A Little Off The Beaten Path

12 12s

2012-02-02T10:33:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I am a big New Year's Resolution person. Not in the sense that most people are--"I want to lose weight," "I want to exercise more"--that sort of thing, but new projects ever year.

Some knitting friends and I were bouncing ideas around about what to do for 2012, and the idea of doing "12 12s" came up. Doing a list of 12 things, and doing 12 of each of the things. I thought it was a fantastic idea, and cheerfully pilfered it.

My list of 12 items for 2012:

1. Try 12 new fruits/vegetables
2. Read 12 books from the library book sales we keep going to
3. Try 12 new recipes
4. Plant 12 types of flowers (they don't all have to grow)
5. Take 12 exercise classes at the gym
6. Try 12 exercise tapes/dvds
7. Donate 12 things
8. Learn 12 new songs on piano or guitar
9. Read 12 classics
10. 12 days without the internet
11. Give 12 "just because" gifts
12. Do 12 new things

Obviously, I'm skewing this a bit to go with things I'm already doing (reading 100 books a year, building up my hip muscles), but it is mostly about having fun and always trying new things--not to mention making the hip problem slightly more fun than it currently is...which probably isn't too difficult. :)

Married to Mr. Hoover

2012-02-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Last night I asked Andy to remind me to put a chicken in the slow cooker for dinner tonight.

This morning, he brought me coffee with this attached to it:

Life is never dull with a spouse who can make you laugh.

There Was a Sale.........

2012-01-31T09:07:00.002-07:00

I guess I'm more ready for spring than I thought..............

This is the Way We Pop A Hip....

2012-01-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

This

is my new toy for popping my pelvic bones back into place.

These

are my new toys to help keep the pelvic bones where they are supposed to be. After 2 months of therapy, my muscles have grown strong enough to require a bit of help in order to be worked. I do my physical therapy exercises every day.........and that silly 25 minute walk on Friday really did knock my hip back out of line again. Dang it!

So today I went to the pool to walk laps again, and feeling rebellious and angry, I did things I'm probably not supposed to do. At the deepest part of the pool (only actually 4 feet as Idaho Athletic Club skimped on everything in this gym) I ran instead of walked. I did grapevine as fast as I could. Then I ran some more. For two and a half months I've been doing everything I'm supposed to be doing and my hip is still "fragile." I keep breaking the bands they give me for resistance walking exercises and finally had to be upgraded to the toughest band they have and I still can't walk 25 minutes. I'm angry and frustrated and impatient, and at least if I caused my hip to go out again I'll know it was doing things I shouldn't have done instead of the ones I'm supposed to be doing. Sometimes you just have to rebel.

Well, Dang!

2012-01-28T20:36:00.002-07:00

She who brags about how good she was on her walk is about to learn how to pop her own damn hip back into place.

Ta-Da!

2012-01-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

It's sunny and I was able to go for a walk!!!!!!

I have not been able to go outside for a walk since mid-November, and because my physical therapist now knows that I consider moderation mostly just an "m" word in the dictionary, I have been given very strict limits on what I'm allowed to do each week. This week I can try walking OUT of the pool IF I walk at a slower clip AND more gently than my previous treadmill attempt. No incline, no speed, no impact. And I did it! (I think) I did 25 minutes, and I went so slowly and so gently that I don't think I even raised my heartbeat (note to self: dress much warmer than normal for these "pokey walks"). The big test is probably in the morning. If I have back spasms, I haven't managed that "moderation" concept after all.......

Lessons Learned This Week

2012-01-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

* 51 weeks of the year, having all yearly checkups in one week sounds like a great idea

* Have storage figured out BEFORE quadrupling a soup recipe

* The age where discussing joint pain becomes a pick-up line is younger than I thought it might be

* Remembering that the reason I own water shoes in the first place is because the bottom of the pool is very, very rough BEFORE scratching up my feet walking barefoot in the pool for an hour would have been the smarter choice...

1 Down, 11 To Go

2012-01-22T16:32:00.002-07:00

Recently a friend of mine posted on Facebook that her doctor had advised her to lose 10 pounds. After being shocked by the number of people who commented that she needed to find a different doctor and trying to be supportive, I suggested she do something fun with it--like made a goal of trying 12 new fruits/veggies this year. Well, that DOES sound like fun to me, so I decided Andy and I should do it as well. Next time I went grocery shopping, I looked for something we had never tried before, and proudly came home with red bananas. Andy was all for it, so I pealed the first one, we each took a bite....

and we hate them. Chalky, bitter, and with an aftertaste that is almost impossible to get rid of. We assumed then that they were a eat-cooked-only sort of fruit, but when I searched on the internet, they receive rave reviews for an "eat fresh" banana. So we're hoping that perhaps the ones I bought were rather green and that they improve as they ripen.......and are very thankful I only bought two of the things.

Let's hope experiment number two is more successful.

I Have New Workout Buddies!

