October 1st, 2011 -- Posted in family, massage/physio/chiro, pain / disability |
What is it they say about bad things coming in threes? Someone please tell me they stop there…
I updated the description of my pain/disability category to the following:
“After being hit twice by careless drivers (once in 2000, once in 2008), I’ve been left with permanent spinal injuries and with daily chronic pain. A 3rd collision in 2011 caused by another careless driver added to the psychological trauma and fear of being a magnet for bad luck.”
JUST what we needed right?! And this time I wasn’t alone in the car either, my husband and daughter were with me, so now they are hurting directly too, not just indirectly through losing my care and attention…
It’s hard to say what ranked higher on the scale of “freaked out”: my mind or my muscles… This newest collision was minor compared to my first time getting hit and was even maybe less of a “jolt” than the 2nd collision a few years ago. But it has taken all the work I’ve done on battling the fears of being out on the road and brought it backwards.
As for the muscles, everything has been very flared up. I went right to my massage therapist the day after we were struck and he said that even laying his hands gently allowed him to felt my muscles twitching. One session calmed them down, but even within that same afternoon, I could feel them acting up again.
So here we go again, adding something on top to recover from. I keep saying “Once I recover from __, I can get back to work recovering from ___”, but now things are stacked up SO high on top of one another, I don’t even know how to get through this pile or if it is even possible anymore!
My body and mind have been bashed at so much from all angles, they just feel like giving in and giving up. I’ve always been a fighter, but there’s only so much one person can take!!!
August 9th, 2011 -- Posted in EZ-blog Oven, knitty/stitchy |
So I suspect my cross-stitch drawer may have been getting more lonely over the past little while, especially in the recent year as I’ve taken up knitting. I mean no offense to it, but those teeny-tiny squares *are* a little more difficult on the eyes! And wielding a small needle seems to be a little more tiresome on the neck muscles as well, which is something I can’t afford these days.
Nonetheless, I have not been ignoring this craft completely! Even though I only created maybe one or two cross-stitch patterns last holiday season instead of the usual “bunch” of them, I’m never without a project in the works. I still find it to be one of the most portable crafts to take on the go; I do most of my stitching while waiting in doctor’s offices and in the car and things like that!
Right now, there are a couple of birth announcements in progress for babies born in 2011. I like to give them no later than the baby’s first birthdays, so it helps to start them way ahead of sched! These little boys were born in April, 2 days apart even though they were due more than a month apart! They are also cousins so I made them matching designs. I’ve mostly finished the main part of the pattern but now need to add the birth details.
Last year I only had to do a couple birth announcements… a cute horse and frog. I didn’t get a chance to grab a photo of the Rocking Horse one (maybe next time I see my friend I’ll ask!) but here is the Frog one…
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July 8th, 2011 -- Posted in family, future / dreams / goals, love & marriage, pain / disability |
Back in September, I wrote about our family’s difficult times. It was something above and beyond what we’ve struggled with the past 3 years since my car accident, and something beyond what normal families have to cope with.
I’m ever so glad to be able to say we’re coming out the other side now, and can at least return to “just” difficulties we were having before… I know it’s not much to celebrate (going from “very very miserable” to just “miserable”), but every little bit of stress that can be relieved makes a huge difference.
Our family has worked hard over the past 9 months. We’ve struggled, we’ve argued and discussed late into the evening to the point of exhaustion! We’ve learned a lot, we’ve tried some things that failed, we’ve tried some things that worked really well. We’re growing together and we’ll have to keep at it.
But at least now we’ve reached a point that we know we’re in this together for the future… We weren’t sure if we would make it, but we’re now re-committed to living together and staying a family of FOUR.
We already had the challenges of being a blended family. Then we had to suddenly adjust to being a family with a disabled mom who isn’t able to fully parent as she used to be. When my spouse first had to step into the role and tasks that I could no longer do, he faltered. Too much was piled onto his shoulders in too short a time. There was a huge lack of help and support. But over time, he has grown into his role and become a much better dad and step-dad.
Our house may not yet be “peaceful” or “running smoothly”, but we’re getting there… We are moving out of crisis mode as much as we’re able to. There is hope. Please keep your fingers crossed (and keep our family in your prayers, if that’s part of your belief system) that our situation will continue to improve so we can stay together and be happy.
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