End of the line

So today, 8 weeks ago, on my birthday, I simply twisted my ankle the wrong way and buckled on the ice and down I went.... What have I learned in a short 8 weeks?  Let me attempt to but them into simple bullets since my family says I talk too much..or rather write too much..

• Lying in the couch isn't necessarily fun but I knew I got a new couch for some odd reason.  I am so glad I got one that's beyond comfortable,
• Don't let anyone tell you that the body parts don't talk to each other. When I broke my leg all other parts of my body began hurting...and it couldn't be that I am getting old..
• A cast, a boot, crutches and wheelchairs do get sympathy...and sympathy isn't always bad.
• Ones perspective does take on highlights when one has lots of time to think.
• Not simply is the perspective takes on new highlights, but with time on my hands I went through redecorating the whole house, new towels, walls tore down, lattice, in floor heat and chandeliers...all in my mind if course, but  when one has time on ones hands, dreaming does help pass the time.
• Reconnecting with friends is precious...and when they gave me rides we had some great moments
• The ones who came to my rescue were not the ones I thought that would be there, I will strive to be that person who blesses with what others need not what I want to give.
• Rolling walkers are awesome but there are chinks out of the wall...and it's not from the dogs or kids!
• Puzzles are so much fun....
• Care packages warm the heart like a roaring fire in the middle of winter...
• Being helpless makes one appreciate the little things in life..like walking,  driving, sitting cross legged, Kneeling, hopping, living...... 

So this is the end of my timeoutinaboot.... I am thankful that God allowed this and I am thankful that through 8 weeks of a challenge also gave me some insights into Gods heart that I might have missed.

I walk the line

i am walking a line however it's not always a straight line..but no boot...it's been almost eight weeks. I asked a dr friend last night about my time to heal and with a grin he said three more months...so i took him off my Christmas list for next year . I am happily at the YMCA in the handicapped locker room and doing machines the old people use. Today I am buying new tennis shoes, finishing cleaning the shop and maybe rake some more lawn. Being outside feels as if a prison sentence has been lifted. I still walk funny, I still hurt and it's awkward but it feels stronger the more I do.  People still cut me off, and the respect doesn't exist without the boot and crutches but it's the cross I will bear gladly. My perspective on how to treat people with a handicap has changed, the realization that even though I needed things done for me, what I needed was friendship and what I found is people were willing to do things but not stay to visit. I discovered the ones who stepped to help were not the ones I expected. So I will strive to be the unexpected blessing to others..... And in the midst of it I made a trip to Boston that totally blessed my heart far beyond what I thought; I was going to speak..God had me go to get refueled... I love my God....

Rise up and walk...no running...

I like my Dr again. He told me do not run.  Yesterday we got the news that I am 90% healed and now to begin getting the leg from its stiff, I don't want to bend angle. So I can begin walking around the house without a shoe. It's quite slow, hurts and the angle I put my foot down is. It normal. It it will come. I still must wear the boot when I go out.
The biggest thing is I can return to the YMCA. For those of you who don't work out, you don't have a clue, but I thrive on it and. Y body is used to it and being unable to do anything except left my 5 lb blue weights, has been hard.  I can only do the bike and swim but hey, it's a start.  And I will probably use the handicapped dressing room so I don't have to climb two flights of stairs but it's a start...
Driving is like a new freedom...I take the boot off, out a shoe on, drive, stop, take the shoe off and put the boot on and get out. It's a process and it talked time but the price of freedom is sweet. I still clunk around and a, really slow but I am moving. I feel like a toddler looks when they begin to walk... God has been very good through the whole ordeal. I feel better than I felt a week ago and God got me through the week along with answering prayers about Baihley getting a grad school admittance letter.

Leaving Boston with some incredible God moments in my heart...

My name on a chair

So I was out to speak in Boston for a ladies retreat and even with the broken leg and getting a 12 hour bug, I ventured forth. Having a cast and a crutch does have its perks. They put you in a wheelchair, push you through the line at the airport, through the security, onto a blue machine that goes real fast and it's curb to the jet ay service.  When I got to board the plane first, it was special. I love holding up the line while I limp back and forth.  They changed my seat, moved my stuff, waited in me hand and foot and when I got off the plane there was a wheelchair waiting for me with my name on it.
Being here  in Boston with all the snow, has reminded me that there is winter.  It's slushy, messy and I watched cars parked in places I wasn't sure cars could park.
God has done wonderful things here and I have truly loved being here. I am now being spoiled as I get to see Rhode Island and today Maine with friends. Tomorrow it's the coast  as we work our way back to the airport and then home. In a few days I will get to go to the doctor and maybe be out of my boot....I may be a bit mournful and shed a tear...NOT... I will not be dancing but will be lighter on my feet..and if they tell me another week I will still be very thankful that at least I got through one trip being truly handicapped and loving the special treatment.

I'm walking the floor over you.

