Two fabulous women having a fabulous weekend. FABULOUS!

My GOODNESS! It's taken me more than 2 days to finish this post. Busy, busy, busy and also lots to report.
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This weekend (as you know if you read my previous post), I was in L.A. for my friend, E's, birthday. She turned the grand ole age of 24 on Sunday (yes, she's going backwards) and there was much reason to celebrate: she is, of course, fabulous, and defying time.

DAY 2

On Saturday, we took her little red Prius (named "Pixie") down to Orange County, my former "hood". Our destination was Laguna Beach and we were optimistically wearing our bathing suits under our clothes and hoping for a little beach-time. Sadly, the marine-layer thwarted those plans but we had a great time anyway, meeting her friend Christine for a delicious lunch and taking pictures.




Me and Christine, courtesy of E's photos, holding what turned out to be a $250 teapot. I know, WTH!? The thing looked like it belonged in a flea market. Somebody obviously knows something about this pot that I don't. It's value is definitely hidden at face-value.



Then Pixie took us up PCH to Corona del Mar, my favorite beach (and million-dollar-home watching location) back when I was a footloose and fancy-free OC Girl and did such frivolously pointless and time-wasting things.

As you can see, the weather was (to quote E's post) "Gloomy"


Corona del Mar beach, busy with very brave folks in that cold water.



Expensive homes that line the streets above the beach and even cascade down onto the beach themselves. Sigh. I want to be a billionaire, so frickin' bad!




Despite said "gloom", there were moments where the sun ALMOST broke through. I say almost. Anyway, it was enough to feel a little warmth threatening the day, and so we decided to grab whatever rays we could on the benches that line the overlook above the beach.

That was until a group of excitable, cackling hispanic teenagers parked themselves not ten feet from us. In truth there were only 4 - two girls and two boys - but the girls were loud enough on their own to constitute a "group".  Not only was the volume unbelievable (and completely unnecessary) but the constant, excited rise-and-fall of their cadence, coupled with every other word being "like", just gave Elena and I an anxiety attack. Ack!


My traditional beach foot-shot, lacking the panache of the typical version due to the gray skies and bench vs. sand. But, you know, you make do. With lemons we must make lemonade!



Elena catching some rays.

Later that evening, we went to E's office, to get some quiet time before we attended a charity-event, a summer Mardi-Gras celebration organized every year by her boss.

This is E's office. Very Official... except when you see what's inside. Teehee! This was how I remember my office looking when I worked in the OC.





Being at a loose-end for an hour or so, gave us lots of opportunities to be thoroughly silly in the empty law office.


Whose tootsies are whose?





E practicing her head-stands, which is quite a normal occurrence in her office, from what I can gather.



And then there was this photo, courtesy of E again, which I'm not sure if I like or not but I'm going ahead and posting it anyway just for the heck of it. It looks like I'm trying to be all posey and stuff but the reality was that I was a little irritated that E was taking a picture of me. Up until this moment, I was hiding behind my hands and turning my head. This was my final look of resignation, as I allowed her to pull-off a shot. Aparently, according to E at least, I came across as very "Femme Fatale". All I see is that my upper-lip is missing, I have too many sun spots, and that I need a tan bad. Sigh...



Later, it was great to meet E's co-workers at the Mardi-Gras celebration and lots of smart, intelligent conversation ensued. Funnily enough, some of the communication and education challenges E experiences in her work with local city councils are very similar to challenges I experience in my job. It was interesting to hear her boss' advice and the way he delivered it to her, as well. There was no sense of her being "wrong" or that her personality dictated the responses that hadn't been working for her (as it is often framed in organizations I have been working for), it was just a teaching moment but on a very accessible, non-judgmental level. I like it much and got a lot out of the interaction, both as someone who needs to learn how to reach my audience better and as a manager and employee who both coaches and is coached.

Fortunately, I was off the drink for the weekend, so I managed not to embarrass E too badly during the event. Although there was that moment when I told the Mayor of Fullerton that he named his daughter (who is also called Michelle) something unimaginative. Ahem... let's move on from there.

DAY 3

On Sunday we only had several hours, since I was heading home in the afternoon, and so we did "The L.A. thing." Ms. Pixie drove us down the Santa Monica freeway to PCH and then up to Sunset Blvd., where we cruised through Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, Brentwood (hello OJ Simpson crime scene!), Westwood, UCLA campus (where E graduated with her Law Degree) and then eventually the tourist mecca of Beverly Hills itself.

And no trip to 90210 is complete without a stroll down Rodeo Drive...



Is it me, or is it completely IMPOSSIBLE to look at The Regent Beverly Wilshire and not hear Roy Orbison singing "Pretty Woman"?



The shot had to be done. Although we were trying to be all "cool" and like we came here all the time, we failed miserably in the face of photo opportunities.




Then there was this, courtesy of E's camera,... which neither of us could not resist. It's hilarious on so many levels for both of us. Only in BH is "Selfish" a sales strategy!



All of which made us incredibly hungry, so we hot-footed it back to Pixie and drove back to E's "hood", where we had lunch. Pause, however, to mention the plastic-surgery disaster that met us in the elevator down to the parking garage. Somehow she struck up a conversation with E (who, apparently, is one of THOSE people who everyone and their mother talk to) about something that was entirely left-of-field and thoroughly bizarre. So bizarre, I have blocked it out, it seems. But it was weird. Here was this woman, who once-upon-a-time may have been attractive but now looking like the nurse in the Foster Farms plumping commercials, jibber-jabbering nonsense away in the elevator. There was something about E's Monkey t-shirt but that's all I remember. All very odd to my dampened NorCal sensibilities, and yet very normal for L.A.

Lunch in E's hood was at The Alcove Cafe and Bakery, a thoroughly cool but non-pretentious hot-spot on Hillhurst Avenue, not far from the base of Griffith Park. People-watching outside on the patio was the major entertainment, although the food was pretty-darn amazing also. Sitting there kind of crystalized all that I miss about SoCal - the cooler weather, the variety of restaurants, the broad span of different people, the younger energy that vibrates.


And then it was off to the airport and back to Sacraghetto...

Woot! I'm in Lala Land

This weekend I am in L.A. with my long-time good friend, E, of The Gurly Life fame. It's her birthday on Sunday and I decided to give her THE BEST PRESENT EVER.  Me!

Of course, my gift is not entirely selfless. For a little over 48 hours I get to be childless, and footloose and fancy-free in crazy Lala Land. I miss Southern California, so getting down here once in a while is like a breath of fresh air for me. Although without the fresh air, of course - Los Angeles isn't exactly known for it's air quality.

