Post -Op

I had my post-op appointment yesterday, and the good news is that my knee is healed! I can slowly start back working out and in four weeks, I can run! Woo woo! Recovery has been good, too. I was on crutches for a few days which I hated, but since then I get around just fine. A little stiff and sore...but one week after surgery, I'm doing great.

Christmas was good. We had Christmas Eve with my parents, made memorable by the snow....and the fact that the only restaurant open was Long John Silvers. But it was my first White Christmas ever and that was special.

Then we went to Houston for the Meyers' Christmas celebration. We had a good time, hanging out, eating, playing games. It's a blessing that we all get along so well. We had a Cajun Christmas dinner with turducken, okra, green beans and pie...we were stuffed!
But, I have a bone to pick with my mother in law. We always talk about how well she raised her three boys, and she really did. They're all successful young men with good values. But something was left wanting in the education of mine. If you look closely at the top of the roof of my gingerbread house, you will see that a jelly bean is missing. As bare as a snail out of it's shell. What kind of person does that?!? It's just beyond my comprehension. And I made more bread...the long recipe this time, as in 20 hours of rising time. It's definitely a piece of wonderful, but I don't know if it's substantially better than the one that's done in five hours.

I also got a pressure cooker for Christmas, and I've already made two batches of beans, garbanzo beans and black eyed peas for New Years, of course. Casey's comment on it was to tell me that I'm a good cook. His mother did teach him well.

And I got two free Society Bakery cupcakes for donating a sweater...woo woo! If you like cupcakes, bring clothes to donate to there location on Greenville. Awesome.

Photos from Around Town

To break from the usual "Here's what I baked and Look! a picture of my dogs," as Casey described my blog, I have a variety of pictures from this weekend's events.

First, a beautiful sunset near the library:Then...well, what I made. English toffee with walnuts, Peanut brittle, Salty, sweet frito candy and Rolo pretzel bites. These have been bagged up, two or three kinds of candy per bag, and will be distributed to friends and family next week. Casey Gooden, who disapproves of mass-candy production, will be receiving coal in his baggy.
Also, I got to watch Casey run the White Rock Marathon today. I saw him at around the 7 mile point, the 12 mile point, the 15 mile point, and I was waiting for him at the 21 mile point. And waiting, then I get a call. He's freely bleeding from one of his toes and can't walk. Seeing as he's doing a 50k in two months, there was no point in dragging himself for six miles. So, we called it a really fast 20 mile run and went to lunch at the Porch. It was delicious.
And leaving our house later, we spotted the terrific baby-pink dog and couldn't miss the photo-op.
Even better was her owner. Red dyed hair, green-rimmed glasses, stripped top, cheetah print tights, pink socks and lime green Crocs. Being that's what I wear too when I walk my dogs after washing them in jello, it makes perfect sense. The dog smelled nice.
Then we attended a 1-year-old's birthday party. Little Luke took a while to warm up to the cake, but eventually he sufficiently shmeared himself with icing to be totally cute. Why is that so uncute later in life? It's a shame. I do love icing.
And his parents, Tim and Marcy (she's in the middle), threw him quite a party. If only he had teeth to enjoy all the food. We do, though, and it was great.
And not to be upstaged by all the other parents and children attending, Casey had his moment in the limelight too.