Friday the 13th and a rainy date with the hot tub

This past week, I've been cheating on my normal workouts with yard work and visiting the salt water hot tub for rehab. I've neglected the yard since November when all this surgery stuff started and have decided to attempt gardening. That has involved many trips to Lowe's to figure it out. I actually got a water blister on my palm the first time I used my daughter's child size hoe (keeping me away from swinging a kettlebell till it heals) before I went back and bought a full-sized one. No gardeners or electric tools for me. I even have a lawnmower that's a push reel model. It's terrible and doesn't cut weeds, so I get to do those by hand. I do a lot of it by hand because I don't want to buy electric tools again. I've bought and gotten rid of them so many times over the years of moving around in and out of houses with yards and without, with storage and without, it's not funny. I don't mind putting the work in myself. It can only make me stronger :)

The hot tub is a wonderful invention. I can't encourage it enough for people with this type of recovery. It allows me to really work my ankle in ways I can't on land. I love to let the jets hit various parts of my ankle, foot, and leg to massage it. I like to practice walking in it too. It was very rainy today but we went out to the pool anyway. The water was really cold and it rained on us twice, but it was still worth it. Earlier today I had a bit of a breakthrough with range of motion. My ankle cracked in a way it hasn't since before the surgery, and I suddenly had more range of motion. Not much, but enough to make walking a little more comfortable and less awkward. The scar tissue is finally starting to break up (9.5 weeks since my last surgery, 21.5 weeks since the original) and I didn't want to miss my date with the pool. I even felt the bones sliding around a little bit under the pressure of the jets tonight, making the cold and miserable trip worth it. I'm very encouraged by this, and can't wait to try get-ups to see how much better I can do with them.

I'm looking forward to getting back to my regular workouts. We've had a pretty lazy spring break this week, and it's felt great to focus on the kids and settling into this house. Happy Friday the 13th! I hope yours was as lucky as mine was for me :)