Update

I haven't posted in quite a while. Life has been different around here. I had hip replacement surgery on February 7, which means that tomorrow is the two week appointment with the surgeon to see that everything is on track.

Unfortunately, there is no longer physiotherapy offered for patients who have hip replacement. They still have it for knee replacements, but cutting costs in the medical system has meant some services are cut and physio for hips is one of those.

(Aside to Americans: I'd be really wary of getting a health care system like ours in Canada. While everyone does get to see a doctor and can go to emergency for care, the wait times and the amount of care have to make you wonder. I am definitely in favour of a two-tiered system, where you can pay extra to have some things done a whole lot quicker.)

Before going in for surgery, I almost finished the houndstooth version of Vogue 8548. I just have the buttons and snaps to sew on and will get a photo up when I can move around enough to take a photo and then upload it to the computer. Some things just involve too many steps to undertake at the moment. Getting up and down stairs, getting to the bathroom with a walker and checking email on the laptop is about the extent of my ventures in the house.

Due to the sedentary nature of my life at the moment, knitting has taken over. Last night, I finished the second sleeve of a cardigan, and will sew in the yarn ends today. Hopefully I will get round to pressing it this week, and then sewing it together before adding the neck and front bands. I have discovered www.ravelry.com and am checking out the next project. It is really nice to know that I can order wool online and have it delivered quickly so that I won't be without something to knit.

Although the next project I know will be an Aran baby blanket. My daughter Elena is expecting a baby in June, and the ultrasound showed that this one is a little girl. We are all excited about that, as she has five children and only one of them is a girl. Hannah will be nine when this one is born, and she already has so many mothering skills that Elena will be lucky if she gets the baby to nurse. Even the boys can look after wee ones now, as Joe was seen rocking Isaac when he was fussy and Elena was cooking.

The reaction of most people, when I tell them that Elena is having her 6th baby, is one of shock and disbelief. It seems that having a large family is considered impossible these days. But, if you could spend some time around one, you would realise that the children are happy having all those siblings, they really do look after each other, they always have someone to play with and as a result are very imaginative. No computer games for these kids, they play tag and cops and robbers, and endless games of hide and seek.

Elena and her husband will have six children and my oldest daughter Rebecca has five children with her husband Nathan. And all are thriving. I am so proud of all of them. Both these girls got post-secondary educations and not just simple degrees. Rebecca has a PhD in mathematics and Elena has a BA in history and a Bachelor of Education too, so she is trained as a high school history teacher. Both of them have opted to be stay-at-home moms while their children are young and they may even choose to home-school, if the schools do not provide the quality of eduation and the environment that they consider good for their children. They are post-feminist women and I am so proud of them, for making the choices that they have. There are days when I am sure they would much rather be at work, getting "things done" and feeling a sense of accomplishment whereas many days at home feel as if you have accomplished nothing. But the results are in the long run, not the short haul. Their kids have so much going for them, given that their moms have made that sacrifice. Kind of an old-fashioned choice in today's world, but sometimes you have to swim upstream to get what you really want.