Tag Archives: pain

A Little Wind Music?

I set foot out of the house today, both feet in fact.  The left side wasn’t too happy about it, but you’ll have that.  Actually, I went outside yesterday to bring my trash out.  I skipped the recyclables.  Today I stepped out to move the container back to behind the house.  It is a lovely day; I am thinking about sitting out on the porch for a while.  We shall see.  In the meantime, I have a few new pictures to make this a better blog post.

The lights are red, white and blue.

My sister Cheryl found these wind chimes the other day, while she was clearing a path for me and my crutches through the living room.  She went to hang them up on the porch.  I should perhaps mention that this was while my father was heroically mowing my terrible lawn, after fetching my newly fixed lawnmower from Collis Hardware (just to throw in a plug for a local business).  Anyways, Cheryl was scandalized I had not hung the chimes up and quickly corrected the omission.

I’m not sure if these make much noise, but they are pretty.

I had hung up a couple of wind chimes during my bouts of cleaning, before I got sidelined (I just can’t keep from throwing in little complaints about my petty physical problems).  So after I moved my trash container, I took pictures of them.

It’s back-lit, but what a nice sky.

This one got a little twisted, but I did not try to untangle it.  You see, I can move around only so much on my left side before it begins to hurt like a sonofabitch (pardon my language);  I was reaching my limit.

When I started making this post, a nice breeze was making some nice music on my porch.  It has gotten quieter. However, I am over 300 words.  We’re all still waiting for Mohawk Valley Adventures, and I hope to oblige sometime.  In the meantime, I shall bill this as a Tired Tuesday and drive on.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Would Coffee Help?

Well, I am having a difficult time making my Lame Post Friday post.  I do not want to go on about my health woes, but I have some pain that comes and goes (mostly comes), and it keeps coming especially strong every time I sit down at my Chromebook to write.  Could it be psychosomatic?  I fear my post will be dull and boring so I am subconsciously trying to keep myself from making it?  It could be, but then, what am I subconsciously trying to prevent myself from doing the rest of the time?  Also, I am almost always afraid my posts will be dull and boring, yet I make them anyways.  Once again I say, what the hell, me?

At least she dies happy.

I add a silly picture to pep things up.  I personally have not had coffee or tea since Friday.  No wine, either (SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!!!).  When I do finally have a cuppa, I expect to enjoy it.

Pretty!

I add the Luna Moth because it is beautiful.  I was happy to get a picture of it while I was supposed to be working.

Who, me?

While searching for a third picture, I found Candice DeLong of Deadly Women and other true crime shows.  Last night while I was clicking around RokuTV, I found Deadly Women and watched a couple of episodes.  It is a total re-enactment-fest, which I don’t particularly like, but I loves me some Candice DeLong.

Reading over this post before I hit Publish, I think it reads like I haven’t had coffee in a week.  Maybe I’ll try for a caffeinated post tomorrow.

 

Blogger’s Sick Day

I was letting Saturday go by without posting at all when I thought, maybe I could do a Blogger’s Sick Day post.  Only I do not want to talk about why I have to take a blogger’s sick day.  I do not want to talk at all.  I want to stay perfectly still.

This is not how happy I look.

I was actually looking for a picture of Columbo, because I am currently watching an episode of Columbo on Roku TV.  The above picture is from last year when I had fun being in Four Old Broads on the High Seas with Players of Utica.  This is a selfie taken during rehearsals.  Seeing happy smiles does make me feel a little better.

There he is!

Television can be quite the comfort when you are feeling ill or in pain.  It takes no effort and you can remain absolutely still while watching.  Staying still is the best thing for me.  Therefore I will feel free to stop before my self-imposed minimum of 200 words.  Happy Saturday, everybody.

 

What Sort of Saturday?

It is past noon on a Saturday and I have done not much.  My front lawn is looking better, after some help from a kind neighbor with a power mower.  I moved around the mess in my house a little.  I keep moving the mess around hoping it is like sand in a bucket at the beach.  Did you ever do that as a kid?  You dump the sand from one bucket into another and back, losing a little each time until there is no sand left.  I wrote four postcards to some of my regular postcard peeps.  Four is about how many I can write before it starts to feel like a chore.

