Ibuprofen, Take Me Away!

Hello to you all!

I'm doing so much better since my back thing. I've been going to physical therapy; I went once for my evaluation, then twice last week. The first day of my therapy, I felt good, no great. I was able to do everything she needed me to do. The day after therapy, well, it wasn't so good. I was tingly, numb, in pain, plus the soreness of working muscles that have long been dormant. I did nothing that day.

N O T H I N G.

I was scheduled for therapy the day after that. I very nearly canceled that session. I had the phone in my hand to call. I decided to keep the appointment; see how it went, and see how I felt the next day. I felt okay after the session, and the next day I decided to really push myself. I did some shopping (which involved a lot of walking through big stores), I had a lunch with a friend, I did a little laundry. I even did a few of the exercises I'm supposed to do. When I went to bed, I don't think my head even hit the pillow and I was out.

I made the choice to let my MS rage for a while until my back is stronger. It was a really hard choice to make.

When my alarm went off the next morning, I was really sorry I had done so much. My daughter had a dance competition, and we had to be there at 7:45 am, in full costume and makeup. We also had to bring The Bin (a bin full of tights, accessories for the costumes, shoes, safety pins, scissors, needle and thread, baby powder, cosmetics, elastic, hair gel, and copious amounts of bobby pins) and all of her costumes.

Her classes did very well; 3 out of 5 dances received platinum scores and the other two were high gold.

Well, I started this post last night, and it was true when I started it. Since I felt so fabulous, I decided to vacuum.

All I'm going to say about that is “ouch”.

So now my house is partially vacuumed, and I'm partially sidelined.

On the bright side, my Mother's Day gift* got some use last night. The whole family sat by the fire and made s'mores. Well, my kids made s'mores while I sat by the fire and basked in the smell of toasting marshmallows. I love the smell of them, I just don't usually eat them.

The other bright note is that I've been looking for something to use as shade for the back deck. It's over fifteen feet wide and almost eight feet high. Finding fabric/ready-made shades or curtains was not going well. Invariably, the fabric I liked was at least $10 a yard, and I figured I would need at least 10 yards, depending on the width. On Pinterest, I saw that someone used drop cloths. That was my last resort because I didn't want plain white. But I didn't want the hassle of painting them, either. I was almost ready to go buy the drop cloths, and I found tablecloths in the exact colors I wanted in close to the right size! They were reasonable, so I bought them. The plan for today was to get them ready to hang once I finished vacuuming. Well, they are still in packages and my vacuum is still in the living room on the couch I was vacuuming.

Maybe I'll get some spray paint.

Yesterday we found these old metal stars I used to hang on my pool deck. They're about 18”, and the colors don't match my turquoise/tropical feel going on. I'd like to paint them in the colors of the tablecloths I bought. Ibuprofen first, then see how I feel.

*I don't think I ever showed you the finished gift. Here's what they look like, along with the s'mores making/eating.