More New Placemats

 

Tuesday my husband and I drove to Shipshewana. He wanted to look for boots at Yoder Department Store. While he tried on boots, I shopped the housewares area. I bought 4 placemats. I hadn't spent all of my birthday money on walking shoes; the funds left I used to buy 4 placemats. The blue is actually a little lighter than the photo shows. 

We ate a nice (large) lunch at the Blue Gate restaurant. It was so crowded! I guess other mostly older people had the same itch to travel on a bright and sunny day as we did. I brought a big slab of my meatloaf home. We ate it today as a sandwich. 

My husband went to the Y today. He reported that except for the  employee checking in members, nobody had on a mask. I am sure not all of these people are inoculated. It kind of disappointed me. I thought in a few months I might return to the Y; now I am pretty sure I will not feel safe there for a long time.

We will have slightly warmer weather this weekend. I will try to take a walk around my neighborhood. I will get some exercise and fresh air that way.

My brother-in-law got a Moderna shot yesterday! Indiana opened the shots to those 60 and older. He was able to go in on the same day. I know a few people that have received the Moderna shot from the Kroger pharmacy in Warsaw, also with almost no wait. The local newspaper said that our county was receiving 500 doses per week, but this week they received 1500. There is no scarcity for those eligible right now. 

I am looking at possibilities for a short trip in a few months. Right now I am exploring Starved Rock State Park in Illinois maybe in May. We might stay at a near-by resort either in the lodge or in a condo (log-cabin decor). I am not sure we would do a lot of cooking so a lodge room would be OK. But the condo units have kitchens, whirlpool in the master bedroom, and fireplaces. It might be nice to have room to play board games on a dining table and a fridge for takeout food or an oven for pizza. I will probably decide in the next week whether to make a reservation. 

We do feel that with the shots we can take more risk, i.e., eating in restaurants and taking a little vacation trip.

Icy, Snowy Birthday

We had freezing rain overnight. This morning we woke to an icy glaze on the streets and driveway. Mid-morning we saw some snow. It may snow a bit this afternoon. No sun expected.

I had an office visit with my spine surgeon at 10:15 this morning in Warsaw. He comes to Warsaw twice a month; it was good that I did not have to drive to Fort Wayne. Actually Highway 30 had been salted and cleared and was not in too bad a shape. Grace Village was out salting my street and driveway around 9 a.m. To be even more careful, my husband drove me to my appointment in his all-wheel-drive pickup truck.

The x-ray of my cervical spine showed the new titanium plate securely in place and the fusions (cages with bone bits) showing some early "maturation", meaning there is some bone growth starting. All lifting/bending restrictions have been lifted. I thought I would have to wait until week 6 per the discharge instructions, but I guess things look fine so restrictions have been lifted at week 5. My next appointment is in 6 weeks. I do still have some trouble swallowing, especially large med/supplement capsules and tablets. The swallowing is expected to resolve in the coming weeks.

At breakfast there was a big gift bag that had snowflakes and said "Let it snow". 

Inside was a panda toy from my husband. He is very soft and huggable (the panda, but I guess that pertains to my hubby, too).

I have received some birthday cash from two people. This weekend I will look at Zappos and read the reviews for walking shoes. My old Nike pair badly need to be replaced. The nice thing about Zappos is the free returns. I may order 2 or 3 pairs of shoes, then return all but the one I choose to keep. 

While washing some of my placemats, I noticed that several stains are not coming out anymore even with treatment. I love the Lenox on Blue ones. I see they sometimes come up for sale on ebay. Replacements company has them but so expensive. Anyway, I decided to order 4 Pioneer Woman mats. My Walmart only had 1 in stock; I was pleasantly surprised to find them on sale at Amazon with free shipping (even though less than $25 order). They supposedly would arrive between January 28th and February 2nd, but they showed up via FedEx today! They are washable and reversible. They are kind of big from top to bottom, but I like them and will keep them. Bright and cheery.

I had originally planned to have my husband pick up carryout dinners from Texas Roadhouse for tonight. Instead I pulled out of the freezer this morning one of the large Costco steaks. He surprised me by going to the grocery store while I was at the doctor's office and buying a small chocolate cake for my birthday dessert. We will have to make up for the missed restaurant food meals by doing it another time. This is not my first birthday in Indiana where the weather caused us to change plans. 

I get my first Moderna vaccination next Tuesday (Feb. 2nd). My husband already had his first one since he fit in the 80+ cohort. His second one will be February 8th. 

I think I will go put away the last of my Christmas stuff; I was waiting until I had permission to bend over to get into my lower cupboards. I may still need help putting things on the shelf above my husband's clothes in his closet since that will require a step stool or step ladder. Not a good idea to fall.