So You Think You Can Dance Discussion Post

Although I'm personally in the "So You Think You Can Walk" stage right now, this is a show I really enjoy.

I won't be blogging about it each episode, but I think it warrants a discussion post. I know I'm sure to add some thoughts in the comments section.

The link to this post will be added to the sidebar and I hope everyone who watches the show jumps in with their opinions!

The Mole Blog Meet Up Discussion Post

I don't watch The Mole (not sure why, just never got into it), but I know many of you do!

Here's your place to discuss the show with friends on the blog. Feel free to link articles, talk about the show or anything Mole!

Okay, that didn't quite rhyme, did it?

This post will be linked in the sidebar under the blog discussion post and may it be a great season!

The Bachelorette Meet Up

On the Bachelorette website on ABC.com there is a little screen and under it you can click on shorts to view. There is one called Diary of the Departed and is of some interest. It's the last words of the guys who leave each week. This week you can get one last glimpse of the Bitter Barber and Paul, the sweet, pillow lipped guy she let go last Monday night. I know, you can probably live without ever seeing the barber again, but you will chuckle to hear him still harping on Jeremy (Methinks he has a man crush and it's man-ifester-ing this way).

Tonight the boys get to race fast cars, wearing one piece jumpsuits. I think we liked the Ellen boxers better. And it looks like we may finally get to see the overplayed scene where she bawls out the guys while crying about how serious she is.

She rejects the kiss of one guy --ouch --and she goes on a solo date with Jesse, the long haired snowboard guy, so we can finally get more than a glimpse of what his appeal may be. It says a date may end with the most shocking outcome yet! Doesn't that make you want to tune in to see?

UPDATE - Image added, category label added, and I'll be linking this post to the sidebar momentarily! (Jackie)

Through the Boob Tube Darkly - A Post-Surgical Perspective

I wrote this post over a few days last weekend from notes I took in the hospital and during my first week or so at home. During that time, I was still taking pain meds on a very regular basis. Yes, the photo is my hospital room and IV.

I'm feeling much better today and no longer take the pain meds except when going to physical therapy. We're in a heat wave here, but I've had no reason to leave my apartment at all and I have the air conditioner on low. I'm feeling so good today that I came up with my own physical therapy! I put on a CD I have with old hits like "Wooly Bully" and "Louie Louie," cranked the volume, and danced or dance/walked my way around the apartment. I twisted a bit; I made a point of bending my knee and putting weight on it -- no walker (been folded all week), no crutch ... on my feet! Although the knee got very warm, it didn't hurt and still doesn't now a half-hour after I stopped acting like a lunatic. My cat wasn't thrilled, though.

Without further ado, here's the rather drug-induced post --

Before I get into my list of what my drug-induced mind has been either entertained or irked by, I have to spend a moment talking about hospital televisions. One day, you too could end up in the hospital and you'll remember my words of wisdom here.

First, it was a great 42 inch flat screen, better than my televisions here at home. Thank you. Oh, and I had a DVD player, too! Woohoo! But it's all downhill from there. What? No remotes? What's up with that? There I was, strictly bed-bound for four days before they let me get up and I don't have a darned remote at all for the DVD player? Not only that, but the DVD player was across the room from me! How about the remote for the television? It's not a real one! Hooked into the "call nurse," more pain meds thingee, and change bed positions doohickey, I had an on/off for the television and up/down controls for channel changing. No numerics, mind you. I was stuck going through the realm of channels to get at anything I wanted to watch.

So, hospitals, listen up. I was not there for comedy relief accidentally shooting myself up with more pain meds when I just wanted to watch The Late Show with David Letterman. I wasn't there to make a spectacle of myself contorting my bed into odd positions when I merely wanted to find anything other than an infomercial at 4:00 in the morning. And if you're thoughtful enough to have a DVD player there, put it where the patient can actually operate it. Real remotes are desperately needed. Feel free to search my belongings. Body search me on the way out since you've already shred any dignity and privacy I ever had. I won't steal the remote; I have plenty of my own. I won't mention that the on/off switch for the lights on the doohickey did nothing. Oops, I mentioned it.

