Peeking In *Weekend Open Thread*

Hey, All!

Get it? “Hey” Horse?Ahem. Now you know why I have’t been the one posting since my back surgery! Ahahaha…Oh, that is Peanut the Pony peeking up over his stall door. He is the resident pony at the barn where our horse, Jordan, is.

Peanut is so stinkin’ cute. This is what ALL of him looks like:

 

I wanted to peek in and give y’all an update on how things are progressing with me post-spinal lumbar fusion, as well as providing your Weekend Open Thread.

But first, before I go any further, I want to thank Kenoshamarge for doing a yeomans job keeping the blog going as I recover from my surgery. Marge has done a spectacular job or writing great posts filled with her wit and wisdom, as well as her trademark assortment of outstanding political cartoons. In addition to providing consistently outstanding posts, Marge has kept an eye on the Comments section, commenting and adding additional excellent cartoons, links, and stories.

Along those lines, thank you to the fantastic group of regulars who continue to share their thoughts, cartoons, links to pertinent articles, and good humor as always. I am grateful indeed to have such amazing folks come by to spend some of their precious time. Thank you so much – y’all are just the best!

My update, such as it is, will be brief. It has been a little over six weeks since my surgery. I had a follow-up appointment at the end of last week to see how things were progressing. I was HOPING my doctor was going to say I was on the verge of starting Physical Therapy, but unfortunately, that is not what he said. Instead he said I have a few more weeks of doing what I am doing. Or rather, trying not to do much of anything like bending, twisting, or lifting.

Whew.

What I can tell you is that NOT doing those things is a LOT harder than you might think. For example, try something simple like brushing your teeth without bending over. Go ahead. I’ll wait! Yeah, it’s tough, right? Or say you reach back for an item on a table, something you do a thousand times a day without thinking twice about it. Or reach up to grab something that you are SO sure isn’t going to be a problem.

Well, I can tell you one thing that happens – your back lets you know IMMEDIATELY that you just did something really, really stupid. And it will remind you every single little time you do something without thinking, and let me tell you – there are lots of things a body does throughout the day without thinking about it, just second nature kinds of things, like reaching for something or bending over, or twisting.

I might add that since the surgery, I have dropped more things in the past 6 weeks than I have in the past 6 years, or darn near close to it. I swear,  I have dropped all KINDS of things like vitamins, or lids, or pieces of paper, any number of things that usually are not the kind of thing I would just drop willy-nilly. But now? Oh, yeah. All kinds of things slip from my fingers and I have to remind myself NOT to bend to pick them up. That’s when I usually go, “Suzy! I dropped something!” Poor Suzy…

All that is to say, “Mindfulness” has become more important than ever to me, that’s for sure!

I am definitely progressing, thank heavens, but slower than I would have liked. So I will continue to peek in at Comments, adding my own two cents worth from time to time, and keeping up with everyone. As I start to get better, I will start writing more often, but it will be slow going at first. Thankfully, KenoshaMarge (and occasionally Puma Forever) will keep putting up excellent posts to inform, enlighten, and entertain you. Thank heavens for Marge!

But this is a Weekend Open Thread, and I would be remiss if I didn’t provide a break from all the unbelievable insanity that seems to have overtaken our nation. I have to say, have you EVER seen so many people calling for a major political party to recall their nominee and pick someone else? I sure haven’t. But then again, I have never seen such a pathetic excuse for a candidate, either. I am speaking about Trump, but I reckon that could be said for the ethically-challenged Clinton. Then again, THAT could be said of Trump who doesn’t seem capable of speaking the truth even when he is being deposed and reading from a piece of paper with his handwriting on it. Hell, I could go on like this all day, so I’ll just stop now. You can feel free to add your own examples!

So, yeah – back to that whole break thing. At the top of the post, I mentioned the barn where our Jordan is. I am known at the barn as the “Treat Lady.” Handing out treats to all of the horses and Peanut is my way of saying hello to everyone and spending a little bit of time with them before getting down to the quality grooming time I spend with Jordan. Well, since the surgery, I have not been able to go to the barn. I miss seeing Jordan and the other boys there terribly, so Suzy is the “Surrogate Treat Lady,” as you will note below:

Bear in mind that Jordan is 36 years old, and his pal, TC (the one with the fly mask – he is missing an eye due to disease), is 33. That they are both so healthy at this advanced stage is all due to the amazing care our friend Beth gives them.

Just to give you an idea of Beth’s care, when TC came to the barn not even a year ago,  he could barely walk he was in so much pain. To make matters worse, he got bitten by a snake on his leg. We thought we were going to lose him for sure, but through Beth’s care and attention, he not only made it through but is now able to move like he is in the above video. Just incredible..

Well, that’s it for me. Thanks again to Marge, and to all of you. I hope you have a great weekend. This is the Weekend Open Thread.