2012-01-21T17:56:00.002-07:00

After shoveling the 6-inches of snow we received on Wednesday, my back was understandably sore on Thursday, so I went to the pool for an hour of swimming and walking to loosen up some of the muscles. It felt so good that I decided to go again on Friday, and seem to have picked THE most popular time to be there. When I arrived, there was a woman whom I believe to be in her 60s swimming laps, an older gentleman (late 70s or early 80s I would guess) walking laps in the pool WHILE using hand weights, and an extremely fit man of perhaps 60-65 also walking laps. We were quite the busy group, and were soon joined by two large men with larger beer bellies who--in the presence of such activity--chose to sit in the pool and chat rather than bestir themselves to any similar exercise. Personally, I was inspired by my other compatriots to pick up my pace just a bit as I think I was the slowest of the walkers. I eventually met the oldest gent as he walked quite as long as I did, and found that he was walking one mile in the pool for his "cool-down" as he had already lifted weights AND walked THREE miles on the treadmill for his daily exercise. He was as genuinely nice as he was inspiring, so I added arm weights to MY walking as well. He was quite right--it did add to the workout, and I'm hoping to get a bit of practice in before next Friday to make sure I can keep up with him. He knew the lady swimming, but I haven't had a chance to meet her yet, as her workout comprised 90 laps of swimming (I believe all crawl-stroke) without any stops. I made a note of the time I arrived at the gym just to make sure I know when to hit the gym on Fridays. Besides being the friendliest people I have encountered in the pool, the delight of watching all the condescending young men who were peeved at finding an "old lady" taking up the one roped-off lap lane only to find themselves finished swimming laps before she even stopped for rest was QUITE entertaining. :)

Well, How Dumb Am I?

2012-01-19T16:20:00.004-07:00

Yesterday Boise got its first real snowfall of the year--dumping around 6 inches in one day. I hurt my back two months ago. A smart person might have though this would be a good way to get out of shoveling snow. And what did I do? Check with my spine doctor ahead of time to make sure it would be okay for me to shovel snow when and if we ever got any.

WHAT WAS I THINKING???????????????????????????????

Reading Challenge

2012-01-18T10:22:00.002-07:00

I haven't written anything about this year's goals yet--things have been busy and a bit disoriented with the back issues--but to start with, I made my 100 books goal again, though there were some VERY short books thrown in at the end. This year I am doing it again, though I have vowed to not get behind so early.

I'm still enjoying going through so many books, but because so many of the books weren't that great, I have decided to treat myself with a little Jane Austen marathon to kick off the year's reading/listening. I'm doing them all as audio books because I've got a lot of work to do to catch up from my downtime with my back, and I've realized that it FEELS like it takes longer to listen to a bad 6-disc book than to listen to a good 20-disc book. Last night I finished Jigsaw by Anthea Fraser, and I had known I didn't like it after the first disc, but I convinced myself to listen to the other 5 discs because it was "short." I will NOT be making that mistake again. I have been criticized for being too "elitist" in my literary tastes and I have been trying to be a bit more open-minded, but enough is enough. People can like badly-written books, but it doesn't change the fact that they are badly written. If dialogue sounds like nothing two people on the entire planet would ever say, it's bad. People can still like the book, but it's still bad dialogue. If a nonfiction book presents flawed logical arguments, it doesn't matter how many copies it sells or if it's made into a movie--it's still poorly written. I do not have to keep apologizing for having formally studied logic and can pinpoint where arguments stop being logic and start being [empty] rhetoric. If someone wants to write and can't master his or her native language well enough to write within the actual rules of that language, I don't have to pretend that it's okay. I don't know why we've rebelled so much against facts and intellectualism, but I'm tired of playing. LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR SUCH BAD BOOKS!!!!

Best Quote of the Day

2012-01-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

"Watching these Republicans debate on MLK day is like going to a Mel Gibson movie on Yom Kippur."

--Anthony Borowitz

Things I Have Learned This Week

2012-01-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

* Walking in a pool for an hour is pretty tiring if you've spent a fair bit of the last 7 weeks laying on heating pads

* Sunny winter days are mostly frustrating if the cold irritates your back too much to go walking and driving around involves too much sitting

* I realize that it's a very, very bad thing for water levels, but I'm hoping our lack of snow and ice continues until my hip/back issue is completely resolved

* It may save space to try to use the resistance balls at the gym instead of buying your own, but it would also require a much different attitude toward dirt and grime

* A heating pad gets surprisingly hotter with a large cat stretched out on top of the person laying on the heating pad

* A surprising number of people go the pool at our gym and just sit on the steps.

* The idea that I might have actually injured myself by walking on a treadmill makes me far more cautious about going up and down the stairs--and makes that bubble wrap ensemble fairly tempting.........

My Treadmill Privileges Have Been Revoked

2012-01-12T11:33:00.001-07:00

I may be the first person in history to have her treadmill privileges revoked during physical therapy. It turns out that "no impact" in the physical therapy world doesn't simply mean "don't run." It also seems to mean "no incline, no speed, and walk like your grandmother." The re-alignment that we've worked so hard to achieve is still quite fragile, and after my nice 30-minute workout of relatively-gentle hill walking, I found out at physical therapy yesterday that the other hip had now turned and was causing the morning back spasms I'd experienced the previous two days. After 20 minutes of being yanked back into alignment and a visit with the spine doctor today, I have been banished to the elliptical machine (gentle), swimming, and walking in the pool and have been assigned one more month of physical therapy. Oops.

This is the Plan

2012-01-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

The biggest problem with canning--well, besides that all that standing being what actually uncovered the hip problem that resulted in the emergency room saga--is that one needs lots of storage space if one has lots of jars. Since I was incapacitated at the time, Andy rearranged the storage space underneath the stairs, and got all the jars put away:

In other years, I have put flats of jars away as they were filled, but that left me with rummaging around through entire flats of jam or salsa while looking for something totally different--like relish. This year I thought it might be easier to mix jars up into flats of things that might be needed around the same time. So, yesterday I pulled out one of the flats

and moved all but a few jars into our pantry. Admittedly, one does not always need a new jar of green tomato chutney, but carrot salsa is always nice to have on hand, and the roasted red pepper spread is simply a treasure. So, I think this is good. The one problem is, of course, if one had something specific in mind--like the salsa I was actually after when I crawled into the closet in the first place. In that scenario, it's a bit like the scavenger hunt from hell. I'm thinking that I just need to change my expectations a bit. While I might have had taco salads in mind, when one finds roasted garlic pasta sauce and has some pasta to put it on and has a green side salad with it, one still has lunch. I have decided to just treat this as my own personal Iron Chef contest, and shall just hope that the flats with the more unusual items--piccalilli relish and green tomato chutney--are well spread out throughout the crawl space.