Then, after nearly a week in the hospital, I went home sweet home. Home, where I know my cable stations, home where I have real remotes. Home, where I had set up everything convenient for limited mobility. Now, since I've been home, I've still been pretty heavily medicated. It's made for a long strange trip of television watching between the zombie state and the insomnia. Here are some of my observations from that state of mind, not in any particular order:

1. The Late Show with David Letterman - Reruns last week on my first almost full week home? Yeah, I know it was the end of May Sweeps, but sheesh, Dave ... it's bad enough you had Jack Hanna on for the same night as my surgery and I missed my favorite guest on the show. Oh, and the Stupid Pet Tricks were on the pathetic side this time around. Dave, you let me down.

2. Dexter - I don't have Showtime and was trying to catch the first season when they aired it on CBS. Due to writing up the Sunday night Big Brother review, I missed enough to make me buy the first season on DVD. Great show, can watch while medicated and I sometimes identify with Dexter. But I don't go around killing people for either good cause or bad. I have been known to kill bugs on the "he needed to die" basis, but I don't think that's a crime.

3. The Meerkats movie on Animal Planet - Whoa, too much background into the filming of the series. I fell asleep both times I tried to watch it. Hey, maybe that's the cure for my insomnia! I enjoyed the series and I'm looking forward to the new season, but this didn't do anything for me.

4. Raw Nature on Animal Planet - Oh, animals eating each other, always a diversion from life at home! This kept my interest, but I think my cat got too much into watching it. You know, I've heard tell of cats eating their deceased owners. Eep.

5. Old original series Law and Order on TNT - My interest in this show has waned over the past few years, but I like the older episodes with Benjamin Bratt. Whether it's poor memory or the drugs I've been on, I didn't even remember a few of these I watched. So it was like new entertainment for me.

6. The Andromeda Strain on A&E - Speaking of Benjamin Bratt ... he's still adorable these days! I know I have the book and I saw the original movie, but it's been decades. It didn't wow me, but I stayed awake through it.

7. Judge David Young - This is a judge show I haven't watched too often, so he's pretty fresh for me. I think some of his rulings seem to come from his heart and not the law, but that's what people get for wanting to go on TV instead of a real court with their foolishness.

8. Homicide: Life on the Street - As many times as I see this show, I still want to watch it again. I was ticked at the hospital for not having a cable company which included WGN. Now that I'm home, Kellerman killed Luther Mahoney. Cool.

9. Criminal Minds - This show has always been up against something else I watch and I never had the time to watch many recorded shows due to life constraints. Perfect, A&E is carrying it now. Fresh fodder for me.

10. The latest Optimum Online Triple Play commercial - This is so overplayed! I didn't like the rap one last year and this one is even more annoying. It sometimes plays three times within a half-hour on some stations. Gack. I just see that Optimum flour bag and start to cringe. I only enjoy the lawn guy winking. Make it stop. (And they're the company which doesn't carry WGN!)

11. The First 48 on A&E - Played at all hours in the middle of the night, nothing like a good murder or two to keep the TV zombie staring at the set.

12. So You Think You Can Dance - I don't watch Dancing With the Stars, but this show is a constant hit for me. But just wait until some of these dancers get some good years on those knees. They'll end up in a hospital without real remotes for the TV!

13. American Idol winner David Cook on The Early Show - Darn it. A crane fell and we only had one song while I'm sure there was to be two. Not that I'm cold-hearted, but here in the NYC area, all programming on all local stations carried the news until well past noon. Five hours of pretty much the same news shots with little or no real new news during that time. I was thankful noon came around and WGN with its Homicide comes out of Chicago.

14. Reruns of Home Improvement and Rosanne on either TVLand or Nick - I never really watched the former when it originally aired. So it's like mindless light fluff entertainment for me, grunt. As for Rosanne, watching it after so many years made me remember why I enjoyed the series in the first place.

15. Groomer Has It on Animal Planet - Although I'm getting tired of the same old formula for reality shows, I still got hooked on this one. They should groom more cats, though. And, as entertaining as Artist is, he's a weak groomer.

16. Forensic Files and The Investigators on truTV - More real murders. I think perhaps I have a twisted mind. I still think truTV is a dumb brand for the station, but they didn't ask me.

