Day 89 – Getting My Staples Out!

Yay…I go to the doctor again today and get my staples out!  Calgon here I come!  Take me away!!!  Can’t wait to take a nice hot bubble bath! 

Yesterday I started back on my Digi In Deeper class….the LO below was from lesson 3.  The pictures were taken at Preston’s 3rd birthday party in January.  Click to enlarge the photo.

Day 87 – Good News

My niece Melanie sent a text today that she got a job!  Yay for Melanie!  Can’t wait to hear more about the job.  Ok, back to me. lol  I’m on Lesson 4 in my online Photography class….it deals with the focus point of a DSLR.  You can change the settings on a DSLR so that it’s not always centered.  For the photo below….I actually changed that setting so that it would focus on the left side of the photo in Autofocus.  You can also do this manually by pressing the photo taking button, 1/2 way with a centered object, then while still holding the button down 1/2 way…move your camera to the right or left, but not forward or backward, to maintain the focus on the object that was originally centered and then fully press down the photo button.

And in the photo below….I was pleasantly surprised with a little bit of a look called Bokeh.  If you want to see some better examples of Bokeh Photography, just google it.  In my photo….the sunlight shining through the bush in the right hand side of the photo has a lot of blur to it.  That’s the Bokeh look.  Not a great example of it…but I kind of like it anyway!!   Click to enlarge both photos to better see them.

I realize both photos are a bit over-exposed, but it’s not too easy to get around yet…..and I didn’t feel like walking the plant from my kitchen back outside to the front porch today to retake the photos when I saw that they were a bit bright in the white areas of the photos.

Day 85 – Lazy Saturday

Today was a lazy day.  I spoke with Amy the other day about giving her a baby shower.  She got back to me today with a date and a sample card so I could try to reproduce the look.  She sent me a link to this invitation from invitationbox.com:

And this is what I came up with for Amy’s baby shower.  I hand drew the branches and leaves with colored marking pens and scanned that into the computer in opened in Photoshop.  Then I created a brush to make the blue flowers on the branches, put in the text and printed.  I cut the card invitation out and placed it on a brown cardstock and finished off with a ribbon.  I think it needs a darker ribbon though.

Day 84 – PT and Lunch

The physical therapist came todeay again and we worked the exercises we worked Tuesday plus a few more.  Boy I’m sore.  That must be good right?  The weather was beautiful again today and Tony needed a haircut….so after my therapy….we got in the car and he went in for a haircut….I waited in the car.  And then we went to Famous Dave’s for lunch.  I could only eat about 1/2 my lunch, and saved the rest for dinner tonight.  The walk to and from the car was good, but I am really tired now.  Little by little I know I’ll get stronger.  Can’t wait until these staples are out….the area where they are  kind of tingles.  It’s wierd!

Day 83 – PT and Dr. Visit

Yesterday the in-home physical therapist came to help me with my exercises.  And about 1 hr after he left….I had my first post op appointment at the surgeon’s office.  He said the wound looked good and I don’t have to cover it anymore with sterile bandages.  The staples will come out next Wednesday.  I was pretty tired after the workout and the doctor visit…and forgot to post yesterday.  Nothing much going on here today.  Tony and I made lunch and he works 1:30 to 10:30 pm so won’t be home until around 11:05 pm.  I didn’t sleep that well and woke up this morning a little after 5:00 am….and came out to the LR to sit in my recliner.  I am going to take a nap today to try to catch up on my lost sleep.  Later!

Day 81 – Needed Some Fresh Air!

Tony had the day off today….and I needed some fresh air.  So he got me settled in the passenger seat and we drove to the bank, post office, grocery store, and CVS.  I stayed in the car while he ran in and did the foot work.  It has rained her for a couple days and today the sky was blue and there were pretty puffy white clouds scattered here and there and the wind was blowing nice FRESH air!  It was so nice to get out and smell the fresh air.

Tony even helped me out to the backyard to take a picture of some spring flowers!

Then I was exhaused….so I layed on the couch and took a 2 hr. nap!

Day 80 – Feeling a Little Stronger Today

I went to bed last night with help from Tony to get my left leg in bed.  Slept a couple hours.  Poor Tony…when he got home from work about 8pm….he had brought a pizza home and ate most of it before bed.  He came to bed with me at 10 pm….and was feeling so sick….with heartburn.  He finally got up at midnight and had to go sit in his recliner in a sitting position as opposed to a laying down position to help alieve his indigestion.  I kept hearing him cough for about a 1/2 hour…and was very worried about him.  I finally got up myself around 1:30 or 2 am…to check on him.  He was feeling good enough to come back to bed. 

I was able to get my left leg up into bed a couple of times this morning….so I know I’m getting stronger.  This morning…I let Tony sleep in until 11 am….to try to catch up on all the hours he has lost the last 4-5 days helping me or waking him in the middle of the night to help me.  I fixed myself oatmeal…with toast.  Made a pitcher of iced tea….which when it was finished….Tony had to put in the refrigerator.  It’s very hard to do using a walker!  By the time Tony left for work at 12:45…I was pretty drained of energy.  So I took a nap for a couple hours…and now I’m back up.  Need to fix myself some dinner….I think it’s going to be a tuna sandwich!  I’ve been craving tuna for some reason. 

