Yeezus...

I have never experienced pain.  Oh there was the forgettable, fleeting pain of childbirth and maybe a couple of cracked hearts along the way, but no real 'pain'.

 Things have changed this past week.  Back pain.  And it's the worst.  (I know I'm not telling you anything, Mark!)

Last March while painting a bedroom in Florida, I experienced a stabbing sensation in my lower back.  Okay, so I'm achy for a week or so.  No probs.  Pass the Aleve, please.  BUT the ache has progressed to the point of pain.  Yard work, gym time, fun time-it's all effected by a dull, stabbing pain-and apparently my activities have aggravated the situation.  Even shopping hurts!!  Weakening, nauseating, and  breathtaking pain that follows me everywhere.  My x rays show a bend in my spine and some moderate disc damage.  Some nerves are involved.  I don't really get it, but she assures me that we will work our way thru it.  Gradually.

So, 3 times a week I trudge into the chirocracker to receive warm compresses, a roller table, massage, and an adjustment.  The results are slow in coming but sometimes it doesn't ache AS much.  Wine seems to help-imagine that!   I have a totally new respect for anyone who suffers in this way. 

I know Mark, (Walking Man) has had surgery and still suffers from his injury, but does anyone else suffer from this horrible malady?  I need your stories and support, so let me know!   And for heaven sake, do not ignore symptoms that can later come back to haunt you.  xo

Both Sides Now...

"Bows and flows and angel hair.  And ice cream castles in the air."  This Joni Mitchell tune is one of my favorites and certainly the one that came to mind on Sunday.  While relaxing in my hammock, I was treated to an almost periwinkle (just that word can make me smile!) sky, full of fluffy, soft, white clouds.  The breeze was just gentle enough to slowly morph them into shapes.  I saw a wolf, a mustache, a bunny and a fish.  One cloud blew me a kiss with it's full lips.

The song's lyrics can give anyone pause.  Haven't we been both transported by the very thing that can sometimes disappoint us?  Weather is the first and most obvious thing that comes to mind.  The beautiful illusion Joni sings of is barely visible when I see it out the airplane window.  Money can be a curse and a blessing at times.  I've heard great beauties claim that their looks have hindered them, when all I could see was great genes.  Love, tragically, is usually a double edge sword with the power to heal us or break our hearts. 

I believe that possibly nothing is as it seems.  Our perspective colors the subjective pictures in for us.  Life's lessons can teach us to look deeper than the surface for the true meaning of things.  Being a 'glass half full' kinda gal, I prefer to enjoy the illusion but recognize that most things are a lot of smoke and mirrors.  Harsh reality is well, harsh- and I prefer to view it from my 'Princess bubble'.

Or in my hammock, lost in the clouds.  Enjoy your week.  I hope its full of only the softest, fluffiest and periwinklest of things. xo

Supermodel...You Better Work It...

Spent a loverly evening out with my nieces.  My family is so wonderful that it simply amazes me.  Both of my 'supermodel' nieces work in toxicology in Ann Arbor.  Laurel's husband is an ear surgeon for the U.of M. and Lindsey's hubby is a rocket scientist.  For real.  Poor smart Joe, is the but of many family jokes when anything in question is referred to 'Joe-he's the rocket scientist!'  Joe and Linds are moving to Switzerland for a year while he works on a project that is too top secret to even share with the family.  So, they are in the process of buttoning up their lives here for a year.  Cats are boarded, condo is rented, cars are sold.  And all of us have a new vacation possibility.  Good luck darling Lindsey and Joe.  We will all miss you, but wish you the very best of a very cool adventure.

I hope to visit-never been to Europe, but have always wanted to.  Skiing and chocolate are two of my very favorite things in life.  Skiing while eating chocolate would BE my favorite thing!    Just gotta brush up on my yodeling!  xo

We Can't Stop...

Anyone read any good books lately?  It's not even the heat of summer yet and that's all I feel like doing.  All chores and errands are done hastily so I can sit on my muffin and read, read, read!  Up north they would say that I'm 'lazier 'en a cut dog'.  And they would be right.  Reading is my reward for everything.  I take my reading along with me to any appointment that I may be stuck waiting and it's all I can do not to break it out in the line at Kroger.  Surely my reading would be less offensive than the people treating me to one side of their insipid phone conversations!

This past week I have read three books that have let me escape the daily minutia.  The first was a autobiography by Amanda Knox describing her version of the murder in Perugia, Italy while she was there in college.  I followed the story originally, fascinated at how 'Foxy Knoxy' could be possibly linked with the possible drug fueled, sexually motivated murder of her roommate.  Amanda has been pimping herself and her book all over television lately and piqued my interest.  The books I read originally had me thinking she was guilty as hell, but this story gives me pause.  Maybe her 5 years in an Italian prison gave her time to think up a great story, but it does throw up reasonable doubt that she had any involvement.  She is being summoned back to Italy where she is going back on trial.  Not sure of those particulars yet, but I'll be ready when it happens.

I also indulged in a great beach read called 'Reconstructing Amelia'.  The story is one involving a teenage girl's suicide.  That is until her mother receives an anonymous text saying that she didn't jump.  The tale covers mother/daughter relationships, peer pressure and general coming of age.  I had hoped to delve into Amelia's mental state more than the book did, but it still proved to be a very interesting read.

Over the past weekend, I sunk myself into a story called 'he's GONE'.  A seemingly happy couple's relationship is dissected when the husband disappears.  Without a clue, he simply vanishes.  The wife is left to examine anything and everything that could have possibly happened.  She questions the very core of her beliefs regarding the life they shared.  It is written with constant and relevant metaphors and I enjoyed the style.  I had figured out what had happened before I read the ending which is unusual for me-but that wasn't what the point of the story was.  The process of point A to point Z, was the tale.

Two snaps, a wiggle and a twist on all three.

So what holding your interest in the literary world these days?  As always, I want to know.  Enjoy your week and take time to escape into a good book.  You know, I will! xo