Random stuff

My back is improving by slow degrees. I've been stretching and making use of the stronger muscle relaxants, baths and showers, heat and ice. I have physical therapy in the morning, bright and early, at 8am. I know all the things to do for my back since I was once a massage therapist, and I would give my eyeteeth for a few hours with a tens unit. The thing that really sucks is that this sacroiliac pull has affected my whole right side.... and sitting for any length of time is an exercise in balancing pain with breathing. I've managed to catch that cold that was running like wildfire through the office. I sound very congested and it has settled a bit in my lungs. I'm determined to be healthy for my vacation though, so I'd better get well soon.

I saw Rex today and got my hair cut off. Wow, what a difference. I think I last had it this short about two years ago, and I really like it. All the long spiral curls are gone now, though, so I can't twirl them around my fingers anymore. That is the only drawback I can think of. Certainly it will be much easier to care for while I am travelling.

It looks like Stas and I have pretty much set our itinerary for the trip, which is going to take us through a minimum of 5 national parks: Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Yosemite and Redwood. we've booked the hotel at the beginning of the trip and at the Grand Canyon, and the rest we've left open. It won't be tourist season yet and there should be plenty of hotel rooms available. Except perhaps when we get to the Bay Area. Thorsten's house is in the middle of a remodel of the bathrooms and such, or I'd impose on him. It appears Josh and his new wife are using the cottage in Carmel-by-the-sea, and Grandmother's house is too far south to use as a base for the Bay Area, so hopefully there won't be too many college graduations going on that long weekend of May 14 - 16th and we will have our pick of places to stay. I'd like to visit Muir Woods and / or Big Basin, the former being north of SF and the latter being south. I've loved Big Basin since I was a child staying at the summer house in Felton, which is not more than 10 miles south of Big Basin. Between that and Roaring Camp, I developed a deep and abiding affinity for the redwoods. I am sure I have visited Muir, but I don't have any distinct recollections of that place.

Work is going better since I am doing half-days this week. Apparently my email tantrums had the desired effect down at the SoCal office and they know to jump when I ask for assistance. I actually got someone down there to hunt down a client file and fax me some pages. Took her 1.5 hours, but she did it. I was shocked.

Stephanie has 10 more days here in the States and then she is off to Scandanavia and Italy. I sure hope she has a good time. For her birthday I got her a 3" memory-foam topper for her bed and some 600 thread count sheets. The topper arrived today and we opened it up and unrolled it on her bed. She laid down on it and this big smile spread across her face. She said her knees will be very happy. She has missed the tempurpedic.

I haven't heard much from my sisters. I'm almost afraid to call and find out what is happening. I heard from Tammy that Greg was visiting Tess and the kids for Easter. Tess has had a lot of stuff going on emotionally since she was raped about 10 years ago--she's always been volatile, but she never got treatment for it and she has a lot of rage and fear pent up inside her, and it drives her to self-abusive behaviour that far exceeds my own. Oh well. Her life is not mine to mend. I am done trying to 'fix' people... I need to focus on me.

Last count for mp3s on my netdisk was 5577. Of those, 1910 are rated 4 and 5 stars. I love it. I have a 4&5 star playlist and I keep it running all the time... Its like having my own radio commentary and commercial-free radio station. There are still CDs that have not been ripped. I'm trying not to pick up much in the way of new music until I get everything ripped. I reorganized my mp3 player according to genre to make it easier for me to find what I'm in the mood to listen to, and I took off a lot of the stuff that Steph likes (but I don't) since she picked up that Lyra and now has an mp3 player of her own. Its worked out pretty well, and should be handy for my trip... I could even use it to store photos from my digital camera.

My room is a mess and so is the kitchen. Stephanie is never bothered by mess, she just adds to it. Easter weekend when she was at her mothers I cleaned and swept and scrubbed and vaccuumed... and then she came home and spread her stuff out all over the living room and started making a mess of the kitchen. Grr. My bedroom is a mess because I've been just leaving clothes laying around and not cleaning up my desks. And it is time to change the sheets on my bed, which I do every week, but missed last weekend. Its making me nuts, but I'll wait to get to it until I can use my arms without my back tightening up.

Things seem to have settled down in my relationships. Everything is calm and quiet. I wonder how long that will last?