loving the warm weather

The temperature here in Ohio reached 65 degrees yesterday!!! YAHOO! Now if it only lasts until the weekend so I can get some things done outside, I would appreciate it. Today it rained, which was a bit of a downer since I was off work.

My knee is hardly swollen anymore. The skin on my kneecap has scared up and gotten kind of crusty and gross.  Don't worry - I'm not going to post a picture that you cannot help but look at even if it's gross. (I wasn't going to post a picture, but I am going to below since it looks better than when I typed most of this post out) I am pretty sure the bleeding under my kneecap has stopped, and our friend who has a doctorate in physical therapy looked at my knee and said that it was healing well. After working all day, it get stiff at night, but otherwise I'm good as new. I cannot work out yet, and that is quite bothersome to me. I haven't gained weight (thankfully), but it's amazing how fast those muscles turn to jiggle! My stomach and upper arms seem so much flabbier than they were before the surgery. I think I'm going to have to get back into a little weightlifting and crunches because I'll be a hot mess by the time I'm allowed to work out in almost three weeks.

Please pray for me because work is rough for me right now. It looks like I could be laid off this summer because there might not be money to pay me, which I really do need to show up for work every day. I'm not going to lie, it's difficult to "psych yourself up" to go to a place where you feel like you are putting in a ton of effort all for naught. It's just difficult for me to keep a positive attitude, and we all know how important a positive attitude is :)

I'm not concerned about me and Damon financially if I lose my job because I'll receive 5 months severance and my vacation time paid out. We also save a significant portion of my salary as it is, so that severance could carry us through a year without us making changes into our current lifestyle. I'm also not going to lie - the thought of having a summer off is exciting to me. I have worked constantly since turning sixteen, so to have a little time off in the summer would be great. You'll be able to find Wes and I at the pool or the park pretty much every day.

Or maybe you'll find Wesley at home cleaning the floor with a wipe as he lies on the stairs with one of his socks on his hand. We'll see.

As I swiftly change subjects...we went to the Newport Aquarium last weekend. Here are a few pictures.

the outside of the aquarium

the excitement is written all over his face

Can you tell that getting a decent picture of Wesley is getting impossible?

beautiful jellyfish

more jellyfish

I cut Wesley out of this picture because his face was all blurry and it was a decent picture of Damon and me.

I just think this picture is funny because none of us have our eyes open.

We ate lunch here and Damon LOVED it!! Me...not so much. It's all sauerkraut and various pork sausages. I did have a good Kentucky hot brown though.

It takes a lot of concentration to color.