A Pain in The Back

Back pain stinks. It comes at the WORST times and sticks around and just makes everything more frustrating, difficult and exhausting.

Noise seems noisier when your back hurts. Did you know that?

I'm not sure what I did this time, but I went to get a dress out of Lucy's closet Sunday morning all calm-like and happy and I felt a twinge. Uh-oh, I thought. Better be careful. Sat on the floor. Stretched a bit. Kept getting ready. Felt achey-like all day.

Felt achey-like all day Monday. Took the kids to the library, because they had the day off school and REALLY wanted to go. Bought them McD's for lunch, because that's what fun moms do. I was fasting. Did you know that the smell of McD's is killer when you're fasting? I do. Grabbed a few groceries, went home. Achey, achey, achey. Kids had Taekwondo. Afterwards we shelled peanuts. Yup. That was family home evening. I was planning to go to a friend's to make homemade peanut butter the next morning, so we needed those peanuts shelled. We sang, "Found a Peanut" and the kids made us laugh. Lucy kept squishing the shells on the counter-top. At one point she said, "That could have been my knuckle..." We laughed. It might just be funny to us. Logan choked on a mouthful of peanuts. Good times.

Achey, achey, achey.

Won't somebody come and put these kids to bed? No? I guess I'll do it.

Tuesday. Tyler suggested I take something for my back pain. I said no. Those drugs make me dopey. I can't take care of 2 boys if I'm dopey.

Removed dark red nail polish off of my fingers because it was starting to chip. This was a very bad idea. Got in the shower and tried to stretch a bit. Hey, that feels pretty good! Hung out in the shower a few minutes longer than usual. I really needed it today. Another bad idea. Why are my boys so quiet? Are they playing in Max's room like they've been told?

I step out of the shower to find Max laying in my bed and Logan on the floor with all my nail polishes out. (do you see how my removing nail polish has given him the idea - and apparently permission - to tamper with my nail polish and anything else he can get his hands on? You didn't make that logical connection? Neither did I. But he did!) Of course, the brightest red one has accidentally spilt on the carpet, and he's sitting there all doe-eyed and innocent looking. I'm not sure who he thought he was fooling. Argh! So I sat naked on the floor and tried to get red nail polish out of my carpet.

Lesson Learned: Life brand nail polish remover (from Shopper's Drug Mart) works WAY better than the name-brand stuff.

I decided to put some clothes on. Achey, achey, achey. Used a spray bottle, old toothbrush, and nail polish remover to scrub scrub scrub those 3 little red dots out of my carpet. 2 of them are pretty much gone. 1 of them is a nice pink spot on my tan carpet. Pretty noticeable. Double Argh! I may or may not have sprayed Logan in the face with the spray bottle at one point to teach him a lesson. He didn't like that. Lesson learned? I hope so. Then I felt guilty because he's not a cat, so I gave him a hug.

Quickly got ready and headed out for my peanut-butter making date. Had fun. Bought a few groceries because the missionaries are now coming for dinner. And got a pumpkin. Came home and my achey achey achey back turned into an all-out spaz. Laid-up on the floor. Kind of had to toss Logan into his crib for a nap because I couldn't gently lay him down. Laid on his bedroom floor for half-an-hour before I could get up and leave the room.

Laid on the floor all afternoon. iced. Texted Tyler: "I'm in pretty rough shape." "I'll come home early. You should take something." "Remember the nail polish incident of this morning? That happened when I was fully alert. Dopey mom + 2 boys does not equal good things." "They've come a long way with these drugs. When was the last time you tried them?" "Ten years ago." "I'll get you some."

Superman came home (he walked ALL the way home from work because he missed his bus trying to get me the lovely drugs) and took over. I took the drugs. He tidied and hefted the salmon into the oven for the missionaries. Lucy had to walk home from the bus-stop by herself, because I could not get myself and 2 boys out the door to go get her. I hate that. You don't understand how much I hate that.

Drugs started to kick in. Missionaries arrived. Hey, I feel a bit better and I'm not dopey. Tyler was right...don't tell him. It'll go to his head.

Tyler had to home teach that night, so I laid on the basement floor watching Dancing with the Stars while my kids played around me...and on me. Logan, you're clueless to a mom's pain. I am not lying on the floor so you can climb on me. Good thing he kissed my back about 20 times during the day to help it feel better. The idea helps my mind feel better.

Yesterday was a bit better. Today even more. I've cleaned my entire house today in preparation for Tyler's mom's arrival tonight. Hopefully that doesn't send things in reverse. But, my house looks beautiful. Like, cleaner than any day since we moved in. It's always clean-like, but I actually put some stuff away that's been sitting out with no place for it today. That box in the corner that wasn't unpacked yet? I unpacked it. Nice, nice nice.

Now I will go do some yoga to stretch this back. Back pain is the worst!