This little piggy went to market...

Finally one foot done! Friday morning 11:45 - be there. At 9:00 a nurse called from the OR and said, "Susan, can you come right now?" Well, considering you could throw a rock and hit the hospital we were they right away and I was in the OR by 10:00 (rather rattled but there).

The idea was to put on a tourniquet, freeze the foot and do it with me awake but for some reason it wouldn't freeze so this very good looking young fellow said to take a couple of deep breaths and I woke up at 11:45. Too easy!! Hope they do that for the second one!That isn't my foot but apparently it's the same surgery. I told Jim that they were using a knife and fork but...I was quickly corrected...I thought it was funny.

The whole procedure so far has just been so much better than I was told it would be by the hospital. I was told 6-8 weeks no weight bearing but Dr. Hill said I can put my heel down now, hurts like hell but I can do it. I do have to keep it up as much as possible for 10 days or so but that's not bad. I have crutches but no cast, just a sandal-like boot with a thick, solid sole. Very easy to cover with a bag and have a shower. Gotta like that.That's my bear, Dakota, who was waiting in my hospital room for me.
Jim is so sweet!

Today they had a nurse come over and change out the bandages and it looks great. No pins sticking out just screws on the inside. I haven't been staying on top of the pain though, old school habits die hard. She says toughing out the pain just delays the heeling so we'll see how it goes. Trouble is all that stuff just messes up my stomach.

The Great Unveiling!!

Not bad eh? The man does good work!

It's a little shorter with the joint gone but it sure looks better than I expected.
So that's it for this little piggy.
Jim is taking excellent care of me too. I should be able to do pretty much everything in a few days except walk the dogs and drive so that should get him out of vacuum duty. And as Dann reminded me, if I have any problems I'll just call a 'toe' truck...

Another weekend done

Those are the luminaries placed for the loved ones that have passed from cancer. Each is a decorated bag, lit at dusk and circling the track. Extremely moving! Even more so when the pipers did a lap and then stopped and played Amazing Grace. Not a dry eye to be found.
If you look closely at the picture you will see that we weren't walking alone and what's even more amazing is they are walking a different direction from the participants...
Pat & I made it until midnight and then headed home. We hated to go but we were both so sore that it was time. I thought if I wore both feet out it would be pretty hard to get around after Friday. Which, by the way is coming fast!

Thanks so much everyone who donated, I appreciate it so much!!!
That's my brother Mike, my sister Pat and brother Jim.

That was a good start to a great weekend. Yesterday was my 53rd birthday and it was a fun day. Did absolutely nothing! Then went out for dinner and after that joined a bunch of folks from Calgary Power Squadron at the yacht club. Lots of fun.
Today we had the second leg of the Van Isle 360 sailing race finish up in Comox. They didn't have much wind but they still made it in fairly early. We spent some time on the committee boat and I got a few pictures. Jim roared around in the Whaler and that's about it.

Gotta love those tough weekends!

We're officially swingers!!!

I've always wanted a swing and my plan was to go to Canadian Tire and get one of their swings but then we were driving back from Campbell River and stopped in at Gran'Dad's Swings. Just a fellow working out of his shop making swings, lawn furniture etc. and they are beautiful! So we now have a swing and it is so great! I love it. Even old Kona and I had a swing this afternoon.

We had a crazy weekend! It was the first annual 'Comox Valley Shellfish Festival'!! I don't care if I see another oyster in a long, long time! It was fun though. It all started Friday night with a gala at Filberg Park complete with a meal of different courses of seafood. As most of you know I'm not a big lover of seafood but being with the mayor and sitting with the Minister of Agriculture (including the shellfish industries) and his wife and two staffers I figured I'd better give it a try and it was pleasantly and surprisingly very good! I was a little concerned when the first course was geoduck (pronounced gooey duck). Two pieces raw, two pieces cooked, the raw was the best but it's not something I'd order. Next, tuna, great, then scallops (almost raw), pretty good and then oysters. Little tiny oysters done on the bbq on the half shell, good. Then we left because it was 10:30 and there were still 3 courses to go.
Saturday was at Fanny Bay oysters where they bbq'd guess what? Oysters! Then Sunday Jim opened the Shellfish Festival in Marina Park where there were serving OYSTERS! It all went really well though and they had a good turnout once the sun actually came out.
Here's few pictures of the Native dancers. I've seen quite a few but these men and women were wonderful.This is Andy Everson, I think he did one of your pictures Linds & Kyle.

This girl was so pretty and she seemed to almost float.
Notice our 'Cultural Capital of Canada' banners, not bad eh?

And this is the great Grizzly.
And below is a group of 8 guys from all over the world that sail together once a year some where in the world. This year they chartered a 50' Beneteau out of Vancouver and are heading to Desolation. Unfortunately we have had insane winds the last couple of weeks and they tore two sails on the way up Lambert Channel. The good news was they ended up tying up in front of Ceara and curiosity got the best of us so Jim asked them over. So much fun!! They've been doing these trips for quite a few years now, call themselves the Phat Boys, complete with a clothing line, up and coming website and a book that is done after each trip. They have done Croatia, Newfoundland, Ireland...the list goes on.
Hopefully they have a great trip. We wish them the best and we got a free book!

Our Grandson...

Isn't he just the cutest kid you've ever seen?














Hmmmmm? Wonder where the pictures went....Oh right, we don't have any new pictures...

SO, I THOUGHT I'D GO FOR THIS LOOK...

No Kyle that isn't what my foot looks like now but it is better working than the ones I do have. Maybe I'll take a picture in and see what the surgeon can do. You know I could actually take pictures FROM the willow with those babies!!! Bet I could make it to the top in seconds!

So if anyone has missed us it's because we were in Calgary for the FCM (Mayor stuff) since last Thursday. We had a pretty good time, gorgeous weather with only one thunder storm on our last evening. I only did one 'companions' tour but I had a great time and met some really nice people. I did what is called 'behind the scenes' at the Calgary Zoo. I'm not into zoos but it was great. Our behind the scene animals were grizzly bears and it was pretty amazing. I honestly can't imagine having one of them come at you, they are huge!! And they are beautiful. We were allowed in behind to see them up close and personal but there was a very strong wire fence in between us and them. Their keeper was a very interesting guy and I think everyone enjoyed the talk. There were 3 grizzlies, this young fellow was by far the largest.
I thought this little guy below was pretty cute too.
And then there were these too...a face only a mother could loveIt was a lot of fun and I was really glad I went. A friend of mine, Chris, had told me that it was an amazing zoo and if you get a chance to see it it's well worth it. Other than that I didn't do too much. Saw the city a bit and shopped a bit. Jim was pretty busy the entire time but I think he found it a worthwhile trip.A year ago we were all in Thailand for Jenny and Danny's wedding.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!