Struggle Street

I woke up today certain that I'd feel better. Last night I popped some pills and rubbed in some tiger balm. I rested with ice packs and put my feet up. I had an early night and a good night's sleep in my own bed. And then this morning, I stood up, and reality came crashing down. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm crooked.

The first time it happened, although incredibly painful, it was bloody hilarious! Five years ago I coordinated an office move. Prone to thinking I'm blessed with super strength and too impatient to wait for someone else, I moved a bunch of heavy boxes. The next day the pain in my lumbar spine was excruciating. I'd previously been diagnosed with multiple disc protrusions and nerve impingement but this pain was different. Then I pulled up my shirt and looked in the mirror. My rib cage was sticking out to the right and my hips had popped over to the left. It looked like I'd been performing a dance move and someone pushed pause!

I tried everything I could to straighten up but all I did was cause more pain so I went to see a chiro. A few treatments later I was straight again and we had a funny story to tell. Five years on and I've been through this more times than I can count, and I must say, it's becoming less and less amusing. It's hard work looking after three rugrats when you're crooked and in agony. I've stopped seeing my chiro every time it happens because I know the routine. Ice, massage, anti-inflammatories and rest. I hope I'm straight again tomorrow, I have so much on my to do list after a couple of days away.

I've mentioned before that I don't handle being needy. Well today is no exception. Today, rather than just saying "Honey I can't do this today, I need help" I've done 2 loads of washing, cooked a batch of baby food and some bolognese sauce for the family, made an ocean artwork with J, shopped for a birthday present for my brother and abused M for allowing me to do all of this when I should have been resting. I've used sarcasm to imply that he's a bad parent and bad partner for trying to replace the radiator in his car rather than read my mind and come inside and look after A and I. *Sigh*

So what have I learnt from all of this? I've learnt that dancing in super high heels while holding all 13kgs of H WILL result in another crooked episode. I've learnt that, much to my disappointment, M cannot read my mind. Shame on him. And I've learnt that sometimes I can't be a superwoman, sometimes I need to step back and ask for help.

What did you learn this weekend?

P.S Is anyone else a Carl Barron fan? Because after writing this post I'm starting to wonder if 'crooked' is really a word at all? Have I got it right? Crooked. Crooked. One. One. One.

P.P.S If you're not familiar with the Carl Barron joke you no doubt now think I'm a dickhead. You're probably right.

And because I took so long to write this post, it is now my IBOT post, so please check out the others!