August 10,, 2010

It.s been ten days since I've put anything up here. As you probably figured, life has more normalcy than it has had for the last three months or so. I'm doing a lot of the regular living stuff. I think I told you all that I had my Prius modified so that it has a left foot accelerator. On Friday, the same thing will happen to my daughter's Toyota van so that I can drive that too. I can't let it just sit behind the yard for a year - and besides having a van is good sometimes. My first long trip will be in the van - to Allentown PA - to exchange a twelve foot long arm quilting table for a ten foot table. Irene, in Rhode Island, wants a bigger table; I want a smaller table. We found each other on a quilters mailing list. Allentown is about a five and a half hour drive - sort of halfway for each of us. I think I will take the prosthetic off while I am on this road trip. In the small Prius, the challenge is really where to put the prosthetic foot while driving. I'm not sure I'll have the same challenge in the van, but I really don't need this thing on in the car.

I just made part of a blackberry pie. It occurred to me, that making a pie is a lot like making a quilt, but faster. It has a top, a bottom and a middle. All the parts need to be handled separately and then they need to come together. The other thing I realized is how much I move around while working in the kitchen. Just making the pie dough involves twisting and turning and bending (get things out; where is the salt; am I going to use the blender or the mixer; are all the parts in the same place; I know I have a better measuring cup than that). And the stuff I am working on in Physical Therapy supports those funny kitchen moves. I'm working on balancing (hard on the prosthetic foot), walking backward, walking a braid, rocking side to side and back and forth. All moves I made while mixing up the crust and the filling. And I'm sure I will end up with similar moves when I assemble these pieces. Now I can stop wondering why I am doing these silly exercises.

Recently read a short (true) story where a female athlete (runner) with a prosthetic leg says it takes about a year to really use it well. I keep holding on to that when I get frustrated that I can't do things faster. I have no inclination to run a mile, but I would like to be able to walk more than the 17 minutes I did in PT this morning. So, I have to keep working at this. Maybe when I get to Cape Town in December I'll be up to 40 minutes. I have to see if that's a reasonable goal - and if so - make it happen.

I'm going to start puttering around the country next month - and will have a busy fall. Some of it is work and some is play. Couple of important things to do soon so I am ready for this puttering. First one is to be sure I have the dog care managed well. Other thing is to get my passport updated. It expires in early December. Going to use the Allentown trip to see how well I fare in a hotel - how I get to the bathroom at night especially. Have a couple of thoughts of things to try. Actually, gonna practice the one foot hop.

I will try to update this blog once a week - keep you all posted on my progress. And now, I am going to finish a quilt block, and by then it might be time to assemble the pie. (Crust had to go in refrigerator for a while before rolling out).