worrisome due to being afraid of getting the cast wet and putting weight on the leg.

I have to put up with whatever Abi wants to fix for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

No free hands to carry sweet tea.

Always having to have my cell phone on me because Abi is afraid of me falling.

Having to use the Electric Scooter at any of the big box stores that we shop at.

Walking the dog is a whole new challenge.

Life is certainly challenging right now but we know that it can't get much worse and the Hip Replacement recovery will be a walk in the park compared to the current situation...

instagram friday....

So happy it's Friday! And since husband doesn't think I'm blogging enough (and even decided to hijack the blog and put up the post yesterday) - I figured I would catch up on some instagram photos.

1. Love Mangoes! Don't get them too often, but saw them on sale and got a few. 
2. Making whipped cream and ganache for this amazing Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake that I had pinned for a while and was excited to try making. It took a little bit of effort, as there are several steps to it....but it was worth the work. So good!
3. The finished Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake - a birthday cake for my mother-in-law.
4. Made some grits - Pioneer Woman style
5. Minor league baseball on a recent beautiful Saturday night
6. Date night to the local minor league baseball game 
7. Hanging out at the lake with my adorable nephew - we were bundled up because it was a little cold though
8. Had fun making eclairs for girls game day at my house
9. Husband got put on crutches this week for tendinitis of his ankle

And that was a few photos from the past few weeks. I have apparently been enjoying baking and hanging out with family. And now we are going to be going through some recovery/surgery/more recovery with Andy. Always something...

Happy Friday!

a post from Andy...

{Andy decided that I haven't been blogging enough - so he took over and posted today}

Abi is flat out awesome. Since we got married on September 1st, 2008, I have said my prayers every morning thanking God for her. I can't say enough about her. Even after my car accident in Nov 2009 she has never given up and always been there for me.

I have almost always had pain in the hip and walked with a limp since the accident. It's gotten progressively worse and I finally am tired of being in pain. After talking with an Orthopedic Surgeon a couple of weeks ago, I found out what was going on with my hip. The main injury of my car accident was a bad fracture of the femoral head (the top of the femor, right below where it goes into the hip socket). At the time the surgeon put rods in the bone to try and save me from needing a hip replacement at such a young age. That surgery worked for a while, but now we found out that due to that severe injury and it never healing fully, the blood supply to the femoral head has stopped and that part of the bone is basically dead. So we have made the decision to go ahead and have a hip replacement.This thing has held us back and its time to start living again and so we are going to make it happen. At the age of 30 there just isn't that much information about folks my age going through hip replacements and will be looking forward to sharing what this new adventure is about. 

If that wasn't enough. My ankle started hurting out of the clear blue a couple of weeks ago. So I made the decision to to visit a Podiatrist on Monday to make sure everything was fine and to prevent there from being any issues before doing the hip replacement... 

I left the office with this... My limp caused by my broken hip and my leg now being an inch shorter than my other leg has finally worn my ankle out - causing Stage One Posterior Tibial Tendonitis. Luckily I caught it early and after some rest and good insoles the hip replacement should cure everything. The cast is a pain in the neck, but its the crutches and not being able to bear weight that is the hardest part. There isn't a thing I can do on my own it seems like. Leaving Abi to have more pressure to get things done on top of working long days. However, we are blessed this go around to be living so close to my family to help out and kick my rear end if needed. I promise I am being a good patient but it is really tough having to ask for help.

This should be an interesting couple of weeks...

Easter & family weekend....

We were so thankful to have Andy's mother and grandmother come and visit us over Easter weekend. It was great to see them again and it was so nice that they made the road trip up from Georgia since we haven't been able to get down there to see them yet due to my crazy new job. 

Andy's sister came over and we went to the Farmer's market on Saturday and a movie on Sunday.

We had a nice visit with them and I enjoyed cooking some good food for Easter (including Cheesecake) since I don't get a chance to cook as much as I'd like to now. 

And our dog, Maggie, loved seeing Andy's mom again. 

Thanks so much for coming to visit!