Nadine's Knee Surgery

On Monday January 25th, 2010, I had knee surgery. It was something I kept putting off thinking it probably wasn't bad enough to do and also because I know it will be harder to get health insurance. Well, we are on Cobra health insurance now and it expires in March so I decided I should find out how serious my knee problem was and get it fixed while I still had health insurance.

I began to suspect that my problem was getting more serious when I took some long walks and found myself in a lot of pain afterward. I origionally injured my knee when we were in Ireland. After one of our meetings we took a drive to a beach. This beach was covered with the most symetrical, smooth, oval shaped rocks I had ever seen. As I walked on them, they shifted causing me to go down and severely twist my knee. After that, I had twinges of pain, but not unbearable. When we came home, I was too busy with family and getting settled that I did nothing about it.

I have a friend in our ward who is a former orthropedic doctor, but no longer practices because she is disabled. I told her about my knee and she had me come over so she could look at it. She could immediately tell that I had muscle deterioration in my right quad and suspected that I had a torn meniscus. She also told me that if I didn't get it fixed, I would have arthritis that would eventually lead to a need for a complete knee replacement. I got a doctor appointment and his diagnosis was the same as hers so I was scheduled for surgery.

Now the surgery is over, I can admit that the recovery is much slower than I expected. I am not the kind of person that enjoys sitting around, but Steve has been so good with taking care of me and keeping the dishes done up. The floor washing and vacuuming will just have to wait and I will have to learn patience.

Dinner at the Spallino's

We had a real fun evening tonight. We went to Linda and Terry Spallino's house for dinner and had a reunion with people who served in the Area Office in Solihol, England when we were on our mission in Ireland. Gerald Lund, who was released in October as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, and his wife Lynn were there. They are pictured in the top row on the right. We had a great evening reminiscing.

I might add that I just finished Gerald Lunds newest book, "The Undaunted." I really enjoyed it. It is based on historical facts about the pioneers who were called to settle in the Four-Corners area of Utah. They constructed a road to the Colorado River through what is known as the Hole-in-the-Rock. They had many harrowing experiences in their journey. This historical book is interwoven with a ficticious story of a family who went on this pioneering trek. I felt a great sense of appreciation for the suffering and sacrifice of these noble Saints. If you want to read it, I would be happy to loan you the book.

Artisan Bread

We absolutely love Artisan bread, but I don't like the price. We were getting it at Costco but they quit getting it in. We like the round loaves. Steve tried getting the long loaves, but they weren't as good. Well, I got fed up with the whole matter and decided I needed to learn to make it so I found a recipe on the Internet. I have made a couple of batches this week and it is sooooo good.

The above picture is of a loaf that turned out almost perfect. I took the bread to a social gathering and everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. Here is the recipe if you are interested.

Artisan Bread

3 cups lukewarm water

1-1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast

1-1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt

6-1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured with the scoop-and-sweep method (scoop into a measuring cup and scrape off the top with a straight edge)

Put yeast in the lukewarm water. Add flour and salt all at once. Mix in food processor or by hand until mixture is uniform. Don't knead. Put dougn in a container in which you can place a lid on top, but not airtight. I use a plastic cake taker and set the lid on top. Either let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature or put it in the refrigerator over-night. I prefer the latter method since the dough is easier to work with when cold.

When you are ready to shape the loaf, sprinkle the dough with some flour and cut the dough in half with a serrated knife. Handle the dough as little as possible (30-60 seconds). Shape by gently stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Now this is the part that is a little difficult to explain. You need to raise the dough on something that you can slide it off of when you are ready to bake it. I put it on cornmeal on a plastic sheet I use to cut up vegetables on. If you did the room temperature raising, the final resting period will take about 45 minutes. If you raised it in the refrigerator, it will take about two hours to rest before baking.

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put a baking stone on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on another shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

Dust the loaf with flour and slash a tic-tac-toe design with a serrated knife.

After the 20 minute heating period, slide the loaf off the surface you rested it on, onto the stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and quickly shut the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.

You can store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in the (not airtight) container for up to 14 days and bake as needed.

Baby-sitting Hallie Kate

Last week I had the blessing and opportunity of tending Hallie while Katie went and did some shopping. It's what grandmas love to do most. We had a great time together and she didn't cry even once. I think we are getting to be great buddies.

Isn't she positively angelic?

McKenzie's Birthday

Our cute little granddaughter McKenzie had her eighth birthday on Jan. 7th. She is so excited to be eight years old because she is going to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints later this month. This is a big event in her life. We gave her some jewelery, a little coin purse, and a baptism book.

December 2009

After being away from home other than one day from the 12th to the 29th of November, I had a lot of catching up to do. The first thing I needed to get out of the way was the Ward Christmas party on the 8th. I am on the activities committee and was put in charge of the food. We had roast beef, baked potatoes, corn, a fruit salad, and an assortment of desserts. We had about 250 people in attendance but the way we set things up, we were able to have four serving lines. Everyone got their food quickly. Besides being in charge of the food, I was in the ward choir that performed for the program. Whenever I get that busy I might as well not even eat, because I just don't enjoy it. I was a great relief to have that over with.

I included this picture to show the new kind of beauty we have near our home when winter replaces autumn. As we were driving around the lake, I was astonished by the beauty of the reflection of the mountain in the lake. It is one of those pictures that you can't tell which side is up.

I know you will think I have no brains when I say that I volunteered to have the Relief Society come to my home as a part of the Christmas home tour. As of December 8th, I had not put up one Christmas decoration and the home tour was scheduled for the 17th. I had to take some fast action. The hardest thing for me is deciding where to put everything. I ended up trying some new things that I really liked. I took pictures so that next year I don't have to think about where I will put things. I have also packed all my Christmas decorations away according to the room they will go in. The next three pictures show the new placement of my decorations. Steve liked the finished product.

I enjoyed attending the Christmas program at the elementary school where my grandchildren attend. Allison sang a Christmas song that she wrote at the request of her choir teacher. You can listen to her song at this web sight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwQdljmtNpA.

The kids at her school loved it.

Allison is on the top row, forth one in from the left.

Carter also sang in the choir. He is on the middle row, second in from the right.

We had family and some friends over on Christmas Eve for dinner and a traditional Christmas program. We showed a video from The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints on the Nativity while Steve read the Luke II account from the scriptures. We also showed a DVD story about how the song "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" was written with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the song. Allison sang "Jesus Was No Ordinary Man" by Janice Kapp Perry. There was a good spirit and afterward, everyone opened some gifts. We had a fun evening, but I was too busy to take pictures.

We had a great Christmas Day. Steve gave me some snow shoes and poles. Here is a picture of me snow shoeing. It is a close-up because I took the picture of myself. I went on a trail by the lake and had a great time, but I was physically wiped out for the rest of the day.