Activity Modification

Some of you may know I've been having some back issues lately. Well, I got the results of my MRI last week, and it turns out I have two, yes TWO ruptured discs. Hooray! That's what 15 years of sitting at a desk'll do ya. When you're me, anyway. What can I do? Well, not too much really. Surgery? Noooooo. Cortisone epidural? Thanks, I'll pass. The Brace From Hell? Eh, if it gets to the point of OMG-I-CAN'T-MOVE again. Activity Modification? Okay, that I can deal with. No heavy lifting. No bending over. Okay, okay. I shall squat to pick up after my dog on our thrice-daily walks. I will have Thighs of Steel by the time this is all over. Which is approximately... never. My doctor told me I was just going to accept the fact that no matter what, I will be living with "lower back weakness" for the rest of my life. Yippee! I'm starting PT tomorrow for an unrelated shoulder problem (when exactly did I turn 80? I must have missed it). So I'm going to ask him about the best things I can do for my back. And if he thinks I should have PT for it, my Dr. said he'll write up official orders. I think he's just a believer in the be careful and don't do anything stupid method. And walking.  As for my workspace (at work), I've got it as ergonomically organized as I can manage now. Oh, and my dad bought me one of these things. Ha! He's got a few and he loves them. Mostly, I've just given my dog long-distance ear rubs with it, which she doesn't seem to mind.

The good news: I never have to change the water in the water cooler ever again! 

So of course, two days after I got this information I had an art market I had agreed to do. Bending and heavy lifting galore! Fortunately, my mom, a sister and niece came out to help set up, and the niece stayed the whole time. I didn't sell a whole lot - it was one of those weekly markets that brings mainly browsers unless it's a holiday. But I covered my table fee and made a bit extra. Plus I made some new friends, and that was the best part. It was a young couple - she was from here, he was from Mexico, but they met in Wyoming. She's about to give birth any second now, so they came back home to be close to her family. He's a potter, and she does the glazing. At the end of the day, we made a little trade where she got a couple of pairs of earrings and I got a couple of their beautiful mugs!

Here's the only shot I took of my table.

Here are the mugs.

Here's a gratuitous picture of a little tree frog I took at my parents' house the night before my market.

I've been sloooooooooowly working on one necklace this week. But between back pain and laziness, I haven't even managed to finish that. And now that I have all my stuff back from the salon, a lot of it will be going up on etsy. I've already listed three things last night. Go me! This, this, and this. I'll need to get a bunch of new stuff made to take over to the salon. I have a hair appointment on the 1st anyway, so I'm sure I can get motivated to make a few new things. I certainly hope so.

Not Quite Back to Normal

I haven't blogged in ages - I'm sure you've all been crying yourselves to sleep at night about it, right? Okay, maybe not. But I have a good excuse. About a month ago I hurt my back. I wish I had a fun story about it like a battle with a Sasquatch or a unicycle-on-a-tightrope mishap, but no. It had been generally sore for awhile (bodies are not meant to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day), and one day - and you beading ladies will understand this - I was at Michael's. There was a big sale on Bead Gallery beads, plus I had a 20% off everything coupon, so I wanted to make sure I took advantage and bought all the little filler beads I wanted. You know how at Michael's, you look at the beads at eye level, then you have to stoop down and look at the bottom beads. Then stand up, take a step to the right and repeat 8-10 times 'til you've seen everything? Well that's when it happened. Every time I stooped down I thought, "OUCH! I probably shouldn't stoop down again." And then I kept doing it until it all went very very wrong. 

So I spent the following week on the couch watching The IT Crowd on Netflix and napping. I finally got an appointment with my orthopedist, and he made me wear this torture device of a brace for 2 weeks (even while sleeping). It was miserable. As you can imagine, I didn't particularly feel like making very much jewelry. Plus I was doped up on painkillers and muscle relaxers, so I wasn't very interested in doing much. During that time, I had to make my Bead Soup pieces, and managed to pull it off. I am very sad to report that this past Sunday, I was wearing the bracelet when it flew off my wrist and that gorgeous toggle shattered on the tile floor. It broke my heart -- I really loved it!

Anyway, my back's still kinda sore but at least I'm out of that dangbusted brace. Of course it hurts most when I'm sitting down at work, but I can't take a month off, so I must suffer and remember to get up every hour and walk around. I've got a kneeling chair now, but I can't sit in it all day. It's good to switch back and forth with my other chair. 

Point is, I haven't made a whole lot of jewelry in the past month! Other than my Bead Soup stuff, this is what I've done lately. 

 Focal by Lynn Davis, birdie by me, hematite nuggets, mookaite, agate, dalmatian jasper, & carnelian.

Copper poppy clasp by Daisychainextra, ceramic focal by Bo Hulley, faceted pearl, carnelian, mystery purple and tan stone, copper, waxed linen. 

 Ceramic bird focal by Kylie Parry, Czech glass, crystal, antique brass,  wood beads, waxed linen.

Ceramic focal by Round Rabbit, bone bead, and copper. 

Ceramic Shotgun House by Jessi, mookaite, new Czech glass (green), and vintage Czech glass (blue) from old Mardi Gras beads.

Sardonyx agate.

I custom ordered this mini-me bead from Soul Silver and I just LOVE it! I'm totally not vain at all, no. I'm going to make a necklace out of her eventually, but for now she just keeps me company in my computer/jewelry making area.