I GUESS I WASN'T CAREFUL....

It's taken me a while to write this post. Yesterday I was either too upset and sounded like a whiny baby or I was too drugged to write it but here we go! Maybe I won't delete this one...

I hurt myself shoveling Wednesday. I hurt my back years and years ago and always have to be careful but I really hurt it shoveling out my driveway and then getting to work and shoveling the end of that driveway enough to get in and then shoveling to get in the boarding door. Only Doc, and a vet tech that lives blocks away from the clinic and me (who lives in another state) made it in. After caring for the boarding pets I went up front to the reception desk to answer phones. I was sitting on the high stools in the office and when I stood up my back locked up and really hurt. I couldn't stand up straight. Only a couple of people showed up for their appointments but luckily the afternoon appointments cancelled. Well....actually I called and asked if they were going to come in and one of them screamed-
 "Are you kidding!? I can't make it  into my garage!"
 to which I politely said "Well I didn't think you would be coming, but I just wanted to check. Now you stay safe inside! Be careful out there" I said this with a smile. I have learned if you smile while you talk it usually translates into your voice.....then I hung up. HOW RUDE! If they weren't coming, couldn't they call and cancel!? Anyway I was able to leave work a little after noon. I had only taken Blue with me. I didn't want to get stuck alone but I definitely didn't want to be stuck with my crazy terrier boys. The streets were deserted. I only passed a few cars. Most sane people had stayed home. I drove past the library and it wasn't open or even shoveled out. Coming down my street I passed families in their driveways snow blowing them out.
I wish I had a snowblower but where would I keep it? I don't have a garage.
Finally I got home and then I realized that I had left my shovel at work! I tried to clear my front steps with a dirt shovel and then...I fell down them. I felt like a big baby as my eyes stung with frozen tears. I hurried inside. I was hurting. I took some over the counter pain pills

and by evening I realized that I might not be making it into work the next day.
In morning I was in such agony that I couldn't stand up. I literally had to sit on the steps and slowly slide down the stairs. Then I had to hang onto furniture, hunched over to make it across the house to the backdoor to let my dogs out. It took me FOREVER to make it across the room and the little ones started peeing and pooping.  I was sobbing in pain.  I think ONLY Blue didn't pee or poop. I have a Swiffer wetmop always at the ready in the laundry room and I pushed it around alittle as I screamed that I hated them all. Ruby came up to me as I was crying and I told her that I didn't mean HER.

That made me cry even harder. I feel so OLD and decrepit.

 I had to text Doc rather than call him because I was crying so hard that I thought he would think I had lost my mind.   I text that I was in agony and wouldn't be in. He text me back and said to rest, take inflammatory painkillers and to ice it. So I did. Then my sister came over and went to the grocery store for me and took my library books to the library so they wouldn't be late and she gave me some painkillers with codeine in them...and I was groggy but they definitely helped. I felt so stupid being so upset that morning, crying and feeling old and alone. But one of my best friends kept calling and checking on me and then she talked to my other friend who called me to say that I needed to call in sick again for the next day, she said I need to rest and not stress my back again...to give it time to recuperate. That  made me feel so much better and not so alone and  my sister, who usually has such a no nonsense attitude about stuff, kinda like my Dad always was... Ya know " Buck UP", "Get a stiff upper lip and get to work!"....and it was nice to have someone take care of me a little bit.
So I decided...next year I'm hiring a lawn service to shovel me out.(I'm not sure where I'll get the cash but I start saving now.) I hate feeling old and not strong.
And if I'm not shovelled out, I'm not going to work.....actually all this has made me sit and think about alot of things....
One of my friends from work emailed me some photos from her journey into work. Here's one of them:

She asked if I STILL wanted to move to the country and I emailed her back and said NO!
I'm not moving. I'm 10 blocks North from the Fire Station and 6 blocks from the grocery store.

and 5 blocks West from the Hospital. So unless I suddenly become rich, I'm staying put.
(If I ever become a little rich...there is a house I'd love to live in 2 blocks away...LOL!)
So, sorry about the downer post. At least this morning I was able to stand up and walk down the stairs and let the dogs out. I could still feel pain and I put ice on it again and took a pill which is starting to kick in as I type this. I'll keep icing my back and try to catch up on some blogs

before I get too loopy.
Oh, and yesterday my 2 year old washing machine stopped working. Out of warranty of course but....Hey, at least I'm in a warm house! I am more fortunate than many others.