It's Been A While - but I'm baaaaaaaaaaacck...
No, I didn't drop off the face of the Earth. I wasn't swallowed by a whale or have any other kind of accident.
I have been, however, dealing with a LOT of pain and a lot of painkillers - especially and specifically of the legal, you-gotta-see-a-doctor-to-get-the-prescriptions narcotic variety for bone-on-bone arthritis in major joints (shoulders and knees) - which I have now stopped cold turkey as of Tuesday morning. Today is my fifth day with not even any acetaminophen. No, I didn't consult my physician. He conveniently is no longer practicing in my area anymore, and technically I still need to establish myself officially with the guy who took over his practice.
But staying completely away from the painkillers means that my thinking is slowly getting clearer, and apparently my Muses are not being "fogged out of existence" anymore. I'm hoping some of the stomach and other discomforts I've experienced in the past few days (other than the joint pain) is just withdrawals, and not something I'm going to have to learn to deal with another way again. That wouldn't be fun.
One way or the other, however, I'm NOT going back to the Tramadol and Vicodin anymore. I don't like being a Zombie - really can't stand the taste of brains, dontcha know... :-D Also have no intention of going back to four cortisone shots every 3 months either. Those aren't all that much fun either. So, as an alternative, I'm learning to depend on special formula analgesic creams at the moment to take the edge off when it gets really bad. When I talk to the new doctor, I'm gonna request a medical marijuana card - not so I can smoke the stuff, but so I can legally own the weed for personaly use and then make my own creams and ointments with it.
However, comma...
I'm slowly and steadily losing weight that I desperately need to shed - and am down 20lbs in the last four months (with a helluva lot more to go.) I see a chiropractor who has resolved some pain issues in my back and hips when I walk. Now if only I can figure out a combination of less debilitating pain relief for the arthritis in the knees and muscle spasms in the upper arms, I'd be a VERY happy camper.
On the writing front:
In the LOTR fandom, I've actually managed over 1k words on Changeling just yesterday - something I haven't touched for nearly two years now - and I'm starting to get ready to tinker with IDD again (for those in Lizard Council who haven't seen any of that for a couple of years either.) In the DW fandom, I'm hoping to finish the Epilogue to Not Quite As Planned in the very near future, putting that one to bed at last. I've also been quietly working on a Broadchurch fic that I'd like to see done - although when/if I ever post it here, it will be to a very small group of interested f-listers who'll have to let me know they're interested first (hint-hint.) And finally, I'm seriously brewing on original fiction stuff a lot now too - doing some serious world-building and reading/studying the art of creating worlds and cultures and religions that are internally consistent and believable.
On the music side of things:
Our little group of amateur Players is putting on a musical program in August that will span the history of the modern Musical "From Music Halls to Broadway". My contributions (other than being the accompanist to all but two of the numbers) will be solo piano arrangements of the Overture to the Mikado by Arthur Sullivan and The Carousel Waltz by Richard Rogers. Neither will be as physically challenging as the Scott Joplin pieces I did last year (which really messed with my arms,) but neither are they walks in the park either. The rest of the pieces - vocal solos, duets and ensemble pieces - will span the history of the American Musical from "I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major-General" by Gilbert/Sullivan as a starting point to ABBA's "Mama Mia" from the Broadway show of the same title (as well as a popular tune from a number of years ago.) The 4hrs/wk of rehearsals are a LOT of work, and I have a couple of bits of transposition into different keys to do for the accompaniments in the next few, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how well things come together this time.
Another sign that things are getting better for me: I'm back into having houseplants and having an interest in plants outside again.
I have a small bunch of herbs growing in boxes and pots on the back porch, about five orchid plants in my dining-room window blooming their little hearts out, and the various plants JJ brings home from his Special Olympics outings. Hubby and I are starting to discuss putting in a cement slab for a patio area, so we can start to entertain in the back yard (since climate change has meant that our summer days are significantly warmer than before, and thus a patio would be much more utilized.)
Socializing. Haven't done that in a couple of coon's ages. Wow.
