It has in fact been so long since I've posted that I'm having to look back at the calendar just to figure out where what we've been doing. At last post, we were getting started on the move to Mapleblood, Abbey had just damaged her knee, Cindy and Heather were training for a big run, and Quinn and I were wishing the snow end melt so we could start riding trails again. I'm sure Abbey and Cindy were also wishing for some riding, too, but that didn't fit into the previous sentence very well.
This move has been the longest most difficult one we've done yet. And we've done many! We started moving on April 1 and were finally out of the house on Spruce Street by the end of April. At this point we've unpacked most of our stuff on Mapleblood, but it was only a few days ago that we got the garage straightened out enough to find our bikes. Most of Sharon's stuff is still in boxes in the storage unit that we'd hoped to have for only a month! We've sworn we'll never move again, but since we're in a rental house, that promise seems likely empty. Of course, with home prices rocketing up again, I doubt we'll ever own another home, so maybe we'll be in this rental until Q is out of college.
Abbey's knee surgery took place on April 18 and appears to have gone very well. The surgeon used one of her extra hamstring tendons and a gracilis muscle tendon, which she apparently didn't have much use for, at least not where they came in naturally, to build her a knew anterior cruciate ligament. It's hard to believe that all of that can be done through just a few little holes above and below her knee, along with one slightly longer slit just below her knee. It looked like this:
Those are her doctor's initials written on her leg just so he'd be sure to do the right (left) knee. Abbey's been going to physical therapy a couple times a week and has even been riding her bike on the trainer a little each day. She's been told she can start riding on the road in June, with flat pedals only, but should avoid real mountain biking until September or October. We're very pleased that she seems to be doing so well. It's been much better than I had worst-case-scenarioed. This little incident has reminded me to appreciate our own good fortune relative to that of many others who have lost limbs or are perhaps unable to do what they might like to do for reasons beyond their control.
The Platte River Half Marathon went well for Heather and Cindy. The weather was beautiful; much nicer than last year, and this year those of us who were just spectating figured out how to take the train from the start line to the finish and back. The runners rode back with us in (on?) the train.
Quinn had a concert to wrap up his first year on the 'bone. Q'bone. He's doing quite well with it and will start taking private lessons this summer from the man who is now his band director. We'll call him Bruce. Bruce is actually a trumpet player and is going to be doing lessons with Abbey, too. He'll be coming to our house a couple times a week. Let's hope he like dog-singing.
This evening, three of us (scq), finally got the bikes out after fixing a couple of flat tires, went for a little spin around some of the trails beside Cherry Creek State Park, which is close to our new home. It was really nice, but with Abbey at home on the bike trainer, it felt a little wrong.
Oh, and just to keep things interesting, I'm scheduled for my own knee surgery on June 10. It seems that I have a torn meniscus in my left knee that I hope will be less painful once repaired. Just one more thing to complicate our lives. My doctor says it will be a quick fix, just a cleaning up of some small tears, and I'll be running again in a couple of weeks. I hope he's right, because I've lost noticeable muscle tone and grown some extra belly fat (yuck) since I stopped running and riding in February. Two knee surgeries in one spring. The gods must be crazy. But I'm pretty sure we already knew that.
