Rainy, Cool Days

Monday it rained all day.  We were suppose to go to a track meet, but Matt called and told us it was canceled.  Since it's so late in the school year, I doubt that it will be made up.  John and I left the house at 7:15 a.m. as I had an 8 a.m. appointment at the new Centers for Pain Management in Bemidji.  The x-rays I had last Thursday showed arthritis in my hip joints that involves the sciatic nerve so I was referred to the pain center and my original doctor.  He scheduled me for a procedure first thing tomorrow morning and said we'll see how the pain levels are afterward.  If not better, we'll go back to the nerve denervation. 

Today the rains finally moved out and some sun showed up late in the afternoon.  John and Matt worked all day and got the shed finished up.  I kept busy with laundry and ebay sales.  The weather doesn't look too good the remainder of the week--cooler temps and rain.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers who read my blog.  Hope you all had a wonderful day.  Since our weather was cold and rainy we spent a quiet day at home following church this morning.  John did all the cooking, so I had a pretty relaxing day and enjoyed Skyping with Amy's family and phone calls from Susie and John--  saw Matt at church where he wished me a happy Mother's Day.  This week, if the weather co-operates, we'll be going to two track meets and John will probably be helping Matt finish up the woodshed they've been building.  All outdoor activities are questionable as a rainy week is in the forecast.

Cold Weather Returns

After almost two weeks of beautiful warm sunny days, cold weather has returned with the threat of frost and snow.  John has been covering our garden plants for the last two nights and will continue to do so until the overnight temps stay above freezing.  He has also brought the hanging plants inside for a couple of days.

Thursday afternoon we drove an hour and a half south to Walker to attend the Conference Jr./Sr. High Track Meet.  Sam was conference champ in three events and Jenni and Rachel placed second in two.  The day was overcast with pop corn showers, but in spite of the weather it was a fun time.

John did manage to play some golf on Friday and today--I opted out, just too cold for me.  I've kept busy photographing and listing more items on ebay.  I've sold an item or two already so now I need to get them packed and ready for shipping.  A rain system is forecast to move in tomorrow, so we'll probably just be hanging out around the house on Sunday.

Rain On The Way, Hopefully

On Tuesday morning John was out early once again to work with Matt.  I had an appointment in Bemidji to see an occupational therapist concerning the arthritis in my hands.  He suggested a couple of exercises and gave me a brace to wear when playing golf.  After an hour at the clinic, I ran some errands and did some shopping before heading home. John only worked a few hours in the morning and then he headed into town for a round of golf.

Rain was in the forecast for today so we played a round of golf first thing this morning while it was still clear.  I used the hand brace I got yesterday and I must say my hand didn't ache after playing. When we got home, we rested up a bit and then took some time looking through items left over from our sale of a year and a half ago and decided to list some of those items on ebay.  That will keep my busy for a while.  After lunch I headed up to Sara's for a haircut and John spent some time in his little shop working on a small project.  

Track Meet Today

This morning John was up and out bright and early to help Matt build a woodshed for one of his customers.  I have been neglecting our home office since we returned from Texas and decided it was time to attack the mess.  I also sold several more items on ebay and needed to get them ready for mailing.  

After John got home and cleaned up, we headed off to Ada for a junior high track meet.  The day was just perfect with no wind and plenty of sunshine.  Josh, Jenni, and Rachel all improved their times over last week and placed in their events--Jenni won the open 200.  This meet wasn't quite as long as the ones we attended last week so we got home at a reasonable hour after stopping at DQ for a late supper.

Jenni getting hand off to start her leg of relay

 

 Rachel, on left, passing a runner

 Joanne cheering on Rachel

 Josh, on right, coming into finish

Jenni running 200

Busy Saturday and Sunday

Saturday morning John headed up to the church where he joined with other men for breakfast and work morning. Following a nice meal he helped trim and remove bushes from in front of the building along with a few other small jobs.  While he was busy with that, I took care of some laundry and bathroom cleaning.  After lunch John got busy planting the garden and I took care of making up a couple of hanging baskets and flower pots.  We still have more work to do outside, but at least we've gotten a good start on the spring projects.

Sunday was another busy day for us starting off with church first thing in the morning.  We got back home with just enough time for a quick lunch before heading into Bagley for a piano recital.  Josh, Jenni, and Julie are all very accomplished pianists and each played some beautiful pieces for the recital.  John and I returned home for a little rest and then went up to JD's house for a late birthday celebration meal, cake, and games.  This next week will be another busy one with two track meets and other appointments.

Getting Green At Last

Due to the warmer than normal temperatures, the trees are beginning to leaf out and the grass is turning green.  The first of May is really early for this to be happening.

First a little catch up about Thursday.  John and I were up and out the door bright and early once again as I had an 8:30 a.m.  appointment with my new pain management doctor.  John and I spent an hour and half with him going over my history as well as having a physical examine.  He felt that my main problem is in the back muscles and prescribed some pain relief meds that are applied to the skin.  I also had more blood work done along with some x-rays. It's not to say that I won't have another nerve denervation done, but he feels I need to try another path right now and find the root cause of the pain.  I am very comfortable with what he said and have another appointment with him in three weeks to see how the pain levels are after using the new meds.

After finally getting through at the clinic, we went out for lunch and then made a quick stop at the bank before heading home.  An hour later we picked up Matt and headed back to Crookston for the junior high track meet.  Josh, Jenni, and Rachel all ran personal best times, with Jenni and Rachel placing in their events.  We stopped for a quick meal with Matt and Sara following the meet and arrived home rather late again.

It felt good to sleep in this morning and take our time over breakfast.  Since our beautiful weather continues, we headed into town to play a round of golf before the course got busy.  The above normal temps for this time of year has made us anxious to get busy in the garden, so following lunch, we went to the local greenhouse and purchased some tomato, pepper, and flowering plants.  John got the garden tilled and planted the onion sets, dill, and some lettuce.  We have never planted this early before, so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed we don't have a frost.

Trees greening up along the road in front of our house

 

Garden tilled and a few items planted

 

Buds beginning to come out on flowering

crab apple trees