Lazy Poodle

Molly has been pretty tired lately, if you judge by these photos! We took her for a walk in the coulees today, which is her favourite thing. She had a great time, running in circles, and running between John & I. It was her Christmas present. We hadn't been into the coulees since before my accident in September. We were a bit sad to see that they are developing the area that used to be a great nature walk though. Hopefully we'll still be able to get into the coulees despite the new housing.

Truffle Heaven Party

Today some friends came over for the first annual Truffle Heaven truffle making party. It was great! We made chocolate peanut butter truffles, chocolate caramel truffles, and plain chocolate truffles. We also made caramel chocolate truffle cookies, which may be my favourite of all the things we made.

For lunch I served chocolate chunk scones, plain & pepper biscuits, a cheese tray, savoury bread pudding with goat cheese, and mushroom cheesecake. I really liked the goat cheese bread pudding. There was enough left over for John & I to have for dinner as well, so no cooking was involved thankfully. We were out last night and didn't get to bed until 2am, and I was up at 5:15 to get ready for the party. It's only 8pm now, and I think I'm going to have to go to bed shortly.

Here are some pictures from the truffle making. We know such an amazing group of people here. Everyone is so wonderful. The party attendees were Jennifer, Carly, Melanie, Marie Helene, and Michelle. We're all going to go out dancing over the holidays as well, which should be an amazing amount of fun!

Mountains

When I was out riding today I noticed that the mountains were as clear as they've ever been, so we went for a ride to have a look. Unfortunately, you'll have to enlarge the pictures to see them. My camera's zoom isn't that powerful, so they look quite far away. It's funny that sometimes pictures make things look farther away than when you are looking at them.

Riding Again!

I'm finally riding again. I rode to work on Friday, and it wasn't too bad. I used my brakes only a few times on the way down the hill. I was able to ride up both sides, although I had some trouble on the way back home. The wind was gusting to 65km/hr, so it was hard. At one point a gust knocked me off the sidewalk, so I had to walk a bit while it passed.

I rode for 25 kms on Saturday, albeit slowly. Today I did 2 hill repeats on the Paradise Canyon hill. I was going to do 3, but my rear end was too sore. I have trouble with power output from my left leg. My right is doing a lot of work right now. Hopefully as I keep riding this'll improve.

Although the accident was an interesting experience, I hope never to have to go through that again.

Recovery Update

Things continue to heal. Unfortunately I had a concussion from the accident, and now am having post-concussion syndrome symptoms. I have no short term memory, a constant headache, fatigue issues, and more. I am able to exercise, although I can't ride my bike outside. The doctor is concerned that I might fall again.

I rode the stationary bike at the gym for 45 minutes today, and now the back of my leg is really sore. I think it's going to be a while before my muscles heal fully. I must have done some serious damage to them in the fall. I start working with my trainer again on Tuesday, so hopefully that will help. Therapy is really helping a lot too.

So overall, after 5 weeks, things aren't too bad. I still can't stand anything touching my knee, and might not be able to until after it heals more, so I have to wear boots a lot to keep my legs warm!

Evening in Lethbridge

We took the dog for a short walk in the coulees near the University this evening, about 6:30. took a few shots that turned out nicely. You'll need to enlarge them to see the details.

One Month Later

Things are continuing to heal well. I have some skin to grow back on my knee & ankle, but everything else is doing well. The lump on the back of my leg is still there, although smaller. I have a lot of bruising in that area still. The doctor says I might never get rid of that lump. Hopefully the sensitivity will decrease though, because I still find it hard to sit properly.

I am free to exercise again. I rode my bike to the gym yesterday. It was a bit scary to be riding again. I think I'm going to be very nervous the first time I ride Whoop Up. Hopefully I'll feel less nervous as time goes on.

Here's what my knee & shin look like now. Apparently the scars will probably remain obvious through the winter, but they'll tan OK in the summer.

Deer!

John went to take the dog out tonight about 8:30pm, and there were 3 deer hanging around the neighbours' house, eating in their garden. I had to try some pictures, using the "night picture" function on my camera. You'll probably want to enlarge them to see the deer better. I couldn't get rid of the red (white!) eye though.

There was a really nice sunrise this week too. I was actually up early enough to see it, which is something these days. It's back to work on Monday though, so I'd better get used to the early mornings again. Things are still healing, but I'm doing fairly well. Hopefully soon I can get back to working out and riding. The doctor thinks I should be riding again by November, so I'm planning for that. I started therapy this week too, so I'm hoping that'll move the recovery along.

Roses

As you know, I have a love/hate relationship with roses, but I am obsessed with them. I planted this one in the summer just before we went away, and it's still going strong.

Road Rash, Almost 2 Weeks

The healing process continues. The doctor thinks I could be riding again by November, which is good news. My kneecap is still missing a lot of skin, so that will still take some time. The hematoma is also going down, but it hurts a lot, particularly when I'm moving around. Still, things are definitely improving.

Rachel & Natalie sent me the get-well poodle!