A Day of Finishes

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Today I finished the final two borders on the White Trees quilt. It ended up at 58 x 73 inches.

It's a little larger than I expected it to be, but I still think I can quilt it on my domestic sewing machine. I'm going to give it a try anyway. It still needs a back, and I'll be on the hunt for that while we are traveling this month.

So what else did I finish today? I finished getting second and third opinions on my knee. I liked the doctor I saw today very much. (I'll call him Dr. R.) Dr. R was on time, took a good history, asked appropriate questions, looked at *all* of the pictures available to him, including the MRI and x-rays, did a good exam, explained his thinking, and pretty much gave me confidence that he was on the right track. 

(And since I don't have any pictures for the rest of this post, I'll just entertain you with some random stuff, hopefully related to what I'm saying.)

He spent a good half hour with me, which is almost unheard of these days. He listened to my questions and concerns, and was generally a nice guy...young, but not too young.  

So the right track is this...at least for now. Dr. R. feels my symptoms are caused by a combination of several things: (1) my patella isn't tracking right (I've heard that before), (2) the cartilage is thinning and that means that my tibia and my femur are not well-cushioned, and that means that the ends of the bones can bruise. The MRI shows that both bones are bruised and he believes that is what is causing most of my pain. He says that kind of injury can take a long time to heal. (3) Also, I have bursitis and tendinitis. 

So he is suggesting a two-week course of prescription strength anti-inflammatories and more physical therapy with a different therapist that he has recommended.  While I hate the idea of more physical therapy, I am willing to give this a try. I'll start the PT when I get back from my trip. In the meantime, the anti-inflammatories will have a chance to do their work, which will make PT bearable.

Yeah. That's the best I could come up with. I'm withholding my smile for now. But enough about that. I'm sick of thinking about it, and so I'm sure your sick of hearing about it.

And here's the final finish of the day: Erik and Mae are finished house-hunting! They found a house! We had dinner with them last night, and they informed us that they made an offer. Real estate is moving very fast in Portland right now. Houses are flying off the market as fast as they are listed. Erik and Mae were one of four offers on the same house, which had only been on the market for four days. They really liked the place, and so they offered to beat the highest offer by $500 (and the seller had to show them the highest offer). The offer was good until 5:00 p.m. today, and at around 1:30 today, Erik texted me to let me know their offer had been accepted. And that, my friends, is that! 

It's very exciting for all of us because this will be Erik and Mae's first home. They are already pre-approved for a mortgage, and so the only thing to do now is sign the papers, take possession, and move in. It's a sweet little house, just right for them, and in a good location. It's very close to the park where Sue and I walk on Fridays. Mike and I are thrilled for them. So, now I guess I'd better get busy on that stitchery I started yesterday!

Oh, and I guess there is just one more finish for today. I'm finished with this blog post! I hope you had a good day. 

Just one more thing...this is your reminder that the August NewFO Linky party closes Wednesday at midnight. If you haven't linked up, your time is running out.