Recovering from Knee Surgery

I am currently recovering from knee surgery. It has been very "enlightening" or maybe a better word would be "frustrating" to go through this experience. Having to be dependent on people to do things for you is not my cup of tea...

Here is some history on this subject. On Superbowl Sunday this year (2010), my dad brought over the travel section of the local newspaper that mentioned rafting the Grand Canyon. As a family, several of us have voiced the desire to go white water rafting in the Grand Canyon. Well, the newspaper article peaked our interest and so we started looking into the trip.

Ends up we booked the "Upper Canyon" trip with Wilderness River Adventures for May 14 - it is a 3 day rafting trip on the Colorado River. The trip was AMAZING! Five of us went - the three sisters, my Dad, and my Aunt Carol. Aunt Carol is 72 and did it... it was one of her "bucket list" items. The hardest part of the trip was the 10 mile hike out of the canyon. That brings me to my current temporary disability.

Sometime on the trip - I suspect when I hopped from the raft to the shore one time - I ruptured the ACL in my right knee. On the hike out of the canyon, my knee was sore - had never been sore before - and got worse and worse as the day and hike went on. Ends up the ACL was gone and the meniscus was torn. That meant surgery to repair the damage.

I had surgery on June 23... I had no idea it would be so emotionally challenging for me - probably harder emotionally than physically. I absolutely DO NOT like to ask people

to help me. It would be soooo nice if people could just read my mind instead of me having to ask for everything. Will you please get me an ice pack? Will you please bring the phone over here? Will you please take this back to the kitchen. Will you please bring me a drink? As much as I hate having to ask for everything, I'm sure my family is not loving having to wait on me.

This too shall pass... right?

I'm gonna be an aunt! (Again)

Hi - well, the best news that I've heard in a long time is that my little sister Shaunna is pregnant! Yay! I'm so happy for her and very, very excited. I don't envy her the childbirth experience though... who would? But I am thrilled at the thought of being Auntie Krista to a new baby! Shaunna doesn't want to know the sex of the baby until it is born, so it will be a big surprise. The hard part now is waiting until April 23 or 25 for the birth!

An athiest in the woods

An atheist was walking through the woods.

"What majestic trees"! "What powerful rivers"! "What beautiful animals"! He said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer. He tripped & fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out, "Oh my God!" Time Stopped.The bear froze.The forest was silent.As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. "You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident." "Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer"? The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian"?"Very Well," said the voice.

The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke: "Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen."

OK, so I don't know what to post

My sister Shaunna has a great blog. I enjoy reading her posts, mostly because she writes about stuff that I participate in too. Her latest entries about the trail ride and branding are nice. She has lots of typos though, which drives me crazy!!

So, I'm really getting excited about going to Brentwood for our annual family reunion/camp out. We are going to be there August 1 - 4. I am hoping to plan some "survivor" style games for everyone on Sunday August 3. Monday August 4 will be my 1st anniversary with my handsome hubby, Duane.

After Brentwood, Duane and I will be spending 8 days and 7 nights in Cozumel! I booked us an all inclusive (drinks, meals, and diving!) vacation. I'm soooooo looking forward to it! No work, no kids, no phones, nobody else to worry about except my hubby and me! Yay!!! I am craving being under water - there is no other feeling like being suspended in water - it is very peaceful.

Can't believe it!

So, yesterday I took my car into Midas to have them look at what I thought was my muffler that started to make lots of noise. A few weeks ago I parked my car at the park-n-ride in Peoria - it was fine when I parked in the morning, and when I got in it at the end of the day, I knew immediately something was wrong - it made what I can only describe best as a "put put" noise. Anyway, the Midas guy comes back in the waiting room after they raise my car on the lift, and says I was almost a victim of theft. Apparently the latest theft craze (besides copper pipe) is catalytic converters. He said at his shop alone they've been seeing about 12 cars a week where the thing has been stolen. On my car they only had time to cut one side of the tube and either got caught or something, and didn't get the other side to steal it. The guy said metal recyclers pay about $100 each for them. What a scam! They have to know they're being stolen!

Crazy, huh?

I love that picture

That's my dad - he's handing me a Diet Pepsi - my addiction - during a 4 day trail ride. This is one of my most favorite pictures!

New!

Hello Blogging World! This blog is dedicated to the Cambern and Rippee families. Ndart is the brand that my dad owns and Ndart Ranch is his email address!