We're Back

Our vacation to the Riviera Maya resort was, shall we say, relaxing. I thought of documenting in photos all of the things I did NOT do, but that would have taken too much time and effort, and then it would not have been a relaxing vacation, would it? In a nutshell, here is a list of what I did not do: I did not swim, snorkel, scuba dive, jet ski, parasail, play golf or horseback ride; I did not participate in exercise classes, beach volleyball, or fishing expeditions; I did not even play billiards or ping pong. All of these things would have involved use of my right arm. What I DID do was lay on the beach in the shade of an umbrella and read my book, sit on the beach and soak up the breeze, watch the waves, watch the people, ponder our place in the universe, walk on the beach, take pictures of the beach, drink margharitas on the beach, drink daiquiris on the beach, drink beer on the beach, drink wine on the beach, stick my feet in the Caribbean, play tag with the waves - they were out to get me - and on Monday the 23rd we took a trip to the ancient Mayan village of Chichen Itza.
Chichen Itza was fascinating, and I wish we could have spent more time there. With a two hour trip each way to the site and back, a stop for lunch, and a stop at one of the sink holes that provided water to the ancient Mayans, we really only had about 3 hours total to visit the site, and our tour guide Luis used two of those to give us a detailed tour. He was fabulous actually. I wouldn't have minded if he had continued for the entire time we were there, but he left some of the time for everyone to wander and take pictures and shop from the Mayan merchants that sell their wares along the paths. We did not shop, but Marv climbed up to the observatory, and on the Temple of Warriors. Because of the erosion caused by millions of feet, they no longer allow visitors to climb the other temples. There were many things that impressed me about the site, the civilization and its decline, but one note that I think is important to know, is that all the temples and buildings had been eroded by the jungle and its elements, and that archeologists have reconstructed the buildings from the original stones, piece by piece. Nothing that was missing was replaced by new materials, and so once they no longer have original materials, the reconstruction is stopped and the buildings are completed only to that point. There are still piles of rubble that were once structures of the ancient Mayans, and seeing that I was amazed that those piles of stone could be pieced together into anything. And so there is still much that remains for the scientists to work on and discover. And much for visitors to marvel at even more in the future. I'm working on getting some of our pictures up here. I've created a Flickr account, but since I still have dial-up service here, uploading the pictures is tedious. Soooon, I promise.
My physical therapy is progressing well. It surprises me after every visit how much "doing nothing" can ache when you are all done. So far its all passive range of motion exercises, and my therapist has been heard repeatedly saying, "Gimme, gimme!", as I have a hard time keeping my arm and shoulder relaxed and letting her move them about. Monday I see the Dr again, and the PT team is anxious for the go ahead to get to give me some real work to do! Yikes! I'm already spending my evenings snuggling my ice pack. But actually I look forward to getting on with it.

Oh, and...

I find it interesting, perhaps suspicious somehow, that Phil & Christie managed to schedule the due date of this next baby to be during the two weeks in November when the Bears are on the road! How did they do that? While many were excited to hear about the timing of the event when both the NFL and Phil made their announcements this week, Nate Vasher was simply stunned, asking "How did they find out before we did?"

I forgot to mention that I was eventually told by the Dr that titanium implants rarely set off the metal detectors in airport. We'll see if he was just toying with me or not....

Today, yesterday, & the day before that....

Monday I had another visit with my Dr. All seems to be well with my new titanium plate and the attached collarbone. Our trip to Mexico is coming up next week and so I asked him about getting thru the airports with my new metal appliance, and he said that actually I should have no trouble getting out of the country, but it is likely coming back could be a problem. He said that I would probably be detained in Mexico for 3 - 4 weeks while he puts together the appropriate paperwork and sends it to the authorities. I said that would be okay as long as he personally would cover all my expenses during my extended stay in the Mayan Riviera, including lost pay from missing work. He said he would take care of all that, in fact he would provide me with his credit card information. I thanked him for that and promised to buy him lots of gifts. Keep this all in mind and if I am not back home safely on April 26, please contact my lawyer - aka Dad. I'm sure he'll know just what to do! In any case, I can start physical therapy now; just range of motion exercises for now. No strengthening yet. It's going to be quite a while before I'm riding again. I miss it, I do, but I have no interest in riding before I'm healed. Some may think that riding a horse is a very passive activity, but believe me it is not. I'll need my arm & shoulder strength back just to get back on, not to mention everything else, and even then I'll need to build up overall strength and stamina. Riding is not for the weak or faint of heart.

Backing up a day, Phil & Christie announced on Easter that another baby is in production, due for release in November! Just as I thought. Phil thinks it will be a girl, but I'm not ready to guess. I think it would be pretty cool for two little brothers to be so close in age. Two little Phils, just think of the possibilities. Poor Christie wouldn't stand a chance against all that! But I'm sure she would have fun.

It snowed today. Many people were heard complaining about snow in April, and the return (again) of winter. I say, "Grow up and face facts! This is the Midwest!" There is nothing unusual about snow in April. I remember 28 years ago today, when Grandpa passed away, it snowed the day of the funeral. It was a wet slushy snow just like what we had today. Come July or thereabouts, those same silly people will be complaining about the heat, humididty and perhaps even lack of rain. Go figure.

The Healing Process...

First full day back at work. I needed to take a pain pill about 2:00 and give it about 30 - 40 minutes to kick in. I'm trying to be very protective of my investment, and I fear that the staff at the store may feel I'm not carrying my share of the load. An unfounded fear some would say, but I like being able to carry out any duty I would ask of them, and so it is difficult for me to sit still and ask someone else to step up. Today I'm afraid I may have inadvertantly offended one of the very special people that works with me by asking her to step up in front and take a customer. There were others that could have done it just as well, but I felt that it was her turn. I could have been wrong. I just couldn't do it myself. I'll have to clear the air with her tomorrow, I guess.
Over the weekend I took a road trip with my friend Georgia. Her horse is in training down in Tuscola where Stacey used to work. It was good to see the old place, old friends, and our old trainer Brian. Fences were mended.
Then on Monday, Stacey and I took another trip back to Tuscola. This one to visit with our good friend Holley, who worked with Stacey for Brian, and to see the very best chiropractor in the whole world, our buddy Dr Hemmer. My sling has been pulling on my neck so very much that I've been having a perpetual headache. He was able to gently realign my neck and give me relief. He does a bang up job on Stacey, who with wrestling young horses and old, as well as dealing with uncommon stress levels, can get herself tied up in knots. Then we did a little shopping at the outlet mall there and at Pard's Western Shop in Urbana. Shopping is always good therapy!