Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич

Birth name	Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich
Born	March 27, 1927 Baku, Azerbaijan, USSR
Died	April 27, 2007 Moscow, Russia

Rest in Peace. Thank you for your talents. I'll be playing Quincy today in honor of you.

oh yeah...

Did I happen to mention that I played my cello today? The first time since the fall in February. I didn't cry during - there was minimal pain, only stiffness from the lack of use. WOO HOO!

a new year

The Year of the Elbow is over. Long live the New Year.

Joe and I spent the evening with great friends, and brought in the new year the best way possible - via hot tub. :D Of course, it would have been better if it wasn't rainy or windy, but it was a lot of fun and very relaxing.

On the list of things I'd like to accomplish this year:

• For the first time in my life, I'm going to put fitness as a priority.
  

My cholesterol is way too high. I'd like to lose weight. I want Maddy to know how important fitness is and to set a good example. I'm going to join the YWCA, attend yoga classes, swim at least once a week. My elbow is doing well, and it feels fantastic being able to swim!

• Eat and help plan the family meals more efficiently / effectively.

We've been so amazingly busy trying to live day to day and by the end of the day, we usually stare into the refrigerator or the freezer or the cupboard, waiting for the dinner fairy to delight us with healthy, yummy cuisine. For some reason, that's not working.

• Work towards being able to plan a real vacation for sometime this year.

We haven't had a real, go-anywhere vacation in a long time and Maddy's never had a vacation. I don't count last February in Ohio to visit family - any trip when you end up in the emergency room does NOT count!

:) Happy New Years to you and yours! What's on your list?

What a difference 60 days makes

60 days ago was my surgery. I had a ton of pain in the elbow itself - weakness - tingling all through the arm - generally owie.

Now, after 4 weeks of therapy, stretching, strenghtening & pain meds, I am able to type properly, eat with my right arm again, wash my hair with my right arm again, and generally use my arm without too much pain. I'm not 100% healed yet. You have to remember this battle has been since February 25, 2006 when I broke my elbow in the first place.

Things I'm looking forward to being able to do by the summer 2007:

• Practice yoga
• Start playing "Quincy" (my cello)
• Get strong enough to be able to use the computer mouse in my right hand

I'm thrilled to say the least! Thanks for supporting me in this journey.....

:) Karen

5:30 am

5:30am. WAY too early to be anywhere, but at least I don't have to dress up! Everything going to plan, I'll be home mid-day tomorrow. Maddy is staying the night tonight at Nana Terri's house since it's going to be so FRELLING early!

DONE:

• Find out where I need to be when next Thursday.
• Print out list of movies I would like to get from the video store for after the surgery.
• Vacuum
• Sweep downstairs
• Did all reporting
• Train co-worker on project
• Had performance review

NEED TO DO:

• Finish memo
• Do last work project
• Clean room Mom will be sleeping in
• Clean bathroom
• Watch / tape LOST
• Try not to stress about everything. I'm stressing about everything and the acne on my face shows it.
• Take care of me! (thanks Heather :) )

Wish me luck and send healing thoughts my way, please. Thanks everyone who has sent me nice messages. :) It does help.

Now on with the next step to being able to play Quincy (my cello) again....