A Pain in the Arm

I have been having trouble with a sore shoulder for the past week or so. I have had pain to the point of tears. I have tried ice, massage and anything I could think of or find on line. I have been doing a lot of crocheting for the past 2 weeks. I mean massive amounts by my standards. Well really about a gallon of yarn. I have been making useful objects for a fundraiser. I do crochet faster than I knit so, I thought I would get more done. Until tonight I did not realize the cost was the unbearable pain in my right arm that would not go away.

So you might be wondering how I came up with this answer? That was not found on the web. I had originally thought it was moving wrong one night,when Eric was having a rough night. Wrong. After crocheting various coasters and wash cloths today. I decided to pick up my knitting needles which have not been in use for 2 weeks. Yes about when the problem started. After just 2 hours of knitting the pain in my shoulder and upper arm was reduced by 50%, which is huge.

I just managed to do a solo change of Eric for the first time in a week and a half. So those of you who know me well. You have a new job. If I complain of upper arm pain ask me If I have been using a crochet hook? If the answer is yes just remind me how silly I am being.

Thanks for listening. Most of you have probably figured this out already and don't need the post. It’s just a reminder to me that I do have limitations. Did I mention how much I hate limitations? Well that is a blog post in itself.

Can You Donate Your Spare Change?

Eric uses the services of United Cerebral Palsy of Southern Arizona, UCPSA for short.  Since before I hurt my back oh so last century they provided rehab services for Eric. Since I have hurt my back and can no longer lift, they provide attendant care to help Eric with the things that I can no longer do for him, such as dressing, transfers and personal care. We also rely on them for respite services so John and I can have some couple time. With out the help of the wonderful people at UCPSA, Eric probably would not be living at home now.

Since we have been with them a very long time let me tell you what they have done for us recently. When Teri graduated Law School and got sworn into the California Bar, they provided round the clock care so we could both see Teri accomplish these wonderful things. We usually just do the parent thing with Teri one at a time. Eric's case Manager Lisa thought we should both be there for those 2 special occasions. Lisa moved heaven and Earth to make that happen. When Teri need help back in July and I was gone for a week they helped John get through the week.

For the the past several years the state of Arizona has cut back on the money they pay to providers such as UCPSA. Here is where the simply wonderful people at Circle K come in. On their counters they have canisters for spare change. I know we all have spare change laying around the house and in car. What I am asking you to do is gather the spare change from your car and drop it in the canister when you drive by Circle K. Go through the couch cushions and old purses. We all know that we are all guilty of this, and since you were not using the money anyway why not drop it off at Circle K.  That jar of pennies, nickles and dimes that you pull out of your pocket or wallet would make a good donation too. That spare change laying around in your desk would work too. The canister is right on the counter. You can say hi and say that I told you about the canisters or you can sneak in and just drop it off.

Please don't worry that it is only a few coins. A few coins from a few hundred people really add up.  With Washington at odds with one another right now we don't know if this vital service will be trimmed further.  So please do you part and drop that spare change off a Circle K.  There are over a million people who live in Southern Arizona, just think what we could do if we all dropped off our spare change at Circle K.

If you live outside of the Southern Arizona area and would still like to help here is the link to Support UCPSA.

Please feel free to pass this on to friends and family. If you can post this blog at work please do so, but ask first. Feel free to tweet,  face book or use any social media the link to this blog too. We as a family would like to thank you in advance for all your support.

Full disclosure time. I am not employee of UCPSA or Circle K or receiving any compensation for this blog post. All money raised by Circle K  will go to UCPSA.  For the foreseeable future Eric will continue to receive services from UCPSA.

Stash Down

Yes, the title is right. About 30 skeins of yarn left the house today. No not bare naked yarn, that would be just silly. I modified the knit along of a few months back to make it more efficient to knit. This is a very good thing, because 30 finished Soap Bags with I-cord ties left the house today.  I tried to get them all in the picture. They went to the Tucson JCC Taglit Program for a Mother's Day fundraiser this coming Wednesday. We will be right outside the front door. There will also be plants, greeting cards, and earrings for sale. This will fund the Taglit garden project.

In case you were not aware of the Taglit program, I will tell you a little about it and what it means to our family. The Taglit program that Eric goes to is Monday through Friday during the Day. The young adults range in age from 18 up to the low 30's.  Eric gets to hang out with his friends, some of them from as far back as pre-school when they were 4. He also has friends that he went to school and new friends too. They hang out, go on field trips, do community service, work on life skills and have a great time doing it. Eric is learning to ride a tricycle, which is a big wow to us. He also get to go swimming once a week. We on the other hand get a break from the non-stop care and attention Eric requires daily.

Even before the sequester hit money was tight for the extras the young adults like to do. This is where the fund raisers come in. The sale gives the young adults life skills, raises much needed cash and gives them a chance to show off the greeting cards they have designed. With the soap bags they will be doing the finishing work by weaving in the I-cord and putting in the soap. Lastly they will be tagging the bags for sale. Eric hopes to see you there on Wednesday.