17. The Wire on DVD - Ah, now I have the time to go through the four seasons I own without much real life interference (day job) cutting into my viewing time. Come August, I'll have season five. Life is good. Well, maybe not for the corner boys, but I'm more of a stoop kind of gal.

18. Hell's Kitchen - Matt has to go. I think his presence makes my knee hurt more. Thus I have to take more pain meds. It's Matt's fault! (Update - he's gone and my knee feels better!)

19. The Smoking Gun Presents on truTV - Now, any reality TV blogger knows The Smoking Gun website. For years it was the source for dirt on reality contestants. So when I found this in my channel surfing, I watched. Leif Garret, Tonya Harding, Danny Bonaduce and other Z List celebs known for their stupidity judge the stupidity of others on video. Hmm ... if Darwin's Theory of natural selection were indeed correct, all of these people should be gone, right? That said, it made me laugh. Of course, it could be my medication.

20. Saturday Night Fever movie repeat this past Saturday - A blast from the past and I was surprised I watched it all the way through. "You hit my hair. I worked hours on it and you hit my hair." Oh, I should be dancing. But I don't think my orthopedic surgeon would approve.

21. Sunday Morning on CBS - Always a part of my Sunday morning routine, this brings a sense of normality to my bizarre life of late.

22. NYCTV25 from NYC.gov - This is a local cable station, but always interesting. From Cool in Your Code to the music to the events to Secrets of New York, it makes me want to get back to photo stomping around town. Yep, an incentive to recover!

23. Trauma: Life in the E.R. on Discovery/Health - Like I haven't had enough of hospitals, eh? Maybe this caught my attention because I'm grateful this was a planned surgery. I don't know.

24. Living Lohan - That's a half hour of my life I'll never get back. Even on medication, this is a waste of my valuable time. I could be dancing, y'know!

So there you go. I feel a bit like the guy in A Clockwork Orange with his eyes forced open, a true TV zombie. Pardon me, it's 2 AM and I found Without a Trace.

June?

Nope, I didn't post that TV post last night. It will go up sometime over the weekend. When I posted yesterday, Sydney had posted an extensive look at June television which I think warrants some more attention as my post a bit usurped it.

Her post is here.

I also want to throw out kudos and huge thank yous to both Sydney and Zoetawny for all of their work in keeping the blog going! They both rock, as do all of you hanging in the comments!

In my physical therapy yesterday, I was up to 102 degrees bend. There is an issue with pain and swelling in the back of the knee. That's holding my bend back more than the actual knee or other issues at this time. My physical therapist has a few theories -- it could be blood clot related, or a Baker's cyst, or something wrong with the Popleitius (sp) muscle. Although I can feel the swelling and the back of the knee was hugely bruised post-op, the only time I have pain from it is when I push the bend of the knee. If it's still an issue when I next see my surgeon a week from Thursday, I'll have him check it out.

I'm Alive and ... Free, Free, Free at Last (sort of)

Look, look! I've been outside! Later tonight I plan to post a longer TV-related post I worked on for a few days, Unfortunately, my computer corner isn't as comfortable for my knee as I thought it would be. Stints of over ten or fifteen minutes get very uncomfortable. I find it hard to keep shifting positions and try to think at the same time. Of course, right now I'm not sure if I can walk and chew gum at the same time either!

That said, since the beginning of last weekend, I've deliberately been cutting down on the heavy duty pain meds. All this week, I've only taken them about an hour before my physical therapy appointments. Since I do have some pain outside of the appointments, I have to ask my doctor for some kind of lighter duty pain relief. I don't like the zombie feeling I get from the heavy stuff (though it's definitely needed for the physical therapy -- PAIN!).

But the big news is ... I'm walking with no walker, no crutches, no cane around my apartment! When I go out in the real world, I'm walking with a pretty even gait using one crutch. It's tiring, but not painful. Until I rebuild my quad and calf muscles, I'm going to rely on the one crutch for stability.

