Saturday, October 22, 2011

Cruising along

I really need to get back into the habit of posting.

Last spring I ended up with tennis elbow in my left elbow. Later in the spring/summer it started in the right elbow, but since I couldn't afford to go to an orthopedic doctor and my normal doc had already tried injections I just figured I'd live with it.

Well it finally was getting to be so bad that I decided to try going to a chiropractor that several of my coworkers have gone to. One of them even went for tennis elbow and swears it helped him heal when nothing else would.

So Thursday I went for my first chiropractor visit and got acupuncture in my elbows. I've never given much credence to chiropractors, mostly considering them not much more than fancy voodoo witch doctors, but I've been in just chronic pain and I'm willing to try about anything at this point.

It wasn't the worst thing ever, but it was uncomfortable for sure. Not because of the needles. I'm totally unfazed by needles. But the muscles in my arms did not appreciate the invasion so much. They felt like they were tying themselves into tiny knots in there. I suppose that means it was doing something, which sounds better than doing nothing. We'll see if it leads to less pain down the road though. I have two more visits next week.

I'd have taken a pic of my elbows with the needles, but I couldn't really move my hands and arms. Maybe I'll arrange something next time.

One thing that did surprise me was that they do no prep of your skin before poking you. I expected a little alcohol swabbing or something. The chiropractor said that you'd have to do more than a little swab of alcohol to really sterilize your skin, so that is really just an act put on for the patient's peace of mind. Nothing is infected, heck I don't even think they bled, so that must be ok I guess.

On the homefront, Tom had a nice case of a mild stomach bug this week. It put him out of commission Wednesday night and Thursday most of the day. He looked like hell Thursday morning, but I still had to go to work. Nicky's school doesn't even start till 9am, and his bus picks him up at 8:30. Since I need to be at work by 8:30 at the latest I was hard pressed to figure out how to get him to school.

I ended up driving him around the corner to his friends' house, meeting their mom (who is also named Angela, how funny is that?) and asking her to take Nicky with her kids to the busstop and meet him in the afternoon too. Then I told her she could just pitch him over the fence (our backyards share a fence). She was willing to do it, and it seems like it went well. I should bake her some cookies or something because that really helped us out of a tight spot. It allowed Tom to just let the babies do their thing in the living room while he pretty much keeled over on the sofa. It's so nice for Nicky to have friends to play with so close too. They seem to all get along great.

Today we're heading out to find Nicky's Halloween costume and check out some options for draperies in the living room and den. We've managed to keep the kids from obliterating the vertical blinds so far, but I'd like to replace them with drapes before our luck runs out!

Earlier today we played in the backyard. It's so great that the kids can all just play back there without worrying about fire ants! And it is nice and shaded too. We all just love it! I worked on my laptop for a bit while the kids played, and when I looked up this is what I saw:



Yeah, except for the end there it was a lot of fun. They got better at holding on, and Nicky got better at driving:



More movies up here.

Monday, October 17, 2011

We're settling in

Finally started taking photos and movies of the kids again!
Sorry for the long lapse, but we've been a bit busy.

You know, moving to a whole new job in a whole new state, getting everyone all here in a whole new house, with a whole new school, etc.

It's been a busy month! But I started my new job on 9/16 (and LOVE it!) and Tom and the kids arrived here on 10/2, and Nicky started school on 10/5. We're settling in nicely now and even last night put the master bedroom together. No longer sleeping on mattresses on the floor! Woohoo!

I have a few photos up for you here.

I'll get movies up when I can.

Thanks for all your positive thoughts and prayers. This move was huge, but we're all super happy to be here, be together, and be healthy!