HAPPY B DAY!!! *waving my dime store wand*

Happy B Day Sharon! I hope it was a really good one!
Debbie

have a happy happy on this your very special day! pam

Oops, missed it again! Hope your day was full of beautiful lily blooms and koi kisses, Sharon! :)

Brenda

Happy belated birthday!!! Hope you had a good one. :)

I guess Sharon isn't checking in... we have been busy putting in a big Laguna skimmer box at her pond (I did the digging, she did the rest). She's trying to get various projects done before her back surgery on the 25th, so she's busy.

There was a frog with a blue head yesterday, and she got a good shot of it. Maybe if we all call loud enough, she'll hear us and post the blue-headed frog picture!

:) Mary

Oh, my, thanks, everyone!

How silly of me not to check the forum on my birthday. I was busy making blueberry ice cream with my semi-adopted neighbor kid. We picked the berries in my back yard, and it was VERY blueberryish.

Mary's right, crazy-busy around here. And Mary did WAY more than just dig. Yikes! You should see this woman work! Tossing rocks and pavers around one-handed... I understand she has a second-degree black belt, so you guys be REAL nice to her! ;^)

But seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift. Being covered in dirt and sweating buckets is double the fun when done with a friend. She was over both Friday and Monday, and even did an emergency hardware store run when I ran out of silicone. And she got to see the blue-headed frog! How cool is that!

Here he is (or she... looks like a pretty big tympanum, but not much bigger than the eye... I'm no expert.)

{{gwi:171844}}

Sharon

Mary, you're so awesome for helping out! It sounds like you ladies had a great time (Miss Blueberry the frog included).

Now I'm salivating. Blueberry ice cream! *slurp*

We'll be thinking about you on the 25th (and beyond), Sharon!

Brenda

Thanks, Brenda.

The surgery is actually a staged one, with the second operation being on Sept. 5. Double the fun, ha-ha.

Sharon

Ok Sharon, now I understand everything. I had commented on the discussions side about the blue frog pic, but now I know the blue is from the blueberry icecream!
Inviting the pond frogs to eat homemade icecream is WAY cool of you.

"I understand she has a second-degree black belt, so you guys be REAL nice to her!"
Mary, you're way cool too> just in case! ;)

goreous!

here's for a successful surgery, sharon! you'll be back out in that pond in no time.

that was such a great way to spend a bday.

Thank you Poo. Haiiiiiiaaaa!!!!!!
So, yes, I moved the stones, but! I didn't cleave them in half! with my bare hands! Don't worry!

:) Mary

PS. I do that for exercise, because everyone in my family keels over from heart attacks. It's very aerobic!
And we're not supposed to brag...
My favorite part of TKD is teaching the little tigers.

PPS! Poo! DD#1 has a new baby on the way! Only just, so we'll still have to wait forever. But that's OK! I so love being a grandma.

Congrats Mary!!! It's always exciting expecting a new grand bady, isn't it?!!! I can't believe how fast they grow once they get here. :)

Congrats on the upcoming baby grand (you don't play them; they play YOU), Hidden Dragon! :D You're too nice to attack innocent rocks. You can't fool us. ;)

Sharon, you're saying they're going to do a practice run for your surgery?? That's so interesting! I've never heard of that before, but I'm thinking it's a very good thing. :)

Brenda

Hope your surgery turns out as well as mine did. I'll give you one bit of advice. Do your exercises! Sandy

Ha-ha, practice run. (You WERE kidding, right, Brenda?)

Actually the whole ordeal is in 3 stages. Stage 1 will be the 25th, in which the ortho and neuro surgeons will go in through the back and remove a bit of bone from my spinal cord (been there since before birth and has neatly split the cord in 2.), then de-tether the cord, de-compress the bottom spinal joint (the only lumbar joint not fused during my initial scoliosis surgery, age 13, in which 13 intervertebral joints were fused), and lay some of the hardware for the new fusion.

On Sept. 5 the ortho will go in through my abdomen and remove the L5-S1 disc (and possibly L4-L5 as well), then place one or more cages filled with bone morphogenic protein into the disc space(s). A bone graft will be taken from the pelvic crest and placed between vertebrae for fusion.

Then, same day, stage 3, he'll flip me and go in the back again to cut out a wedge of bone and re-angle my lumbar (so I can stand upright again!). Then he'll attach a couple of bent rods to the vertebrae with screws, plus 2 long screws into the pelvis.

All the orthopedic work is somewhat contingent upon the neuro part going right in the first op.

Sandy, it will be a couple months before I'll be allowed to do any exercises, other than walking around the house to get meals, bathe, and go to the bathroom. Oh, and to lounge by the pond in my new zero gravity reclining chaise. (Gotta get me a shade umbrella!) But you can bet I'll do all my exercises when I get 'em.

Thanks for all and any well-wishes and prayers.

Mary, congrats on the great news about grandbaby! Enjoy!

Sharon

Ok, no, I'm an idiot, Sharon. I thought you knew that. LOL

I assumed "staged" was as in, "Check out the new stage production of Sharon's back surgery!" Yeah, it sounds so wrong NOW, but at the time, it amazed me. :D

I hope all phases go very well for you! I'm not kidding. ;)

Brenda

Are you kidding, Brenda? A staged production, with me playing the part of a scoliosis surgery patient and no actual cutting, sounds like a very smart idea! I could get into that, LOL.

You probably got the idea from the Learning Channel surgery tapes. Hm, I don't suppose anyone will be taping this... Guess I'd better get a manicure just in case (like I've ever had one, LOL).

Sharon

Oh, and thanks, Brenda. Yeah, I hope that too.

:^)

I forgot to post yesterday! We're thinking about you today, and hope you have a smooth go of it.

Brenda