I've had out patient physical therapy twice so far this week and will head off my the third time after I get this posted. To get there, I've walked a block to the bus stop near my apartment and have taken a city bus two towns over to Scotch Plains and the therapist. Once in town there, it's a half block walk. I got there early yesterday and took some photos in the park and of the cannon in the street. Don't ask me why there's a cannon in the street, I do not know. In the cannon photo, I used layers to make only the flowers have color.

I know someone mentioned Roofus in comments, but I won't get that way for a while. That's about seven blocks in the opposite direction of anywhere I have to go right now. And, though I know I'm improving and feel stronger every day, my jaunts are still pretty limited and I'm only really going where I have to go.

But it is nice to actually get out of the apartment, feel my mind clearing a bit from the medication and the surgery itself. I'm starting to have more of an appetite, but think I may have lost nearly 20 pounds -- my clothes are all loose. That's a good thing, mind you. My range of motion is at a 92 degree bend now, up from 60 leaving the hospital. I can actually stand on just the operated leg, but not for long.

So that's the latest. Later on tonight I'll get that long written while a zombie TV-related post up.

Today's musical non-sequitur:
"I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain."
- "Horse With No Name" - America

Proof SOMETHING is on in June....

OK folks -- we should be hearing from Jackie soon. I spoke to her today and the lilt was back in her voice... now the question is, when will the spring return to her step?

She has something written up that she will post. But it seems the way her desk is configured, it's hard to be comfortable while using the computer for long, so she has just not been on it... and frankly, after a double year of Big Brother, I think that is not such a bad forced rest. Glad to hear things are going well and we look forward to hearing from you Jackie!!!

Entertainment Weekly has devoted a whole issue to Summer TV and since we've been grappling with what that is exactly, I made up a nice little list for y'all to look over.

Weeds:  June 16 on Showtime at 10 PM (13 eps) Emmy winning, title speaks for self!

30 Days:  June 3 on FX at 10 PM (6 eps)  This is a FAVORITE of mine!! From Morgan Spurlock, the guy who did the movie Supersize me. Takes people from one walk of life and makes them spend 30 days doing something or being with people that are polar opposites, to challenge their thinking and grow their compassion, doing the audience the same service. A+!!!

Nashville Star, hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus (Orkmommy do you hear that?) on NBC, starting June 9th at 9:30 PM (9 eps) NBC rescued this from USA channel, this show's 6th season gets good reviews.

Celebrity Circus: NBC June 112, 9:30 PM (6 eps) Joey Fatone hosts an 8 wk boot camp and circus training with c list stars.  I'll watch, lol. 

Hopkins: ABC, June 16, 10 PM (6 eps) Puts the doc in documentary re: life at Baltimore's John's Hopkins Hospital.  Rise in female surgerons makes this the real life Grey's Anantomy.

MVP: SOAPnet, June 19, 11PM (1o eps) set in the bedrooms of fictional pro hockey players , steamy nighttime sudser is from Canada)... for Tom 's and Lars (not that you watch soaps)

Camp Rock: Starts June 20 on Disney Channel, 8 PM  ( new movie, probably like High School whatever that thing is that's sweeping the nation)

Army Wives: Lifetime, June 10, 10PM (19 eps) Life on an army base in S. Carolina, part deux. Endorsed by both presidential candidates... um.

Wipeout: ABC, June 24, 8PM. Described as a cross between MXC (huh?), Fear Factor and American's Funniest Home Videos. 24 contestants try to complete a series of physical challenges. Try is the operative word. 

The Bill Engvall Show: TBS June 12, 9 PM (10 eps).  A family sitcom, season 2, with surprise guests.  Trying to bring back Dick Van Dyke kind of comedy says Engvall.  

The Singing Office: TLC June 29, 9 PM  (9 eps).  Joey Fatone is BUSY, as host, joined by DWTS and Spice Girls Mel B as colleges from 16 co's battle for $50,000 singings. Could be funny.

Kathy Griffin's D list:  Bravo, June 12, 9 PM (9 eps) 

The Mole: ABC, June 2, 10PM (10 eps) -- in case you didn't know.

In Plain Sight: USA, June 1, 10 PM ( 12 eps) Starring West Wing's Mary McCormack. She and her partner, Frederick Weller, relocate people in the witness protection program to New Mexico. Deals with what happens when you have to reinvent yourself. Sounds intriguing.