Whoops

2012-01-08T13:53:00.002-07:00

When one finally gets the artificial tree taken apart, folded, and stuffed snugly in the box,

only to suddenly hear the box ringing is still probably better than if it had been 5 minutes later when the tree AND the cell phone would have been out on a garage shelf.

Things I Have Learned From Physical Therapy

2012-01-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

* Being switched to once-a-week therapy might mean you're making good progress, but it also seems to mean that it can take a full week to recover from each session.

* Doing one's homework exercises faithfully might, sadly, surprise the therapist. Other people must enjoy pain much more than I do.

* After having to be rescued from the bathroom floor while in my crossword puzzle pajamas by 8 strong young men, my battered ego has gotten a little boost from my being more flexible than my young therapist and his assistants.

* One can learn a lot about human muscle structure by what hurts after what exercise.

* The doctor who prescribed the Valium for after physical therapy appointments really knew what he was talking about.

Not Quite Average

2012-01-05T09:11:00.002-07:00

It's interesting how things change around us when we don't seem to have changed ourselves. For years, every doctor I've ever seen has commented that I must be pretty active--which I generally have been--because all my life I've had what they referred to as a "runner's heart." I don't know if the term is still used, but it just meant that my heart rate is slower than normal. It always has been.

Thanks to the recent fun with my back and either my age or seeing a doctor who didn't have my medical history or a change in medical practices, this is now a "potential problem" that I could be referred to a cardiologist for. I suppose I can't really blame him--if you faint in the ER you're probably going to be tested for everything--but as the cardiologist could only do something ghastly like give me a pacemaker that would rev my heart up faster than it generally EVER goes and I would probably feel like I was about to explode, I refused. They already checked to make sure I didn't have a heart murmur, but were quite concerned that I had been fainting. I was a bit concerned myself as I'd never done it before and just waking up in a different place than you were a second ago is a shock for anyone, but my slow heartbeat and I made it to the age of 41 without passing out EVER, so I'm not too worried. My sister, who has a normal heart rate, faints all over the place and once even managed to fall forward out of the ophthalmologist's chair during an appointment. As I'm not taking any medications that I'm unaware of, nor do I have a heart murmur, I'm not terribly worried about the heart rate thing myself, but I am a bit worried about the medical community in the future. Now that they can't just chalk it up to "normal for a young healthy person," am I going to spend the rest of my life being hooked up to EKG machines every time I need to see a doctor? Am I going to be stalked by cardiologists wanting to give me a pacemaker? Is this all happening because I'm over 40, or have we so homogenized healthcare in America that "normal" can now only be what is average and not "normal" for a particular individual? Geez, and I hated seeing doctors BEFORE all of this.....

And We Bid Christmas Good-Bye...

2012-01-04T18:28:00.001-07:00

The Christmas ornaments are coming down,

and I think this year's music-themed decoration scheme really might be my favorite one yet. I seem to be the only one amongst my friends to do different "themes," though I think the idea might be taken up by some of them next year. Friend/enabler............it's such a fine line..................

Question for the Day

2012-01-01T15:48:00.002-07:00

Am I annoyed because the cat enjoys walking across the laptop and somehow just managed to open a chat window with a total stranger, or am I annoyed because my cat has figured out how to do something on the computer that I don't know how to do?????

I Have To Show You This

2011-12-31T09:51:00.001-07:00

We have lots of friends we exchange Christmas gifts with, but we have some special friends who are always First Priority when thinking of cool gifts to make, and it's really the excitement of coming up with great gift ideas and the excitement of giving them to our friends that really makes Christmas for us--and I am sure for them. I have to show you one of the things they made for us this year:

It's a calendar! And of course it features Theo, my little sidekick, "helping" me--this time to block a lace shawl that was probably cat hair-free for 12 seconds after I finished it.

They added pictures from our trip to Colorado:

our cherry-picking excursion:

and even canning!

The canning picture REALLY made me laugh, as we do refer to August-October as "canning season" around here. (I think others call it "fall?") I just thought that was SUCH a clever idea--sort of a memento of previous years to mark the new one. And we get to enjoy it all year!!!!

Oops!

2011-12-27T10:08:00.002-07:00

When you break the rubber band they gave you for physical therapy, you're probably ready for a little more resistance..............

The Day After........

2011-12-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes one has such a great Christmas that it is just too difficult to really describe. Thanks to the back injury, I let the stressful things go. The Christmas cards did not get out before Christmas, but that's okay because I can still send them out after Christmas. I didn't bake the cookies I always think I want to bake and never do, but we received better cookies than I could ever dream of making AND there were no dirty dishes to be cleaned. Some decorations I wanted to make didn't get done, but I'll get to them before the next time we use the music theme. I didn't get parts of 2 gifts made, but they were gifts for the 2 least-grateful family members we have, and the gifts for the really NICE people did get made. When I hosted the book club Christmas get-together in my pajamas, my friends understood because we've already been through marriages and divorces together, and we'll go through health problems together as we age. The Christmas party, Christmas Eve party, and the Christmas night party probably weren't as elaborate as they might have been, but they were spectacular evenings. When I couldn't drive, the Secret Santa carpool picked me up, and was WAY more entertaining than driving alone could ever be. When I couldn't move to decorate, friends came around to help, and the house has never looked better AND every time I see the decorations it's a reminder of my friends and how much fun it was to decorate together. When two back-to-back parties left me sore and in need of extra pain pills, Andy and I declared today the first annual Fleece Jammies day and had a quiet day of reading and knitting. This might actually be one of the best Christmases I've ever had.

