FREEDOM!

It’s been six weeks since my surgery, and things are going great! This past Monday, I had my driving restrictions lifted. Since they had to cut my chest open, the lifting restrictions remain for 10 weeks, although the lifting restrictions were eased to ten pounds per arm. But still…FREEDOM!

I’ve been able to mow the grass and do some other yard work. Robin got me this neat thing called Grampa’s Weeder. It allows you to pull up weeds, including their roots, from a standing position. For a fella my age, that’s a plus. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it because it’s new, and I’m old, but I took it out back and…an hour later I had a full lawn refuse bag full of dandelions. I guess I liked it!

Yesterday was also a banner day for Manchester United. After last week’s heroics against Olympique Lyonnaise, Man U was playing Athletic Bilbao in the semifinals of the Europa League, for a spot in the finals. Man U had to travel to Spain for the first leg. They will play again in Old Trafford next week. The team that scores the most aggragated goals will advance.

The game started out with an energetic pace on both sides. Both sides had early chances to score, and Casemiro finally headed home a goal to give Man U a 1-0 lead. A few moments later a Manu U player sent a ball into Athletic’s goal box. Rasmus Højland, our striker, fell to the ground trying to get to the cross. The Video Assisted Referee(VAR) took a look at the play. Repeated views of the replay showed that the Athletic defender put his hand on Rasmus’ shoulder and pulled him down. They had the center referee come over to the replay monitor to look for himself.

After a moment, he came back onto the field and pointed to the penalty spot. Penalty kick for Manchester United! Then the referee pulled the red card out of his pocket and showed it to the Athletic defender! Rasmus was directly in freont of the goal, and the defender was the last defender and removed a goal-scoring opportunity, by rule a red card. Athletic now had to play the rest of the game with only ten players!

Bruno Fernandes, the Man U captain, scored the PK to make the game 2-0. Several minutes later, Bruno scored again to make it 3-0. We had a couple of shots bang off the goal, and the half ended with the score 3-0. All Manchester United needed to do was have a professional half, control the game, and take a significant aggregate score lead back home for the second leg. They did all of that, as the score ended up being 3-0. It was a good day to be a Manchester United fan! I only wish I was able to watch the match with my new friends at MUFC Indy, who were watching the match at Brew Link Brewpub in downtown Indy.

So that’s where I stand. I’m well on the road to recovery from open-heart surgery, I’m getting back to doing the things I love, and my team, who has had a very rough season, has a chance to end their season on a very high note.

On a lighter note, I played chess with my youngest grandson Stevie, who is six. His brother Roman, who together make the Devilish Duo, apparently showed him how the pieces move. I’m gratified that Roman not only remembered how the pieces move, but showed his little brother. I was explaining consequences in chess as we played. I ended up winning, of course, but Stevie did a great job in moving the pieces correctly. Now if I can just get him to stop calliing pawns “prawns”.