America's Got Talent: NBC, June 17, 9 PM (Eps TBD)

I Survived a Japanese Game Show: ABC, June 24, 9 PM Why should I try to explain with a title like that?  I'll tune in. Jackie, will you?

Ice Road Truckers: History Chanel, June 8, 9 PM (13 eps) Season 2 follows rigs hauling loads over frozen the Arctic Ocean.  Deadliest Catch meets Sue from Survivor?  Don't let me discourage you with my poor attempt at humor. This is the channels highest rated series (who knew?) 

Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Showtime, June 16, 10:30 PM (8 eps). Imported from the UK based on a real life call girl's blog. Billie Piper from Dt. Who stars.

My Boys: TBS, June 12, 9:30 PM (9 eps) This looked like a fun premise last year, but I only caught 1 half ep... if any of you watched it, would love to know what you thought!

Legally Blonde, the Musical: MTV, June 2, 10 PM (8 eps)  10 Broadway hopefuls vie for the starring role played by Reese Witherspoon. Hey, if I were dating Jake Gyllenhall, I'd be singing too.

Law and Order, Criminal Intent: USA, June 8, 9 PM (12 eps)

Tori and Dean, Home Sweet Hollywood: Oxygen, June 12, Time???

The A-List Awards, hosted by Kathy Griffin: Bravo, June 12 10 EST

Design Star: HGTV, June 8, 9PM EST

When We Left Earth - The Nasa Missions: Discovery, June 8, 9 EST The Nasa film vaults are opened, and with the intended quality of the Planet Earth series, we can live the epic adventures of the challenges and achievements of our space program... in HD.  

Will list what's on in July later in the week.

Another Week for Jackie's Knee

Today marks three weeks since Jackie went in to get her surgery. If it seems like it was much longer than that to me, how must it feel to her???  But three weeks is good.  REALLY good, because it's no longer one or two weeks, lol. Carnak says: Four will be much better, and by six weeks she should be just great.  Using that scale, today marks the the half-way point, and I believe that's something to celebrate!!!  Until then, Zoetawny came up with my favorite graphic so far, with the message of the moment.  ((((Thank you Z!))))

(I hope you can appreciate that I changed the color to match her frame. *cough*)

Tonight is So You Think You Can Dance and Top Chef.  

Thursday the new season of Last Comic Standing starts, though I don't know if there are many fans of it on Jackie's blog.  We are subsisting on the Bachelorette and now The Mole, Netflicks, and filling in the gaps with eps of the favorite shows we missed last season online... Ugly Betty, Greys, etc... until Big Brother starts.

I heard Rescue Me is not going to be summer fare, as usual.  Instead they are filming now for a double long season to begin next February (24 eps). In it's place this summer, they are doing ten  5-10 minute shorts once a week on FX starting June 24th, to keep the audience and get them through... cable really can do whatever it wants can't it? It's the new Wild West.

But that doesn't help us right now. If there's something else you're watching tonight and tomorrow that I missed, don't hold out on us. Please let us know in the comment area.   

The Mole and other stchuff

Many thanks to Zoetawny for another of her custom made graphics for Jackie... You Rock Z.

The much anticipated return of The Mole is also on tap tonight, at 10/9 central time on ABC.

For those who never saw it, it's being brought back after a few years off the air. I believe it had two seasons with regular people, then two with celebrities and it tanked. A shame because it has the potential to be smart and adrenaline filled. We are hoping they hit it this time and we have a little sumpin sumpin to keep our TAR/Survivor cravings fed. Both fingers crossed.

The Premise: 12 people embark on an international mission but one person, whose identity is unknown to all, tries to sabotage it. There will be clues to follow but you can't believe anything you hear or see... The whole show is centered around one burning question: WHO IS THE MOLE????

In other news:

*Universal Studios had a huge fire yesterday, buring many of the famous movie sets and up to 50,000 of the studios videos and movie reels.
* Yves St. Laurent passed away today. Bo Diddly did as well. Rest in Peace.
* Senator Kennedy's brain cancer was operated on today and it's said to be a success
* Yesterday Hillary Clinton won Puerto Rico... but is rumored to really be wrapping up the campaign.
* Jackie is hopefully feeling better by the day.
* What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Put your comments here about the Mole, whatever else you may be watching tonight (Bachelorette has it's own, exclusive post just below) or whatever's on your mind.