Despite fervently looking forward to my away time, I had quite the issue leaving Daisy this morning, however. Being a mommy is hard: you know you need the "me" time but you can barely bring yourself to sacrifice time away from them to get it. Even though you know it's irrational, you wonder if they will forget you and you'll somehow be replaced as #1 by Nanny or Grandad or Daddy. Yeah, yeah, I know. I said it was irrational.

But I'm here now and already having a great time.

This afternoon and evening we spent in downtown L.A. and the new entertainment complex that has sprung up around the Staples Center, "L.A. Live". Now, before you wonder what on earth posessed us to go to downtown Los Angeles, let me explain: it's changed. It is no longer the armpit of Southern California. Quite the contrary, in fact. It's now a bustling metropolis full of new development and beautiful old buildings, living side-by-side. Cool lofts and chic bars, fabulous restaurants... it's quite the "in" area. And, get this - everybody walks in L.A! That's right... WALKS. What a concept!

E and I had quite the walking excursion, from Olympic all the way up to 10th street and back again, stopping to take pics along the way. Fortunately, E loves her camera as much as I do, so there was no foot-tapping as we moved around in 360 degree angles to try and get the perfect shot of this or that.

We stopped in one older building, The Hotel Figueroa, for almost an hour. If I ever come back to L.A. with hubby for a weekend excursion, this is where I would want to stay. It's just an amazing spot, with the feel of old Mexico. Cool tiles, elaborate lights, wrought-iron gates and fences, oversized dining chairs, and a fabulous bar-patio area that overlooked a beautiful pool-oasis in the back. You almost forgot you were slap bang in the middle of America's second largest city. And so much to take pictures of! It was an amateur photographer's mecca. E and I milled around, changing camera settings, experimenting, and sharing our results.

Here are some of them from our excursion...

THE HOTEL FIGUEROA















The great thing about L.A. is that you can walk around taking pictures of people and things and nobody pays you the slightest bit of notice. Pull out your DSLR in Sacramento and people look at you, wondering if you'll have the audacity to sneak a picture of them.

Did I say I missed SoCal? Yeah, Hubby's in for it for at least a month when I get back.

Right now, I'm off. I'm being a TERRIBLE guest, just sitting on E's couch and blogging silently. Off to be the birthday treat. LOL.

You can see all the pics here

Here's the link back to The Gurly Life's post on the same day (which I waited forever for her to finish. I mean, who takes 30 minutes to finish the last sentence and bothers to re-check the post for errors before posting!? Doesn't she know that posts are way more fun when they're full of typos and poor grammar? Sheesh. I could teach her a thing or two!)

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Edited to add: I guess this shows how much I know about different decorating styles. I looked-up more about the Hotel Figueroa and found that it is decorated in the Moroccan style. Oops! Just a sea or two away from Mexico. Aparently it also used to be a YWCA and is purported to be haunted. We didn't see any ghosts, however, although I'm sure we would have taken a photo of them if we had.

Photo A Day: Wednesday, July 7 2010

Yesterday, as Brandy and I were chit-chatting in my office, Ms. Daisy managed to pull-over the paper shredder (which was fortunately not on - I'd already made sure of that.) The top was heavy, so it dramatically collapsed on top of her, spewing it's mangled contents onto the floor of my office.

Of course, Daisy, after recovering from the shock-and-awe of it all, found the bits of paper wildly entertaining and proceeded to throw them up in the air and all around. Lovely.

Even after somewhat of a hurried clean-up (I had work to do!) the floor is still littered with tiny little bits of what were once personal documents.

Hence the photo. Thanks Daisy!

Annoying gym guy strikes again!

Remember the annoying gym guy I blogged about a while back? The one who thought Scotland was in England and that Glasgow was a new breed of cow? (If not, read here.) Well, he struck again today. Or, more aptly, I almost struck HIM.

Today's topic was the Governator's desire to put all state workers in California on minimum wage, while we wait for the Democrats to compromise their values significantly enough that the few Republicans in the state assembly will actually get out of the damn way and approve a budget.

(No bias there, as you can see. In reality, I'm more frustrated with the system than the players. The whole 2/3 rule is ludicrious and proven to be completely bloody ineffectual.)

But, as usual, I digress.

Today's almost-altercation happened when I overhead gym-guy butting into someone else's conversation - as, we have established, he frequently does, to assert his "knowledge".

There were two women on eliptical machines chit-chatting and one of them brought up Governor Swarzenneger's plan. The other woman had apparently been livinig with her head in the sand because she had no idea what any of this was about (sigh) and so her friend began to explain. Her explanation went something along the lines of "It's not the state workers' fault and it's not fair to punish them." Amen to that. All good so far.

Except that's when gym-guy chimed-in (stopping long enough from trying to yank his back out using terrible form on a rowing machine.) "Ahh... they'll get it back, though," he said dismissively. "The state will pay them back once the budget is passed."

"Let's hope that's good enough for the mortgage company," the woman said politely, and I almost high-fived her.

Aparently this was of no concern to gym-guy who continued to poo-poo the effect on state workers. "For sure there will be more hardships," he said "but they'll get it all back at the end of the day."

The women went silent, which is when I almost crossed the room and gave the man a verbal smackdown. He is the epitome of everything that just drives me crazy about some American's attitudes to government workers and the well-being of others. I've been criticized for having a lack of empathy in my time but this guy, and others like him, take the biscuit. I wanted to ask him how he would feel if his employer suddenly said that his pay would be cut to just $8.00 an hour.

Just to provide some perspective, at $8 an hour that's just $320 per week for a full-time worker (40hrs/wk) or $1,280 a month. A number which wouldn't even pay half of my mortgage payment and likely not gym-guy's either, barely pays the average rent for an apartment in Sacramento ($960 2 years ago), let alone somewhere like L.A. or Orange County, and is equivalent to a salary of just $16,600 - a figure which puts the state workers at below the poverty threshold for a family of 3.

Given these realities, the fact that a state worker will get their involuntary loan paid back to them at some point, is neither here nor there. What matters is that, in the meantime, many of them will not be able to make mortgage, rent, or car payments right now. All of which is hugely helpful in this economy, right? Although the right-wing like to consider state jobs as somehow "fake", the reality is that people who earn money (from whatever source) pay taxes and spend money - both critical factors in an economic recovery for either the private or public sectors.

So, back to gym guy. He was close to a tongue-lashing from yours truly about how thoroughly insensitive, discompassionate and callous his dismissive attitude is to the welfare of others.  Fortunately for him, I'm on a time-clock when I'm at the gym and didn't have time to devote to educating him.

