Wrist Brace - who knew?

The brace is no hindrance to important dog petting

For months now I've been waking up with a terrible back ache. Before my first cup of coffee it'd be gone but those first few minutes of the day had been awful. In addition, the big tendon on the outside of my wrist began to ache. I use my hands a lot but I couldn't think of what I'd been doing that would cause these symptoms. It was a puzzle.

I slacked off on the knitting and even on the typing (whence the lack of blogging). I began looking at new mattresses and even - gasp - considered talking to my doctor! Finally the wrist hurt more than the back so I decided to wear a wrist brace - both day and night. And that's when it hit me. I tend to tuck my hands up beneath my chin when I'm asleep. All my joints are pretty floppy anyway so the poor wrists were being pressed one way and then the next and forced to hold those awkward positions for hours on end. I've been wearing the brace now for about 5 days and not only is the wrist decidedly better but hey - what the .....?

No more morning back ache. It went away the first morning - but I didn't notice it till yesterday. woo woo - who knew? Makes sense, of course, what with the wrist bone connected to the arm bone - and the arm nerves connected to the spinal column ... It was truly a duh! moment.

So. No knitting news - and no real news about much else. We're winding down the fiscal year at work - 6 more weeks - can you believe it! No. Neither can I. And in 4 weeks we have to have the whole summer reading program (this year expanded to include middle schoolers) ready to launch. And we're getting a new server and a rebuilt network - think Ka-Ching! as we shift from WindowsXP to whatever the new transmogrification of an OS will be - oh yes and there will be a mobile app for the catalog just in time to start thinking about a new circulation system .... It all boggles the mind. What's a poor girl to do - except plan a vacation, of course. which I shall begin doing now.

One thing that I have been up to the past month has been working out with the personal trainer at the local gym. I love that one-on-one experience with exercise and it really helps to have someone there to push you. Especially one who is your own age and prefaces every session with sincere urging for me to "tell me if it hurts". Happily, I am not of the no pain no gain school. I happen to know when what I'm doing is right for me and when it is wrong - and I do not like pain. What I do like is this tauter fitter shape I'm creating - and it is a surprise how quickly that occurs. What I do NOT like is the dietary slacking that seems so irresistibly inevitable. So. The philosophical question for this Monday is ...."Why do I slack off in one area the moment I begin paying increased attention to another?"  Is there some psychological gyroscope within that insists on keeping me Out Of Shape? Some belief that I come from the fat side of the family and by golly I am going to stay there? Hrm. Not true - so - must talk to my inner wild child. Where's my notebook......

Happy Monday to you all.