So I guess I’m a bit stronger….should be getting stronger everyday.  Just wish this recovery time would go by faster!  My butt is getting tired of being sit on!!!  lol

Day 79 – Thanks Johnny and Preston!

Johnny and Preston left for home this afternoon.  Thank you so much Johnny for helping me and cleaning up my desk area and doing the laundry too.  It’s so nice to see the glass on my desktop again!  I promise…I will try not to mess it up too quickly! lol  It was so nice to have Johnny and Preston these past 2 1/2 days.  Preston is so sweet…so full of life.  He danced for Grandma to some of the fun music on Johnny’s iPhone.  Played with the few toys I have here at the house for endless hours.  And he showed me some new toys…some trucks that are replicas of real life Monster trucks.  Bounty Hunter and Grave Digger!  Preston played with those toys for hours too.  Johnny changed my wound dressings too!  Thank you for doing that!

Day 78 – Muscles Hurt

Thanks Melanie and Sue for your comments on yesterday’s post.  I think I was a little more comfortable in bed last night….much more than being on the couch.  Johnny helped me to bed last night at 10:15 and when Tony got home at 10:45 from work….I was SOUND asleep.  Woke up an hour later in real pain…Tony heard me calling his name.  I was laying FLAT on my back with all the covers over me and my muscles on my left leg near the hip just felt so stretched and tight.  I had to get up, go to the bathroom and reposition for a while.  We discovered that I needed a pillow or something under my left leg so that it had a bend in it.  I’m having a constant lower back pain too….I’m sure it’s just a muscle issue.  I remember when I had my auto accident about 6 years ago and I couldn’t move my left shoulder because of a displaced collar bone….and the pain I had right down the  middle of my back from not using those muscles was excruciating.  It’ll take a while for all the muscles to wake up and fly right, I’m guessing.  Hope they decide to do it sooner than later!  lol

Day 77 – Had a Rough Night

Had a hard time sleeping last night….although I was trying to sleep on the couch.  I thought that would be easier.  Tonight I’m going to sleep in my bed.  Tony slept near me on the recliner…and didn’t sleep well either.  I had a good rest today from noon to about 2pm in bed….and know that I could rest better there now after having a nap there today.    Tony’s off to work now….and Johnny will be here any minute.  So it’s nice to know I have people I can count on, that’s for sure.  I’m sure as every day goes by I’ll get my strength back too.

Day 76 – Feeling Pretty Good, But Drugs Help!

I brought my netbook to the hospital and they actually have a wi-fi network set up.  Thought I’d let you know I’m feeling pretty good today. And they just came into the room to say that I will be going home later today.  Signing off for now.

Day 73 – A Nice Day With Chrissie!

Chrissie and I spent the day to together today….we took some papers I had to give to the surgeon to fill out for my SDI and forms for my company so I can get paid while I’m on disability.  Then we dropped something off at her doctors.  After that we went to JoAnn’s to look for the foam for baby bumpers for a crib…which they didn’t have.  Then we went to the Destination Maternity to buy her some maternity clothes.  She gots lots….and all on sale…thank you dear daughter for picking stuff on sale!  Lunch at Dai Bai Dang….and then off to the store to buy the ingredients for tacos and burritos for dinner.  She came back with me and we went out in the backyard and took some pictures of her. 

My surgery is at 10:30am in the morning.  I will probably miss posting tomorrow, unless I do it from my cellphone.  LATER!

Day 72 – Lesson 2, Aperture and Depth of Field

In my Oh Shoot class…we are on lesson 2 and learning about aperture and depth of field.  Aperture is how closed or open the shutter is when you take a picture….the smaller the number, the larger the opening.  When you use a smaller aperture setting(a larger shutter opening) you will get more blur in your fore and backgrounds and the only thing that will be in focus is the subject you choose.  With a larger aperture number(a smaller shutter opening) the more objects you will have in focus in your depth of field.  So this first picture…I used a smaller aperture so that the water and rocks are blurred in the background.

And in the 2nd picture I used a larger aperture number to give a greater depth of field and have more objects in focus…in this case…the water and the rocks in the background are now more in focus.

I took pictures of this guy at the wedding in San Diego yesterday.  The wedding was at the naval submarine base and the wedding site was right near the water.

Day 71 – Megan & Nathan’s Wedding Day

This is the beautiful bride and groom Megan and Nathan.  He is in the Navy and a submariner.  I just LOVE the look he is giving his new bride.  Such love in that look!

Day 70 – Prayers to Japan and….

Prayers to the people of Japan and those in the line of possible tsunami’s. I heard there is a tsunami warning for the west coast of the United States for around 8 am today.  The wedding that we are going to is actually right on the coast at the San Diego Naval Base at the Harbor Inn.  Wonder how high the water will get…I feel bad for the bride and groom if they have to move the wedding.  Guess I’ll find out later today.  The traffic is probably going to be horrible!   **UPDATE**  It’s 9am…here and the tsunami warning for the west coast was for 8am.  Nothing on the news about any flooding down south….I think we are going to be fine! YAY!  Sure would have felt bad for the bride and groom!