Training, Mama, the business

I have been in class for the past two days. Wednesday I was an observer as an instructor I have been getting prepared to teach the class got his first opportunity to do so. He was audited on his performance and although we had a couple hiccups in his overall presentation and preparedness, he passed the audit. That means that he is certified to present the class whenever an assignment comes up. That helps me, especially as I focus on backfilling my role with this company in preparation for Mama and I going fulltime into business for ourselves. On Thursday I taught a class. It is one we do only once per quarter. It is one class that I thoroughly enjoy teaching. I was hurting by the end of the day, but it was a good class. When I got home that evening, I did not want to do anything but sit and rest my back; which does not get any of the chores done at the farm. However, I did sit for a little bit.

Mama has been very diligent to go through her exercise routine every two hours throughout the day. I can see only a slight improvement in her ability to bend her knee, but she is certainly building up her muscles in her shoulders and forearms as she struggles to pull the knee into a bent position. I have been driving the Sequoia so that Mama can sit on the tailgate of the truck and swing her leg back under her. With the release of weight on the knee and gravity to gently pulling the lower leg downward, she is able to move the knee a little more freely. It takes all the tension off the joint and allows her to rest it as she can in no other way provided in the house. I miss my truck but right now it is serving a greater purpose for Mama.

Mama has her second appointment with the physical therapist this morning. Fortunately, Victoria is off and will be able to take her to the appointment. Since she is scheduled to be there as 10:30 am and be there for roughly an hour, we are planning to meet for lunch after she is done with her treatment. I am curious to see if the therapist is pleased with the results of all the effort she has put in doing the exercises. We are still very early in the program, so we know that Mama has a long way to go before we are through. Still, there is noticeable progress. She walks through the house without the walker; sometimes outside also without assistance. We only have the walker with us when she is going to be out for an extended period. After about twenty minutes up and moving, she is pretty much done for the next hour or so. Also, she is walking more normally – slightly raising the foot, lifting the toes and planting the heal with each step. She is still very awkward with bending the knee and lifting the leg for each step, but she is getting there. In my estimation, for being 25 days out from her surgery, she is doing pretty well.

We are still slowly working our business. I spend roughly fifteen hours per week doing the required research and Mama makes most of the required phone contacts. All the houses we have wanted to purchase have been unavailable to us in one way or another, but we are still in the hunt. Eventually we will succeed. Mama is calling a realtor today about a house in Philips County, AR. From what we can in our research, it looks like a good prospect but until we get confirmation that the structure is still viable, we will not move forward. One house we looked at multiple times was still available after the auction in Hot Springs we got Becky to drive by to take pictures. It was burned to the ground. I thought is rather conspicuous that the house burned a few weeks before it would have been sold for taxes, but it could be a coincidence. Anyway, I still owe Becky a fee for her help. 

We are not seeing any great things happen on any front right now; but we are not far away from them happening in our lives. Meanwhile, I got this photo of the sunset through the storm clouds as I was going home after a couple hours at the office last night. it was worth stopping for.