The Seated View

It’s impossible to come to this date and not think back on what’s happened in the previous 12 months. I used to excel at finding the past year wanting, but this year, I see it all through rose-coloured glasses. This was a monumental year for me and it’s all gone past in a blur. I can’t believe it’s already almost-2014 — most of me is quite sure it’s mid-September, but if it is, it’s really cold for late summer and there are no leaves on the trees. I think I blinked and it really is the end of the year. So, what happened in the past 12 months? I published my first book . It still makes me giddy every time I look at it Resolution: get going on writing Book II.   I pushed up against my limits harder than I ever have, at times blasting right through them. I’m not saying it was smart, but the fact that I could is completely overwhelming to me. Resolution: remenber that just because I can, doesn't mean I should. This was also the year that I discovered what ...

We were very lucky that our area wasn't affected by the icestorm for more than a day or two and didn't lose power, so we got to have Christmas right on schedule. Which naturally is Christmas Eve. As usual, we all promised to not go haywire on the presents. As usual, we did We ate dinner in the building's party room, which was a bit cold. Liam borrowed my hoodie, which made him look like a miniature Grim Reaper. He had a lot of fun with that. We shall not discuss the aggravation of an 8 year old boy being able to wear your hoodie and it only being a little big for him. After dinner, there was cuddling and the requisite after dinner chase   When we came back upstairs to my mother's apartment, we found Muffin impatiently waiting by the presents   Carol singing came first. This is one of my favourite parts of Christmas. We each chose a Danish and an English carol and sing first and last verse of all of them, plus the one my dad alwa...

Ready or not, hear it is! Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday. Eat good food, hug your loved ones and sing carols as loud as you can! Merry Christmas!   

We had an icestorm this weekend and the city's still recovering . I'm very lucky to live in an area that didn't lose power. The primary difficulty I've experienced is that most of the attendants who provide services to me and about 20 other people have cancelled their shifts. I've been very, very happy to see the ones who did come to work! In the middle of it all, there was beauty.  Just look at this It's not until you get closer that you realize the extent of the ice Everything was encased My neighbourhood looked like something out of a fairytale, before the happy ending. I felt really bad for the wild critters  Everything was coated. Every single branch Crazy, dangerous, beautiful. Nature at its worst and best, all in one day.    

Two weeks ago, I developed an injury in my back and shoulder. I still don’t know what I did, except it probably had something to do with being at the computer for too long for too many days. It was a completely new place with a completely new pain that I’ve never experienced before. It felt like I had a perpetual Charley horse in the muscles on the right side next to my spine, accompanied by a streak of numbness on the front of my torso. Being up and seated wasn’t fun, but lying down was worse. Whenever I got horizontal, the muscles went into spasms so intense that I couldn’t move. It was the most pain I have had in years and it was Not Fun. Luckily, it started shortly before a weekend when The Boy was here. From Friday to Sunday, he gave me ultrasound every day and catered to my every whim and so I didn’t have to use my left arm for anything. Last Monday, I had an appointment with my rheumatologist, who gave me a trigger point injections of freezing and steroid. This broke th...