Back on the hook

It's official. I can once again crochet! You can't imagine how happy I am. I've been working on finishing my log cabin afghan. This is the one that was so close to being finished that I could smell it. It was making me crazy that I wasn't able to work on it. Right now I'm finishing the last section. Then, all I have left is a couple of rows of single crochet all the way around it and an edging. I think I might duplicate what I did on my pineapple afghan.

I find myself eating (snacking) less and relaxing more. My muscles feel the work the next day, but between my thera cane, the TENS unit, and physical therapy, I manage.

Stitch and bitch is at my house Tuesday night, so I'm anxious to show the girls what I've done. There's one girl in the group that absolutely loves the afghan. I'm tempted to give it to her, but it was intended for charity. I'll probably end up giving it to charity. But it sure is nice to know that someone loves my work so much!

Valentine's Day

I'm a little behind posting about this, but I wanted to tell you all how sweet my husband is. Around 11 a.m. on Valentine's Day my work phone rang. It was an outside call, and I got annoyed because the hubby isn't supposed to be calling me at work very much. Just goes to show that you really ought to think before you get annoyed.

He asked me what I was doing. I told him I was working and asked what he was doing. He told me he was sitting out back of the building where I work, and could I come out for a little bit.

When I got out to his car and opened the passenger door, there were three Hershey's kisses sitting on the center console. I got all excited because I thought that it was incredibly sweet that he would bring me kisses for Valentine's Day. Turns out that two were hugs and two were kisses.

I sat down in the passenger's seat and he proceeded to tell me, "This one is for this year, this one is for last year, and this one," at this point he touched the plain kiss, "is for the year before that because we didn't meet until May." (We met May 8th, 2005)

This alone would have reduced me to a blubbering mess. But when I picked up the kisses he told me that he had one other thing for me. He opened up the center console and pulled out a box from our local jewelry store. Inside was a beautiful opal ring that I had on my wish list there. He's so good to me.

Ladies, I want to tell you, this guy knows what he's doing. Had I gotten only the kisses I would have been thrilled. But instead, I got romance. And romance is worth so much more than any other present.

New toy?

Well, it certainly helps with some of the pain, but I wouldn't exactly call it a toy. *Insert your own dirty joke here.*

Picked this up at physical therapy today. I think that this could really help. I've already been using it. I like it.

Breaking down

Last night I had to have a little crying jag.

I had to tell the hubby how horrible/depressed I felt that I couldn't:

Take care of my family.
Put my child to bed comfortably.
Clean the house.
Work without discomfort.
Take part in activities that usually relax me.

And that I always hurt, so I'm taking pain medication. That medication makes me nauseated so I'm taking anti-nausea medication on top of it. I'm miserable. I'm not looking for all of you to feel sorry for me. I'm just telling it like it is.

WILL

I was lucky enough to attend the Women In Learning and Leadership (WILL) luncheon Wednesday. The topic was "Not Your Grandmother's Time Management Techniques". We had a wonderful speaker and a wonderful lunch. I could wax poetic on how I feel that I took away some ideas that will make my life much better. While I did get some good tips, what I want to share with you is a bit unconventional.

As I was listening to the speaker, I began to hear music. First I thought I recognized the tune as the ringer on someone's cell phone. But very quickly I realized that there was no real "tune" at all. The more I listened, the more intrigued I became. This music was being created by 100 forks and knives on plates, one hundred glasses full of ice clinking and jangling.

Yep, I was hearing the music of 100 women eating.

And the effect was surprisingly beautiful.

I'm not sure that I'll ever hear this music again. After all, how often will I have the opportunity to sit in a room, silent except for one woman's voice, and hear that clatter and clink.

I took the time to stop and pay attention to it. And I've been trying to do the very same thing for the rest of the week. I heard music in the sound of my daughter laughing, my husband breathing in a deep sleep, and the silence in the moments before the alarm goes off in the morning.

Stop and listen. There's music everywhere.

Angry

I got rear-ended by someone and I'm pissed off at the disruption it's causing in my life.

I feel stupid being angry about this, but I am. I can't play with my daughter the way I want to. I can't crochet. Reading is almost out of the question because it's hard to prop my neck up the way I need to. I can hardly work.

I know that I should be grateful that I'm not permanently injured. But I just have a hard time not being able to do the things I want to do. The things that relax me.

And not that this relaxes me, but I can't even clean. It's kind of like bed rest. Everyone thinks that bed rest sounds so great until you have to try it. Never before have I wanted so badly to vacuum my living room carpet. Seriously. I know it sounds crazy, but I really can't stand the way my house looks right now.

And it's making me crazy that there's nothing I can do about it.

Wordsmith

I went over to my mom and dad's last night with the munchkin. We were invited over for dinner. Mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy. YUM. My parents surprised me with this. It cracks me up every time I see it.