I called out today. I'm feeling betterm but still in some pain and I have tomorrow off so I think I'll be good to go then.

The store manager answered the phone and the first thing he asked me was if I was still in pain. I said yeah and I was calling out and then he told me to stop feeling guilty because my health is more important.

Now I need to figure out if I have leave time to cover this.

Good manager, askye. Hope you feel better quick, this has been going on too long already.

I feel okay, I went to the grocery store and that sucked but I haven't been in as much pain. I'm really lucky because I have such a good manager and I know we're done someone in my department.

I'm down to a dull pain along my kidneys.

The only real stress has been the rant I put up on FB. Oh ! I threw out some expired canned food and expired medicine. And I put out more birdseed and threw some on the ground for the ground feeders.

I'm slowly working on decluttering and cleaning up, so my goal is to keep my coffee table cleared of things that don't belong and throw away 5 things and get rid of and/or put away 5 things a day. I keep finding bottle caps the cat has used as cat toys so I'm counting each one towards the five things. Tiny little baby steps but, hey steps.

askye, I'm sorry you are in so much pain, but I'm glad you have an understanding manager. Feel better.

I hope today is a better day, askye.

Mellow day yesterday. Every year on late DH's birthday I spend a bit of time missing him. I even watched Dirty Dancing which was always a huge trigger movie for me. And I didn't cry! I hadn't watched it in a long time and the dancer stuff still rings true. No idea if it was that way in the early 60s, but in the 80s the dancer parties looked just like that.

The amount of hours in a day that they danced was crazy. Lessons (taking, not giving) during the day, shows at night, then after the show they usually went out or just got together for, dancing! Stephen and his partner would all out embarrass me with their antics on the dance floor. And most of the "couples" absolutely were not. They were way out of my league so I rarely danced with him, also I worked office hours and didn't party late at night. When I would go with him on occasion he would drag me out on the floor and just insist that I relax and he would lead. A strong lead really can make you do all manner of spins and dips and stuff if you relax.

I'll never be a strong dancer, but I'm grateful that I am now able to watch and feel joy rather than sorrow.

in the 80s the dancer parties looked just like that.

In the 80s we danced all the time, even when I wasn't working. Man, I was in good shape.

I have considered dragging out my mini trampoline and dancing away on it for fun exercise. I used to do that all the time. And yes I was also in a lot different shape than I am now!

eta: I had totally forgotten that you danced, Zen! It seems the more active you are the more energy you have, but man is it tough to get to that level from the inactive level I am at now!

I had totally forgotten that you danced, Zen!

Ha! I tried dancing to one of my favorite songs the other day and couldn't make it three minutes. Ugh. Hard to believe I used to dance all night with untreated asthma!

man is it tough to get to that level from the inactive level I am at now!

It sure is, Laura. I'm dragging myself up one step at a time. I'm determined to get back at least some of the energy and function I used to have. It's so hard. Depression made it feel impossible, though, so I guess "hard" is an improvement!

One day at a time. Yesterday I accomplished a few things. Today I'm accomplishing a few things. Physical activity every day, even if it's just housework. ("Just," hell, housework is hard.)

I can't even tell you how I giggled through the cat science into style manual discussion.

Ginger, so good to hear good news! I hope things continue to improve for you.

It seems the more active you are the more energy you have, but man is it tough to get to that level from the inactive level I am at now!

Effing word.

Go, Zen! That's great. I've slacked off my step-running because my steps are gone! The stadium where I work out has been closed for months for renovations. Boo! It's also interfered with JZ's running since it's a lighted track and the safest place for women to run at night in the City. It'll be back in January.

But I did find that keeping it simple really helped me work out regular. I honestly didn't try to push myself that much; I just tried to be regular about it. In fact, I found out that pushing a 50+ year old body too quickly just led to nagging injuries. But it didn't matter - I wasn't training for a marathon. I just wanted to use my body. And just by sticking to it, doing something 3 times a week, I did drop about 20 pounds. But that wasn't my focus. It was all about using my body and gaining strength and energy.