I see it coming down the line, however. The man irkles me no end. It's not just what he says but the superiority with which he says it. He needs to be taken down a peg or two and one of these days...

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Are you up for a little silliness?

A friend of mine posted a link to a video on my Facebook account over the weekend. The video, posted below, is a Volkswagen commercial (of all things!) but, as she knew it would, it strummed a little chord in my mischevious mind and almost even made me cry (I said almost).

The reason for all the nutty emotions over a commercial is it's whimsical nature and the sudden jolt of reality that something so simple can brighten so many people's days. It's so against the grain of our serious culture, where silly behaviour in adults is frowned-upon, categorized as "juvenile", "immature", "irresponsible" (what if you fell???) or just "plain crazy".

The fact that so many people (particularly adults) were open to jumping on this slide, in a public place, WITH OTHERS WATCHING, that they threw aside routine and any fears they might of had about being judged by others, tells me that something is missing in our culture's definition of adulthood. The smiles on people's faces say it all.

So, it got me to thinking... what could I do, what could YOU do, to bring a little silliness into your week?

That's why I'm throwing out a challenge, to me, to you, and to those you love, to do something silly this week. Something completely out of character (I say this because some of us are already more silly than others). Something that requires you to throw fear of being judged or labeled, to one side. Something goofy, a little wacko, a tad nuts, something that would have elicited the reaction "grow up!" from your mother or father.

Go on! You know you want to!

Do it and then post your experience here in comments, on my FB wall, or even shoot me a picture (if you caught it on camera) to britvixen@london.com. If you don't mind (and tell me if you do), I'll even post the results on a future post here next week, including my own escapades, whatever they might be.

Come on... who's up for THE RANDOM RANTS SILLINESS CHALLENGE?

Here's a little inspiration to get you started, although I should provide a disclaimer and say that I am not promoting any dangerous behavior. Choosing to slide down the bannister with no underwear on is something you do at your own risk!

Experimenting with close ups

Instead of a picture a day for the weekend, I wanted to post some shots I took in my parents' back yard this weekend. I've been experimenting with camera settings and close-ups and I kind of liked the end results of these.

Agapanthus - my favorite flowers





Wood grain




Hands



Rocks and Bricks





Apples - soon to be apple pie... yum!

Cautiously Optimistic

Like, no way, it's a hip/back update with a positive title. Waaaay!

It's been almost a month now since I began my backwards-to-go-forwards workout routine with my new physical therapist. Seems like a decent time-gap for a progress report.

Are you sitting down? The word progress appeared in a blog post about my hip and back. No way!? Waaaay.

Despite going backwards in the beginning, we have sped forwards every week since then. It's been nothing short of a-mazing. Just think, in early June, I was in so much pain I could barely get out of bed. My first week of exercises consisted of having almost my entire body touching the floor at all times. Now I'm back at the gym squatting and lunging and using weights. I'm blown away. Literally blown away.

Has the pain miraculously disappeared? Well, no. That would be nice and maybe it will happen but I can definitely say that the pain hasn't got worse, nor have I had any major flare-ups that coincide with the increased activity. I have taken a couple of painkillers on weekends but nothing like the daily NSAID as Pez-Dispenser I was using earlier this month. The best part is that, while feeling at the best end of my pain scale, I have a challenging workout routine that is building strength, balance, and stability. I feel the progress in my core - literally and figuratively.

I am having days without little-to-no pain, however. Still, my culprits are sitting at my desk too long and handling Daisy on weekends - both of which can leave me reaching for the ice-pack. It's a balance thing and not every day is balance-able.

So what is so different about PT #5? Attitude is one thing for sure. He never looked at me as a broken 35 year old who was on the wrong side of her physical best. He saw someone to be repaired. It just didn't seem to occur to him that I wouldn't get better. Equally, each week he has challenged me to do things that other PTs have told me I might never do again, at least not without inducing a major flare-up - jogging, squatting, lunging, for instance. The exercises are different too. No balls, which seem to be the crutch of most physical therapists, but lots of sports-specific-like training - I'm doing a lot of the same exercises (albeit with modifications) that I'm seeing the athletes who train there do. I'm being treated like an athlete with an injury not a couch-potato with a disability. It's awesome and energizing and hopeful.

This week I started back at the gym and it's just put me back in a whole different mind-set. Although most people would balk at the thought of getting up at 4:45am three days a week, I have been almost begging for that day to occur. It's awesome. Almost like the old me.

I've still got a long way to go yet, however. I'm pretty sore from the new exercises and have to be careful not to get slack and flare something up with poor posture or something. Hence, the cautious optimism.

Photo A Day: Tuesday June 29 2010

Noooo, it's not upside down. It is indeed a dress tag and it does say size 6.

Somehow in the upside-down, completely screwed-up world of retail sizing, I am a size 6. I discovered this when I discovered a little black shift dress in my closet that I had never worn - presumably because I bought it shortly before I got knocked-up and then rapidly outsized it.

Of course, this is all actually a load of rubbish. I am not a size 6, as much as I would love to be. According to Old Navy, I am a size 10 pants. And I haven't just lost a load of weight because all my other clothes seem to fit me just the same.

Anyway, despite the fuzzy-logic of it all, I was proud enough to snap this photo, on my way out the door to a meeting.

Clearly, judging by the photos of the last couple of days, I'm clutching at straws, trying to find things (other than Daisy) to take photos of. Yeah, I don't get out much.

Honey my nuggets are foaming!

Further proof that U.S. food is full of more crap than any other country's.

This came up for us once before when we thought Hubby was gluten intolerant. We found, through our research, that a lot of the food in UK supermarkets was already gluten free by default. Whereas, in the U.S., you had to read down a list of 400 different ingredients to determine if food contained one of the many different gluten culprits, or go to a health food shop - three words that just send Hubby reaching for the puke bag.

For the most part, I don't eat this stuff a lot and, like my awareness that sausages are full of all kinds of stuff I would rather not know about, my attitude is usually: if it tastes good, who cares once in a while?

But I have to say that the anti-foaming agent got me. AN ANTI-FOAMING AGENT for chrissakes!? What the hell is that stuff, which is normally used in silly putty of all things, doing in food?

According to the golden arches, it's to avoid the nuggets splashing the workers when they're dropped in the boiling hot fat. They couldn't find gloves for that?

I for one am boycotting the McNugget from hereon out and I shan't be giving it to Daisy either. BLECH.

Photo A Day: Monday June 28, 2010

It's HOT. Holy moly is it hot. 103 today, they're saying. Ugh, just walking outside is like opening an oven door. This is what I hate about Sacramento: one minute you're moaning becuase it's raining in June, the next you're fighting to breath in desert-like heat. It's weather whiplash.

