Am I really on Medicare???

It's been 7 months since I moved to Texas and posted here. Why has it been so long? Well, I was promising myself to make at least one post a month, but after a quick "note" in February (about side effects of another drug for menopausal women), I woke up in the middle of the night with searing pain in my left knee. Seriously, I thought someone was cutting off my leg or something! How do you injure yourself while sleeping???

About an hour later I could finally stand up, but the pain was still excruciating and to make a  long story shorter, I spent the next 3 months limping, not knowing what was wrong with my knee (which was swollen too) and then having that injury make the arthritis flare up in my TOES of all places! That made it even more difficult to walk and to go up and down the stairs. I couldn't do my daily walks, which was very disturbing after walking nearly every day for 3 1/2 years to keep my weight and blood sugar under control.

But now I've been on medication for a week that has halted the arthritis pain, plus the knee pretty much healed itself. That was a relief after I had an MRI to make sure there was no injury that would require surgery. I've walked three days in a row now and am feeling so much better, so I thought I would attempt to do a little writing that doesn't involve a lot of whining! That's pretty much what I was doing for several months!

In the meantime....I had a birthday in April, finally hit 65 and still find it hard to believe!The kids took me out to a Japanese Steakhouse (my first time) and yummm was it good! 

Everytime I pull out that Medicare card (which has been quite often lately), I have to relive it over and over....I am 65 years old! :) I know, many of you say 65 years "young", but hey.....whatever! I keep thinking, based on my family history, I've probably got another 30-33 years left in me and I am trying very hard to stay healthy. It's hard because the older you get, the more things start falling apart!

I've been doing a lot of backyard birdwatching and practicing with the camera I got for my birthday. Still don't see the variety of birds that I saw in Michigan, but I still love trying to capture some great moments like this one of a White Winged Dove and others at the feeder: 

I'm also happy to be able to get outside and take pictures, although I have to get out there around 7:30 am before it starts heating up. Yesterday I met a gentleman who is 79 who also was getting back to walking and it reaffirmed that it's never too late to pick yourself up and start over. :) So, I will leave you with a few of my photos from this morning's walk and will promise AGAIN to try to post more often here and share my journey into the aging process. Maybe I should change the title of my blog to "From middle-age to seniorhood and all that inbetween stuff"!