The Dark Side

Most of you know I live with constant, significant pain. It's largely in my lower back and neck, which is where rods are fused to my spine. Scoliosis in the 1970's was "cured" with something called Harrington Rods, which are steel rods held in place by bone chips from the hips. It's relatively minor surgery these days, but back then it required a very long time in a full body cast, usually bedridden. My mother is a saint. I had this done twice.

In November 2017 I was in a rather serious car wreck. The current pain is, I believe, from injury in that crash. I was rear ended and pushed into the car ahead of me hard enough to push THAT car into the one ahead of him. I've been in physical therapy(and other kinds of therapy) for almost a year and a half. This is further complicated by a minor brain injury from the same cause. I have had a huge personality change, along with a more serious battle of depression than I have ever known previous.

That's the "back story" to this post. I'm tired of sitting around, and equally tired of pain with every movement. Today I decided to push through it. Not in a huge way, but more than I typically attempt. The guys were downtown at a baseball game so I had several hours to myself. I live for those kinds of hours. We'll discuss that on another day.

Today, in addition to working on my forthcoming cookbook, I was very productive. I washed, dried, and put away the dishes. I made spaghetti for dinner. I baked bread in the machine and I made five dozen oatmeal cookies from scratch. The good news is, I have no more pain than when I started. This is a very, very good sign.

I have a full week ahead that will be very taxing to my body, even with my various mobility aids. It will also be fairly stressful. Tomorrow I have the dentist and my psychotherapist. Tuesday at 830am I have to be at the US Consulate downtown. After that I'm meeting the guys for lunch, then going home. On Wednesday evening, my son and I will see the pre-screening of Pet Sematary, also downtown. Thursday and Friday I will be resting because I have a HUGE physical thing on Saturday.

My middle daughter and I are going to a concert venue/night club. One of my favorite bands, I Mother Earth, is performing (with other acts) for the Rockin' For the Cure Fundraiser. That's for cancer, if you're not familiar. The venue is somewhere I've wanted to go for several years. I haven't attempted it before because there are no seats. It's standing room only for all general admission, always. Last year this event raised over $10,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. Thanks to amazing sponsors, 100% of the proceeds will be donated.

I got VIP seats. For a little extra, we will be sitting in an upper area, reserved. There will even be food, catered by Vince Spitale, who was on Master Chef Canada. Here's his promo. Vince is living my dream.



It’s a full night of music along with a silent auction, 50/50, and various prizes. I'm hoping there will be cooking classes to bid on! VIP tickets sold out in 48 hours, so I got really lucky. Part of that luck is direct communication with the event organizer lead, Andrew Galletti. He is freakin' amazing.

With Rachel's help, I will make it up the stairs and party hard. Well, as hard as an old woman with a walker can party LOL
I will be sporting my new teal hair as well. I can't begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to this. I'm really trying to do more bucket list things. Life is short, and well, YOLO.

For now, I'm here in the dark side, where we have cookies. Warm, delicious, home made oatmeal cookies.