I’ve been recovering from my back surgery over the past week and get to return to work tomorrow. That’s a good thing, considering today I got a notice from my short-term disability letting me know that they did receive my claim. Just as I figured the check would arrive after I was back to work. Maybe I’ll get it for my birthday, in June.

Ok.. back to the title of the post. I finally made more granola. A couple weeks ago I bought some a website (I had a Groupon) and really like the Cherry Vanilla. Here’s my version:

Cherry Vanilla Granola

2 1/2 cups quick cook oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C coconut flakes
2 Tbs canola oil
2 Tbs dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C chopped dried cherry flavored cran-raisins

Heat oven to 275 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add the oats, wheat germ, walnuts and coconut to a large bowl.

Microwave the oil and brown sugar until the butter is melted (low setting, and watch it or it will boil over). Add the maple syrup and vanilla and stir to combine. Dump this into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined and the granola starts to clump together.

Spread the mixture evenly over the lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Stir granola and add the cherries. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the granola is golden brown.

two more hours back home. Well… I wasn’t driving but still sitting in the car isn’t my favorite thing to do right now. Any who… I am doing good and can go back to work next Wednesday. The fun part will be the “no sitting for longer than 15 minutes at a time” and “take plenty of walks” on the orders. Now I have a doctors excuse to take my regular walks at work. 🙂

It’s going to be strange going back to work. I check my work email every so often but since I’m on leave without pay I try not to. It will be good to be back in the middle of things…and to get a paycheck. Being out of work for a month is nice, but not when your in pain, hurting, on pain pills, can’t get comfortable…walk for a while, lay down for a while, sit for a while…

I miss working in the garden and I have a ton of seedlings that need to be planted. Maybe this evening we can get them planted…especially the squash since it’s looking like its ready to bloom. I can at least delegate and point to where to plant them.

Ok..time for a walk. My right leg still feels weak, 50% of my foot is still numb, and my thigh/calf feels like I ran two miles yesterday. One day…I’ll be back to normal.

I’m still here. It’s a little easier getting around and at least its nice outside so I can do a little of my walking there too. The down side is my garden is coming up so well and I still have seedlings that need to go into the ground.
We got a good bit of rain last night when the storm rolled through…lasted about an hour, and wow what wind. Weather channel said the storm itself was moving at 70 mph and the winds were at gusts of 60 mph. I’m glad nothing was damaged or blown down. Even the corn is still standing..all 12 inches.

The back is better. Still tight feeling and I still have to be careful bending, and not picking anything up off the floor. I will say that with my good foot I’m getting better at picking up small things..LOL. Tomorrow is check up day and hopefully I’ll get the stitches out too. I need to ask about the weakness and numbness I still have in my right leg. I’m hoping it’s all due to the healing that’s going on in my back, so we shall see. Walking feels good so I’ve been doing some of that…amazing that not too long ago I ran a couple half marathons, and now it’s a chore just to walk to the mailbox. The jogging probably wasn’t good for my back to begin with wo I may have to choose a different activity to keep me moving. My knees and back will probably thank me.

It’s nice out today. In times like these that I wish I’d finished cleaning up the back porch. Here I sit in my sturdy lounger (nothing cushy so my back stays straight), and I see all the things I could have got done. Since it’s breezy, I’ve opened the windows on the porch, and it’s cool enough without the fan on as well. Tigger has joined me..sitting on the book shelf watching birds in the yard. Well..it looks like he just abandoned me…guess it was just too windy for a city cat.

I’m feeling a bit sore this morning, almost like some has hit me in the back. This type of pain I can bear and get over, the intense nerve pain in my leg and foot were another story.

Yesterday we arrived at the hospital around 8:45 and they finally got me back to surgery around 12:30. Next thing I remember is that it’s 2pm and I’m waking up in recovery. My leg feels much better, and I’ll be glad when the numbness goes away from my foot. Its a little better today and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it gets better everyday like it did last time. Any ways…I’ve sat too much at the computer and its not time to walk around for a bit. More to come later!

Issue: Large herniated disc L5-S1, sciatic pain right leg, weakness in my right leg and 90% of my foot numb. Standing on my right foot with my left held up, I was not able to lift my self up on my tip toes.
Cause: Unknown
Fix: lumbar microdiscectomy surgery as an outpatient proceedure

I have a feeling its going to be a long night,