So. One way or another, by hook or by crook, and one step at a time, Aeärwen's climbing out of her fog and coming back to life.
'Bout time, neh?
I have been, however, dealing with a LOT of pain and a lot of painkillers - especially and specifically of the legal, you-gotta-see-a-doctor-to-get-the-prescriptions narcotic variety for bone-on-bone arthritis in major joints (shoulders and knees) - which I have now stopped cold turkey as of Tuesday morning. Today is my fifth day with not even any acetaminophen. No, I didn't consult my physician. He conveniently is no longer practicing in my area anymore, and technically I still need to establish myself officially with the guy who took over his practice.
But staying completely away from the painkillers means that my thinking is slowly getting clearer, and apparently my Muses are not being "fogged out of existence" anymore. I'm hoping some of the stomach and other discomforts I've experienced in the past few days (other than the joint pain) is just withdrawals, and not something I'm going to have to learn to deal with another way again. That wouldn't be fun.
One way or the other, however, I'm NOT going back to the Tramadol and Vicodin anymore. I don't like being a Zombie - really can't stand the taste of brains, dontcha know... :-D Also have no intention of going back to four cortisone shots every 3 months either. Those aren't all that much fun either. So, as an alternative, I'm learning to depend on special formula analgesic creams at the moment to take the edge off when it gets really bad. When I talk to the new doctor, I'm gonna request a medical marijuana card - not so I can smoke the stuff, but so I can legally own the weed for personaly use and then make my own creams and ointments with it.
However, comma...
I'm slowly and steadily losing weight that I desperately need to shed - and am down 20lbs in the last four months (with a helluva lot more to go.) I see a chiropractor who has resolved some pain issues in my back and hips when I walk. Now if only I can figure out a combination of less debilitating pain relief for the arthritis in the knees and muscle spasms in the upper arms, I'd be a VERY happy camper.
On the writing front:
In the LOTR fandom, I've actually managed over 1k words on Changeling just yesterday - something I haven't touched for nearly two years now - and I'm starting to get ready to tinker with IDD again (for those in Lizard Council who haven't seen any of that for a couple of years either.) In the DW fandom, I'm hoping to finish the Epilogue to Not Quite As Planned in the very near future, putting that one to bed at last. I've also been quietly working on a Broadchurch fic that I'd like to see done - although when/if I ever post it here, it will be to a very small group of interested f-listers who'll have to let me know they're interested first (hint-hint.) And finally, I'm seriously brewing on original fiction stuff a lot now too - doing some serious world-building and reading/studying the art of creating worlds and cultures and religions that are internally consistent and believable.
On the music side of things:
Our little group of amateur Players is putting on a musical program in August that will span the history of the modern Musical "From Music Halls to Broadway". My contributions (other than being the accompanist to all but two of the numbers) will be solo piano arrangements of the Overture to the Mikado by Arthur Sullivan and The Carousel Waltz by Richard Rogers. Neither will be as physically challenging as the Scott Joplin pieces I did last year (which really messed with my arms,) but neither are they walks in the park either. The rest of the pieces - vocal solos, duets and ensemble pieces - will span the history of the American Musical from "I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major-General" by Gilbert/Sullivan as a starting point to ABBA's "Mama Mia" from the Broadway show of the same title (as well as a popular tune from a number of years ago.) The 4hrs/wk of rehearsals are a LOT of work, and I have a couple of bits of transposition into different keys to do for the accompaniments in the next few, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how well things come together this time.
Another sign that things are getting better for me: I'm back into having houseplants and having an interest in plants outside again.
I have a small bunch of herbs growing in boxes and pots on the back porch, about five orchid plants in my dining-room window blooming their little hearts out, and the various plants JJ brings home from his Special Olympics outings. Hubby and I are starting to discuss putting in a cement slab for a patio area, so we can start to entertain in the back yard (since climate change has meant that our summer days are significantly warmer than before, and thus a patio would be much more utilized.)
Socializing. Haven't done that in a couple of coon's ages. Wow.
So. One way or another, by hook or by crook, and one step at a time, Aeärwen's climbing out of her fog and coming back to life.
'Bout time, neh?