Our hopelessly poor ducting system is doing it's best to push cool air through from the air conditioner but it's still steamy upstairs in our bedrooms. Hence, today's pic is of the fan in our master bedroom; the fan that will be working hard tonight to stop us from sweating our brains out.

Photo A Day: Saturday, June 26 2010

If you're a Facebook friend, then you're already privy to the chaos and destruction that little miss Daisy brought to our living room this baking Saturday afternoon.

If you're not, then I'll just call this one "Spot the baby" and leave it at that.



Not my greatest work of art but sometimes I think that photography is as much about capturing the essence of the moment, as it is about having all the technical stuff sorted out.

Photo A Day: Wednesday, June 24 - a steal

Since my ultimate dream job would be to travel the world, meet interesting people, take pictures of them and write about them, it goes without saying that I am madly jealous of travel photographers or photo-journalists who travel the globe. So, I decided to cover my lack of a picture for Wednesday, with a steal and a link to a photographer's blog I found per-chance.

Sarah Elliott is a photojournalist with an amazing portfolio of pictures spanning multiple countries.

This particular image of hers was linked from the Medicins Sans Frontiers / Doctors Without Borders website.

See more of her work here: http://www.sarahelliottphotography.com/

I am in awe of her life and her talent. Her photos tell a story in a way that no words ever could.

Photo A Day: Tuesday June 22 2010

Today I am off into the office for our bi-monthly management team meeting. The above is a picture from the laundry-list of notes I made yesterday about things I want to discuss.

And off I go to discuss them... no time for thought-provoking reflections this a.m.

Photo A Day: Monday June 21

Obviously it's Daisy in the bath but the rest requires explanation.

If you have kids, you've probably seen these foam letters at one point or another. You buy them in bags and, when they get wet, they stick on the wall. Since bath time is one of the rare moments where you have your little one's rapt attention in a confined space, you can then use the letters on the tiles around the bath to spell out new words.

Funny thing is, Hubby found out that the letters also stick to Daisy's skin when wet. So, we usually play games with her during bath time, throwing the foam letters at her and seeing which ones stick. She normally gets pretty mad after a few and pulls them off, scowling at us. It's more fun for us than her, hehe.

Last night, Hubby found out that the letters stuck to her head also. What was extra funny was that Daisy seemed to have no idea that they were up there (or didn't care) and so Hubby kept plopping them on her head, one after the other, to see how long it would take to piss her off. It never happened and so this picture did.

What I like about this picture, aside from the obvious "moment" it represents, is that it sort of sums up toddlerhood for me. There are all these things - concepts, letters and almost words (see the word "bugs" has accidentally formed in the melee?) - jumbling around in Daisy's head but she hasn't quite figured out how to put it all together yet. This leaves us, as parents, trying to figure out what it all means. And like this picture, it's fun, funny, and confusing all at the same time.

How ever did I eat this crap?

In years past, in fact before I had Ms. Daisy, I used to exist almost entirely on frozen diet meals. It was easy to take them to work and throw them in the microwave in the middle of a busy day and I *knew* how many calories I was consuming, which enabled me to fit into all the cute outfits I used to wear to the office.

After I got pregnant, I swore off of these meals and ever since have been trying to keep as many pre-packaged foods out of my diets period.

This past couple of weeks, however, I've been extremely busy, so busy that I frequently find myself skipping meals and/or snacking at weird times. As I'm trying to keep within a certain number of Weight Watchers points, I went to the store to purchase just a few frozen meals for "emergencies" - you know, those days when 4 minutes of microwave time is all you have? Frozen diet meals all have those WW points right on the package, so I thought it would make things so much easier and avoid calorific pig-outs.

I bought several brands - Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Smart Ones, and Safeway's own "Eating Right" brand - and over the past couple of weeks I have been attempting to eat them. I say attempting because two mouthfulls into almost every one of them, I quickly change my mind and throw them in the bin.

THESE THINGS ARE AWFUL on a level of awful that just makes me shake my head and wonder HOW THE HELL I ever put them in my mouth in the past.

Needless to say, I'm going back to tuna and chicken (snore).

Photo A Day: Saturday June 19 and Sunday June 20

Well, it looks like I'm not going to have a perfect record on this new project. They say new habits take 30 days or something, so these posts might be spotty for a month or so.

This weekend was freakin' busy, so there's plenty of pictures to share but, of course, I can only pick one for each day, that best summed up the day for me OR expresses something significant about that day.

Saturday, Hubby and I hosted a mega back yard play date with our friends who had kids about the same time as we had Daisy. Hence, our back yard turned into a creche, with 7 toddlers bouncing around from one activity to the next. Sand box, water table, paddling pool, swing, slide, food... This pic said it all for me, though: Mackenzie and Aaron, squealing with delight at the pool, water flying everywhere. I do so love our play dates and this one was especially fun because (aptly for Father's Day weekend) Dads were there also - it's so rare that we get the guys together too!



Sunday was Father's Day itself and we zoomed up the hill early to see Grammie, so we could zoom back down again to have a late lunch/early dinner with Grandad and Nan (aka: my parents. Funny how life is expressed in Daisy terms these days.)

Although I have a TON of cute pics of Daisy from our day (when don't I take a ton of cute pics of her on weekends!?), I wanted to post this one as my picture of the day because it's of my Daddy. This is just the second Father's Day I've been able to spend with him in person in more than fifteen years and I feel so thankful for it. In this pic he is watching Daisy mess around in our back yard. It brings immeasurable joy to my life to share Daisy with him. I had a wonderfully close relationship with my maternal grandfather and I'm so glad that Daisy will have the same opportunity with my Dad.



Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband and Dad!

Photo A Day: Thursday June 17 2010

As you know, I am a bit of an amateur photographer, with the emphasis on the amateur. And so, for some time, I've been trying to think of something I can do to give me some practice using camera settings - and on subjects other than Daisy. Not that Daisy isn't the most fun subject for me but, you know, variety is the spice of life. Coinkidentally, I've also been trying to find ways to make this blog more interesting, with more frequent posts about things other than my stupid back and hip pain.

Hence and therefore and so, I have decided to take a photo a day that attempts to sum up something about that day. My goal, however, is not to create photographic art; heck, I don't have time for that right now - sometimes my day is less than artful. Occasionally, of course, that may very well be my goal but I don't want the pressure of having to turn each photo into a masterpiece or, quite frankly, I'll be so intimidated I'll never do it.

