On the Other Side

As I mentioned in the last post, I have been taking care of a pulled back muscle since Monday.  Yep, same place that I pulled in October 2017 that led me to join the gym.  I can easily fall down the negative thinking spiral of 'why again' or 'gee the gym is supposed to prevent this'. 

However, let me tell you a secret.  I did something quite stupid that caused the back strain.  You see, I bent over and lifted a container of cat litter ALL the wrong ways.  I was taught better and yet I fell back to old habits.  This was last Friday, I felt a little something in my back but nothing else happened.  I felt invincible and lucky.

Then I moved a piece of paper on Monday morning - wham-o!

This is the part of aging that bugs me. 

In my youth, I could twist and turn and abuse my body in all sorts of contortions imaginable.  The nuns at my high school would reprimand my sitting habits.  I would sit on a foot with my leg crossed, like a compact pretzel.  I still will go to that position occasionally!  They (the nuns) would declare that it's bad for my posture.  I was young, I didn't care.  I could do anything.  And so I did.

I took for granted my agility and flexibility.  As a teenager, I was amused when my dad would pull his back and wonder how that could happen.  Now I am on the other side - I am my dad, with a pulled muscle - thankfully I do not have a youngster judging me. 

Here's the positives - yes!  I have positives - remember I am changing the dialogue in my aging brain.  I truly believe that the gym has given me a speedy recovery.  Instead of six weeks of pain that I endured in October 2017.  I am feeling much better after five days, I'm weaned off Tylenol and I feel all the other muscles helping my back.  Core muscles do good things - I have them now.

This morning, I was able to sit at the kitchen table and cross my legs without a spasm.  Life is GOOD.  Having this set back makes me so thankful for the exercising I do.  Being able to sit is something wonderful and maybe tonight I will be able to sit and knit.

I haven't knit much this week.

I'm grateful for heating pads, Tylenol and going to bed while breathing out a collective sigh of contentment.  I am also never ever again picking up the cat litter container the wrong way, lesson learned.

My personal trainer is magical and knowledgeable, he had me do some isolated stretches on Tuesday and we are slowly getting back to where I was last week.  Investing in my health helps me be able to sit and knit. 

Anyways, we are heading for some super crazy heat wave.  Yikes.  I will be either in the pool or inside my house with the AC. 

The day lilies in the first photo remind me of my mother.  I remember all of us as a family driving to our grandmother's cottage in the country for a weekend getaway and my dad stopped the car so my mom could pick the day lilies. This time of the year, they grow wild along the country roads and remind me of summers past.

The Frodo and Holly saga continues to slowly improve.  The house is quiet most of the time and the confrontations are fewer.  He still runs up to her and barks at her.  She still hisses and tries to run away.  Silly animals. 

knitting with black yarn - eep!

 If I am able, I'm planning to read a lot, knit a lot and eat some summery dinners.  Let's hope my sitting and knitting is abundant this weekend.  Hope you have some fun weekend plans!

this store is out of business, how very sad