So, this time, I was just putzing around in the house on Saturday morning and bent down to pick something up off the floor and BAM!!! I could feel that "ripping" in my lower back and the first thing that came to my mind was, "Shit!" I stood back up and knew that it had reared its ugly head again. It's the kind of pain where I can't bend over very far...if I need to pick up something off the floor, I need to totally bend at the knees, not over at the waist...and I can't stand up totally straight without feeling pain. Maybe I need to invest in one of these...
Anyway, this time is not nearly as bad as the first, but it still hurts. In between these bouts (which is years) I don't have any back pain whatsoever and can do just about anything...to include picking things up off the floor. Weird. I've kind of decided that it's based on stress, because the four times it's happened have been during stressful times. I think I need to unstress my life.
So yesterday I pretty much babied myself and stayed at home watching Redbox movies. I discontinued my cable a few months ago, because it was TOTALLY not worth the $100 per month. The boys hardly ever watched it and I would just watch reruns of HGTV and Food Network, so I canceled it...and haven't regretted it. Renting $1.30 Redbox movies every once in awhile is a LOT cheaper and no commercials.
I like a good scary movie, so I picked this one up...
I've always really liked Anthony Hopkins, but, boy, he sure looked older in this one. I googled it and discovered that he's 75 years old...was born in 1937!! I had no clue he was that old! Well, he still looks pretty good for that age. And I can only hope that I'm still that active at that age. (Although I don't think anyone would want to see me on the big screen.)
I also watched this movie about the surfing teenage girl who had her arm bitten off by a shark in Hawaii. Okay, so it's a totally "fluff" movie, but, that's right...I had the kleenex out. By the way, it was Carrie Underwood's debut at acting. She played the family's church activities director. (I think she should stick with singing...no offense...just saying.) Anyway, this teenage girl survives the attack and goes on to compete (and win) in surfing competitions. It totally made me feel like a woos for whining about a little back pain...at least I still have my arms.
I told you this post was random...it definitely is. I recently read this book...and loved it. I don't think I need to explain it because it's become popular due to the movie they recently made about it.
Three work friends and I went to see it last Friday and it was really good. They did a good job of casting the characters. Out of the four of us, three read the book first. All of us agreed that the book was better because it went into more detail and was easier to follow. I'll have to say, however, that one of my favorite scenes was when Minny tells Hilly about the special ingredient in her chocolate pie, upon which Sissy Spacek (Hilly's mother) bursts into laughter. I liked the character Spacek plays and can definitely see me being there someday...haha!
I was the oldest person in our group and I told them that I was about 7 or 8 years old when this book was supposedly written. I lived in St. Louis at the time and wasn't aware of people having black maids there, but I definitely remember the racial unrest going on in the country. I can also remember sitting in second grade when I heard that John F. Kennedy was shot...and sitting with my family in the living room when the astronauts landed on the moon. That was such a crazy time during the 60s and 70s and SOOOO incredibly different than the current times. Between the hippies, the drugs, the Vietnam War and racial issues, it was a turbulent era. Everyone was so different and no one hesitated to voice their opinion or dared to be different. Now, it seems that society has become generic. While there were serious problems back then, people banded together to support whatever cause. Now everyone is content to have their flat screen TVs, granite counter tops and I-phones while ignoring everything going on around them. Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.
So when I woke up this morning, I literally rolled (very slowly) out of bed and shuffled out to the coffee maker. The pain was worse than yesterday, but that's because I had been horizontal for the previous eight hours. My son took me out to breakfast and it took me about a minute to get into and out of the car. He said, "Is this what it's going to be like when you're 80?" Haha...I raised my sons to have such a great sense of humor. (I then told him I was cutting him out of the will.)
Determined to overcome the pain, I decided to head down to New Braunfels for the Gruene Market Days. It had been a long time since I had been there and I wanted to see if they had any different vendors. One shop had these HUGE wind chimes hanging from the trees. This photograph doesn't do it justice, but the poles on this thing were literally about six feet in length. The sound it was making was really cool, but if the wind was strong, that could be a real hazard! If one of those things bopped someone in the head, that could cause some serious damage! And you'd definitely need a truck to tote one of these around....not to mention the difficulty in hanging it up. "Sold! Just toss it into the back seat of my Elantra." Haha!
I think these rain catcher thingies are really cool. I saw these for the first time on HGTV. But you need to be in a state other than Texas to see them work. No rain predicted here for the rest of the year. Kind of a waste of money here.
I remember seeing this guy playing this instrument the last time I was here. He was really good...played very smooth, jazzy kind of music. When I passed by, he was playing "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers...
...which always reminds me of the love scene between Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in "Ghost"...a wonderful scene and a wonderful movie. It's hard to believe that Patrick Swayze is gone.
On that note, after ten minutes in 105 degree temps, back pain and nothing new at Market Days, I thought to myself, "What the hell am I doing here???" I got back into the car and headed to JCPenney to take advantage of the '$10 off a $25 purchase' coupon burning a hole in my purse...not to mention the air conditioning.
Like I said...a random post.
2 comments:
We might be twins separated at birth if not for the fact that I was in fifth grade when Kennedy was killed. My neck is currently locked up and I'm walking around totally stinking from all the Icy Hot type stuff I'm wearing. I had my first lower back episode in my early 20's and was off work for a month. In Seattle, I had a fantastic sports chiropractor who always had me fixed after a visit or two. Not here. Try Icy Hot patches. I switched to those recently on the recommendation of a friend and after a couple of days, I'm usually upright without pain. The other trick is a shiatsu massager my son gave me for Christmas a few years ago. It's made for the neck, but I lie on my side with my back against it. I think the rolling massage balls loosen up the muscles a lot. We just watched Soul Surfer a few weeks ago, primarily to get our Kauai fix. The shark attack took place at Tunnels, a popular snorkeling beach on the northshore and the movie has a lot of scenes of Hanalei. I'm going to see The Help with a friend this week. I also grew up in that era in a little town in Kansas. While schools were integrated by the time I was in kindergarten, African Americans weren't treated equally. I do remember sit-in's at the local restaurant and churches. Hope your back improves quickly, along with my neck!
I'm a little older than both of you--I was in the 10th grade when Kennedy was killed--very close to the age of the ladies in the movie. I saw it a week ago & enjoyed it. There was only one black family in the town I grew up in ( outside of Boston) & they were just like everyone else--or so it seemed to me at the time.
But I had a southern belle grandmother--born in MD in the 1880's-- and her attitude toward blacks was totally different than anything I was raised to believe. We had a student from the organization called ABC ( A Better Chance) that was part of our family--simplified explanation--it brought smart kids from poor neighborhoods to towns with better schools to get a better education--Archie was from SC but lived in Andover MA for HS--my grandmother told hime when he was helping clear the dishes after supper --that he'd make a good waiter--he is now a doctor!
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