Heaven Shall Burn

Unclench My Jaw

Bob often looks at me when I'm irritable about something, or worried about it, or both, and very gently says "Relax your jaw." It's good advice. I mean, I don't really clench my jaw, at least not noticeably. Mentally, however, my jaw is often so tightly clenched that I'm amazed my head doesn't break apart in little shards and pieces. So I try to keep his advice in mind. 

Huh. I just realized that my physical jaw is actually quite tightly clenched. Bad Kathy - unclench your damn jaw!

Seriously, I am dour, pessimistic, and prone to rage. While the latter has diminished noticeably thanks to a very effective prescription, I don't expect that I'll ever be blessed with Buddha-like calm. 

Still, if I can remember to unclench my jaw on a daily basis, I might be able to save my molars and my mental health. Heh. 

First World Problems, Ahoy

Well, I'm not sure my diverse menu of back and hip pains qualifies as a First World Problem, but whinging about it certainly does. As I said yesterday, I'm getting tired of having to use painkillers of various types in order to sleep. Even with those aids, I haven't had uninterrupted sleep for the past couple of weeks. Even the good nights include me waking from the pain and a) getting a hot shower at 3 a.m. or b) taking more painkiller. 

I've been reluctant to restart my physical therapy exercises because a couple of them have added to my pain, so either I'm doing them wrong or they're wrong for me. But I really need to review all of the exercises and decide which ones I should restart. I mean, I can't complain if I'm not actively trying to get myself better. 

Part of my problem is that the right side of my upper back is enduring the kind of pain that I file under "is that a dull knife hacking at my side, or are you just happy to see me?" And trying to make my heating pad reach that part of my aching body while still covering some of the sore hip area is a bit of a stretch. I'm sure my physical therapist would prescribe ice packs ... but heat relaxes me. So there, she said petulantly. 

Andy and Julian came over for about an hour or so, because Andy was handling Julian alone for the entire day and he desperately needed to be in a room with other adults. We were happy to be those adults for a while. 

In the possibly TMI department, my colonoscopy date looms in the very near future. I loathe colonoscopies with the heat of a dozen burning suns, for a whole lot of reasons, not least of which is the prep work. More deponent saith naught because let's be real, talking about a colonoscopy? Ewww. 

Tomorrow I have to contact our tile installer and find out how soon he can get here to do the work. I know he had a couple of largish jobs before our job, but I'd like to have a better idea of when to expect him. And I have to nudge the condo association folks to pay me the $700 for their portion of the jobs. 

I think that's about it for today.