Paul Improves

Paul continues to improve. Saturday his voice came back and he started driving himself around town on Monday afternoon! He had Ruben come help put up 2 vertical blinds on Saturday so he's feeling a little productive. The depression is finally going away, WHEW!!! It has been 6 weeks since the surgery and he's been doing cardiac rehab for 2 weeks, wow. Life is good and the future looks bright again.

Eagles at the dump and at home

Paul and I went to the dump the other day and were amazed at the number of eagles in the trees and on trash containers etc.
At home we startled a youngster and he flew up on to our roof.
Paul put out some chicken and after we went in to the house, he ate it. A few minutes later 2 adult eagles flew by and scared him off. I love Alaska.

visiting moose

This picture is for perspective, it's looking out our sun room window at one of our visiting moose.

this is a close-up of her head and neck.

she's lying in the snow in our backyard, resting. Usually they're out there at night and I can't get a picture.

Time drags on, what a bore.

Well, it's mostly the same day after day, quiet and boring. Healing is a tough job and there's not much to do. Paul has been improving everyday. He gets a little stronger and feels a little better all the time, BUT it sure goes slow. The most excitement we've had is eating out and going for a little drive in the sunshine. We did have about 10 days of sun since we've been home from the hospital.

This last week, Paul had a couple doctor appointments and his first cardiac rehab appointment. The doctors are very pleased with the progress and complimented Paul on being very good about his diet. His blood sugars had come down from 8.7 to 6.4 (that' the A1C, 3 month average). He also has lost about 20 pounds, holy cow, that's fantastic for one month.

The cardiac doc was ADAMENT when he warned Paul about not falling. He said Paul could drive (with restrictions) and he can lift 10 pounds now, but
D O N ' T F A L L ! ! ! He said the pain and damage to his ribs would be seriously painful. So, for Valentines Day, we bought each other ice cleats. It's actually a stretch-on rubberband with spring coils on the bands to give the shoes grip. They are very clever and really make an amazing difference.

We have had some interesting weather here this last week. On Thursday it was over 40 degrees and raining. The roads were slushy and slippery. SUDDENLY, within 1/2 hour it was 19 degrees and windy and snowing like a blizzard. I looked at the 5-day forcast and it looks like it's going to be rainy during the day and snowy at night. That will probably make for some icy driving in the mornings.

Well, that's about it, Poor Paul is bored because he can't be out working and helping others. He gets depressed when he thinks of his excavator and dozer sitting all alone in the property. He's biding his time till he can return to his regular activities. Our ward family have been incredibally supportive and loving. They are shopping, shoveling snow and getting us firewood. We are truly loved and blessed. Paul had wanted to recouperate in Florida but rehab 3 days a week will fill the time and get him back in the groove. He will feel better when he's done than he has felt in years, so I've been told.

Paul and I got home on January 29th from his hospital stay in Anchorage, Alaska. We have had 3 good days and blue skies and sunshine to boot. This morning I got up before the sun to see the moon set, I just wanted to share.