Today's photo, from yesterday (which is how this may occasionally run, depending on the day), is of my dreaded office chair (the one that has been so problematic with my back) with it's new double-pillow set-up. I spend a lot of time each day on this chair, so it makes sense it is the first star in my new project.



Of course, I did play around with it a bit in Photoshop to make it a bit more interesting - it is, of course, a photo of a chair (yawn). Had no real agenda. Just left it in a place I personally sorta liked it more.

So, there you have it in all it's raw experimentation. The first of the daily photos...

Yeah, that's right... I'm jogging

Today was my weekly physical therapy appointment and today I JOGGED.

I looked at my PT cross-eyed when he suggested I jog across the room (it's a big room - a sports facility-sized room) and back again. "Jog?" I asked "You want me to JOG! Umm... ok."

To back up a bit, this all came about because he is impressed with my progress to-date. Although we have steadily upped my strength routines in the last few weeks, I have not had any major flare-ups. Well, nothing unusual - just the usual pain. Which is progress on it's own because more exercise usually equals more pain. More exercise with same pain is therefore super-fantastic.

So, he was feeling ambitious with me today. We did lots of butt exercises (I'm gonna have a nice touchey by the time I'm done with this guy) and lots of "Monster Walks" (walking like a zombie across the room with a resistance band around my knees - I know attractive!) and then he said the jog thing.

Now, I don't know how much you remember of my laundry-list of shouldn'ts and won'ts and cant-even-try-that's, but jogging of any sort has been on there for some time. Even attempting to get all ambitious with a quick sprint across the road usually results in me feeling as though my right femur is about to dislodge from the hip socket. I am not exaggerating here, by the way. I exaggerate with A LOT of things on this blog for dramatic effect and will happily cop to it as needed but, on this particular point, I am literally describing what it has felt like to break out of a walk. So, understandably, just the idea of jogging boggled my mind.

The catch was, he said, that I had to do it so that he could barely hear my feel make a sound on the floor, which elicited a major "huh?" from me. How do you run without making a sound? Who does that? Except, maybe, cat burglar - a hobby which, though my past has been ever-so glam and exciting, I have never indulged in. Anyway, I digress.

The point was that I had to somehow prance my flabby, post-baby body across the open gym - a gym full of testosterone-hyped, professional and high school athletes - without making a sound. I couldn't see it so I asked my PT for a demonstration. "And exactly how do YOU jog across the room without making a sound?" I asked him.

He did indeed show me how and, to my horror, prancing was involved - or at least my interpretation of it. It was sort of a torso-straight, slightly leaning forward, ball-of-foot-landing, well... prance. Just like a Lipizzaner Stallion. Soooooper. However, when I mimmicked it, I gotta admit, it felt different - good different and a hell of a lot better that whatever jog I was doing before. Most importantly, I made it across the room and back without my femur popping out of my hip socket. That in itself is a progress report. Even Mr. PT was impressed. Jogging was not something either of us had anticipated adding to the routine this early on - for me, ever!


We ended the day's routine with more walking and some jogging, under supervision from his assistant, Dustin. That's where I got a lesson on walking. Apparently I've been doing it wrong for the last 35 years. DUH! I've been flapping the ball of my foot onto the floor like a duck and jerking my body up-and-down with each step in a way which Dustin very tactfully explained was not all that attractive to watch. (Gee, thanks. You think someone would have mentioned this before now!) Again I had to practice being almost soundless in my footfalls, which, for me, involved less worrying about my straight back, abs, knees, or legs, but more about my feet, rolling from heel through toe. Amazingly he also told me to widen my stride which, from my previous PT's advice, is something I have been trying to narrow for the past several months. (Let's hear it for another set of contradicting instructions.) By doing both I not only found that my walking felt less jerky but also more fluid. Also, according to Dustin, I looked a lot more graceful - BONUS!

What's crazy to me through all this learning to sit right, stand right, bend-over right, walk right and run right is that nobody ever teaches us this stuff as kids or young adults. While we're spending so much time nurturing our kids' minds and social skills we mostly forget to even concern ourselves with their physical development unless, of course, there is something grossly out-of-whack. If so many people are getting this stuff wrong, at it seems as though they may very well be from casual observation, and back pain is one of the most common causes of absence from work (which I believe it is) it seems to me that, as a society, we're missing something here.

Physically we're just sort of launched into the world with little more than instinct as our guide and it's little wonder that we injure ourselves repeatedly and, by the time we're in our 30s, wind up with chronic pain issues. Even when we try to do the right thing and head out to the gym to "feel the burn", we usually have no idea what we're doing, use poor form, and then injure ourselves again. For those of us who don't get to the gym, we let our core languish, forcing our backs to do more than the fair share of work, and further exacerbate our crappy body mechanics with basic muscle imbalances.

While everyone is looking at preventative lifestyle measures to reduce rates of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, maybe we should also be looking at ways to teach ourselves to use our bodies correctly, to avoid back pain, neck pain, hip pain, and headaches?

If I'm going to commit a crime, I'm going to Norway

Maybe we've been thinking about this whole crime prevention thing wrong.

At first I guffawed at the idea of inmates being treated like hotel guests but then I read on and thought about it some more. How would it be if we spent our time trying build our offenders into more well-balanced, valued members of society, rather than locking them up and, more likely than not, ensuring that neither their attitudes or actions change for the future?

It's the whole carrot or stick debate, I guess. I can't see this sort of thing going down well with the heavy-handed right (oh my gosh, can you just imagine the chorus of "bleeding heart liberal" comments that would ensue!?) but I wish Americans would be a little more open-minded about things like this, especially when it seems as though it might just work.


Norway Builds the World's Most Humane Prison

TIME: Monday, May. 10, 2010
By William Lee Adams

By the time the trumpets sound, the candles have been lit and the salmon platters garnished. Harald V, King of Norway, enters the room, and 200 guests stand to greet him. Then a chorus of 30 men and women, each wearing a blue police uniform, launches into a spirited rendition of "We Are the World." This isn't cabaret night at Oslo's Royal Palace. It's a gala to inaugurate Halden Fengsel, Norway's newest prison.

Ten years and 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($252 million) in the making, Halden is spread over 75 acres (30 hectares) of gently sloping forest in southeastern Norway. The facility boasts amenities like a sound studio, jogging trails and a freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates can host their families during overnight visits. Unlike many American prisons, the air isn't tinged with the smell of sweat and urine. Instead, the scent of orange sorbet emanates from the "kitchen laboratory" where inmates take cooking courses. "In the Norwegian prison system, there's a focus on human rights and respect," says Are Hoidal, the prison's governor. "We don't see any of this as unusual."

