Yeah, that's been me the past few weeks. After some encouragement from some friends who got to see my ugly cry, I asked a chiropractor in our church if he would take me as a patient. Normally this would be really awkward and embarrassing because dang it! I hate feeling like I need help. . . and it's someone that I know and I hang out with his wife. But at this point I just needed someone to make the pain go away.
And unfortunately, it might be a good while before that happens. Somehow I have a second degree strain between my spine and my right shoulder blade. Basically--I tore a muscle. I am right handed, so it hurts to do anything. Brush teeth, brush kids' teeth, wash dishes, fold clothes, sweep, vacuum, mop, drive, move. Sit. Sleep. Constant pain. I was told 8 weeks to heal, and I've read as much as 3-4 months before feeling completely normal.
That is a long time.
I'm not supposed to be doing repetitive motions (sweeping, etc) or picking up kids. Tell me how that works when you are a mom?! My family has been awesome. The kids are constantly asking about my back and praying that mom will feel better soon. Logan and Madison are in charge of 2 of the bathrooms and other various chores, Grant is doing the vacuuming, and besides picking up a lot of what I usually do during the day, Joe even came home a little bit early last week and cleaned our bathroom. . . that hadn't been cleaned in 3 weeks. Still, the house is not up to its normal standards, and we won't be inviting anyone over anytime soon.
As a result of mom's "laziness," Ammon has had a little more freedom to get into trouble: squirting out tubes of toothpaste, pulling everything (usually food that spills/scatters onto the dirty kitchen floor) off of the counters, dumping milk all over the floor, squeezing hair gel all over his hair. . . and everything else within a 2-feet radius.... just to name a few off the top of my head.
Also, I dropped my 2-month old iphone 5 on the floor. That thing has been dropped and thrown probably 100's of times...but this time the glass shattered. It still works, so I'm not going to pay $200 to buy a refurbished phone....but I'm stuck with it for the next 2 years. :(
OK, so things I am grateful for:
- A husband who is willing to help out around the house, even when he's been at work all day.
- A husband who loves me and makes me feel attractive even when I have greasy hair and mascara smudges on my face.
- Kids who feel empathy and compassion and are willing to help around the house and with the younger kids.
- Kids who are old enough to help out.
- My dad, who told me last night that it was ok if the house was a mess.
- Books.
- Friends who ask me how I'm doing and are ok when I start crying.
- Friends who offer to help.
- The 70 degree weather we are supposed to have all week.
- Prayer. I'm no longer asking that the pain will be taken away, but that I can deal with the pain.
- Walking. It feels good to stretch and move, and the movement of walking (in this great weather) helps to take my mind off of the constant pain.
- Despite his ability to get into trouble, Ammon is pretty cute. His new word is "ugly." Today I asked him what his name was, and he said, "Ugly," and started laughing. I did, too; he most definitely is NOT ugly!!
Here's hoping that February is a happier month than January. :)