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-25T07:23:00.002-07:00

Season'sGreetings from Château Sutton-Goar!

Incase--after the year of the cat in a cast, the year of the brokentoe, the year of bronchitis, or the year of the pantry moths--youwere beginning to think that the holiday season is a bit eventfulhere at the Château, I can only say, "Why break such a perfectrecord?" Thus we are enjoying the holidays here during the Yearof the Injured Back.. And let me just say, being rescued from thefloor of the bathroom clad in crossword puzzle pajamas by eightparamedics reallykicks off the holidays nicely. Since they brought along theambulance AND the firetruck, it actually was a lot like our ownpersonal Macy's parade. What could be more "holiday" thanthat? We are happy to report that the patient and her dignity arerecovering nicely.

SquareFoot Gardening

This yearwe decided to try the square-foot gardening method instead ofwhatever one would call my regular "shove plants in anywhere"method. It really maximizes our limited garden space, which providedeven MORE opportunities for me to lose the squash wars. I plantedspaghetti squash and got zucchini. I planted patty-pan and gotacorn. I planted yellow zucchini and actually GOT yellow zucchini,but a squadron of squash bugs arrived to remedy the situationimmediately, lest I start to think I had successfully masteredsomething in the squash family. As if.

Music

Thisspring, some good friends invited us to be part of a monthly musicclub. People sing, bring instruments, or both, and we have a reallyfun evening and occasionally perform at little "house concerts"held by members. Since so many people in the group are learninginstruments, it has been the perfect time for Andy to learn themandolin I gave him for his birthday about 4 years ago, and he hasprogressed so much that his flute/mandolin trio just played whatmight have been the world's fastest "Carol of the Bells"rendition ever. Everyone enjoyed the song so much that after theflutist was given oxygen, they played a slower version as an encore.

Yearof Free Events

As wealways enjoy new yearly challenges, this year we decided to explorethe many free events Boise has to offer by attending something neweach week. We attended films, art exhibits, clubs, lectures and booksales for several months, but finally had to desist when we becametoo busy.

ExploringEastern Oregon

Tocelebrate Andy's birthday, my cousin Dustin joined us on a 4-dayweekend exploration of Eastern Oregon. We caught the Walla WallaOnion Festival, Baker City's Miner's Jubilee, a street fair inPendleton, a chainsaw carving contest in Milton-Freewater, enjoyedsome fantastic museums as well as the old Union Hotel, though I thinkwe'd all agree that the highlight of the trip was the PendletonUnderground Tour and the ability to spend the night at the oldbrothel the Tour runs as a hotel. Andy still enjoys telling everyonethat his wife booked him a night in a brothel for his birthday. Whenhe's feeling a bit less mischievous, he includes the part about it nolonger being in operation.

Thisyear I have learned.....

Trying to downplay the level of pain to the paramedics is silly--they have good drugs and they are willing to share.
If the ER nurse fails to listen to you when you mention you are getting dizzy, fainting in the wheel chair will make her MUCH more attentive
Apparently in medical paperwork terms, getting one's tail kicked by a turkey doesn't count as an "accident."
There are times in life when putting one's own socks on can make one's entire day
Being thankful to have lots of homemade soup available while one is unable to cook because of a back injury when canning the dang soup helped contribute TO the back injury is a lot like living in an O. Henry story.
When the doctor prescribes Valium for after physical therapy appointments, it's best not to dwell too much on why he thinks you might want to be unconscious after them. You'll find out soon enough
A fast way to add a bit of mystery to one's gardening is to label seedlings with permanent marker on masking tape, which is only permanent when it isn't exposed to sunlight.
I was only willing to try the "humane" route the first time we had moles attack the garden. I am now in the "death through smoke bombs" camp
I can kill any plant that someone says is really, really hard to kill, though in my defense, I will also have plants normally considered non-invasive try to take over the entire yard.
Even in Idaho, it is possible to harvest fewer potatoes than you planted
Finding out that the old electric guitar that you've had for 25 years and dropped on the gym floor at least once is suddenly a pretty valuable, much sought-after "vintage" instrument is a lot like finding out that your grandfather is actually a rock star.
It's really helpful to have at least one sedentary hobby, like knitting, that one can do while recovering from a back injury, but if pain pills are involved, one does risk ending up with a hat large enough to fit a walrus
Camping with friends is indeed a lot of fun, but I'm still really glad to return to plumbing
When canning recipes say silly things like "cook until reduced by one-third," it would be wise to prepare several more jars than the recipe suggests. No matter how hard I try, I cannot do fractions in cooked mustard.
Theo, my little side-kick kitty, takes his role as get-well kitty very, VERY seriously and does not appreciate being laughed at when he flops down on his back beside me as I'm doing my physical therapy exercises.
All the smugness of being smart enough to buy a restaurant-sized stockpot to use for canning season will be completely obliterated when one realizes one forgot to buy a spoon with a restaurant length handle.
When you have to check the dates to verify that it is already your 5th wedding anniversary, things are going well.

Wishingyou a wonderful holiday and a healthy 2012,

Toni& Andy

Oh, The Irony............