Inches Away

My body has decided to shed a few more inches this week. Some in the usual places, 3 shirts are now to big and headed for the charity pile this week. I am trying to shrink a few pairs of pants by putting them in the dryer on low until they are mostly dry. I hope that this works.

The one area that got me though is my feet. I was not expecting them to slim down too. The general conscience is that our feet get wider as we age. Not mine. The summer shoes I bought in November at the sales were a perfect fit when I bought them. Now they are just too wide and I slide right through them. I want to scream no fair. I was really enjoying wearing a B width shoe. The reason is simple; everything comes in a B width. It is the industry standard. I will go along with my feet, but my only hope is that I do not go down to a AAA width again. With my high arch and narrow feet, let’s just say shoe shopping is not quite as fun. You can add as many funny symbols as you would like to here.

Just to remind everyone, I am not dieting. I am making life style changes. My lunch and dinner plates are now 7 to 9 inches across with a useable area of 5 to 7 inches. As opposed to the usual dinner plate size of 12 to 14 inches across with a usable area of 10 to 12 inches. Even if I pile my plate high there is much less food at meal times. I am not an angle when it comes to sweets and bread my 2 down falls, but I try to hold it in moderation. I no longer use anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup, Aspartame or other artificial sweeteners.

We are also trying to eat more real and whole foods. We are using less prepared and ready to cook or made items. This works out well with John being retired. We do not have to rely on my hands to decide what we are going to eat on any given day. John is always there to peel the carrots at lunch and chop the celery too. He is great at opening cans too. John is becoming quite an accomplished souse chef, he is learning quite fast on how the vegetables need to be cut and chopped for each dish. This results in less eating out which not only saves calories, but we think we are eating better too.

I also try to get 10,000 to 12,000 steps per day. Although on days like today when I did not get Eric down until 11:00 pm last night and was up again at 4:00 with him this does not happen. My sad total today was 3,300 steps or about 1.5 miles verses yesterdays 7,500 or about 3.75 miles. I also try to thrown in an hour or so of house cleaning a day. I have no regular schedule, but instead look around to find the area that needs to be cleaned most. Yes, house cleaning is enough exercise for me right now to avoid the gym.

Well it is time to call it a night. Please enjoy your families.

The Lessor Evil

I am not sure which I dislike more. A. When Eric is sick. B. When I am flared up. or C. Taxes. All the items are on my plate right now. Since Eric is asleep right Now, I will try to catch a few hours.

What Not To Do

Today was a hard lesson on what not to do. Last week while Eric was sick, I strained some muscles in my right shoulder. Yes, the shoulder has been sore and I have been trying to give it a break. I have cut back on knitting and using my right arm. I have been doing  my range of motion to loosen up the muscles. I even tried a massage on Saturday. So I do not know what ever possessed me at 8:00 am to do over 2 hours of cleaning, polishing furniture, doing 7 loads of laundry, and changing all the beds. Did I mention that I cleaned and polished my spinning wheel too. I also got Roomba to do odd jobs around the house.

By the time lunchtime rolled around it was starting to hurt. By 1:00pm I was in tears and giving myself a stern lecture of the value of slowing down a bit. I must be a very slow learner because by 2:30 I was back cleaning. My arm did not let me do much, I could not even fold the laundry.  So I went through old mail and recycled most of it. I also did some picking up and putting things away.

Thanks goodness John was home to help me make dinner. He opened all the cans, and jars. He also sliced the chicken sausage. The only thing I could do on my own was cook the sausage, skim the broth and add the frozen vegetables. My wonderful husband also served and cleaned up after dinner.

So tomorrow I will try to take it easy on my arm, but still make headway in the house. If you see John please tell him you heard it through the grape vine that he did a wonderful job today. Thanks.

Catch US if You Can

Eric and I had a very busy weekend. We started out Saturday morning with a friend and her son. We went to the Mix Fm Women's Fair just up the street. There was just everything there. A great time was had by all. We were in such a good mood that we decided to have Frost for lunch. As an occasional treat we decided that it was a very good lunch. Frost has an incredible new sorbet flavor called Green Apple. It is the flavor of the month so please go in before the end of March to try the green apple sorbet you will not be disappointed.

That wore Eric and I out so while Eric napped I did some house work until I could not keep my eyes open. I landed up taking a 2 hour nap. Followed by dinner out with John at Beyond Bread. I had just enough sun to get an extra mile of walking in before sunset. By the way the sunset was very beautiful yesterday too.

Today Eric and I pulled a fast one on John. We got him to go to Phoenix, to shop at the Mills Mall off of I-10 at the Baseline exit. Our main mission was getting John to buy a new pair of shoes. We had that done and then some before lunch. The and some was that he actually bought 2 pair of shoes. We then added steps to our step count for the day by walking around the mall. The mall was not as robust as it was last time we went several years ago. There were at least 12 empty shops. They added an aquarium to the mall with took up what would be an empty row of shops.

After a quick lunch it was off to IKEA, because John had never gone. All I can say is that it was very crowded today. John drove home while I caught up on my knitting. I am down to the last 2 of the 30 special order on soap sacks.

Well I am starting to fall asleep at the key board so it is time to call it a night.