back to projects

 (Long day today filming - or attempting to, we are 2 for 2 on equipment failure - another lab)

I'm trying to work back into having knitting mojo. I think this past 18? 20? whatever it's been months (since July 2019) kind of broke me from being able to just relax and work on stuff.

I did pull out the newest vest (another version of Pocketses, this time in a pinkish-purple yarn with the colorway name Jam) and started on the right front (the back and left front are done already). I'm also picking away at the crocheted blanket - that's what I worked on tonight, because I needed something simple to work on, being tired. 

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I went ahead and used the Amtrak voucher I'd been hanging on since last year - I cancelled my trip in March 2020, and had remade it for May, and then finally in April decided May 2020 wouldn't be safe - so I took a voucher. Which would have expired this April (but Amtrak extended that deadline). But I figure I've been fully vaccinated, so has my mom, there's evidence that vaccinated people cannot spread the virus (as well as not getting it), so I figure mid-May will be safe enough. 

So I have a roomette, and will be spending about 2 1/2 weeks up there in May. 

So I guess I can start thinking ahead about what projects to bring, and what books I want to read. It'll be my first trip more than about an hour away from me since....well, since January 2020, I guess. 

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I'm getting close to the end of Whisky Galore, and will have to consider what I want to read next. I have Monarch of the Glen by the same author but I might save that. (I have no shortage of books). I did also start a new mystery novel - The Case of the Constant Suicides, a Gideon Fell mystery. (So far Fell has yet to show up; this is a lot of introductory stuff at a Scottish manor house that is supposedly cursed by the owners falling off the turret at the top). 

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Gonna see if being on my feet more helps my back. I've had on and off back problems when I first get up - as soon as I sit up, it's like something seizes up. Usually it gets better after walking for a few minutes, and keeping up with exercise seems to help. I think there are possible factors, though maybe in combination (from simplest solved to longest to solve):

1. Bad shoes, I'm not wearing supportive-enough shoes or my shoes are worn out. I did order a new pair of athletic shoes from Zappos; I'll see how those go with the workouts. (I find it easier to fit those than dress shoes, though; I may have to try to find a place that is allowing try-ons in person)

2. Sitting too much. This is hard when I have to work at my desk and I'm not ready to try to rig a standing desk in my office - maybe just getting up and walking some more will help, though also the fact that I can be unmasked when alone in my office but need to mask to go out in the hall (university rules)  means walking down the hall feels more arduous now. I might be able to rig up something so I could stand and read, at least.

3. Worn-out mattress. This is possible; my mattress is pretty old. I suppose I can see when I go up to visit my mom; the mattress in my room is newer and has had a lot less use than mine - if the back problems go away up there, that will tell me. (If I were really motivated, I could clear off the bed in the guest room and try sleeping there a few nights, but meh, that's on the side of the house with the periodically loud neighbors),

4. I'm too heavy and my abdominal muscles are too out of tone. Probably true, though losing weight is a long and arduous process for me. I have been trying to remember to suck in my gut periodically the past few days, thinking maybe that will tone it a little. And trying to do more exercise. Right now my hip is bothering me so getting down on the floor to do crunches is not so good - but if I can make myself do the exercise dvd more, there are "core" exercises in there. 

5. I'm just getting old, and maybe have arthritis or osteoporosis even, and there's really nothing to be done for this other than exercise, and get out of bed carefully in the mornings. I don't like that possibility; I want this to be something fixable. 

(It's also remotely possible I pulled a muscle and just have to give it a little time, but I think that would hurt more than just when I get up). 

It was better for a while - I had problems with it a few days over Christmas break when I was pretty immobile and I think also after I lifted some things that were too heavy for me - but then the past couple weeks it started bugging me again. Which gives me hope that maybe it's too much sitting, or bad shoes, and I can fix it with some minor changes.