Hang in there, Jan!

Ken's mother had a shoulder replacement surgery on Friday, so he and his sister went to Cleveland to support her.  Her surgery went well and she went home today.  I guess she's in a lot of pain now, though.  Jan is a retired surgical nurse, so she certainly knows the score with these things.  I'm sure it doesn't make the pain any easier to handle, though.  Hang in there, Jan!!!  I wish we lived closer and could check in on her daily for awhile.  I'm sure Jim will be a great caretaker and perhaps her brother and sister-in-law will be able to visit. 

Today I took the kids to RPAC at OSU and we all put in a swimming workout.  I swam about 1200 meters (about 3/4 of a mile).  I did most of the workout in freestyle; however I put in some breaststroke and backstroke lengths, too.  Tomorrow, I bet I won't be able to put my arms over my head.  I'll be soooooooo sore.  My lats are already feeling it. 

Initially, I thought it would be good to put Val and Jason in a fast lane and let them do a workout together.  However, Jason got very discouraged and was completely giving up and down on himself.  Then, he came to swim with me and I got him back in the swing of things.  We did a 200 free and he beat me by 25 meters.  He's 9.  I know, it's depressing.  But, hey, freestyle is his favorite stroke and I'm obviously getting my money's worth because he's doing so well.  I can give him a tough race in breaststroke, though.  That was my favorite stroke and his least favorite.  I didn't even try the fly.  I couldn't do more than a terrible 25 fly before these surgeries.  Now, I don't think it's wise to even try.  Butterfly requires a range of motion and significant strength which I just don't have right now.

I didn't pay close attention to the time, but I think we swam for 45 minutes or so.  Then I stretched a bit and loosened up my back which had been tight for a few days.  The kids played for about 30 minutes in the leisure pool while I got a shower and then we got them cleaned up and headed home. 

Ken got back this afternoon, he took Jason to baseball practice. Jason will be wiped out after swimming and baseball. 

The kids both were mildly sick with a cold or bad allergies or something last week.  They are still a bit stuffy, but getting better.  I got it late this week and have been on Clariton D during the days and Benadryl and cough drops at night.  I think I'm on the upswing and have lots of energy today.  Ken doesn't feel well at all though.  I tried to get him to let me take Jason to baseball practice, but he wanted to be there. 


Tuesday, I'm off to a conference and will be gone until Saturday early evening.  I really love this conference (HR Technology) and it's great to see many of the same people there year after year.  We'll be hearing from the leaders in HR technology and seeing many software demonstrations.  I've got my list of vendors to visit on the exhibition floor so I can keep up with what is going on in Talent Management (a passion of mine).  Of course, I'll also be attending the parties sponsored by the vendors and various meet and greet events which run late into the night.  I expect Knowledge Infusion's 5th year anniversary bash will be the primo vendor event this year.  I'm really looking forward to the knowledge-tinis (martinis with green LED lights in them).  Last year, I brought home a green LED plastic ice cube for each kid and put it in their milk at breakfast.  It was a hoot.