I royally screwed up my back on Friday after I slipped on the ice on the sidewalk while trying to pick up Dmitri from the bus. It was already messed up last week(too much exercise I think), and finally on the way to being healed on Friday morning, but then it was time to pick up Dmitri and I slid and my arms windmilled out behind me and I leaned backwards and all of a sudden twisted and I felt my entire torso shift strangely.

I couldn't stand up, I couldn't sit up, I couldn't bend over, I couldn't reach my arms out... it was awful. One minute my back would lock up and I couldn't breathe, and then the next minute it would loosen up and then spasm repeatedly, sending waves of pain from my hips to my toes. Breathing, laughing, talking... all hurt. Anything that required the use of my torso was totally out of the question. By that evening I was in so much pain I was hysterical, until I finally got into bed and laid down, which made it all but go away.

On Saturday morning, when it still wasn't any better(and was in some ways much, much worse actually, standing up after laying down for 6+ hours was TORTURE) we went to the clinic where the doctor diagnosed it as a strained muscle and a herniated disk causing nerves to be pinched in that area. I've never had back spasms before, and I hope I never to have to go through that ever again.

The doctor ended up giving me painkillers and a muscle relaxer to try to calm down the spasms... both have helped immensely. I'm no where near to being back to normal yet, and there's still a numb stinging feeling that goes from my lower back to my thighs, but it's at least tolerable now.

I have never been in so much pain as I was when those spasms hit, I seriously wanted to die. Alan said that he'd never seen me scream like that before, and the only thing that came close was when I was in labor, if that gives any indication of the level of pain I was in for two days.

I'm so bummed that nearly the entire month, thus far, has been wasted due to back pain. What a bummer. I haven't gotten to do any Christmasy stuff yet, or cleaning, or photos, or anything. Ugh.

Blizzmageddon 2009 came and went yesterday. It seems a little over hyped to me... then again, I didn't have to drive anywhere yesterday. Still, I sort of feel like, having grown up in the Northern part of the state(where learning how to drive in horrible snow storms is considered a right of passage), city people just freak out too easily about this stuff. Okay, so we got 17" and yeah that's impressive...


(click to enlarge a bit)

But blizzards and the occasional tornado are about as exciting as weather gets in Wisconsin, and even those tend to be mild when compared to other areas of the country. Chill folks, it's just water.

UGH! I'm so mad at myself I could cry.

I lost my Canon Powershot last week. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IT IS. I KNOW it was in this apartment on the 30th because I took photos of the cake that Erin made me for my birthday(which was awesome!) and then it got left on the counter in the kitchen for a couple of days... and then??? I have no idea. No one has been here. I haven't taken it anywhere. I'm totally at a loss for where the hell it could be. I have a feeling that either Alan stuffed it somewhere while he was "cleaning" or Dmitri has run off with it... but any attempt to flip this place upside-down in a quest to find the damn thing has come up empty.

This is the camera I use when I go to work for my brand visits because my dSLRs are too bulky to hall around and could get damaged while I'm moving stock/displays/fixtures/etc.


And NOW tonight I washed my Blackberry. I have several clients whom I told to "call me", as well as Dmitri's evaluators who are supposed to contact me tomorrow am(and their numbers are in the dead phone). I'm so frustrated right now I just give up at life.


The combined cost of both of these things is over $500, well out of our budget for replacing them, especially since Alan's hours will be cut back after next week. Worst timing every.

In the grand sceme of things this is totally survival but I'm SO ANGY that I a). didn't check my pockets before throwing my sweater in the washer, and b). didn't put the camera away when I was done with it. Fail fail fail.

Ugh. I'm totally frustrated trying to figure out what to get Dmitri for holiday gifts.

Ideally, I would really love to get him challenging educational toys(hot wheels and action figures are great and everything, they will not stimulate him, and therefor will only hold his attention for a week or so before he's bored and I've wasted yet another $15 on something he's outgrown too fast).

I've been looking at the specialty toy stores in Madison(namely Play Things and The Learning Shop) and while there are some challenging puzzles, everything else is either way below him, or too difficult to bring down to his level(I'd love to get him a Magnet experiment kit like this, but I'm positive that he'd go around and fuck up all of the electronics we have).

