Loves of Life

I'm in a much cheerier mood today, so I'm reverting to writing a much more positive post today! Things that I LOVE :)

1. Steroids. And pain killers. Let's just call them miracle drugs 0:) You can thank them for my good mood today. And me not feeling ANY pain today....whoo whooooo. I slept a blissful 12 hours last night, catching up on all the sleep I've been losing due to all the pain I've been in, the throbbing leg, the aching back, and not being comfortable in general. But after starting another (and 3rd attempt) steroid pack, life is blissful.

2. Snow. Ok, ok, I'm as tired as the next person when it comes to this cold and dreary weather, but as much as we are all sick and tired of snow, it never gets old to see the snow blanketed on all the trees. It's a Winter Wonderland out our way, and it sure is beautiful. AND the roads are clear....take THAT mother nature :) The best of both worlds.

3. Physical Therapy. Hopefully they can get me all fixed up. The neurosurgeon is a big-meany head and scared the *bejeesus* outta me yesterday by saying that he thinks I will need surgery! Yikes! So I cried and called my mommy, and she made it all better like when she would kiss my boo-boo when I was a kid (to this day, I thought she made up the word boo-boo b/c I was a kid and it was a cute word. Then I finally realized that that's just what they are called!). Anyway, my dad & I are confident that we can beat this thing with the right drugs and Physical Therapy, so surgery will be my absolute last resort! Take THAT big meany-head doctor.

4. Fridays. Ah, yes, who doesn't love Fridays?! It certainly puts a pep in my step :)

5. Talking to my best friend about her wedding planning details! It brings back those fond memories of my own wedding like it was just yesterday, but it's so much more fun to be on the other side of things this time. I can't wait to start shopping for dresses and see all the fun details come together! Especially now that I realize all the hard work that goes into all the little things.

6. My hubby :) Especially after dealing with me through these times and not complaining about it. Just the occasional nicknames, like 'grandma,' 'slow poke,' etc. *Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.* :P

That's all for today. Hope you are also having a cheerful day and a great weekend!

Gripes about Life

1. Me, walking slower than a turtle. It's ok though. I think it was God's way of telling me to slow down. But don't get me wrong, as soon as I'm back to normal, I'll be back to my 'fast-paced walking' self again!

(are you sick of hearing about my broken back yet?? Yes?!? well TOO BAD! mwahaha.)

2. "If you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all." Remember that saying from, like, Full House?! Yep, I still abide by it, or at least try my hardest to (or I just say things to myself only instead). I just wish more people would follow this. Humph. Especially when it's something as stupid as "Well I wouldn't have picked THESE paint colors." Did anyone ask you for your opinion!??! Ok, maybe I did, but can't you lie?! Because in the end, once the house is FINALLY decorated, you'll change your mind and say how great it all looks. Just like everything else.

3. People that are so focused on helping, helping, helping(!) that they forget that most of the time, we don't NEED help, but more importantly, SUPPORT. It would be nice to hear more words of encouragement, rather than them focusing on all things that are wrong in YOUR life. Especially when WE are happy! So why should they care?! Focus on your OWN life and leave ours alone.

4. An un-ergonomically designed chair. I can't get comfortable. Which I blame for my crabby mood behind this post :)

5. Cold weather. We're halfway thru March, and I'm counting down the days to Spring :) More importantly, I'm counting down the days to camping season and relaxing with great friends around a campfire, roasting marshmallows!

6. Not knowing if the title of this post makes sense. I think 'gripes' is the correct word. Or is it just a word I made up?! I do that a lot -- make up my own words -- and then Ross corrects me. And then I keep using my word anyway because I like my new made-up word!

7. Running out of things to complain about for today. I'm sure there will be something else, but for now, that's all I've got!

Thanks for reading :) TGI-almost-F!

All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten

An excerpt from the book titled above that I've been reading. Made me laugh. Enjoy :)


"Transportation is much the topic of the day. You’ve noticed. Our devotion to the car is worshipful. Eric Berne called it the cocktail-party pastime game, “General Motors.”

Despite what you hear, it’s not really a matter of economics. It’s an image issue. In America, you are what you drive. Go out in the garage and look. There you are.

Well, my old hoopy has joined the cripples on the edge of the herd. And a new vehicle (image) is in order.

The silver-gray Mercedes with glove-leather everything really felt like me. The bank did not really think it felt like me to them. The shiny black BMW motorcycle with sidecar kind of felt like me. My wife did not think it felt like her—especially the sidecar part. The Land Rover with gun rack and shooting top felt like me. But there are so few game-covered veldts around town now. The VW Rabbit is Consumer Reports’ choice, but a Rabbit I am just not. If they had named it the VW Walrus or the VW Water Buffalo, I might go for it. The Chrysler Coupe de Coupes de Coupes won’t do, either. Who wants to be an anachronism?

