diagnosis...

pulled ligament in my lower spine... and the spasms and severe pain was happening because when the ligament was stretched, it allowed the muscle to move where it wasn't supposed to, sometimes hitting a nerve...

in time, my body will heal itself... but i can do things to help the process along... like not lifting anything over 10 lbs, not bending at the waist, not twisting at the waist, not sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time, and by resting as much as i can...

i was cleared to go back to work, as long as i follow the above recommendations... and cleared to go to england!

if i'm not feeling any better in 2 weeks, i'm supposed to go back to start physical therapy... but if today is any indication, i think i'll be much better by then... today i just have a dull pain, and no spasms... so i feel lots better already...

yay, i'm not completely broken!

laid up...

let me just say, being on bed rest sucks... and i've only been that way for 12 hours...

yesterday afternoon, i bent over to pick up my shoes, and it hurt really badly when i stood up... i laid down for a bit, and did some stretching hoping that would help... as the day went on, my back hurt worse and worse... last night, the pain got so bad that i took myself to the ER...

the preliminary diagnosis is that i have a slipped disc and the "beginnings of a pinched nerve" (they way i see it, it either is pinched, or it isn't, but that's what the doc said)... i've been placed on bed rest for the next two days, with absolutely no sitting and putting pressure on my tailbone... except when driving to the orthopaedist (who, i was told, will most likely extend my bed rest, and start me on physical therapy to correct the pinched nerve before it gets worse)...

they gave me some meds that are supposed to be great for this sort of thing, but so far, i can only tell that it works a little bit... i still feel a bit of pain (especially when i sneeze or cough)...

hopefully the orthopaedist will fix me right up and i'll still be able to make my trip to england next week... but if not, i suppose it is better to take care of my body than go galavanting around the world...

well... back to my confinement... wee...

they're gone...

just as quickly as they came, the foster kids are gone...

turns out, they've been in foster care for most all of their lives... they were raised by separate families in another state up until a few weeks ago, when the mother got cleaned up and received custody again...

well, someone noticed that the mom was junked up again, and the child services in the county where my family lives took over... not knowing the full situation... when the original foster parents found out, they wanted their "kids" back...

so... now my mom waits for more kids...

new members of my family...

well... for now they're just temporary... and i'm not talking about new pets either...

about a month ago, my mom decided that since her disability claim was denied again, she would have to find a way to go back to work... and seeing as how she can't really do the "normal" type jobs that fully healthy people can do, she decided to do something she knows she's great at... being a mom... so she put in her paperwork to be a foster parent...

in the county where she lives, there are more foster children than foster parents, leaving lots of kids in state wards... so her paperwork was expedited, and this week, she was brought two adorable little kids... a brother and sister, 3 and 2... she will have them for at least 3 months, while an investigation into their mom is conducted... if the investigation doesn't go well for the mother, my mom could have the kids for quite some time...

she was really hoping not to get ones that young, but she's so happy to have them... and hopes that she's able to make this difficult time for the kids a little easier...

keeping busy

well... chris left last week for afghanistan... and i'm trying to keep myself busy so that the time goes by fast, and I don't think about missing him as much...

i've been hanging out a lot with my friends from work... this past weekend, we did happy hour at a place that had an awesome 80s cover band! I had such a great time... i sang so much/loud that i had no voice on saturday, and danced so much that my legs hurt! and then on sunday, since some of us weren't able to go visit our moms, we went to one of the amusement parks here... i rode all the big rides... and even did the "Skycoaster" - the ride where they connect you to a harness and then raise you way up in the air... when you're ready, you pull the cord and free fall to the end of your line... it's like bungee jumping but you don't spring back up, you just swing out over the crowd... sounds scary, but i had a blast!!!

yesterday and today the electrical team went to pittsburg to visit a power lab... it was fun... got to see lots of neat stuff... but i was glad to be back home... the van ride was a little stuffy, and very bumpy... and getting stuck in traffic for over an hour wasn't the best time either...

tonight was the Gilmore Girls series finale... i can't believe that i watched that show for 7 years... i felt like i was growing up with Rory and that Lorelei was my friend... so it was sad to see the show end... i don't think i've cried so much over a show ending since Golden Girls (and i still cry when i see their last show in reruns)... but it was a good cry... i hadn't been sad about chris leaving, so the emotional show helped to get that out... like my best friend jackie says "sometimes you just need to watch a show/movie that will make you cry." i feel better now...

actually, i feel very sleepy now... i'm glad to be sleeping in my own bed tonight, with my comfy pillows... mmm bedtime! g'night