The Sore Back

Fresh from a day of lounging around doing nothing in particular, I am now amazed at the depths of laziness to which I've sunk.

Oh sure, today started off with an early morning trip into town for blood tests, 2 quick visits to friends on the way home, dealing with correspondence, and finally lunch with Daughter...so I could say that I've had a "busy" day. I did do a lot of walking, and at some point or other my lower back began to hurt just the teensiest bit.

But was that from the walking, or from the lounging around?

Now let's get a few facts straight: I am moving in June. In around 10 weeks, approximately. I have packing to do. And, as everybody knows, before packing one goes through one's things and edits (gets rid of) one's belongings.

But there was no evidence of such admirable activity.

I also have a big, three-part quilt project that I've lately begun, and no pun intended. See, 4 or 5 years ago I taught a group of elementary school children the fundamentals of quilting. Well, one of the youngsters' father died, a sad story. He urged his mother to contact me regarding making a quilt out of his father's clothing. Three quilts, in fact - there's a sister, and one for mom as well.

So I've had this clothing with me through two moves so far, and we're looking at 3 years since I agreed to take this project on now. Hence, "lately" begun... For most of the 3 years I've been referring to this project as "the dead guy's quilts," however recently Boyfriend talked me into using a more positive phraseology about it. "The Memories Project" is now the going phrase, having a slightly less negative ring to it.

I've had this week off work because I had vacation days to use up, and I could have been working on the Memories Project.

But no... it rests peacefully undisturbed by activity.

I've had a week off, and I've accomplished precisely nothing at all. To quote Garfield, "if I were any lazier, I'd slip into a coma."

Is my back sore from walking, or from scooching on the couch for too long? I think, left to my own devices, I could quite happily do nothing whatsoever, for an astonishing length of time!

This state of abject worthlessness as a human being quite flummoxes me. I had no idea what indolence I was capable of.

Hell, I've even out-lazied the cat!

Weight Loss

I am puzzling over why I seem to have lost 25 lbs. without trying. Oh yes, I've been eating a bit differently over the course of the past year. I rarely have desserts any more. I've been aiming for more protein and fewer carbs. My appetite/consumption has diminished considerably. I drink water rather than juice, and chips and chocolate are all but unheard-of now, compared to when they were a staple.

But 25 lbs? And no exercise to speak of... I could see losing 5 lbs that way...

The weight has come off by itself, and that's just not ever been my experience, nor, to listen to the tales, the experience of others.

I fear there's something else at play.

I made Hubby go to the doctor several years ago when he began dropping weight without any changes in his diet, and it turned out he had diabetes.

And of course, the "C" word looms large in everyone's minds these days.

So yesterday I humphed myself off to the doc - the gyno - because I wanted him to refer me for a mammogram. I got a bit more than I expected - a referral as well to a gastroenterologist so I can have - yay - a colonoscopy.

The last time I had one of those, I swore I'd rather die than have another. It's not the test itself, it's the prep. You drink this poison that looses everything in the bowels so that by the day of the test you're all pink and clean inside and they can see what's going on. That in itself would be fine - but it makes you naseous as well. Like, really naseous. I don't handle that well at all - get feeling v e r y sorry for my poor suffering self. That's when I swore I'd never do it again.

However, I'm concerned enough to go through with it, even though I doubt that may be the trouble spot, if there is one. But I'd rather be careful.

Now I have to find a doc to send me to get my sugar tested. And since I've had a constant headache (very mild) in one specific spot on the back of my head for a month now, I should probably find a neurologist to get me a scan.

It's all very tiresome, this finding of doctors and appointments and tests. The temptation is to say "Oh you're just imagining it, you've got nothing to worry about," leave it at that, and buy smaller pants.

But I remember when my Grandma lost weight with no changes in her diet, and she had breast cancer.

No, the phrase "no pain, no gain" rings true for me here, though in this especial case, the "gain" is loss - weight loss.

It just seems too easy. Too good to be true. And you know what they say about that.