Halden, Norway's second largest prison, with a capacity of 252 inmates, opened on April 8. It embodies the guiding principles of the country's penal system: that repressive prisons do not work and that treating prisoners humanely boosts their chances of reintegrating into society. "When they arrive, many of them are in bad shape," Hoidal says, noting that Halden houses drug dealers, murderers and rapists, among others. "We want to build them up, give them confidence through education and work and have them leave as better people." Countries track recidivism rates differently, but even an imperfect comparison suggests the Norwegian model works. Within two years of their release, 20% of Norway's prisoners end up back in jail. In the U.K. and the U.S., the figure hovers between 50% and 60%. Of course, a low level of criminality gives Norway a massive advantage. Its prison roll lists a mere 3,300, or 69 per 100,000 people, compared with 2.3 million in the U.S., or 753 per 100,000 — the highest rate in the world.

Design plays a key role in Halden's rehabilitation efforts. "The most important thing is that the prison looks as much like the outside world as possible," says Hans Henrik Hoilund, one of the prison's architects. To avoid an institutional feel, exteriors are not concrete but made of bricks, galvanized steel and larch; the buildings seem to have grown organically from the woodlands. And while there is one obvious symbol of incarceration — a 20-ft. (6 m) concrete security wall along the prison's perimeter — trees obscure it, and its top has been rounded off, Hoilund says, "so it isn't too hostile."

The cells rival well-appointed college dorm rooms, with their flat-screen TVs and minifridges. Designers chose long vertical windows for the rooms because they let in more sunlight. There are no bars. Every 10 to 12 cells share a living room and kitchen. With their stainless-steel countertops, wraparound sofas and birch-colored coffee tables, they resemble Ikea showrooms.
Halden's greatest asset, though, may be the strong relationship between staff and inmates. Prison guards don't carry guns — that creates unnecessary intimidation and social distance — and they routinely eat meals and play sports with the inmates. "Many of the prisoners come from bad homes, so we wanted to create a sense of family," says architect Per Hojgaard Nielsen. Half the guards are women — Hoidal believes this decreases aggression — and prisoners receive questionnaires asking how their experience in prison can be improved.

There's plenty of enthusiasm for transforming lives. "None of us were forced to work here. We chose to," says Charlott-Renee Sandvik Clasen, a music teacher in the prison and a member of Halden's security-guard chorus. "Our goal is to give all the prisoners — we call them our pupils — a meaningful life inside these walls." It's warmth like that, not the expensive television sets, that will likely have the most lasting impact.

The positive post

The negative post has been done (see previous) and it's time for a positive post, I think.

Over this weekend, I took some time to look back over my previous posts. I like to do that from time to time because it provides me with a sense of perspective on how things are "now"; we tend to forget happiness or troubles of the past when we're kvetching on the present.

In the process, I found a post from the beginning of this year, listing my New Year's Resolutions. Funny but I had all forgotten about then, so absorbed by the "current" and "now". What I am pleased to report, however, is that I have actually ticked a few of these off my list already this year. See the ones in BLUE, they are done. Woot! The ones in green are in positive progress. The rest... well... it's still only June ;o)

1. That photography class - finally! Oh, and probably a Photoshop class too. I'd like to be taking my friends' family's holiday pics in October/November for some extra cash.
2. Health for my hip - mission one is strengthen and prevent injury. First step: change doctors and medical groups. Get a different perspective. Watch this space.\
3. Better health for my finances - sell the Altima, reduce my credit card debt, watch what I spend, go on mini-vacations instead of big ones in '10. Save.
4. Sell more @ work. Move some mountains. Find the fire to reach my potential in my current job.
5. Rebook my vacation to Jamaica and get the hell out of dodge. (This doesn't count against #3 because the money is already spent.)
6. Work in the back yard with Hubby and make it a great play space for Daisy in 2010.
7. Go through every room and every cupboard in the house and throw out unnecessary crap. Organize and declutter.
8. Continue the weight loss process and focus more on strength/muscle-tone. Get bikini abs for #5.
9. Enjoy Daisy. Love my husband. Spend time with my parents. Appreciate the ones I love.

So far, so good. I obviously still have work to do but, without even thinking about it, I have been pursuing my goals for 2010!

With #1, I've begun to experiment more with my camera and it's settings. This past weekend I ditched the stock lens that came with the camera and finally used the 50mm macro lens that hubby bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago (or was it last year? or three years ago? Ack, I have no idea!)

Anyway, I was pretty pleased with the results. I played around with some settings on Friday afternoon and then, on Friday evening, spent some time snapping Daisy in the yard and then some friends at a dinner party. I was particularly pleased with these shots:


Shomeek, our host


My beautiful friend, Kim, who hates having her picture taken


Our gorgeous hostess, Mala.


Mala's daugher Evani

And you know who this is by now...





Anyway, I've got a long way to go before I'm at a professional standard but I was happy with the improvements I've made and the way I'm much more comfortable with my camera settings. I simply LOVE taking photos - it has become my main hobby and one that gives me so much joy - and so I would love to expand it, at some point and when the time is right, into a money-making venture. All volunteer models welcome...

The weekend pain report

It was a mixed bag this weekend.

Friday night we had dinner with friends and I was feeling great. No pain, I don't think, or if there was pain it wasn't so bad that I was aware of it. (That sounds crazy, right? But, honestly, sometimes I'll think I'm pain free and then I think about it for a second and realize that I am, in fact, in pain but it's low grade so I'm able to just ignore it because it's become the norm.)

But then most of the weekend I battled some kind of pain in my back and sacrum. The two main problems seemed to be my sciatic nerve on my right side, which makes it difficult to put foot to the floor, and just a general, underlying burning, tingling and soreness that radiated from my tailbone all the way down the backs of my thighs and to my feet. The best way I can explain it is that it's almost as if I sunburned the back of my legs and butt really bad. You know that feeling of general soreness and constant burning? That's what it feels like. Sometimes I can ignore it pretty good and power through, and sometimes it just gets too much. Like yesterday, when I ended up sitting most of the morning on my zero-gravity lounger in the back yard, with an ice-pack on my back. Eventually I gave in and took two mega pain-pills/NSAIDs, which killed the pain dead, because I'm just not the kind of girl who can sit around all day. (Plus, my daughter is not the kind of girl who wants to let me!) The success of the NSAIDS tells me the problem is nerve inflammation still. Boo, hiss.

Then there was my psoas playing up again, making it difficult to walk sometimes. When it pinches on my right side, putting my foot in front of me and bearing weight makes it feel like someone strummed the muscle like a guitar string.

