Battle of the Hand

 I picked that title because it speaks for itself. This last month has been a battle with my finger issue and it doesn't look like it is going away anytime soon. Which is frustrating to me because it happened almost over night. So why doesn't it go away in the same timely manner? For the last few weeks I have been running to Fargo, 3 to 4 times a week for Dr. appointments. Chiropractors, Orthopedics, Therapists and Hand Surgeons. Trying to get some relief, The Carpal Tunnel surgery was a bust. Nothing came of that except a big beautiful scar that will rival Lisa's when the stories start around the campfire.

Everybody I see just wants to grab my finger and crank on it. Those that don't know what's going on is this. My finger is frozen into a permanent pointing posture. It's called a contracture and has been that way for 8 months now.It hurts and is super sensitive. Normally in a contracture the finger is curled up but I am one of the freaks of nature that it points straight out. If it doesn't go away, I may have to rethink my career choices. Like maybe an informational guide. 

"Excuse me sir. Which way is the Guggenheim?" To which I can say,

"You must go that way."

Or maybe find a sports team that needs a mascot. A winning team, not like the Vikings. Then I can get the crowd fired up by chanting, "WE'RE NUMBER 1! WE'RE NUMBER 1!"

Going to therapy has gotten it to bend a little bit. It is a struggle that is very painful. The therapist will grab that finger and bend it to actually touch my palm as tears run down my face. I can't get it to bend that far because of the pain involved.

It is funny how a little thing like bending your finger can be such an inconvenience. Typing this blog has become more of a hunt and peck type of typing. I guess keyboarding would be the proper term nowadays. When I went to high school, I took a typing class my senior year. Being the only boy in a class dominated by girls, the teacher gave me an old manual typewriter. She told me my fingers were strong enough to pound those keys. As I think about it now, I may have been a victim of sexism. Anyways, I learned the proper way to type and when I got to the end of the class, I could type 35 words a minute. Not too bad. 

On the house front. Lisa got her countertops installed on her new cabinets. They really look great. It is getting closer and closer to looking like a home. 

Between appointments and many other things, I have been working on installing more shiplap. I started working on the hallway and ran out of shiplap. So we ordered more and I was able to finish that. Also Lisa stained our bedroom barn door and we were able to hang that also.

The more I work with it the better it is getting. I still had a little left over so I continued on working on the laundry room wall.

The weather is warming up and that is letting us get outside to do stuff around the house. We are in a holding pattern at the moment for our next big project to happen. We decided to insulate the barn. So that means removing everything, and I do mean everything out so the spray foam company can come in and do their thing.

So Lisa and I rolled up our sleeves and went to work.

The view when you open the door. I know. How can 2 people accumulate that much stuff in a year? We are not hoarders, honestly. It looks like I should have doubled the size of the barn.

Once you get the fifthwheel out of there it looks better.

Finally, with the three campers out, it looked so much roomier. That just leaves us with the small stuff. Easy peasy.It should be empty by the end of the weekend and the foamers come on Tuesday. 

That's our life for the last month. Rumor has it that you may see us on the road again starting in September. So keep your eyes peeled for Tango Allejandro and Gladys Butterpump on a road near you.