Where was I going with this?  Quick, throw in a picture.

It looks like they are having fun.

Here are some people partying it up on a holiday weekend!  At least, I do not know if it is a holiday weekend, but let’s pretend it is.  I am hanging around my house this Memorial Day weekend, which is not unusual for me.  Sometimes I get together with family. Sometimes I go for a run past veteran memorials in town.  My current malaise makes that ineligible, but let me not whine about my aches and pains.

Let us always remember our veterans.

Here is one of the places I run by, when I am making long runs in honor of our vets (and because I like going on long runs).  What a scattered post this is turning out to be.  I blame it on my current lack of brain and ask my readers to forgive me.

Did somebody mention brain?

This is The Brain from the Planet Arous, if I have the name of the movie correctly (too lazy to look it up).  I saw the picture when I was looking for veteran memorials and could not resist including it.  I am going to bill this as a Scattered Saturday post and drive on.  I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

 

I Lame Myself

I think I have whined a couple of times about my mysterious leg pains.  I keep putting off calling the VA to make another appointment in hopes that it mysteriously resolves itself as pains sometimes do.  In the meantime, it has been causing some problems, because I rely on my nearly daily walks and runs to supplement my anti-depressant medications.  I gradually become more open in talking about my depression in hopes of doing my little part to remove the stigma still attached to mental health.  Was that virtue signalling?  Oh dear. All I really set out to do was make a Running Commentary blog post.  Quick, throw in a picture to distract from my word salad.

Decidedly not where I ran today.

I did run up this hill recently.  Incidentally, it is more intimidating when you are on it than it looks in this picture.  Getting back to today.  My legs and back usually feel pretty good when I first get up, so I thought I would try at least a short run.  I am registered for the Boilermaker 15K, and I would really hate to miss it.  Additionally, I am putting on weight.  And I LIKE to run!  With everything in my favor, I got my gear on and set out.

And it felt pretty good.  I did not attempt any hills and I set a rather slow pace.  I considered trying for two miles, figuring in my head how many weeks I have till the big race and how fast I ought to try to improve.  Doing math in my head is a good way to pass the time while I run.  A drill sergeant told me many years ago that running was just a matter of distracting yourself from how much it sucks to run.

I had looped around and was heading towards my house when my left calf started to ache just a little.  I was about 20 minutes into the run.  I had been going to make a turn and run another block or two, but then I thought, don’t be stupid. Twenty minutes is fine after more than a week off.  I went home.  I think it was a good thing I did, because when I stopped running and stood still, my leg started hurting like a sonofabitch!  I couldn’t do my cool-down walk!  I couldn’t do my stretches!  I made it into the house, sat down on the couch, and put my feet up.  And made this blog post.

That brings us up to date.  I see I have babbled on for over 400 words, and I just remembered something:  This is Lame Post Friday.  I find that strangely appropriate.

 

Two-Mile Tuesday

I thought of that title while at work today.  So I decided I would run for two miles and write a Running Commentary Blog Post about it.  I told my plan to a co-worker, thinking it would make me more likely to do it.  I guess it worked, because I got home and put on running clothes right away.  I threw in a load of laundry, my usual multi-task for a weekend run, and off I went.

It was warm but not hot.  My body was not too happy with the exertion after a full day’s work, but as usual, I persevered.  My knees have been bothering me lately.  However, I know losing a little weight can help, and running can help me lose weight.  One good thing about my body is that it usually tag-teams when it comes to pain:  when my hip started to twinge, the knees shut up.

When I say my hip, I don’t really know if it is the hip.  Today the pain was coming from the crease where leg meets torso.  Sometimes it radiates out into definite hip area.  I hope nobody minds me prosing on about my aches and pains.  Blame it on my age.  I am almost 60.  Then again, my pains did not keep me from running, so perhaps they are not worthy of mention in the blog.

Getting back to the run, I am rather enjoying running for a certain distance rather than for a certain amount of time, as I usually do.  Saturday I made up my mind to run for 4 miles.  It took less time than I had expected, so I felt pretty good about that.