As for what I did to deserve this... who knows? I haven't done a lick of housework and have been very careful not to overdo it in the walking, standing, or sitting department. I'm doing my utmost best to bend down exactly as I have been taught (as in never bend down - squat or lunge).

Yesterday I skipped my PT exercises, just to give myself a rest because the pain was gone and I had no intention of flaring it back up again. This morning I feel pretty good. No sciatic pain, a little burning in my sacrum, psoas so far quiet. Maybe I just needed a rest? Who knows? Either way, we power on through another week because there is no other option.

This weekend Hubby and I spent some time alone in the yard while Daisy napped and he decided to do some digging. We're slowly but surely getting some stuff done in our huge yard; it's full of potential but it's owners lack the time or money to devote to a full-on re-landscaping. Anyway, I was watching Hubby do his thing and remembered a time not so long ago when I would have been standing right next to him with a shovel in hand, holding my own. I used to be so fit and strong and had so much energy! I really hope I can get back to that person but I still don't have complete confidence it will ever happen. I remain hopeful but with a twinge of doubt.

Two pillows and a phone book

Yesterday I moved my computer set-up back to my desk.

I have one of those Ikea arm chairs in my office that I have been working from recently, using a little mobile laptop table but, as great as it is, it doesn't give me room to spread out work papers or really be productive. Plus the loungy-type position, while lovely for a while, starts to make me feel lethargic after too long. Then there is the fact that getting up and out of the seat is a little taxing sometimes too, so it discourages me from getting up more often. (Which, as we all know by now, is bad, bad, bad.)

In short, I needed to re-evaluate, especially since work is really busy and I need to put the zing back in my work day.

However, a full day at my desk sent me into the stratosphere with pain. I felt it coming on throughout the day but I was so busy that I pushed it to the back of my mind and ignored it - this is something I have a tendency to do and yes, I know I need to stop; it's not helping me.

My desk is too high off the ground (although it is a standard height) and to get my chair at the right height for me to be in the proper position for my computer, my feet end up off the ground, which puts pressure on my IT band. If I move the chair back down, then my upper back starts to hurt. The chair itself - which is not a cheap chair - just doesn't seem to fit me because no matter how I adjust it, my back feels like it's working too hard to keep me upright. After 20 minutes in it, I find myself in some kind of unhealthy spine position.

Yet, I was waaaay more productive yesterday and had way more energy throughout the day, than I've had in a long time.

By the end of the day I was feeling discouraged. I either was incredibly productive at work (which I so need right now) and in pain, or I was somewhat unproductive at work and relatively out of pain. (I say relatively because I would still sit for too long in the old chair.)

I've tried looking online for some desks that sit lower or are at least adjustable in height but they are priced way out of my league - $1,300++ - and that's just for the table. On my existing desk I have a hutch, two drawers, a filing cabinet, and a 2-shelf cupboard, all of which I would have to buy something else for. Then there is the chair itself - good chairs for people with back pain run at around $800+. Financially, it's not feasible. Ok, well maybe I could swing it, but there are like 1,000 other things I would rather spend $2k on - and not all of them are frivolous.

This morning I had my second physical therapy appointment with Kyle, my new PT and so I decided to address this with him along with the problems I'm having sitting on the floor with Daisy to play and read to her. Between my desk/working position and my play time with my daughter, I've been able to determine that these are the two biggest stressors on my back - stressors that are unavoidable and non-negotiable to an extent because I need to work (to pay for all the PT sessions!) and I need to spend time with my daughter.

Kyle was awesome. He asked a ton of questions about my work station set-up and mocked it up in an office at his facility. Then he had me sit down and show him what I was currently doing. After reviewing my less-than-stellar sitch, he went off and grabbed two pillows and a phone book. He put one pillow behind my back and one under my elbows, then he placed the phone book under my feet. Hey presto! It felt good!

So now I'm sitting at my desk writing this, with bed pillows placed in various locations and foot stool under my feet. I don't think I've got it exactly right yet - some small adjustments still need to be made - but it already feels better. (And a ton cheaper than new office furniture.)

He also addressed the floor-sitting thing with Daisy and gave me some fixes, again with some bed pillows and a wall. So, if you see me running around the house with a bed pillow attached to me, you'll know why. Bed pillows are my newest BFFs.

Outside of this, my PT session went great. Kyle was impressed that the exercises he gave me had not made me sore (and I didn't miss a day of doing them - not one) and thought I was doing them well. He thought I showed good progress and good strength and expected me to be able to progress faster than his original estimations. Woot!

So, this week we got to add some REAL exercises to the mix - some rows using a band, some sumo squats, and some crunches.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT'S BEEN SINCE SOMEONE TOLD ME I COULD DO A SQUAT!!!!???????

Sorry, I was so excited when he said "squat" that I nearly fell over onto the mat. I almost said "Are you sure I should be doing this?" because everyone before Kyle has pretty much kept me on an exercise regimen fit for a 90 year old total hip replacement patient and had led me to believe that trying to achieve anything more was nothing more than me being in denial. So, I wanted to kiss him.

I also get to up my walking time to 25 minutes at a time AND, if I do well with the new, more aggressive exercises this week, I could even add in... GET THIS: strength training machines at the gym!

OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG. Strength training. At the gym! I can go to the gym!?

Yes, I know, calm down; I might pull something. Gotta get through this next week first.

The thing I really like about Kyle is that he's finickity for the details. He's constantly watching the finer points of my alignment and checking me. So, although he's proving to be more aggressive than previous PTs, he's also more precise. And that's what I need because, as I am beginning to realize more and more, the smallest change in posture or positioning can be the difference between getting better or inducing a flare-up. I need to learn that finickity-ness too.

So, for the first time I am adding "progress" as a label to my blog post today. How awesome is that!?

I am actually beginning to feel hope for getting better. I'm trying to keep the elation in check because I"m sure there will be slip-ups and bad days, but just to feel more positive feels good.

I do not have a problem with rich people but I do have a problem with rich people buying votes

There. I said it.

Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina being on the other side of the political spectrum doesn't bother me. I don't agree with their stance on many things but that's ok - I don't agree with many people stance on many things. However, what irkles me no end, is the fact that they were able to buy votes in yesterday's primary election.

Arguably, you could say it was a middle-finger to traditional politicians and an embracing of corporate CEOs as the "solution" to the terrible mess we find California in. However, it is hard to argue with these numbers: MEG WHITMAN spent more than $71 million from her personal fortune to win votes and CARLY FIORINA spent $5 million, both women outspending their opponents by a margin that was beyond ridiculous.