The Bachelorette

Here is a place for your comments about the third installment of Deanna and her remaining men. She's down to 11 suitors and so far, we're still interested.

Tonight, Deanna visits the Ellen DeGeneres Show with the guys, who will find a new way to answer that age-old question: Boxers or Briefs?

And the father we all like (is it Jason?) will get what looked in the previews like a one-on-one dinner date with Deanna. Will he finally reveal that he has a little boy? And what will her reaction be? We think we know, but what we don't know is if one of the other guys will tell her about it first, which would throw quite a different light on the evening.

A few of us will be live blogging as well.... it's a party at Jackie's every Monday night.

Update on Jackie

Uh-oh. I'm referring to myself in the third-person. That can't be a good thing. I want to thank Sydney and all of the commenters for this week's posts and all the activity. Tremendous! But me? Argh, I've been so out of it that I didn't realize last night was the Lost finale and I missed it. Grrr.

I apologize for my absence This is a hard recovery and it's tough to get through. It's definitely a major surgery. It's hard to explain how every little thing I do tires me so even though I still can't sleep more than three or four hours at a time.

For example, my home health care physical therapy visits ended yesterday. So, today I had to arrange for my out-patient physical therapy, dealing with both my insurance company and the PT place. It wiped me out. I promptly fell asleep for three hours.

Yesterday I had my last PT at home visit, had to organize all of my leave of absence and short term disability papers to bring to the doctor's office for my early evening post-op appointment. My friend Barbara brought me to and from the appointment. I managed to sit in the front seat of the car, something I couldn't do when she picked me up from the hospital. We also stopped at a store so I could refresh the juice, beverage, and bread department in my kitchen. I was up and at 'em and on the go from 8:30 in the morning until I gt home around 8:30 at night. I collapsed and fell asleep before 9. I was awake again before Letterman ended.

The knee itself is coming along well even if my energy levels are depleted. The staples came out yesterday and the doctor took x-rays. Both the doctor and my in-home physical therapist are thrilled with my progress. Before the staples came out yesterday, I could bend the knee 75 degrees. Upon leaving the hospital last week, it was only up to 60. I'm more pleased with the strength aspect -- I can see that improving daily. I do exercises three times a day which work on both strength and range of motion. (Then I conk out.)

Good news is that I don't have to pay $20 co-pay for my doctor visits anymore as I'm post-op. I go back in three weeks. The bad news is I have to pay a $20 co-pay each time at the physical therapist and that's three times a week. I know I need it and they have equipment I need to improve, but that co-pay wasn't that much the last time I went through PT. Sigh. My first PT appointment is Monday.

Then there's the Coumadin thing. That's for the blood clot and to prevent more from forming. Like Charlton Heston in Soylent Green yelling, "It's people! Soylent green is people!" -- I want to yell, "It's rat poison! They're making me take rat poison!" Until recent years, the drug (Warfarin) was indeed rat poison. It was the one which used to make the rats bleed internally and die. That's why I have to have blood drawn each week to test in case they need to modify mt dosage levels. I will be on the drug until mid-August.

So I can't get cut or bleed (or have to rush to the hospital) due to the Coumadin. I also have to let them know I'm on the drug. Possible side effects besides bleeding to death include gangrene and something called "purple toes syndrome." I don't dare have any infection or fever because the knee surgery can easily be infected. If that happens, they take out the knee, give you a spacer, then put another knee in within six months or so.

I've had an open scabbed sore on the back of my calf since the surgery. It was starting to look infected over the weekend. I thought of going to the ER, but instead bandaged it and put some Neosporin on it for a couple of days. While I know the Coumadin is slowing my healing, the therapists, visiting nurse, and doctor all thought it looked acceptable, so I guess I did the right thing.

