Exercise Positively

Today I did the exercises that helped my back last year.  I haven't done them in a long time and I really don't know why I stopped.  They basically consist of leg drops, side lying leg raises, side lying leg sweeps and side lying leg circles--all while keeping your center engaged and as still as possible, and your back in neutral.  It's a lot to think about, but doing ten reps on each side (2 sets of the leg drops) each day can really make a difference.

The point, however, is that I did it!  I exercised today even though everything hurt.  My ankles groaned and my wrists complained.  My fingers stiffened and my knee protested.  But I still did it.

I think a good attitude can get you far.  How about you?

If she can do it, so can I!

So Jenny from the block looks dewy and beautiful on this cover.  And inside are all her makeup artist's secrets!  If a makeup artist can do it, if a girl with a Hindman booty (Hindman is my maiden name) can do it, then so can I!  A little makup, a few brush strokes and I, too, can look glamorous.  Or at least flawless, right?

Maybe not, but I'm still excited about picking up a few tips from this read.  I've had it up to my Hindman booty with throwing away money on makeup that doesn't live up to expectations.  I'd rather take advice from a pro and get what I'm paying for.

I'll let you know how the book turns out, and how I turn out. : P

A Card for the Miles

A coffee shop.  A warm fire.  A picture window front.  Milk steamer sounds spiked with laughter.  Chairs scraping across the torn wood floor.  Papers crinkling and laptop keys tinkling.

Through the sights and sounds I see the glint of glitter.  A carousel of cards turns slowly as a patron peruses its holdings.  How beautiful most of them are.  Each has a bit of gleam to it - a small rhinestone here, a dash of colorful sparkle there.  One in particular catches my eye and before I know it I'm on my feet and the card is in my hand.  So is my credit card and the beautiful card with the beautiful woman is mine!  Her eyes are adorned with red rhinestone eyeshadow and ruby glitter glows across her dress.  Raven-colored hair sits perfectly on her head and she expertly sets her lipsticked lips in a fashionable smile.  I know I will do something beautiful with this card.

I have a good friend who lives in a cold place.  She and I used to do everything together.  We used to run wild and crazy and meet wild and crazy men in bars and take home phone numbers and compare how many we got in a night.  We used to talk every day or at every other day at least and use each other as excuses when our parents asked where we had been the night before.  But we grew up.  We got jobs and responsibilities.  We got married and I had children.  We moved thousands of miles apart and life threw even more emotional miles between us.

As I hold this card I don't hold any hope that is has healing power.  I don't believe that it will suddenly bring back the closeness that was or the life that pre-existed adulthood.  But I will use it to reach out.  I will use it because I am a writer and it is a beautiful thing.

My children do beautiful things

I have good news.  The arthritis panel came back negative yesterday.  I cried.  I cried because for what seemed like the first time in so long things were going right.  What I have is manageable and my future is a positive one.

I also treated the diagnosis as postive, to be honest.  I have been on a cloud-skimming high since about last Thursday.  (It took me a couple days to fully swallow and digest living with Fibromyalgia.)  But TO KNOW!!  To be able to say, "This ache is the disease, I don't need physical therapy, I need to accept it and work through the pain" and "I am not crazy!  This pain is real and I can embrace it and be happy I can feel anything at all!" - those are the kind of emotions the diagnosis settled in my heart.

So today I share this good news.  And I share something beautiful done for me.

I had my first case of utter exhaustion to the point of inactivity last night (first non-child related, for all you parents out there!).  I wasn't able to go to my Junior League volunteer event.  I was barely able to fork spaghetti into my mouth and run to the pharmacy.  I collapsed into bed and fell asleep before my husband, which he will attest is about the fifth time this has happened in seven years of marriage.

This morning, my whole body ached.  My joints hurt with sharp, knifelike pain.  I felt feverish and worried that I was getting sick, but I really knew it was just the exhaustion and accompanying fibro symptoms.  (Read here for assurance that I know to separate what is and what isn't fibro-related.)  My mood, of course, went straight the farthest point south and I wasn't sure I would be able to function, let alone take care of my children.

And then we got in the car.  My son, Jake (4yo), made an absolutely ridiculous pose and said, "Look at me, Mom!" and my daughter, Natalaie (21mo), copied him and screamed, "Look at me!"  Immediately the negative reverie was broken and their precious voices began to sing out in my heart.  We turned on music and had a wonderful, stress-free (that's relative, as moms will know) ride to school.

So my children did something beautiful for me today.  And I am here, writing a positive post instead of the opposite because of it.