2011-12-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

It has occurred to me that since this is Christmas Eve, this would be a good day to review my gift list and make sure everything is hopefully made, accounted for, wrapped, and sometimes even delivered. Yesterday would have been an even BETTER day, of course, and last week completely fantastic, but for the last month I have been completely positive that when the doctor said that 90% of back pain was better in one month that A) he meant one month literally, B) that by "better" he meant "all and totally better and not just better by comparison, and C) that I would be in that 90%. Being ALL better on the 20th - exactly one month later - was still going to leave me 4 days to finish sewing the gifts I had started in November, and this seemed totally reasonable considering the nifty drugs I'd been given. Being just a lot better is nice, of course, but I would like to be able to sit again at some point. Not just the "I-have-taken-two-pain-pills-to-get-me-through-this," sort of sitting, but REAL sitting. Like practicing the guitar sitting, or eating dinner at the table sort of sitting. Or being able to stand car rides longer than 20 minutes sort of sitting. Or sewing sitting. Going to the occasional (okay, once a year) movie sitting. Flying somewhere warmer sort of sitting. Not having to lay on the floor to write Christmas cards sort of sitting. Finishing the Christmas presents sort of sitting. It's all rather ironic, really, since my back went out because of all the STANDING I had been doing, which I am now free to do to my little ~~heart's~~ spine's content. That's all well and good, but since the cold really bothers my back the "standing activities" options are sort of limited, and I might be underestimating myself, but do I really want to be canning in January??????

For That Split Second...............

2011-12-23T17:02:00.001-07:00

Possibly the world's most fleeting sensation: the brief euphoria when the physical therapist tells you that you've made enough progress to add a new exercise..........then adds the new exercise.

You Have To See This

2011-12-22T08:26:00.003-07:00

Remember how I mentioned that after the Christmas of bronchitis, last year's broken toe, and throwing my back out this year that a friend has offered to bubble wrap me on Halloween next year? Well..................

I now have a shirt and skirt made from bubble wrap--THE very latest in packaging wear this year. It has bows and everything.

I love my friends.

Note To Self:

2011-12-21T16:46:00.003-07:00

If one remembers to but cards that say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" it's much less weird when one is still mailing them out on Valentine's Day...................

Inexplicable Stranger Moment of the Week

2011-12-19T16:20:00.001-07:00

Stranger in the grocery store parking lot as she is loading 3 gallon jugs of milk into her car: "Do you drink milk?"

Toni: "No, actually, I don't. I'm allergic to it."

Stranger: "Me neither." Drives off--with at least 3 gallons of milk.

Do you think this might have made more sense if I had said "yes?"

I Have To Show You These

2011-12-15T09:48:00.002-07:00

Over the last three weeks, I have been finding these

stashed around the house (thankfully in quite obvious places, as much of that time has been spent under the influence of pain pills). They're little bottles of perfume, and usually when we hide such things for each other, we try to be really tricky so it will take a long time to find, but Andy said that the Perfume Fairy thought I needed a little cheering up during all of this. How sweet is that?

Of course, since the whole back saga has meant Andy has been doing double duty with work and nursing and hosting parties, I recently ordered this,

for some knitted socks as a big THANK YOU for everything he's done. It would have been a sweater if that wouldn't take so long (though I admit it's still tempting). As soon as I am back to fully functional, I think we'll need to arrange a week with NO chores for Andy as well. :)

Note To Self:

2011-12-14T08:25:00.003-07:00

No matter how dedicated and determined one is to do their physical therapy exercises every day, it would be best to do them AFTER one has taken the pain medication.

Things I Have Learned From My Back Injury

2011-12-13T10:11:00.002-07:00

* Sneezing is your body's way of saying "the pain could be SO much worse."

* My feet are much farther away from my hands than I thought

* Fainting is much different than I thought it would be. You're just suddenly in a different place than you were a second ago and can't figure out how you got there

* Whatever type of pain pills people get addicted to, they certainly aren't the ones I've been given

* When doctors give you prescriptions, it appears they actually intend for you to take the pills

* When the doctor says that 90% of back injuries get better in one month regardless of what one does, it doesn't mean that 10% get better faster, no matter how optimistic one is.

* Theo takes his get-well kitty duties very seriously, and does not appreciate being laughed at when he flops down on his back with me as I'm doing my physical therapy exercises.

I Have Joined A Club!

2011-12-11T18:46:00.001-07:00

As it turns out, back pain is second only to common colds for work days missed, and for the most part, those who have experienced back pain seem almost manically determined to help their fellow sufferers. Friends have been sharing tips, giving me doctor referrals, offering any and all help one could imagine, and making any and all efforts to make sure I can attend parties and functions in comfort. Of course, there are always one or two people who only ask how I'm doing in order to tell me about their own back pain, their own therapy, or somehow turn the conversation back around to themselves, but that only happens with the people who do that in all conversations whatever the topic, so it's only to be expected. But for the most part, it's just been overwhelming how zealous everyone has been about trying to help me. I know some very, VERY nice people.

And How Many Thought It Would Take Less Than 24 Hours For Toni to "Over-do?"

2011-12-06T09:57:00.001-07:00

In my defense, I think it's just a wee bit too much, and I am now resting. My first physical therapy session yesterday went really well, and it's already helping. It turns out the cause of the whole problem is in my hip, not my back--my back is just getting the brunt of the issue. Aside from the part of the therapy that involves a strong young man yanking on my legs, I think is a really good thing as the hip seems a lot less fragile than the back, and the therapy is all about fixing the actual cause of all the problems, so I think this is the best possible result I could have ended up with. So, I am going to be ALL better soon. Probably not even the pesky small back issues that had been leading up to this episode. Can you blame me for being a tad bit over-exuberant?