Of course, you can't air radio and tv spots or organize a grass-roots effort without money but the whole concept of the political process is that spending is closely related to support via donations and is, therefore, somewhat an extension of the voting process itself.

What Whitman and Fiorina did was completely skip the grass-roots support completely and buy themselves exposure that had nothing to do with their ability to win hearts and minds. Meg in particular clogged up our TVs with a mud slinging campaign that made me sick to my stomach (egged on by her fellow-billionnaire opponent) and to the point where you could barely turn on a tv without being subjected to their torrent of insults. It was disgusting. I don't care what their politics are. And yet, by virtue of the fact that you just couldn't get away from her, she won votes. (I'm not saying some people didn't vote from an informed perspective but, hey, most of us can agree that's not the majority of the electorate.)

As for Carly, we all know that her votes came from being the "other" choice. She spent her millions just telling us that, if we didn't like the other guy, she was our only other option. When you can spend enough money to drown out all other voices, it's definitely easy to make it seem that way.

I used to like politics when I lived in England. Since I moved to the U.S.... notsomuch. It's a battle driven by personality, money and the deeds involved in getting it. Not that this isn't present in the UK at all but the political atmosphere is more driven by issues and money is not the deciding factor in any way, shape or form. (I could explain why but I won't bother you with a lesson on the British parliamentary system.)

At first when I moved out here, I couldn't understand the sense of apathy most people had to voting and the political process, or the disdain they had for politicians in general. Now I totally get it. After 15 years, I'm pretty sick of it myself. And if anyone thinks that corporate CEOs will be any less drawn into the political pitfalls that career politicians have been criticized for, they appear to be sorely mistaken. The recent cat fight played out on our TV sets makes that pretty clear.

How about a Democratic ad... instead?

Today I checked my blog for comments (in the vain hope that there might be some) and, in the process, happened to see THIS monstrosity sitting on my side-bar, in the Google ads section.

Which presents somewhat of an ethical dilemma. There is no way in sweet hell that I want my blog to promote ANYTHING about Carly Whatsherfacearina. BUT, I have no control over what ads Google deems appropriate for my blog so, I'm assuming, my only choice is to remove Google Ads entirely from my blog if I don't like it?

You would think, however, in these days of advanced online information gathering, that Google's little spiders would have scanned my content and figured out that this blog was the last place that Carly would find supporters. But then it occurs to me that not all my friends are Democrats, so maybe Google is smarter than I thought. Stiil, it irkles me no end that my blog is being used as a Republican billboard.

While we're on the subject of the failed, ex-HP CEO (whose only political claim-to-fame is advising John McCain on economics during the 2008 Presidential Election - and look how well that went), Ms. Fiorina has the most ridiculous political tagline of this otherwise dirty-politics primary: "Vote Carly. Instead."



All this political slogan says to me is "I suck less" or "I'm the best of a bad bunch" or "If you don't like him, vote for me" which is on a par with a campaign for high school president, or whatever it is that they vote for in schools out here.

As a marketing and sales person her whole slogan bothers me. I would never advertise my company's product as something you might want to choose "instead". Where's the value statement? What does this tell someone about my product? That I'm not the other product. Great marketing. And this is the prior CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Instills confidence, doesn't it?

Living all weekend with the word "can't"

As you know, if you had the gumption to wade through the description of my last Physical Therapy session, I am on activity restrictions that rival those of a person who just had total limb replacement.

Yes, I have a flair for the dramatic but, honestly, that's how it felt this weekend, my first days with the new restrictions in place.

I tried, in vain, to hang with Daisy at the local My Gym class on Saturday morning. However, bending and lifting with correct form is not something fourteen month olds hang around for. Plus, there is the fact that part of the activities involve bouncing on a trampoline with your little one and rolling backwards on the floor as you spin them over your head. Yeah, I know, sounds like it fits in with the plan well, right?

For my pennance, I laid down three times during the day and iced my back. I wasn't in a ton of pain or anything but I had that twingy feeling before I go into an "episode" and I didn't want to go there so I was being a good little girl and putting preventative measures in place.

The rest of the weekend mostly passed in a haze of sloth. I hate lying around but, quite honestly, I couldn't think what else to do with myself. Usually I avoid the back-killing activity of sitting on the floor and playing with Daisy, by heading out on an excursion with her. But then I also wasn't supposed to be lifting her in and out of the car, certainly couldn't lift the stroller in and out of the car, wasn't allowed to walk for more than ten minutes at a time when I got wherever I was going to, was faced with 90 degree heat outside anyway, and could only think of shopping as an appropriate distraction (which meant medicating with money vs. pills.)  If you have kids, you'll understand how crippling these restrictions are. If you don't, you may think I'm over-exaggerating or just not trying hard enough - once upon a time I would have too - but the reality is that, unless you have someone else around (and then even if you do) it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to adhere to these rules when you have a toddler to care for all day. Yes, I said impossible and I AM NOT exaggerating here.

Normally if I do stay home for most of the day, I pick up around the house, clean the toilets, vacuum the floor, polish the surfaces, do the laundry. Unfortunately only polishing was on the cards, although I did try to vacuum the family room because the vacuum was already in there and didn't require lifting or bending. It did require moving back and forth, back and forth, however, and that didn't seem to be hitting the right spot, so I stopped that too.

Sunday was a little easier with Hubby around to pick up some slack but that only made me more miserable because, here I was, sitting around useless as he vacuumed, laundered, and picked up Daisy. He only gets one day off a week as it is and now he had to spend that day picking up my slack, so there was also the guilt.

Then everything we could think of to do involved some kind of activity and so we managed to drag each other down all day, trying to list some kind of something that we would both enjoy and that would not violate my physical restrictions. We kept coming up cold and so laid on the couch watching TV as Daisy napped, drifting in and out of sleep and feeling sorry for ourselves.

To many of you, sitting around all day doing pretty much nothing, might sound splendid. Unfortunately, for me and my personality... notsomuch. As in, not at all. As in, a quick trip to depressedville.

We did finally get out for some lunch, where I managed to violate my diet and our budget instead. Afterwards, we headed to a park where they have a water playground (aka: sprayground) and I got to push my physical limits again, bending down to take pictures of Daisy getting soaked. Seriously, MOVING felt great, so whatever.

Do I sound bitter? Yes. Because I am. Five days a week of sitting around like a 90 year old while someone else watches your kid, is one thing. Spending all weekend acting like an invalid, is quite something else. I sure hope these limitations are EXTREMELY short term because I think I'll need a Prozac AND a narcotic to get through too many more.