One of my students suggested putting all my money into drugs. Stay home and take all the trips you want. But that’s not me—you don’t bring back groceries from those trips.

It’s clear that what would be fashionably hip is a fine piece of engineering—something that’s luxurious yet practical, useful, and economical. Like a Porsche pick-up truck that runs on Kleenax. Silver-gray, of course.

What I really want from transportation is not an image but a feeling.

I remember riding home a summer’s eve in the back of an ancient Ford pickup truck, with two eight-year-old cousins for company and my uncle Roscoe at the wheel. We’d been swimming and were sitting on the inner tubes for comfort, and had a couple of old quilts and an elderly dog wrapped close for warmth. We were eating chocolate cookies and drinking sweet milk out of a Mason jar, and singing our lungs out with unending verses of “Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” With stars and moon and God o’erhead, and sweet dreams at the end of the journey home.

Now that’s transportation. The way I like to travel. And that’s me. If you hear of a dealer, let me know."
- Robert Fulghum


Such a random book, but an easy read. And a few good excerpts along the way!

Slow Down! I can't walk that fast....

So here's the latest update about my problem with my back. Last Thursday I was so hopeful that it was healing and that I would be in brand-spanking-new shape in no time. I was feeling great.

Wrong.

Friday and Saturday I was still so sore, and staying on pain meds. Sunday I got a shooting pain down my left leg, some tingling, and my left foot going numb, on and off. Quite annoying. Especially when one tries to walk. It IS interesting, I must say, to walk on a numb foot. Humph.

So on Monday, I came into work, b/c I'm such a good sport about being a good employee *:)* even though my leg was still throbbing and my foot kept going numb. I called my doctor and scheduled an appt. for that afternoon. I even had mom drive me, b/c I was so uncomfortable. After 40 minutes (!) of waiting for the doctor (another annoyance I can't quite understand....I mean, I had an appt....why can't they seem to make it on time?!), she finally came in to give me a look over.

Basically, it comes down to the fact that she thinks I have a herniated disc. Whoopie. So she scheduled me for an MRI on Wednesday, and dosed me up again with a 2nd round of steriods, and more pain killers. Me Like Drugs :)

I haven't seen the results for the MRI yet, but even so, it's not like they can do anything about this, besides Physical Therapy. It all comes down to my spine healing on its on, and the disc going back into place. I feel great today, although I just took a horse-sized pain pill. I'm over trying to be 'holistic' and dealing with the pain on my own. Not worth it.

So I hope that this heals soon. And once it does, I'm all revved up to take better care of myself. More exercise, less sitting during work, drinking more water, etc. All things that are huge contributors to having less back pain.

Go Me! Wrecking my back at the age of 24. Whoot. Whoot.

Couch Potato

Leave it to me to actually injure myself and have no clue how I managed to do so! And I'm embarrased to even admit as to how I hurt myself.

On one hand, I think 'ok, it could sound awesome' ....like so.... "I was working out last week, and because I'm so awesome and athletic, I strived so hard and pushed myself so much that I actually hurt myself while working out. What a workout! Burn calories...BURN!"

Or on the other hand, I sound like the biggest fattest couch potato that ever existed.... like so.... "I finally started working out again, but b/c I'm such an uncoordinated and out of shape lard-a**, the simplest workout was too much for this gal to handle."

Hm...I think I'll go with story #1. Makes me sound awesome :) But aside from that, I did in fact hurt myself. And since I have done nothing physical for the past week, besides working out, I've come to the conclusion that that must have been what did it.

But back to the story. Last Friday, I had noticed my back was hurting. No big deal. I have those 'off' days. But saturday, it was getting bad. I was so uncomfortable. Walking was becoming difficult. Sitting hurt too. And on Sunday, Ross threatened to divorce me after seeing what our future may look like together when we're near 80 years old. Me -- unable to walk or sit, or move. I hobbled around, wincing in pain at every slightest movement, so Ross replies, "I want out. Now. Before you get any older!" ha! Oh dear. I don't blame him.

So on Monday morning, I went straight to the chiropractor, thinking I just needed an early adjustment. No big deal. I went in to work late, and sat there for an unbearable hour, until I finally had to call it quits and go home early. My mother-in-law (who is a nurse) advised me that I should go to a doctor since the pain pills she had given me the night before did not help.

So I headed to MedExpress on my way home from work at 11:00 am. The doctor there told me she thinks that one of my discs could've slipped.

WHA?! How the heck did I even accomplish such a thing?? At such a young age?? Oh boy.

