Another rainy day... but, I like rain better than the endless never melting 6 month long snow of Germany...

Not much is going on in my life- thus nothing to write about.  I am just trying to make it through the days and get everything done.  I try to go to work a couple of hours early so that I can do some things before the children come to school at 8am.  I leave after work and go to physical therapy for 3 hours and I get home with about an hour to an hour and 30 minutes before it is bedtime... to just do it all over again.   My knee still hurts A LOT!   I know it is because, I'm standing on it too much, doing too much.. but, hey.. no choice when you live alone and are the only one working.   I'm out of sick leave and was already out of sick leave and not being paid when I got back to Italy-- so, I really don't have a choice.   It's the way life is sometimes.   That's when being a grown-up isn't always as much fun as you thought it looked like when you were a kid.    No time for knitting.  (Oh, I see that my blogger is going to do the 'you can't make paragraphs' hissy fit again?   Please forgive me for the 'run together' sentences- I can't do anything about it.)     I go off base to an Italian physical therapy place.  It's interesting the differences between the place that I went to in the states and here.  Some things are the same and in some ways they 'baby' you way more here.  I was surprised about that.  My knee is able to be 'straight' much more than it was a month ago.  I'm proud of that.  I can now walk 'up' stairs in a normal way.  Going downstairs is still done the way that little kids do it- with the same foot leading on each step.  It's not safe any other way at this point.  It will come in time though.   I had no idea that a 'knee replacement' changed things this much.   It's been a learning experience.  I am looking forward to being able to 'walk' at my normal pace again.  I was not a slow rambling walker. Ok, it seems that I can at least 'number' my paragraphs (to a degree) and that at least can break up the sentences making it easier to read.   I did buy some new yarn the other day.   Yes, the person who went a month in 'no pay' status... bought new yarn.   Sigh.   Oh well, I haven't bought anything since I got back except for:  food, gasoline, and paying for my physical therapy sessions.   A question for you.  Do you mostly like rainy days?  Or do rainy days make you remember sad times?  Or Make you wish that you had other things to do?  I sometimes think that 'everyone else' has all of these wonderful home moments... you know like on the commercials... putting puzzles together around the fireplace, wrapped in afghans, laughing/joking with each other, smiles across the room, and drinking hot chocolate with their nearest and dearest around them.   The truth is... there is probably either people at home alone (like me) with house cleaning and laundry that needs to be done or in a house full of people... with loud tv's blaring from the other room, kids throwing toys at each other, people wrapped in their own thoughts... wishing that they also had something fun to do -- just like me.  What songs do you like to listen to on rainy days?  Here's one you might not have ever heard.  I found this song (album:  Face Up in the Rain) when I was living in the Philippines in 1990.  I saw the CD and read the song titles and bought it-- having never have heard this guy's name.   I was quite pleased with my 'mystery' album/cd.   The guy had a nice voice and wrote this song and many others on the CD.  His name is:  Michael Tomlinson Here are the song lyrics and I'll try to find a youtube video of the song.  If you go to this website you can hear the song:  (click on the listen button) I've Got Dreams (name of song) http://www.michaeltomlinson.com/face/face04.htm

Rainy Days and Mondays...

always remind me of this song....

Another rainy day... but, at least NO SNOW is on the ground!

I tried again to post a photo- but, I don't know what on earth is wrong... but, the blogger was 'downloading' the photo for an hour and nothing happened. I'll keep trying- because after all... the photos are half of the story right?

I'm doing household cleaning jobs today because a lot of things have gone by the wayside while I've been sick for the last couple of months. I have a load in the washing machine (which takes a long, long, long time in the German washers) and my hope is to be able to do two loads of laundry- darks and whites.

I did stop and take a 20 minute knitting break in the middle of my cleaning chores.
I have to do 'entertainment breaks' whenever I need to do more than just a quick 30 minute cleaning/sorting/putting away. Ok, it's probably almost like bribery to make myself continue with the dreading cleaning chores. ;D

I usually use a timer and set it for 15-60 minutes to keep myself on task.

What do you do to 'reward yourself' or to keep yourself doing the 'not so much fun' household jobs?

I hear the washing machine 'beeping' so, it's time to go down to the cold basement and put that load in the dryer (also takes forever to complete the drying cycle) and my second load of wash in the washing machine. By the way, the dryers here 'remove' the water from the wet clothing and after every one or two loads of drying clothing- you have to remove the 'plastic' water holding device and dump the water out.

See how exciting someone's life is living in a foreign country?? No matter where you live; almost nothing changes but the outside scenery.