Progress!

2011-12-02T09:11:00.001-07:00

I start physical therapy on Monday! I am SO excited to have the solution to this back saga scheduled. I'm trying not to focus on the part where the specialist renewed the Valium prescription because he said I would need it after therapy. I'm a huge advocate of physical therapy, but the idea that I would want to be knocked unconscious after it is a bit unnerving.

Everyone continues to be wonderful--calling and dropping by to help. And, of course:

My little sidekick barely left my side (or chest) for the first entire week. This week we've both been able to move about a bit more, and unfortunately ONE of us thought a get-well mouse was a good idea. But it's the thought that counts--which I can say as Andy caught the mouse before Theo lost it or brought it up to me. I'm much more charitable about rodent gifts I haven't had to see.

Two Lesbians Raised A Baby And This Is What They Got

2011-11-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

Two Lesbians Raised A Baby And This Is What They Got

Things I Have Learned This Week

2011-11-29T06:58:00.001-07:00

* Sweep the floors regularly--you never know when you're going to have to spend some extended time on them.

* Always wear the most interesting pajamas one can find.

* Having lots of people who are there to help you is AMAZING.

* Having back pain is like joining a new social organization. You're one amongst many. And it's probably the only time that it truly makes sense that everyone coming to your assistance is older than you are.

* Having a pantry full of soup is coming in VERY handy now that I can achieve enough of an angle to eat soup.

* Coffee through a straw is much hotter than it is just from the cup

* Have someone in the emergency room with you who HASN'T been given a bunch of drugs on the way there so someone can remember what the doctor says.

* It's okay to let people help you when you actually really need help

* Celebrate the little things. I am more excited than I can say to have been able to put my own socks on this morning!

A Good Day

2011-11-26T21:48:00.001-07:00

If I have ever forgotten to be thankful for friends, things like hurting one's back can be a GREAT reminder.

Today two friends (one old, one a friend of just a few hours) showed up to help finish putting up Christmas decorations. And do you know what I learned? One can have a really fun day even when in pain. It was fantastic, and now each time I see the decorations it's a little reminder of great friends and a great morning. I think it's the most I will ever enjoy the Christmas decorations.

The Day You Realize You Might Be Aging

2011-11-22T12:39:00.001-07:00

* Wake up at 7:00 after a long Nyquil-induced night that you hoped would relieve the back pain from having thrown your back out the day before.

* Make your way to the bathroom, only to realize you are about to pass out.

* With as much grace and speed as one can muster with a sore back, get down to the floor before actually passing out.

* Realize now that you're on the floor, you can't get back up

* Have husband hand you 3 Advil tablets to see if you can numb the pain enough to get off the floor, which you now wish you had swept over the weekend.

* After a while and repeated examinations by both cats, realize it's rather hopeless. Consider spending the entire day on the floor. Wish part of the bathroom was carpeted.

* Admit defeat and allow husband to call for paramedics.

* Give the neighbors plenty to talk about as both an ambulance AND a fire truck pull up outside your house.

* Surrender any last trace of dignity you were pretending you might have had when you great 8 strange men while you're laying on the floor in your crossword puzzle pajamas.

* When two young men have helped you to your knees, scare them by fainting from the pain. It's best not to have warned them that you tend to get dizzy if you want to achieve the full effect.

* Come to on the bathroom rug in time to hear the paramedics discussing how to carry you down the stairs. Try not to think about how often the furniture got bumped when it was being brought up.

* Scream loudly in pain each time they move you a bit to get you strapped onto a very cold metal frame--this will help them appreciate what growing old is like.

* Pray none of the neighbors are around to see you being wheeled out of your home on a stretcher.

* Enjoy a long ride in the ambulance as it strives to hit every single bump and pothole on the way to the emergency room and wonder why ambulances are constructed without shocks.

* Realize that trying to downplay how much you are hurting is stupid as A) the paramedic has pain medications he is willing to share, B) he can see you flinching in pain, and C) you have already completely parted company with all your dignity anyway

* Scream repeatedly in pain as the doctor examines you, which will result in you finding out that the number one thing people show up in the emergency room for is indeed back pain, and that there is little they can do except give you prescriptions for drugs.

* When the nurse tries to move you to a wheel chair to discharge you, warn her you're feeling dizzy. When she doesn't really take you seriously, faint in the wheelchair.

* Wake up back in the bed with an I.V. now in the opposite arm, and many new wires attached to you.

* Enjoy a full battery of tests that go on for several hours, only to be told that the body's response to pain is often to slow down the heart beating, which is probably an okay response except when one already has a naturally slow heartbeat.

* Take several hours before one can get into the wheelchair without fainting. This time the nurses leave the I.V. in until they're sure they will be able to get rid of you, as you have run out of arms.

* Make it home with very funky drugs and where you finally get food almost 24 hours after your last meal.

* Enjoy a drug-induced sleep, interspersed with wake-up head bumps by a very worried kitty.

* Find out that the drugs might limit your consciousness, but certainly help with the pain as well. Wish you'd taken a few less spills on your horse as a child--especially the ones involving splatting into the pole arena fence.

* Decide aging might beat the alternative, but that is still stinks all the same.......

Just 9 To Go

2011-11-20T09:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I finished TWO audio books, so now I just need to read or listen to 9 more books for the year and I'll have reached my goal of 100 books for the third year. It probably seems quite ridiculous to many, but I enjoy it AND I strongly suspect that I spend about as much time listening to audio books as many people spend watching television, so it isn't like it's a big time-consuming thing.

