Thanks, all, for the positive comments and advice! It seems that I actually have two injuries. In addition to the tfcc tears, I also have ulnar nerve damage in both elbows, and will be taking a nerve conduction test Friday to confirm that. Terrene and Ida, I'm so sorry to hear of your injuries. Not fun at all. I do wrap my wrists as often as possible for extra support. Tape seems to work best, but it's murder on my skin. I also wear my splints at night, and I definitely notice when I skip a night - - I'm a known wrist-curler in my sleep. I also wear padded things on my elbows to cushion the nerves. I look like a hockey player when I'm headed off to bed! I have been going for PT, covered by insurance. I have good insurance, so that's no problem. Thanks for the suggestion for OT, Carol, and the link for the tools. I will definitely check that out. DTD, I have waited four years since I first injured my wrists, and I really wish I had done something sooner. It seems to get much worse with time. Toughing it out was a bad choice. Claire, Evonne, KT, Deb and Molie, thanks for the sympathy, and I believe you are right that this will mean a scaling down rather than a complete phase out. Oh, and the teenage muscle has already been alerted to the financial opportunities this summer! Carina, I am seeing a hand specialist. If you are near central CT, I will email you his name and see if you have heard of him. I would appreciate any input! A stabilization splint is a great idea. I could use it while kayaking as well (perhaps the one affected activity I love more than gardening). I am trying to make adjustments to my routine to minimize heavy lifting, but I laughed when I was told not to carry laundry baskets, lift heavy dishes, carry groceries, etc. My son helps when he is around, but really, how does one realistically avoid ever doing stuff like that?! Thankfully, I am still able to do certain activities I really enjoy, such as hiking, snowshoeing and even downhill skiing, at least until my surgery. I did have to give up cross country skiing this year, and kayaking is at risk this summer, but I'm determined to be able to do at least a little bit of that. Maybe I can get my SO to cart me around in a double kayak. :-) Thanks to you all . . .

Here's a visual for you...it's Saturday morning, a young mother with Snugli and baby in tow, 8-track blaring and the vacuum. You know the rest of the story. Congrats on overcoming the many obstacles. You know what they say? "And I'll survive, I will survive, I will survive!"

I have been using Mills Magic and various Tones, usually right before a big rain. It's a time-consuming process since I have to pull back the mulch, scratch in the fertilizer thoroly and then replace the mulch. To keep the dogs off I lay empty flats (the plastic trays that six-packs of annuals come in). I still find soil disturbed here and there and guilty looking dogs with mustaches of dirt on their golden faces! Am going to back off on the process this year by relying on compost, liquid feed and alfalfa tea instead. Most of my garden is established shrubs and OGR's and I want to see how they do on this regimen. After all I'm not growing for exhibition!

Some of our easiest meals: chicken fajitas, which is made in one pan, including the chicken and then we do peppers and onions, you can add other veggies if you like, such summer squash. Condiments include grated cheese, sour cream and salsa. Next up is braised cabbage, carrots and onions, with kielbasa or Italian sausage, and potatoes. I eat this meal with meatless links that mimic the sausages. Many ways to do the potatoes, we usually parboil then add in with the other stuff at the end to just finish off. We love this meal, and if we want to splurge, we serve it with pierogis from the freezer section instead of potatoes. You can use other veggies and even other greens such as kale if you like it. Applesauce is a nice side if you're wanting more. Polenta is a nice change of pace side other than potatoes, and if using polenta we'll go more Italian and add diced tomatoes of some sort and top with parm. Another vegetarian version of this would go meatless and add cannellini beans and maybe some cream cheese or neufchatel to make a creamier sauce. You can serve that version over rice or pasta too. Stir fry to use up any vegetable bits and bobs that we have, plus I like to use frozen snap peas too. You can buy special Chinese vegetables like bok choy if you like, but we usually can't afford those very often so just use our pedestrian choices like cabbage and broccoli. Serve over rice. Our favorite sit down meal is roast chicken. Or even baked chicken. My favorite sit down vegetarian meal is quiche and a salad. Easy to make if you buy prepared crusts. We also do enchilada and lasagne casseroles or baked penne. When it is cold, another one of our favorite meals is chili with cornbread. Edited to add that my favorite thing with curry is soup. We don't usually do a "soup starter" but I have sometimes done it, like curried squash soup, which is a favorite. We also like curried red lentil soup. If you're doing sit down, indulge yourself in some nice dishes and matching linens. Does not have to be super fancy or super expensive. Just allow yourself to set a nice table. Most of my stuff is dime store or Target, washable, with a few patterned things and a lot of plain stuff for mixing and matching. I also have a couple of seasonal centerpieces that I rotate, and some inherited salt and pepper shakers. Another inexpensive way to treat yourself is some fancy patterned paper napkins. There are lots of cool ones out there.