Status update

That's me above, courtesy of my daughter's camerawork. As you can see, I'm ambulatory, and have been since Friday's surgery. Apparently, the operation went well, with a piece of my hamstring being used to reattach my left kneecap to a ligament that was worn torn many years ago. The short-term plan is just to rest at home for the next few days, with a return to FSI and Chinese classes set for this Friday. The stitches are scheduled to be removed next Monday, with therapy to start soon afterward. Hopefully, all will go well, and I will pass the exit exam at the end of May, and thus be on our way to Shanghai 上海 at the beginning of June. For the next few days, though, I'm just going to sit back and watch a lot of baseball games on TV. I'd be drinking a lot of beer, too, if it wasn't for the painkillers I've been prescribed.

Actually, we did try to go out early this afternoon, following my morning appointment with the orthopedist. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Washington, D.C. and today being absolutely gorgeous, my wife really wanted to drive down to the Tidal Basin area to see the sakura 桜. We were hoping that as it is a normal Monday today, there wouldn't be too many people out and about, but we couldn't have been any more mistaken. With nowhere to park, we ended up driving around the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin, just long enough to get a good idea of what Washington is like around cherry blossom time. With Amber back in school tomorrow (she has the day off today due to a teachers' "professional day") and with yours truly not requiring any special attention, I'm hoping Pamela will utilize the Metro tomorrow, and get out and enjoy the flowers. If she goes, she should get some better shots than these ones I took from the back seat of our car: