I think I really hurt it this time

Last week was a week of craziness.  And it involved too much sitting--at a conference, in the van on the way to Ottawa, in the stands in the gym for basketball, in the van for the drive home from Ottawa.  And it has all made my iliopsoas really, really hurt.  I couldn't even walk a week ago.  I still went to school and hobbled around, and it's still not better.  It's a bit better, but I still am limping (and now have a sore back because of it).  I think I really hurt it this time.  It's always gotten better after a few days of babying.  *gulp* A friend suggested I might have torn something and need medical intervention to fix it.  Crap.  On my to do list this week is to actually make an appointment with a chiropractor that specializes in sports injuries (what started this whole deal was overdoing it at yoga in October, coupled with running), and if that means time off work, then that's what I will do.  Because this nonsense has to stop.  I need to exercise!  No exercise, and an autoimmune disease that makes me gain weight makes Nicole a fat chick.  Not cool.

In other news, work is insanely stressful.  The end of the year is looming, I have a ton of stuff we haven't learned yet, and I feel like I do nothing but manage behaviour.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job.  I love kids.  But I am ready for a break.  This long weekend didn't come a moment too soon.  My class is now up to 22 boys and 5 girls.  It wears me out.  And I have report cards to write, and I'm taking a course.  That was self-inflicted, report cards are not.  Why I ask myself, why?  Because as my good friend at school says, I'm crazy.  Obviously.

As I wrote the other day, my dietary change has not improved the whole Hashimoto's situation.  Which is causing me more stress.  Arrrggghhh.  But it will get better.  It has to.  And since gluten-free wasn't working, I ate some gluten yesterday.  I won't be repeating that.  While it hasn't improved my autoimmune issues, apparently it does impact my system.  Not in a positive way.

Anyway, this is a long weekend and the sun is shining, it's supposed to be hot, gardening is on the agenda, life is good.

Enjoy!

summer is almost over

We've reached that time of summer, when it's waning, fall is approaching.  Rapidly.  It's the time of summer when I feel panicky, and think of all the things I intended to do before going back to school.  All of the undone projects, the messy corners that haven't been cleaned, the books that haven't been read.  Although to be fair on that last one, I've read ALOT of books, I just have a bunch more that I want to read.

I love teaching.  I love kids.  I just know that once summer is over and school begins my free time becomes almost negligible.  Life becomes a race, race to work, race to the kids sports, cram in laundry and housework (who am I kidding, not very much housework!), race to the next thing.  Weekends become a time of catching up the drudgery of life so that we can function with some efficiency during the week.  Dr appointments, dentist, ND, chiro, massage all become more difficult to fit in.  Running and working out become challenging to fit in.

It's so bittersweet.  I adore late summer, the beautiful days, the cooler nights, the bounty of the beginning harvest.  I am torn.  I look forward to school, yet reluctant at the same time.  Life becomes scheduled, which is good in some ways, and not good in other ways.  *sigh*

On another note:  when the heck did cupcakes become so fashionable?!  Cupcakes are no longer the homemade, slightly sloppy looking treats I made for my kidlets when they were little.  Cupcakes now look like something out of a Martha Stewart magazine.  Blogs about cupcakes!  TV shows about cupcakes!  Entire magazines devoted to cupcakes!  Does that not seem a little silly to anyone but me?  Cupcakes used to be a treat you could whip up quickly, when you didn't have time to make a cake because of the longer cooking time.  A treat just slightly more decadent than a muffin.  Not anymore.  I'm afraid to take cupcakes to anywhere someone else might see them, because my cupcakes are homemade, crooked, kind of messy little cakes.  And they're not decorated within an inch of their little sugary lives.

Ecoyogini blogged about body image and how women make themselves ill all in the name of making themselves thin(ner).  A serious topic that I think we need to delve into more deeply.  Just slightly more important than pretty cupcakes.  Certainly a topic that consistently plagues my life.  Thinking about taking a deeper look at how women (and some men) are affected by social "norms" and the body.  Just a little summer ending project?!

I need to get ready to go babysit my nephew, instead of rambling on anymore.  Wishing everyone who reads this a glorious, comfortable with themselves day....and even a cupcake, if that's what you're into.