37!

I turned 37 last month. Which sounds old, even though it's really not and I feel old. My body feels old.

My limbs hurt for like two weeks up until a couple of days ago. This seems to happen every few months or so. This time I decided to go to the doctor. I had blood work done and then more blood work all to find out that nothing is wrong. Which is great news! But my limbs still hurt. At this point I think it may be fibromyalgia or hormone related. I was told I could take a medicine that would help with the pain but I don't really want to.

All of that to say that I have embarked on the journey of a pain journal. As a 37 year old does. (just now I typed 27 and I thought, wow, that sounds so young. Will 37 seem young when I am 47? Probably.)

So I make a list of my pains for each day. Or, like yesterday, no pain! I don't know what good any of this will do but it will be there in writing.

One thing I always learn when I don't feel well is that I should be very grateful when I feel well. And I am! But I guess I just don't think about it as much until I don't feel well.

But health is a gift. And being 37 is a gift.

She's a random post

Last Sunday night I ate ten dumplings. Luscious Dumplings moved in down the street and turned our world upside down. Monday morning, early, I woke up with a huge stomachache. I thought I was just really full. Then I threw up and other things for the next eight hours (off and on). I love those dumplings but now I associate them with being sick. Not the food poisoning kind of association that will swear you off of something forever (hello, chicken quesadilla at Baja Fresh *2002* or meatball sandwich from Subway *2006*) but still it's an association that I will have to work through because I love dumplings. This flu sucked. I tried to keep the drama to a minimum. Only a small amount of time laying on the hall floor, only one attempt to go to the hospital. But I did have a rough time. It was so bad that I didn't even care that the television wasn't on. It was on the wrong "source" and I couldn't get up to change it. I just lay there and moaned until my Mom came to make me feel better. I truly don't know that there is anything better in the whole world when you are sick than your Mom coming over to take care of you.

Tuesday I put up a valiant effort to go to work and made it there for a couple of hours but couldn't stick it out. I felt so dizzy and the only thing that helped was to lie down. I did trudge over to the grocery store on the way home. And later made it out to vote. I love to vote. Even if pretty much everything I voted for turned out the opposite of how I voted. Except for Obama of course. Apparently we are a liberal state that wants the death penalty and porn stars in condoms. Ah well.

Good news on Wednesday woke up back at 100% or whatever the equivalent is in the seven o clock hour of the morning.

The rest of the week pretty much consisted of laughing at blog comments, articles, and pictures of people reacting to Obama being reelected.  You would think the world is going to end. People have truly lost their minds. Got some chuckles out of this .

This one I chuckled at for quite some time. Rodger didn't think it was so funny. 

I would caption it "I'm taking my Mitt and going home".

It's all in good fun and seriously last time I checked our country is a democracy and their are many branches of government that control things. One person is not going to destroy the entire country. These people act like the guy was given a blank slate four years ago and turned the country upside down. He's doing his best! Maybe I am wrong. People really need to keep their wits about them though. I like to think that if Romney would have won I wouldn't have acted like this.

My packing kind of came to halt with the flu but will have to get back at it. Shit ain't gonna pack itself. Apparently. Rodger has stayed the course on his packing. And we did hire movers. What a noble profession! I am thankful that we will have a garage where I can store all the crap I don't want to look at but that my OCD (or Rodger' hoarding) won't let us get rid of.

Now it's Friday night. The Lakers coach got fired early today but judging by the amount of cursing from Rodger they still aren't playing any better.

Goodnight folks! Don't forget to tip your waitress. That way Obama can steal it and redistribute to all the lazy people who just choose to not get their lives together because they know the government will take care of them.

Please don't hold me to any of this

If you have been anywhere in my vicinity the last couple of months then I have told you that the left side of my neck, my left arm, and behind my left ear were hurting. Since mid August it has been hurting to varying degrees. I remember the pain started in my clavicle and then has mostly been in my neck. I remember it hurt really bad the day we left Kauai for Maui, when we were stuck at the airport all day and schlepping around our luggage. 

A couple of weeks ago I posted on Facebook that it hurt and I thought it was a pinched nerve. I got some good advice and a good laugh when Vickie "liked" the status. I texted her and told her that I thought it was funny that she "liked" that I was in pain. She said she didn't know what she was supposed to say to my "status". And I told her that I felt like it was time to bring my whining to a broader audience. Most of the advice was to go to a doctor. And I went the next day. 

