Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

I'm learning some days there will be less pain in my leg and other days there will be more pain in my leg. It's kind of like a crap shoot. Although, I am realizing the nights I don't sleep well do have a negative effect on me the following day. Last night I didn't sleep, and today I feel like I'm right back in the first weeks of this herniated disc. It sucks. I've tried not to go down the rabbit holes about herniated discs, but it's hard. I want to know as much as possible about what it is and what can help to heal it. Unfortunately, there's not much that can be done to help it heal other than time, and from what I'm finding, time sometimes doesn't make any difference, which is scary to think about. There are moments I'm scared that this is my new normal for the rest of my life. I truly hope it's not. I am able to get out and mow the lawn. It takes me two or three days to do the whole yard, but I'm okay with that. It's not like I ...

Cautiously optimistic, but I think things are improving. Today has been really, really good. I'm still experiencing pain in my knee and shin, but that pain has lessened with each passing day this week. Today I was able to put more pressure on my knee without it giving out on me. That alone is such a relief. Last week when I was told my activity is only limited by the amount of pain I can tolerate, I envisioned the rest of my life revolving around constant pain and weakness in my right leg. After not being given any advice for how to manage the pain or how to work to alleviate the pain, I did a lot of reading over the next few days to see what might actually help. I firmly believe a good night's sleep is key, so I found a highly rated OTC sleep aid and started using it. While I still wake up during the night and experience significant pain in my hip during the night, I shift my sleeping position to alleviate the pain and fall back to sleep quickly. That alone has worked wonders....

I am now six weeks in to being "two steps away from being completely vegan" as Angel Baby puts it. The two steps keeping me from being fully vegan is I still eat mayo and honey. When I think about it, though, I so seldom eat either one that it's kind of silly for me to even have them. Maybe I'll do what I did with the milk and eggs -- toss them in the trash. I felt just a tad bit bad about dumping out a half gallon of milk and throwing away two dozen eggs, but it had to be done. The three packages of unopened cheese, though, I kept. I gave those to Funny Delightful Son when he was here for the weekend. He bowed slightly when I handed him a bag full of cheese, bacon and sausage I'd had in the freezer, along with a package of frozen salmon, and said, "Thank you for your vegan ways."  My vegan ways have me cooking a lot. I was cooking quite a bit anyways, but now I'm preparing things I've never tried before. Yesterday it was falafel with a tahini dr...

Another 7 inches of snow. Another day of canceled classes. Tomorrow is supposed to bring another dip in the wind chill, the kind of dip that can bring on frostbite within ten minutes to exposed skin, so most likely, we're looking at either another day of canceled classes or a late start. Sigh. I'm really okay with not having to get up this morning. For years and years I've been getting up at 5:30 am, but the last year or so, I've found it more and more difficult to rouse myself when the alarm wakes me up. I set my clock 15 minutes fast just so I can snuggle under the covers for a bit and prepare myself mentally for starting my day. Even after 15 minutes, I don't feel ready to face the world. It's not like I don't get enough sleep. Since going caffeine free, since going soda free, since reducing my refined sugar intake (an area of my life I'm quite pleased with--it's been tough, slow going, but I'm making progress), and since getting back to t...

Every now and then I have a restless night. Last night was one, mostly due to the window near our bed that, when it was hit with a gust of wind, created a high-pitched whistling. And I'm not talking about a melodious whistling, a la Francesco Bonifazi. No. I'm talking about an ear-splitting trill. Not real conducive to sleeping (although Hubby snored right through it all). At 2 am I went searching amidst the kitchen odds-n-ends drawer for some tape to run over the gap between the bottom and top windows, finding only some electrical tape. Being desperate, I stretched the tape along the gap, only having enough to do a partial job. It would have to do, so I snuggled back under the comforter. The next blast of wind whined through the gap. The little bit of tape didn't do. I pulled the comforter up around my head, leaving just a small hole through which to breathe. The unfortunate whistling continued. After ten more minutes of the obnoxious noise, I folded a hand towel and put...

For the past two years, I've been helping put into place a regional English teacher conference hosted by the writing program at my college. I was in charge of, well, a lot. For the past month, I've not slept well as my mind was constantly going over every little detail. This week, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I barely slept at all with the conference finally being here and having to make sure all went smoothly. By 11 pm last night, after my two boys arrived home from their Homecoming dance, I put my head down on my pillow and let out a deep breath. I think I was out within seconds. For the first night in a long time, I slept. Then I slept more today. Around 4 this afternoon, I started feeling more rested, far more rested than I have in quite some time. The conference went well, with just a few minor hiccups along the way, nothing that couldn't be resolved quickly and fairly easily. Two young men from my college's IT department acted as our on-site tech help, and t...