Nothing changes.  I am still treated like a second hand citizen in my home. Except now I can walk..I was told to walk and eventually lose the crutches. I kind of like Ethel...my crutch. But the dogs still don't move...I walk the floors and step over the dogs...and even rolling my little cart over the dogs ears didn't seem to matter...So I am walking the floor. And it actually feels weird not good. With the new boot which is larger and more bulkier than the other boot, I feel as if I have a large heel on the bottom of my right leg. I tried using it to run the pedal today when I played at the Nursing home..the boot doesn't move very well.  Of course the piano was out of tune and no amount of using a pedal will help that.  So I did get out today...to the assisted living home in Rochester.  It felt good but I told the story about 5 times.  I could have changed the story every time but there are some pretty sharp gals,,they would have tripped me up in my storytelling.  So other than my toe swelling and feeling odd, and  I kicked an ottoman, unintentionally of course, I am doing better than I thought. I did try to out some weight in my leg while I was changing this morning and I didn't fall over, and it didn't hurt too bad, and I didn't cry,  that was encouraging... Now we will see what a week of traveling and being up and about does. I speak in Boston this weekend at a ladies retreat. The irony of it all is I speak on Fruitful and faithful or fearful and frustrated. I guess God thought I needed a large object lesson...and I made plans to travel around the east coast and visit...won't be doing that either except at the mercy of some friends who can drag me around with the three extra days I booked the ticket for so I could enjoy Boston and Vermont. So God has someone he wants me to talk with or listen too. I will be excited to see which God had in mind.  In the meantime, I am still walking the floor and hopefully not over the dogs but simp,y around them.. Of course they couldn't consider moving,,,,nope..they are just dogs....

Walk..he told me to walk

 He's a pretty cool doctor; that's what I thought until he looked at Jim and said, "is she always like this?"  They cut the cast off and x rayed my ankle and it didn't morph into something else...it's still an ankle. I could see the break much more obvious,  must be a more expensive machine or something.  I could see the break in all three shots and I could see the bone growth,  well, I said I could see the bone growth because I really am getting tired of lying around .  However just because there is bone growth doesn't mean I am out of the woods. It means that with my traveling plans he doesn't want me in a cast in case I swell up and would have complications so I am equipped with a larger taller boot. I am also given directions to walk. He thinks that I can be walking without the crutches when I board the plane.  Hmmmm...so I am working my way around the house putting weight on my right leg. It's an awkward process since the boot is a bit odd and much higher than barefoot so I have to wear a shoe all the time... But it oddly feels good. The foot is still swollen and tonight is having some resistance and attitude issues but all in all it looks ok except for some discoloring and kind of hard and sore..ok it is more then kind of hard and sore, it is hard and sore.  It reminds me that when I focus on what is it and not what it will be it's discouraging.  I used to be able to run, jump, dance and I can't now.  I want to be able to ride the bike and run on the elliptical.  Soon I will but right now walking across the kitchen is my goal and I will not be discouraged ..I just need for today to walk across the floor.  So my goals are to fly to Boston and speak and enjoy the 108 inches of snow and spend time visiting with friends. My dream of driving all over the east coast won't happen...that was my idea when I booked the ticket.  Gods idea obviously is different and I will wait and see what he has in mind...me and Bertha will hobble our way and entertain everyone I am sure....

Anticipation

4 weeks ago I was planning a Bible study and anticipating things to do on my birthday. 4 weeks later I am planning a Bible study and anticipating videoing when they cut off my cast and see what my foot looks like.  Life is all about perceptive and how we handle the little things that change our plans. I absolutely love my horse time...I didn't realize how much that simple chore time comforted me and filled a hole in my heart. I knew that riding Charlie, or even sugar and BFG made me feel good must I didn't  about it as comforting, but to push all other reasons aside, it's comforting. Right now I do very little things that comfort me.  To comfort according to the dictionary one of the meanings is to alleviate ones pain, to soothe, console or aid in ones distress and to encourage and make ones hearts sing.  I am in the heart singing arena when I am with the horses...and right now I am not able to do that...yet...So, I sit and look out the window at the snow and dream of what I will do when I am released from my hobbles.  
4 weeks ago I had plans...in those 4 weeks several of those plans had to be let go. When things are totally out of your control, you let them go. When we think we can manipulate the conditions, we hold on and use all our options to change the facts. So if you wonder what one does all day when one can't do much... Bible study does take up a lot of my time,,but so do puzzles, coloring, writing letters, trying to get food for lunch, today I will dust and clean and that will be an all day interesting challenge between crutches and the scooter.  Even though it takes all day, there is some odd reward in seeing the clean floor even for a few minutes before the dogs run in and love me by sharing their wet footprints and plop on the floor.  I hobble, I scoot and I discover that I really am glad I had been working so I am fairly decent condition and I do miss the YMCA. I miss being sweaty and panting and sitting in the hot tub... Which reminds me that I haven't submersed myself in a tub for 4 weeks also. Taking a bath with a leg hanging out of the bathtub is quite the accomplishment...and 4 weeks ago I didn't even think about not taking a shower for 2 months.
So now, my anticipation is based on other things than a month ago.  My time in a boot has given me a unique look at life...slower.  I have achieved sitting most of the day and not going loopy.  I find contentment in three puzzle pieces together and coloring. But I am anticipating getting up and doing chores in the mud, that old cart hart coat and the smell of hay and duck poop.
And in the meantime, I love my new comfy couch in ways I had not anticipated...the old saying my friend Emma always said, "God is already there."  In other words we do things in life and God has plans for us that we had no clue he was working out for our good.... So just keep doing and God will provide the comfy couches you need to hang our for 8 weeks....