While puzzles are great, they're puzzles. Not exactly fantastic or exciting for gifts, you know? Still. I can't find anything else.

I was trying to google "Toys for gifted children", "Advanced educational toys", "Challenging toys and games for kids" "Learning toys for advanced kids", "Educational toys", "Exceptional toys", "Gifts for smart kids", etc... and either got toys that claim to be stimulating but aren't("here's a bag of letters!!!"), are designed to MAKE your baby a genius(but aren't up to par for kids who are actually gifted), or educational work books.

There has to be SOMETHING that isn't a straight up puzzle, doesn't involve flash cards, and is in the realm of a 4-9 year old, but will still promote learning and stimulate this boy. I'm almost ready to just say "fuck it" and buy him an Sheesh.

I'm going to make a filter for my food/weightloss/fitness stuff. I'm not really sure how long it'll last, but I'm REALLY into it right now. As great as that is, I don't want to bore people who just really don't care about the size of my ass or the awesome fake noodles I ate for dinner last night.

So, I present you with a poll.

Poll #1495882 Weight and Fitness Blabber
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

Do you want to be on my fitness/food/weightloss filter?

Really?

Okay, seriously though, do you want on the filter?

We're getting close to wrapping up Dmitri's evaluations. It seems to have been years now that we've been doing this - though it only started in April.

I haven't been writing about all of it because... well... I can't even pick a place to start. We're having the final evaluation on Tuesday, and then Thursday there will be a meeting with us and his team(his teacher, the G&T team, and the OT team) and we'll figure out what they've found from their testing and try to figure out what it is that we're doing with him next. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say after that.

In the meantime, he's doing fantastic at school. Way ahead of the class, perfect behavior, good participation... etc. There has been a long of incredible growth in him in the last month. Mostly behavioral. He hasn't had a tantrum in nearly a month, he's been taking regular naps for the last week(which means he isn't cranky at 5 o'clock), and he's much more receptive to following directions. ( School Stuff )

He's been so delightful lately as a result of all of the above. I've really enjoyed hanging out with him, it's so much easier when he's not battling me or trying to out think me every time I turn around. We made snowflakes and decorated the apartment all pretty. And he actually listened when I asked him to wait or follow other directions. He also didn't pitch a fit when I'd tell him that there were things that he couldn't do(like climb the ladder to hang the lights). It was so nice to enjoy that time with him, he really made it enjoyable.



I didn't get pictures of everything else. Out place is a wreck lately with me not being able to clean due to my back.

This year I wanted to kind of do some holiday stuff that was on-going throughout the month. So in that spirit I made this Advent "Calendar". Each number is a little paper bag that has either a treat, a present, or and activity. He's SO SUPER PSYCHED about it he can't even stand himself. He waits ALL DAY for it to be time to open the next bag. And the excitement on his face when he first saw it made me feel like the mother of the year for taking the couple of hours it took to assemble it. ♥ him.

Dmitri: Can you play with the Wii with me Dada?
Alan: Yes, I'll play with you if you go potty first.
Dmitri: Maybe I will just play by myself.
Alan: No son, you cannot play with the Wii until you go potty.
Dmitri: But I have to.
Alan: No. Go potty.
Dmitri: Okay, fine. I'll go potty and play with myself.
Alan: Uhmmmm... you better wash your hands when you're done.
Dmitri: Yup. Do you want to watch me play with myself?
Alan: No. I'm good.

Hehehehe.

I measured myself today because I randomly found where I'd taken measurements from August and I was curious how the pant sizes translated to actual inches.

I've lost 8 inches off of my waist. 4 from my hips. In 4 months. Huzzah! I wish I knew the total from last year but I don't have measurements from then. I bet it's a lot more though.

I'm antsy to get working out again. My back is ALMOST better, but not quite there yet and I don't want to re-injure it and make the process take longer. I haven't had a chance since Monday though, and this is probably the longest amount of time in months that I've gone without a workout. It feels WEIRD.