The trainings I've attended this week have been draining. Not the trainings themselves, necessarily, because they are part of a series I actually find useful. The draining bit comes from the commute. The sessions are held in a city where I once worked. After driving to that city three times this week and with the prospect of getting up at 5AM tomorrow and making the rounds once more I find myself wondering how I used to drive the 100+ miles each day to work 10-12 hours. Exhausting! I find that by the time I return home I have little energy beyond what it takes to run an errand, clean a bit, make some dinner, and crash. Not really the stuff of which dreams are made, eh? And so I find that thinking of a list of 20 anything is...difficult. So here I am. I will start the list. It just may not be finished until later. (And Guilt Monster, I should warn you that I am very cranky when I am tired, so don't bother me tonight. I will mess you up.)
- Knitting. This is something I do almost every night, I just tend to use a loom and I can only make squares or rectangles, so nothing that requires any skill. Oh, and I rarely finish a project. I'm not sure what that says about me.
- Gardening -- October 2010.
- Walking the dog, taking her on a long walk on a sunny day and exploring neighborhoods. The last time everything lined up for the perfect walk was probably about a year ago. We go on walks just about every day as long as the weather is okay (and even sometimes when it's not), but it's not always ideal.
- Cooking (a real meal, not stressed or hurried or with the need to feed or impress anyone) while listening to Big Band or Sam Cooke. This happened recently, maybe two weeks ago, but I don't remember exactly when.
- Baking (cookies...and then eating said cookies). I don't know when I last did this, but it sure sounds tempting right about now.
- Writing: I'm too tired to fight the Guilt Monster on this one, so we'll just let it slide for now.
- Reading a good novel cover to cover in one day, sitting on the couch the whole day. A few years ago. Maybe 2008?
- Napping in the sun -- the last time this would happen would have to be based on whenever we had sun AND I had time. Given that we live in a very rainy state, I'm not sure when that would be.
- Quilting -- January 2010
- Shopping for clothes (a real excursion, not the "OMG, all my undergarments look more holey than a sponge, I guess it's time to replace them.") -- September or October 2009.
- Getting a massage. This normally happens about once every four years. My back and neck are always in pain and I think it's just a permanent state. But in December 2010 Honey gave me a trip to a masseuse on our little vacation. It was wonderful.
- Holding a baby -- I love the smell of babies. Maybe I just love the smell of Johnson & Johnson. I don't know. But holding a sleeping baby is a wonderful feeling. (And no, I still have no desire for one of my own. I'm not stupid. I know they don't sleep all the time.) December 2010 was the last time I did this: a friend gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and so I was able to hold him for a while the week after he was born.
Goodnight, y'all.
No, no, no... Do not let back and neck pain be a permanent state. May I tell you about a book called Pain Free? It's by Pete Egoscue who is a specialist in musculoskeletal function/disfunction. He spends the first couple chapters explaining how the musculoskeletal system is supposed to function and they why it doesn't always work and what causes pain. Then he has some simple daily stretches and exercises that restore balance to the system (thereby removing pain) and it's divided up into chapters by body part, e.g. knees, back, hips, etc. Buying and using this book is cheaper and probably more permanently effective than chiropractors, osteopaths, surgeons, and masseuses combined. (Although you cannot argue with a good massage!!!)
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