I've learned a lot about myself this week, truly I have. This usually happens when my husband goes out of town for an extended period of time because I end up spending a lot of quality time with myself. I also spent a lot of quality time with my kids, who say really funny things, like some of these things that Ella said to me the other day . . .
Out of the Mouths of Babes: Just when I think it can't get any more ridiculous
This week it was Ella's turn to get sick. This week's malady was strep throat which basically means quarantining your child (and yourself) at home for 24 hours until they are germ free. It also means scrambling around to reschedule the FULL patient caseload I had all nicely planned out for Thursday. Ugh.
Anyway, we were on our way to pick up Jack from school when I had this interesting conversation with Ella. Apparently, I lead a very boring life. Who knew?
Ella: Is this what you do every day?
Me: Yes.
Ella: Booor-ing . . .
Me: Really? You think this is boring?
Ella: Yes, boring. All you do is go to work, drive around, pick us up, cook food - it's so boring.
Me: Wow. I never realized you thought my life was so boring. You think my job is boring too?
Ella: No, I think your job is fun.
Me: Fun? Really?
Ella: Yes. You get to ride around and visit old people. That's fun. I like old people.
Me: Wow. I never knew that.
Ella: What do you do at the old people's houses anyway? Eat food? Play games?
Me: No. I do exercises with them.
Ella: Oh. That's boring. I still love old people though.
Me: What do you like about them?
Ella: I like to party with them.
Me: So how old do you have to be to be an old person anyway?
Ella: Oh, I don't know - like around fifty to a hundred.
Me: So I only have about eight years left until I'm an old person?
Ella: Yep.
So my life is boring and I have one foot in the grave, according to my lovely little daughter.
Speaking of old . . .
I may not be old yet, but I sure feel old sometimes. This week I threw my back out during a run that should have been a piece of cake. I spent two days obsessively stretching, mobilizing, heating, popping ibuprofen, etc. to get my back feeling young and strong again. I finally got things back in place after rolling around on a rolled up towel, thanks to advice from a fellow PT friend. It really got me thinking though that I need to take better care of my body. I've recently been noticing a disturbing trend among friends of mine who are all in a similar age bracket - the late thirties, early to mid-forties range. We all think we're still young and limber like we were in our twenties - but NEWS FLASH - we're not. I know at least three people who have busted ligaments and/or menisci in their knees within the past two months which have required surgical repair. I have two other friends who are undergoing major surgery to repair other joints in their bodies.
What's going on here? Am I next? Earlier this week as I writhed in agony on my bedroom floor, unable to move without creating a sharp, excruciating pain in my back, I contemplated the fact that one day I may not be able to fix this with some stretching and icing. Next week I'm getting off my butt and getting back into Pilates class. My back needs it. Badly.
Too many patients, too little time
Again, speaking of old - I had way too many patients on my schedule today. Because of Ella's brief 24 hour fling with strep throat, I had to reschedule most of my Thursday patients for today. The result was that I had six patients to see within a seven hour time span. Not good. That basically meant that I had to get to each patient's house on time, keep them focused on the task at hand and get in and out in less than an hour. Plus I had to pray that I wouldn't run into any traffic jams.
Everything went surprisingly well, even though I'm sure my blood pressure shot up about 20 points when I had to slam on my brakes on the interstate when a car suddenly slowed down in front of me. There's nothing like a sudden stop at 45-50 miles per hour to draw attention to how much CRAP is lying on the floor of my minivan. Everything that was in the back of my car is now in the front. I seriously need to spend about an hour getting all this stuff out of my car. My blood pressure shot up again about an hour later when I got stuck in a line of cars that was being blocked from moving forward due to a tree trimming project ahead.
Six patients in one day - never again. I don't like to feel like I'm rushing through my visits. I don't think any of them noticed because I tried really hard to be my usual chatty self, not rushing through things and taking the time to listen to each and every concern. I pulled it off but I'm exhausted.
Happy weekend! I know I'll enjoy mine.
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