My cat Scherzo (Skirts) has been a blessing through all of this. While she might not have liked being boarded, I couldn't have boarded my cat Teaser (who died in November). Teaser's health was too iffy and he stressed out too much. Skirts wasn't happy, but was physically fine upon returning home. Teaser also always was leaping on me and I don't think I could have handled that. Skirts has definitely grown closer to me since his death, but she still isn't a lap cat. She loves to curl up next to me, perhaps put her chin or her paw on my lap. That is comforting, but not painful.

Well, right now I know I've been in one position too long since my knee is screaming at me. I'm still on the walker although I can do crutches, too. I tried to use a cane in the apartment, but found it a bit unstable. I don't dare fall. But if I'm in one position too long, it definitely makes me get up and move. And ice it down.

I hope I caught all my typos in this and thank everyone once again! Below is my knee without its staples -- I gained a good half-inch of skin space!

LOST FINALE!!!

Tonight is the night... though not for me because I got too Lost waaaay back. For everyone who has no clue what's going on, but still watches, putting their faith in that there IS indeed a greater scheme/meaning/plan/order to it all, I have one question for you: Will things get clearer or will you be left with even more confusion and loose ends?

The word in TV Land is that there are many revelations that will come this evening, so you'll have to let us know if indeed you fans get some satisfaction on that front. So get settled in with your popcorn or cookies and your favorite libation and feel free to live blog during the hopefully amazing two hours.

Maybe Jackie will be peeking in!

The Morning After

After the Bachelorette that is...  I am just putting up a new post to chat about other TV shows and daily stuff for the next few days, so we can keep the Bachelorette comments on the last post. This will make it easier for Jackie to transfer all those comments to a sidebar link when the time comes. 

A big thank you to Delee who has started to list what's on in this interim period that seems kind of miscellaneous.  You can check back in the comments from last night to find her total listing.  

A few mentions: 

* Tonight is Hells Kitchen, Deadliest Catch and the Alsaka Experiment right after...

* Wed Oprah is rerunning her Dancing With The Stars Champion Show special. 

* Thursday is the 2 hour season finale of LOST!!!!  I'll put up a link for that when the time comes for you Losties.

Have a great day all!!! Short work week!

The Bachelotette

Howdy Folks -

Well, most of us thought we would not watch this round, but any who caught the first episode said they were hooked.  In the coming previews of this season they treated us to, it seemed like there is plenty of drama to look forward to over the next dozen weeks.  Until Jackie can set us up the normal Bachelorette Talk sidebar, I will post a place on Mondays for your comments!  

See you tonight!!!!!!

So You Think You Can Dance

Hi Jackie Fans-

Happy Memorial Day!  While many of you may be busy with BBQ's etc... Jackie knows the TV addicts among us would want a place to chat about the shows on tonight.  So this will be the place to talk about So You Think You Can Dance, on tonight at 8PMEST/7PM Central.  While Jackie may not be blogging this show once she recovers, in this short in-between period-- for her and TV -- she said I could go ahead and put up a place for y'all to talk about it.

Last year had probably the best group of talent (IMHO) thus far, and it really made it a pleasure (and sometimes a nail biter) to watch.  I hope they will be able to maintain those higher standards this season.  Here please tell what you thought of the audition process, if you have any favorites so far, and what you thought of tonight's two hour special.

(just heard from a commenter that tonight's show is a repeat of last week's auditions, and though I've looked on the website I can't tell... but just to give you a heads up).

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone is enjoying the first holiday weekend heading into the summer season! Despite my lack of posting, I am indeed alive. I am having some concentration issues due to pain and pain medication, so I'll probably be a bit quiet for a time. But I am okay. Thank you everyone for the notes and comments.

American Idol Finale

I'm not feeling so hot, but thought you guys might like a place to make comments about the finale. Enjoy!

Not for the Squeamish

Tiny Staples in my knee make them give me pills to make me happy ... to the tune of Tiny Bubbles.

Although I'm home shockingly early, I still have a rough road ahead. The knee replacement surgery is one of the most painful surgeries you can have done and has a hard rehab process as well. Between the constant pain and the pills, it's hard to hold onto a train of thought.

I have the added issue of being on the Coumadin regimen -- visiting nurses will come one day a week to draw blood. That whole clotting ordeal is potentially life-threatening. Even the medication is life-threatening. An in-home physical therapist will come three times a week. My insurance company covers those visits in full for up to 40 visits.