Today’s two miles took about 27 minutes.  The second mile took me 13 minutes and 13 seconds.  I liked that:  13:13 on the 13th.  Too bad it wasn’t Friday the 13th, but then I wouldn’t have had my alliterative title.

 

Please Excuse Mohawk Valley Girl…

Sorry, kids, it’s a blogger’s sick day.  I’ve had a migraine most of the day.  It’s a little better now, but you know how these things can take it out of you.  Or maybe you don’t know, in which case, lucky you.  Or maybe you do know, yet you manage to drive on and get stuff done nevertheless, in which case, how motivated of you.  In fact, I did get stuff done today:  I worked a fairly productive 10-hour day at my place of employment.  So there.

Really, I feel a little silly whining about my headaches when my pain is obviously much less than other migraine sufferers.  Other people hide in darkened rooms, unable to move or even open their eyes.  This has only happened to me on rare occasions.  Mostly I can get through a day of work, but it sure isn’t fun.  And there was no chance I was going to the YMCA or running afterward.

In the meantime, I cannot bear for today to be the day I do not make a blog post.  So this is another whiny post about I Can’t Make a Blog Post Because I Have a Headache.  I find that appropriate on a Wuss-out Wednesday, although I am quite disappointed in myself.  However, my head is starting to hurt again, so boo hoo me.  Feel free to shake your head and play a miniature violin or otherwise make fun of me.  I’m going into one of them there darkened rooms.

 

Four Days On, Three Days Off, What’s Next?

I am nobody’s good example when it comes to fitness.  I triumphantly ran four days in a row, culminating in my longest run on Sunday.  Then I went three days without running.  Go ahead and judge me.  On the brighter side, I ran today and it was not a bad run at all.

I had told myself all day that I would run, trying as usual to internalize the idea.  I even said I would run rain or shine.  Even if it poured rain!  After all, “Run in the Rain” is a good title for a blog post.  Except that I think I already used it.  No matter, it did not rain.  It was actually lovely weather for a run:  cooler temperature, cloudy and breezy.  This was going to be great!

I did my usual multi-task of putting a load of laundry in the washer before I set out.  I prepared myself to listen to my legs, feet, and possibly back complain. I would persevere!  Maybe I would make it a short run, but I would persevere for as long as possible.  Imagine my delight when my legs seemed perfectly content to move.  I turned left on German Street and prepared to enjoy myself.

Eight or nine minutes into the run, I got this weird cramp in my lower abdomen.  How annoying!  The entire rest of my body was having a perfectly enjoyable run, but one little part has to give me a pain.  What was that all about?  I kept running.  Maybe it would go away.  It did not.  I kept running anyways.

I saw a small flag on the sidewalk and picked it up.  I don’t like to see the American flag on the ground.  It was frayed on one side, as if it has come off its little stick.  I held it by the edge as I ran.  Now I was running with a flag.  I was thinking it could be a Veteran’s Day run when I remembered:  today is Flag Day!  I was right on time!  This was great!

Only the cramp continued.  It is so bothersome when you have a pain: it colors everything you do.  I continued to run, stopping occasionally to smell flowers:  lilacs once, peonies two or three times.  Of course I kept these stops very brief.  I considered making it a short run because of the cramp.  Then again, there was no guarantee that the cramp would stop if I was not running.  I did not think it involved any running muscles.  I kept going.  Every body part other than the cramp felt great!  What the hell, body?

As I neared the end of the run, it seemed that I could definitely keep it up for 29 minutes, the same length as my last, longest run.  I WOULD keep it up for 29 minutes, yes!  In order to do so, I ran around the apartment building at the end of my street, then around its front drive, then past my house and back.  I did it!

I felt happy as I walked my cool-down, and even happier as I drank my chocolate milk recovery beverage after my shower.  The cramp did not go away, so clearly I was right to keep running.  I’m wondering now if I will make this another four-day streak, running Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  If so, I will strive NOT to take three days off after!