So off I go to the pharmacy with my 3 newly written prescriptions. One for steriods. One for painkillers (Vicodin!). And one for a muscle relaxer.

I finally head home in extreme bouts of pain. Driving hurts the worst. I guess my Chevy Cobalt is not ergonomically designed! And headed straight to bed with all my new meds.

Tuesday comes and goes. I can't possibly go to work when it hurts just to sit up. Wednesday, I again work from home. The doctor writes me an excuse for work, but says I should be good to go back to work on Thursday. She told me that I need to continue walking to keep my spine loose. And I'm happy to say that she was right. As I sit here, on my first day to work this week, I can say that it helps to walk around. So I keep making excuses to get up and walk to the xerox machine, or wherever. But I can def. tell it's getting better. And my back is starting to hurt less. You go Spine!!

And I had another adjustment at the chiro. yesterday, hoping that would also help.

All in all, I'm getting better. I waddle a bit less now when I walk.

I still look distorted, with one hip raised higher than the other. But it should go back to normal soon.

How I managed to throw my back out at 24?? No clue. I can't wait to see what I'm like at 50+!

Sectional Hunting

Ross & I were THIIIIS close to purchasing a sectional this weekend. I wasn't even looking for a couch this weekend, but once you go shopping with mom ....well, things change, she's a very convincing person, ha! And we DO need a new couch for the house, so it didn't hurt to look.

I showed it to Ross Saturday night, but we decided to go home and 'sleep on the decision' before spending any money. Sunday, we showed up at the store with the intention of buying it, but were still too hesitant, so we walked away. Here is the sectional (shown in black leather, we would've ordered it in a chocolate brown leather):

What do you think?? Do you like the look of it?

I am still up in the air about it, so I'm glad we didn't go through with it. Especially since this was our first chance to look at couches. I think we need to spend a little more time shopping around.

Here are our main reasons for NOT buying the couch:
1) Worried about the leather. How does it hold up? Doesn't it scratch and begin to crack after wear-and-tear? (even though they said it wouldn't scratch, I find that hard to believe)
2) Don't like the 'look' of it.
3) Price. A bit steep for us, we'll have to be on the lookout for another sale if we do decide to buy this after all.

Those are a LOT of reasons to not want the sectional, so why the heck did we pick it out in the first place? Well, as soon as mom & I sat down in it.... HEAVEN! It was the comfiest sofa I've ever been in. Oh, my, gawd. Pure bliss. I'm not usually a leather person, but this was exceptional.

But there are still those 3 reasons holding me & Ross back, so we need to keep shopping. On the other hand, I know our choices are VERY limited due to my ginormous list of WANTS/NEEDS for our future couch:

1) a sectional with the 'wedge' vs. just a corner cushion, that way someone can still easily sit in the corner and I can sneak a floor lamp behind it for extra lighting :)

2) fabric, but only as long as the cusions come OFF, and I can throw them in the washer (a lot of cushions seem to be attached to the back of the couch, Hello?!?! How do you clean that?? And don't tell me SPOT CLEANING! Ugh, I don't think so. Not after a dog throws up on it (more than once). Gross, spot cleaning will just NOT DO! Now aren't you excited to come to my house?! ha! Surely I can't be the only one who's dealt with this! Kids will be just as messy one day...oh the horror.)

3) possibly leather, but I'm still uncertain about how it holds up. At least it would clean easily!

4) Size is a HUGE obstacle, b/c most sectionals are too big for the corner of our room, believe it or not. The one above was still 3" too big, but I could make it work.

5) Last but not least, it needs to be comfy :)

6) Oh, and price, we're not rich ya know.

Thought, anyone?! Leather vs. fabric? How leather holds up? Should the 'comfy-ness' outweigh the look of it? Perhaps I'm just too picky. HA! Oh the headaches.....

An Apology

Don't you just love when your dear husband brings out his Human Resources knowledge and uses it against you? Oh, is that just mine?! I guess so!

He so kindly pointed out last night that the last thing I should be doing is venting about work on my blog, because I could easily be fired over it. Well, on my defense, I'm not 'friends' with any of my coworkers on Facebook, so other than that, I don't think they would have any way of even knowing I have a blog.

But secondly, I should state, for the record, that my job really isn't so bad. Yeah, I have my bad days, but who doesn't?! I really try not to take my job for granted, even on the worst days. I have good pay and great benefits, so what more could I really ask for?! Especially when this time, last year, I was on a job hunt that seemed hopeless. Period. And then add the crappy economy on top of that. So consider me extremely thankful for the job I hold today.

So thank you, Westinghouse, for all the good days, and even the bad. Here's to many more happy years together :)