Due to the Coumadin, I'm supposed to eat a balanced diet (but no big amounts of green leafy vegetables and absolutely NO cranberries or cranberry juice.) Guess what's in my stocked pantry? Thankfully, I have plenty of other juices and veggies available. This will go on through 8/15.

The problem is that I have little to no appetite.

The emails at the hospital were a big hit with me. Whenever I saw a volunteer standing at the door timidly saying my name while holding a sheath of paper, I smiled no matter the pain. I brought them all home but haven't tallied them yet.

Why did I come home so early? Well, the original hospital stay itself was supposed to be three days, then into rehab. Rehab itself started on the day of the surgery when they had me stand up with a walker and go sit in a chair. Rehab stopped the second day when they gave me the ultrasound test and found the blood clot in my surgery knee. The only reason I was slated to go to a rehab facility is because I live alone and they were worried about me being able to fend for myself. You actually only get an hour or so of rehab a day at those places. Meanwhile I developed a horrible case of diarrhea from the stool softeners they were giving me to combat the expected constipation from the pain meds. I also became violently sick to my stomach.

No buts about it, I wanted to be able to get up and go to the bathroom! I was sick of waiting for bedpans, the humiliation, waiting for them to come and remove bedpans and all. I wanted BATHROOM. The doctor told me I could, and that was that. I started using the walker Sunday night, getting in and out of the bed and chair unassisted. I sat in bed doing ankle pumps, quad sets, and leg lifts (sometimes less than a half inch, but it counts).

Part of the recovery issue with the knee replacement is that you lose your ACL tendon, your quad muscle is cut, and lots of other nerves and tendons are ruined and have to be rebuilt. As a result, you can't make that 500 pound leg do what you want in addition to pain issues. By Monday, I was scooching it along the bed using the other leg, sometimes using a sheet as a lasso to move it, and when sitting on the bed, I managed to be able to swing it up to the bed (then scooch it in place from there). I think that's what made my OS (orthopedic surgeon) offer me the option of going home. While my other knee surgeries were a walk in the park compared to this, a lot of the techniques and rehab are the same albeit more extreme.

When I met up with the actual rehab people before my discharge, they had me climbing stairs and stuff. They measured my ROM (Range of Motion). I have 0 degrees extension (it will lay flat, good) and 60 degrees bend. I know I didn't push the bend to the point of agony -- I think I may have another ten degrees in there. They were surprised how well I did without any formal PT sessions. But I'm not surprised. I don't think the doctor is all that surprised, either. Both he and his partner said I shouldn't have been mobile based on the condition of my knee pre-op. Yet I walked a mile a day and was on my feet sometimes 7 hours a day.

My personal goal for the ROM is 130 degrees, but that won't come for a while. The swelling and staples hinder it right now in addition to having to build it all back up. It's going to be rough -- the surgery takes a lot out of you in addition to decrepit knees. My sleeping pattern is shot. I've been typing this for about three hours stopping in between sentences.

I really want to thank Zoetawny and Sydney for working on the blog in my absence and for their calls to me. Between them, the emails and cards ... I felt very loved. (An oddly welcomed feeling!) My brother called daily and is planning to come down and visit for a day. My friend Barbara went above and beyond getting me to the hospital on time, visiting me, calling me, dropping by with DVDs, cookies, Coca-Cola, chips, and KFC in addition to picking me up, getting my prescriptions, my bread, milk, eggs, and cat.

Speaking of the cat ... when I called there they told me she was okay healthwise, but not a happy cat. Another call there garnered the information that everyone thinks she's such a beautiful cat but she only likes Debbie. Heh. Since getting home, she has explored the apartment apparently to make sure I didn't move in any other cats. If I'm in bed, she's curled up purring. If she's alone sometimes she just lets out a cry. I talk to her and she quiets down. She's a bit unsure about the walker.

More eventually.

A big thanks to Zoetawny for this adorable graphic.  Just wanted to get it up so Jackie sees it first thing when she turns the computer on, whenever that may be.  

Home Alive

I'm home and alive. Thank you everyone for the emails and letters.

Must collapse now. More soon