I had a nice talk with my doctor and she gave me some advice on how to handle stress. Then I told her about my neck and shoulder. It took her about two seconds of touching my shoulder to solve my two months of pain. She said she felt that my muscle was tight and I had pulled it. We talked about some solutions. She said she could give me pain pills and send me to physical therapy but that would only help as long as I went and that she didn't think being on pain killers was a good long term solution. She said that yoga was the solution. I told her that I did a yoga DVD at home occasionally. She said to continue with that and showed me some poses to do that would help my arm and neck. 

You know what? It worked. I haven't done too many full on yoga workouts but I have been doing the stretching and poses throughout the day and my pain is almost gone. My arm doesn't hurt anymore. My neck and should hurt occasionally but nothing compared to the way it was before. It had gotten so bad that sometimes when I was at work I couldn't even concentrate on anything but how my neck hurt. And all it took was stretching! And all it took was her touching my should for two seconds to figure it out!

Also during my doctor's visit I asked my doctor how many times I should be working out during the week. She said about three times a week. Which is about three more times a week than I do now (even though I am a cyclist, right Vickie?). I need to work out more and need to be doing yoga. It will be good for my health and it releases stress. 

Here's the problem though, I am what some people might describe as lazy. I don't describe myself as lazy because I have a full-time job. I feel like I give 90% to 110% everyday at work so when I get home I just want to do nothing. Mainly what I get done at home is cook dinner a few times a week and keep the kitchen clean (i.e. load/unload the dishwasher) and I vacuum. Other than that I don't have a lot of motivation to take the world by storm.

I really need to motivate myself. Not just to work out but also to just be productive. This week I made chocolate chip cookies, which I was proud of and we started packing for the move. And I did some yoga.

I want to get myself on a schedule though. You know, work out these days, clean these days, etc. And since I can't  motivate myself I will just have to fake it till I make it. I am going to do a yoga class this week and set-up a cleaning schedule, and cook dinner. 

I think this is a good thing to start because with moving to a house there will be more chores that need to be done and I will live further from work so I will have to use my time more wisely.

Productive. That's the name of my new game.

Eye, Eye, Eye

The goings on around here include-

Moving our bed to the opposite wall because the neighbors blast their television at all hours and the walls are thin. (Always a fun Sunday night activity) I like the bed this way better, closer to the window fan and let's be real, the central air vent. The neighbor's noise really bothered Rodger a lot more than it did me (I am a people person) and I have to say he seems to be getting a little too much pleasure out of our television now being on the wall that we share with them. I think he even said "take that suckers".

I woke up with this beautiful blood spot in my eye this morning. Always nice when you get out of the shower and your husband points at your face and says "what's that?". I have never had one of these before. After some initial Google/Ask.com research apparently it's quite common. Either a blood vessel in my eye popped over night or I have my suspicions that when Sushi woke me up this morning (as she does every morning around six) her claw actually got in my eye ball (completely by accident) instead of the usual under eye that she pokes me on. I am still deciding whether a popped blood vessel or a claw to the eye is more appealing.

 My poor baby green.

Oh well, we are leaving for our belated honeymoon in Hawaii on Friday so I will just keep my sunglasses on. You better redneckognize.

Burned Paws

Last night I made dinner. Dun Dun Dun. I try to do that at least three times a week. You know, wifery and all. Well maybe I should clarify that statement. We buy food to make at least three to four nights a week and then either Rodger or I make it depending on where our specialties fit. I.E. veggies and red meat would be Rodger. Cheese and bread would be me.

Last night Rodger barbecued a couple of pieces of Tri-Tip and put frozen bread in the oven. Dun Dun Dun. I took the bread in its glass pan out of the oven and set it on the counter. In all of my domestic glory, I guess I forgot it was hot because I grabbed the dish again without putting the oven mitt on. Ouch!!!!!! Both my pointer fingers and thumbs got burned. I knew it was a bad sign when they started blistering immediately.

I spent the next thirty minutes crying and ranting about how the only faucet in the house that gets cold water is in the kitchen. Then for the next three or four hours I rotated my hands from the faucet to wet cloths to a big bowl of ice water to wrapping my hands around a cold cup.

I barely ate any of my dinner and what I did eat Rodger had to cut up and feed to me.

Around 10:30pm or so my fingers started throbbing less and I was able to fall asleep. I was so happy when I woke up around 2am and they didn't hurt anymore. They are stiff still and hurt under hot water but no where near as bad as they did last night.

Poor little paws, I am so sorry!