What I have discovered is that by reading more I am much more open to new authors and new books. When I was only reading a few books a year, a bad book really stood out. Now, unless it is truly a stinker, it's merely a blip. Audio books make it even easier as I can listen while doing other things, so the book just has to be more interesting than, say, canning. I won't say there aren't books that I have abandoned as audio books (because I have), but an average book that might not be worth my time to read is usually entertaining enough while cleaning.

So today is cleaning & working on switching decorations from fall to Christmas (yes I know it's early, but we aren't having Thanksgiving here and it's a big house) and listening to Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England. Boy, if THAT doesn't put one in the holiday mood, I don't know what will.

Almost There!

2011-11-17T08:21:00.001-07:00

Yesterday (thanks to Theo, the wake-up kitty), I got an early start to my day and these

were converted to 15 pints of curried green tomato sauce.

which leaves me with just these left from our insane green tomato harvest:

I'll give the tomatoes a few more days to see how many more turn red, then do one more round of canned tomatoes, then freeze,dry, or launch any others. I am SOOOOO ready to put away the canning equipment!

And--even after swearing not to do anything so foolish--I was carrying out some empty vinegar jugs to store in the shed, but I thought I'd first get them ready for their future mini-greenhouse role:

and then since I had them and lettuce is really a cold weather crop.......

I planted lettuce yesterday. I have no idea if these will withstand the really cold temperatures we're about to get, but it sort of doesn't matter. If it works, it works--if it doesn't, it doesn't. If I had the zipper repair finished on the greenhouse, these could be in there, but that has to wait until the canning/cleaning/decorating is done. Maybe what I need are 8-day weeks.........

The Holiday Season Approaches......

2011-11-15T10:02:00.001-07:00

.....and I find myself missing the days when charity was the virtue and greed was the vice.

I Think I've Earned It

2011-11-14T16:38:00.001-07:00

If paying bills, gardening, and cleaning TWO bathrooms doesn't earn one a chocolate martini at the end of the day, I don't know what does.

I Think I Have Discovered A New Life Form

2011-11-13T14:47:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took all of these,

converted them into this,

and still have all of these left:

Personally, I think they have discovered a new way to multiply without the use of an actual tomato plant. I don't know whether to be excited that I have stumbled across a way to cure world hunger or chapped because there are still tomatoes to be dealt with. I wonder if Einstein ever faced any tomato-related dilemmas?

All Mixed Up

2011-11-12T11:14:00.001-07:00

Today I am canning red tomatoes. The green tomatoes we picked a couple weeks ago have been happily ripening here in the kitchen, so I should be able to put up another 10-15 pints. As I cook with a lot of canned tomatoes, this really, really is a good thing--even if I have no greater desire right now than to take the canners outside and beat them into pancakes with a sledgehammer. With only one income, one of the reasons we tell ourselves that gardening is a good idea is that it saves us money. I think it actually might even do so--my future therapy bills not withstanding. In all actuality, because jars can be reused and we eat a lot of salsa and I eat a lot of pickles, I think the garden pays for itself with just those two items, but now every additional jar of tomatoes I get from the garden saves us about $1.25-$1.50. So while today's $15 or whatever doesn't seem like much, it's all extra now. We've spent all we're spending on the garden for the year, and every extra can of tomatoes is pure "gravy" right now as it were. This sort of thinking is what saves me from running down the street screaming and throwing tomatoes at passing cars.

Because the climate has changed so much, I am still canning while it would be very helpful to be able to eat some of the things I have made. Usually, this overlap doesn't happen as there's still fresh stuff. Unlike past years, so far I haven't flipped out entirely at the mere mention of OPENING a jar, and we've even enjoyed some lovely chicken soup. Today I am using some of the basil pesto that has basically overrun one of the freezers. The fact that I need the freezer space in order to freeze the extra vegetable broth might have something to do with it. But being in an opening AND canning mode is very, very weird. I think it would be wisest, however, for no one to go near those darn jars of canned tomatoes just yet..........

Lessons Learned Today

2011-11-10T16:46:00.001-07:00

* Celebrate the small things. Having solved the problem of cornmeal and polenta being mixed up is an achievement. That the new corn-products-all-over-the-floor-of-the-pantry-problem has not been resolved yet is an entirely separate issue.

* Being proud of oneself for finally thinking to buy a restaurant-sized stockpot for canning would make a lot more sense if one had thought to buy a spoon with a restaurant-sized handle.

* Making a double batch of vegetable broth to can would make far more sense if one figured out ahead of time how to strain broth if its volume exceeds everything you own except the stockpot it's already IN, and whether or not the subsequent number of jars also exceeds the capacity of the pressure canner.

* No matter how many problems one encounters, it's hard to have a bad day when there is chocolate-peanut butter ice cream involved.

* The fact that I'm always surprised when the lawn-care program we signed up for notifies me that something else needs to be done to the lawn is probably the best illustration of why we NEED a lawn care program.

* Ignoring the green tomatoes hasn't made them go away, but at least it makes them turn red.

* No matter how this vegetable broth turns out, the fact that it is the last thing I'm making with the pressure canner this year makes it my favorite canned thing EVER!

It's November

2011-11-09T14:31:00.001-07:00

PLEASE make the canning stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Thing They're On Top of This!

2011-11-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we received a letter saying we are part of a class-action lawsuit over the refrigerator we own because there may be a defect that causes the light not to go off when the refrigerator doors are closed. What I want to know is: How do they know??????