 

Not Even Time to Think of a Lame Headline

For today’s Friday Lame Post, I shall share what I wrote in my spiral notebook while on lunch at work earlier this week.  I shall add comments as I feel like it.  I think I will put the comments in italics, just to be precious (whatever that means) (I may address that use of “precious” in a future post).  And I just italicized what I just typed in, to be consistent.

My plan, for last week as well as this week, was to write blog posts ahead so I would only have to hit “publish” before heading out for rehearsal or performance.  So far it has not worked out very well.  Still, it’s only Tuesday.  I have hopes for this week.  Not high hopes. As you may guess, I was correct not to harbor high hopes.

Today I am testing a long-held theory of mine.  The theory is:  you can write when you’re in pain as long as it is not a headache.  My wrist is throbbing for unknown reasons.  And here I am writing.  True, it is my left wrist and I am right handed.

Oh!  It hurts like a son of a bitch!  My theory is wrong.

Come to think of it, I knew my theory was wrong years ago.  I had strep throat when I was in college, and it made me feel dreadfully ill.  My head throbbed in a most painful fashion.  But I had exams and I took them.  Well, let me tell you I wrote some of the best essays of my life with my head throbbing.  Maybe part of the reason was that I wanted to get finished and get the hell out of there and back to bed, but I felt as if my brain focused with laser precision and cut through all the crap.

What did I learn from this?  I don’t know, but I think I won’t use this blog post, because I do not like it (oh, I do NOT remember writing that part.  Oh crap).

And I wish my wrist would stop hurting.

My wrist is feeling better, for any kind readers who were concerned.  Probably a stupid pulled muscle or something.  I feel a little silly for having made such a fuss about it, but as I wrote earlier, it did hurt like the proverbial son of a bitch.  I’m wondering if my original assessment of not liking and thus not publishing this post was not the right one.  However, for reasons I have been talking about for weeks (remember, Much Ado About Nothing?), I now only have time to hit “Publish.”  Happy Friday, everyone.

Under the heading, It Takes So Little To Please Some People, I like the way the title of the play is not italicized when it falls in a paragraph that is all italicized.

 

Oh, the Pain

On the brighter side, it’s been a while since my day off was ruined by a bad headache. On the dimmer side (calling it “the darker side” seems just too Oh-Get-Over-Yourself), I have been having a lot of Bear With Me posts (that’s my new expression for them, do you like it?). However, sometimes there is nothing to be done but to post what I can post and drive on.

I thought I would have a lovely Pedestrian Post when I walked Tabby to the post office this morning to mail my usual post cards (I do love writing post cards). I already had the headache by then, but I thought the fresh air and exercise would help. Unfortunately I reckoned without the effects of the sun on all the snow. You see, it was quite cloudy, so I did not put on my sunglasses. However with the mounds and mounds of white stuff reflecting back what light there was, I was soon in pain. Light sensitivity is a major headache symptom for me (YES, I’m whining about my headache! If you don’t like it, kindly move on to a different blog!).

Returning from the walk I ate a snack and took an over the counter migraine medicine. It did not seem to have much effect and after a while I retreated back to bed. Oh it felt good to lie down and close my eyes. I even slept a little. And woke up still having a headache. I got dressed again and tried the effects of a cup of tea. Tasty, at least.

When Steven came home for lunch we took turns complaining, he about work, me about my headache. That’s what makes a good marriage. Later on we’ll find some things to laugh about together. You know my motto: You can laugh or you can cry; you might as well laugh.

After Steven went back to work I headed to the drug store for a decongestant. The pain seemed to be settling in my sinuses and the stuff you have to go to the pharmacy country sometimes helps. On my way I stopped at T&J’s Fruits and Vegetables, where I found some eggplant, peppers and mushrooms I hope to do something yummy with later.

I am now waiting for the drug to kick in and thought I had better make my blog post before I get the lightheadedness that often occurs (why in the world is my computer underlining “lightheadedness”? Isn’t that a word? It is exactly what I mean). I do apologize for this whiny post. On the other hand, it may give some people that little frisson of superiority, “At least I don’t complain so much!” or “You think YOU’ve got headaches!”

As for me, I intend to drive on. Hope to see you on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.