Glutton for Punishment

There are times that I'm hesitant to write about what's been going on because it makes me sound like a self indulgent princess. Which, if you know me well, I'm freely happy to admit. But if you do know me, you know that we've worked really, really hard to get to where we are right now. We haven't taken many vacations. Put birthdays on the back burner. I've been with my husband since I was sixteen, and I worked a ridiculously consuming job in New York City while he went to medical school. Then I shifted careers and did a software gig while he finished his residency. We picked up and moved to Texas for two years, and now are trying to settle into life in Orange County.

My point of this laborious history lesson is not to put you to sleep, but to explain that for the last thirteen years- we've been living in a state of transition. Working from one gig to the next, always wondering what our next step would be. I had hoped this transient state would diminish once we got settled here. I was wrong. I'm still wondering when I'll get to a place that feels like home. Maybe never? That's what happens when you grow up a military brat.

Now, for a total princess update. (barf bags ready?). I completely whonked out my back on Goofy's Roller Coaster at Toontown last week. It was humiliating. I lost a lot of mobility, and walked around with a heating pad or a frozen bag of peas around my shoulders. Nothing seemed to help. I finally went to one of those Massage-In-A-Box franchises in a fit of desperation. My massage therapist was a sixty year old guy, with a paunchy tummy and a thin head of hair.

But this guy had fingers of steel. He told me he was going to do some trigger point stuff, and warned me that I would initially feel pain, but that in the end it would all work out. I didn't even flinch. He was disappointed, and tried again. And again. At one point, I think he crawled up on the table and put his knee in my back. I yawned. He kept at it, and kept commenting about how tight my muscles were, and how I may not feel well for a couple of days. I was thinking to myself," Whatever. This is a complete waste of time."

Until it came time to get off the table. I was light headed, dizzy and nauseous. Mr. balding paunch tummy was standing outside the door, holding a glass of water and burst into a fit of giggles when he saw my face. My eyes were swollen and I muttered, "What the hell just happened in there?" When I got home, my muscles were tender, almost bruised. By the next morning, I could already tell that I was getting better.Two days later I can almost raise my arms high enough to put my crown back on. And on Monday? Monday I'm riding that stupid coaster again.