The Saturday after Christmas Glen got himself all cleaned up and dressed by himself (even put his sling on by himself) and said he was ready to go with the family on our outing. I was impressed with his independence, but really felt like he wasn't ready yet to leave his ice machine and the comfort of his own home for hours on end.
Sure enough, by the time the group was ready to leave, he decided to stay home with Ben. Jeff was having a sick day. The Golden family went to a family party and missed the outing as well.
Newland had to stop and play in the snow on his way to the car.
Off to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point we went.
Eli might have been a tad too big for this kiddie play area...
Let's just say if I ever came across a spider as big as those in the display case, I would FREAK OUT!
I spy with my little eye...(and my magnifying glass up to my eye)...
...cousins Carson and Eli at the other table.
The climbing jungle gym was so big and had so many outlets it made a mother (and a grandmother) very anxious about losing the children. At this point I had lost the child I was in charge of, but was so happy to see Sarah and Klarissa.
The water area was a big hit with all the children.
Carson performing a magic trick.
Sunday morning Abe, Klarissa and Newland flew back to San Francisco. Their Christmas vacation had come to an end. So glad they had made us a part of their holiday!!
Ours kept on going with the Golden family here for Sunday dinner. Of course that meant popcorn! Glen has trained all the grandchildren to know it's not Sunday without popcorn!
Madison was more interested in what she was finding in the pantry.
By this day Glen was feeling pretty hopeful about his shoulder surgery recovery...until later that evening when he started getting a bad cold.
Monday morning he insisted on helping me put away the Christmas decorations by taking all the ornaments off the Christmas tree and putting the tree in the box.
I thought he had way overdone it and insisted he let Ben carry the box downstairs and lift it up to the high shelf in the storage room. I feared the crazy man would try to do that by himself!?!?!
This is what happens when you overdo it after surgery!!!!!!!
Not really. It's what happens at the end of a physical therapy session.
It felt like Glen's cold had turned instantly into a bad sinus infection. He was feeling terrible and did not want to go to physical therapy, but he forced himself to go nonetheless.
Another snow day. Thanks for the shoveling once again, Ben!
Glen went to physical therapy again the same week--on New Year's Eve day. He is doing the finger ladder. He could only walk his fingers up to step #24 with his right hand.
Then he demonstrated with his left arm how he can get those fingers clear up to step #35. (Right
arm--take notice!)
Glen kept with tradition of many other of our New Year's Eves when he gets really sick (or in the case a couple of years ago--he had gall bladder surgery that day) and then we don't get to do anything fun to celebrate the holiday.
I wasn't expecting much this year, so I was prepared for being homebound. What I was not prepared for was how sick Glen was that day. He debated whether to go to the doctor the next day, but then felt like he was making a rally and was going to pull out of it on his own.
He decided he felt good enough to go to Texas Roadhouse on January 3rd to celebrate Dallas's birthday.
Here's the birthday boy (and a couple of his kids) on the birthday saddle. "YEE HAW!!!!"
Despite my pleading to do otherwise, Glen insisted he was well enough to travel by himself to Minnesota the first week of January. This is how high he could get his arm up the wall the day he left. Don't let that smile fool you. He was definitely feeling pain.
Off he went into the bitter cold of Minneapolis where they closed down the schools because of the minus 30+ windchill factor.
Glen really missed his ice cooler machine while he was gone. Balancing a bag full of ice on his shoulder wasn't nearly as effective as his blue ice pad.
He battled his head cold (along with the cold outside) and survived his week away. He still wasn't feeling the greatest on Thursday when he got home, but he was just sure he was on the mend.
Imagine my surprise on Friday when he informed me he had made a doctor's appointment. He had been so miserable all night long. He had a fever and the doctor gave him antibiotics for a sinus infection. He was so absolutely, miserably sick all day and all through the next night until the drugs kicked in. Poor guy!
It was hard for him to feel improvement in the surgery area when he was feeling so very miserable in the rest of his body.
Thankfully by Saturday evening he was much improved. I say thankfully because he has insisted once again that he is well enough to travel again this week. So tonight I drove him to the airport so he could fly away to the big freeze once again. Here's hoping for a better week, Glen!!
GLENISMS:
A few days after shoulder surgery: "I hate recovery! I just wanna be all better."
The day he finally went to the doctor, on January 9th: "I haven't felt good all year!"