I Couldn't Have Summed It Up Better Myself

2011-11-07T18:51:00.003-07:00

I personally am not a religious person, but have no problems with anyone's chosen beliefs or how they personally choose to live or worship, but I am tired of the extremism of the so-called "Religious Right" and the people for whom religion is all about what OTHERS should do and not what they themselves should do. Fundamentalists of any religion are dangerous, and I do not believe any of my truly spiritual or religious friends have anything in common with the fundamentalist "Christians" who cannot and DO NOT respect the rights of others to their own beliefs or lack thereof. (Nor, of course, do I actually think the Religious Right has anything to do with all the positive, caring things that the Bible credits Jesus with saying, for that matter) I think this:

sums up the Fundamentalist problem quite nicely. Thank you to Atheist Eve for putting it so clearly.

Overheard Today At Chateau Sutton-Goar

2011-11-06T12:20:00.002-07:00

Toni: "Hm, there's no water coming out of the kitchen faucet"

Andy: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!"

Toni: "Oops"

And the lesson LEARNED at Chateau Sutton-Goar today: The spouse who is getting hosed down by the kitchen sink spray nozzle will find the situation significantly less funny than the spouse who isn't..........

Look Out Ore-Ida!

2011-11-05T22:22:00.001-06:00

The Chateau Sutton-Goar potato harvest is in!

All three of them. I'm expecting the contract for McDonald's french fries any day now....................

Piccalilli Relish

2011-11-04T13:10:00.002-06:00

Of course I didn't make piccalilli relish just because it is fun to say.

I made it because it used a few of our overwhelming green tomato harvest,

AND it's fun to say.

I Threw Out Tomatillos!

2011-11-03T08:31:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I made another batch of tomatillo salsa,

then threw the leftover tomatillos into the compost bin!!! Okay, there weren't too many left, but I actually could have combined them with some green tomatoes for another batch of salsa, but I'm not going to!!!!! I have has the sense to say "that is enough!"

This is a very big moment for me.

:)

It Is November Now....

2011-11-02T08:23:00.000-06:00

........And I'm still canning. Bad Global Warming!!! Or, if you're Rick Perry, "Bad-Inexplicable-Climate-Change-That-I-Can't-Explain-But-Still-Refuse-To-Believe-In-The-Scientific-Studies." Isn't it just amazing how often a closed mind is found inside a pig head?

My back still hurts if I sit, so yesterday I decided to try out the theory that canning involves standing so shouldn't hurt, which was sort of risky as the original problem was caused by standing on the hardwood floor all day, even with the mats. 10 pints of crushed tomatoes later and my back doesn't hurt any more than it did to begin with, so I think I'll try canning again today. But as soon as it's time to put Christmas decorations up, all the canning stuff is going AWAY. I don't care if there are tomatoes left by then........

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T08:57:00.002-06:00

Forget the ghouls and goblins--what is really scary here at Chateau Sutton-Goar is my mood at being on day 5 of idiot-injury recovery.

To be fair, all the standing during canning to cope with this

(which is not quite the entire green tomato harvest) had already aggravated my back, but falling didn't help. And if your hip hurts AND your back is sore from standing, you're left with laying down with periodic bouts of standing, which is a really good way to get a case of the grumpies with a side of cabin fever, since riding in a car involves sitting. So, we spent the weekend at home, and by now I'm positively excited about doing anything--even more canning.

Well, sort of.............

October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month

2011-10-30T15:12:00.000-06:00

Oops! Almost missed it. A classmate of mine is raising a little girl with spina bifida, and I knew next to nothing about it when I heard that. Which makes an "Awareness Month" a very good idea:

http://www.cdc.gov/features/spinabifida/

Lessons Learned This Week

2011-10-27T16:48:00.001-06:00

* Before freaking out about only getting 12 jars of curried green tomato sauce instead of 15, it might be wise to check to see how many jars I got last year from the same recipe.

* Getting excited about the end of the garden might be a bit premature considering how many green tomatoes are still waiting for me.

* To say I hurt my hip because I somehow got my feet tangled underneath a cupboard drawer and fell is just about the dumbest thing I've ever had to admit--I think I'll just claim it's early onset arthritis.

* Asters and Bachelor Buttons can survive some amount of frost, or at least the amount we've had so far.

* Flies can also survive frost, dang it!

* Having a few extra pain pills around "just in case" would indeed have been a really slick idea if they had numbed pain even half as much as the subsequent white chocolate martini

May the Tokens Forgive Me.........

2011-10-24T18:32:00.001-06:00

Whee--hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee--hee--hee, put the hose away...
Whee--hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee--hee--hee, put the hose away...

A hoe away, a rake away, a hose away, a trowel away
A hoe away, a rake away, a hose away, a trowel away

In the back yard, the weedy backyard,
The garden dies tonight...
In the back yard, the mangy backyard,
The garden dies tonight...

Whee--hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee--hee--hee, put the hose away...
Whee--hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee--hee--hee, put the hose away...

Hush my darling, don't fear my darling,
The lawn will die tonight

Hush my darling, don't fear my darling,
The garden dies tonight

Whee--hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee--hee--hee, put the hose away...
Whee--hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee--hee--hee, put the hose away...

Frost Cometh!

2011-10-24T15:10:00.001-06:00

Tonight it's finally supposed to frost--about 14-19 days after our normal frost date. I have been frantically harvesting green tomatoes, peppers, and the cool zinnias that I want to use for seeds. Andy mowed for what we SERIOUSLY hope will be the last time for the year, and we are SO ready to see all the plants die for the year. And the bugs. Most especially the bugs. Very, very definitely the bugs.........