Moving helps ease the pain

I've had this horrible low back pain for the past couple of days.  That happens from time to time.  I just wake up with my lower back hurting and it hurts to sit up in bed and even worse when I stand up.  I feel like I'm 100 years old and must look pretty funny walking around.  I think it's caused by tight muscles in my hips that connect at the top of my hips.  I get inflammation and arthritis in my hips so it must cause those muscles to tighten up and then it wont release.  It could also be a Fibromyalgia flare up.  I'm not sure.  The doctors don't really know for sure what's going on either and just tell me to take Aleve.  

I have my own little box of tools that I use though that I've found though trail and error.  I try different stretches to try to release those muscles.  When it's really bad I can't bend down very far so it's not possible to touch my toes.  I have to start off slow so I use a tall stool to support myself while I try to stretch my back muscles.  Then I move on to a kitchen chair and then to an large inflated exercise ball.  Eventually I get to where I can reach my shins or the floor.  Today I was finally able to reach my shins but not the floor yet.  

I also use an ice pack to help release tight muscles.  My Rheumatologist told me that you should always use ice to help relieve pain caused by inflammation and never heat.  Some people insist that heat makes their pain better and don't want to try cold packs but I've found that it helps me.  Heat may feel better for a while but cold actually helps it go away or makes a large improvement because it counteracts the inflammation.  I have a large ice pack that I bought on amazon.  It's for shoulders but when it's open flat it covers my whole lower back.  You can use the velcro strap to hold it around the front so you can get up and walk around when needed.  That ice pack stays cold longer and it is flexible and not hard like ice.  

Today when I got up it was still hurting but was not as bad.  I've been stretching some more and then I took my bike out.  I started out pretty slow but as I went my muscles loosened up more.  I went down 3 blocks and then around and back home.  I'm glad I did that because it helped more than walking.  

I was finally able to walk like normal again and my husband look me out for lunch.  It was so nice to get out of the house for a while.  It's a nice day with some sunshine but also a little cloudy with a breeze.  My flowers are looking pretty good considering I haven't done anything at all in my garden.  I only have perennials so they come back on their own usually.  

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Happiness is...

Nothing makes me happier than finding the perfect book for the perfect person.

I had a hard time when my dad remarried 4 months after my mom died.  The woman is very nice and it wasn't about her but it just kind of felt wrong.  I was still grieving and he's talking about getting married.  

They were visiting us one time and she saw a book on my shelf and said she loved that author.  I realized that she liked to read too.  She mostly read Christian nonfiction books.  As I got to know her better I started to get an idea of the kind of books she liked.  I was reading this one series and this one particular book really seemed to be the perfect book for her.  It's a faith based mystery series but the books don't have to be read in order and each book can really be read as a stand-alone novel.  I sent that book to her and she loved it.  

Later on I was reading another one and it had a picture of a crocheted angel on the front made with thread like a doily.  It looked so familiar to me but I didn't know where I'd seen it before.  I crochet so I searched all over the internet trying to find the pattern for it and wasn't having much luck.  I just felt like I had to find it so I could make one and put it in the book and send it to my step mom.  Then finally I saw a mention of it being in an old magazine.  I checked and sure enough, I had that magazine.  She loved it and the book.  After that I sent her all of the rest of the series as I read them.  She's happily reading them now.  Now I need to find another series like that so I can send them on to her.  

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Rolling Along those Emotional Hills of Life but still Jamming

Life is full of surprises and they are not all good.  I just lost another family member and was shocked because he was so young.  42 years old and suddenly gone.  No, it wasn't covid or cancer or a freak accident.  I guess I don't even know exactly what happened but It was a shock for sure.  I saw a post about him going into the hospital with trouble breathing and next thing I know he's going to hospice.  I am still reeling from losing 4 family members in the last half of 2020.  

So I kind of fell off the diet wagon but I'll get back on.  

For now I seem to be keeping myself busy with reading and making freezer jam.  I had never made freezer jam before but I remember watching my mom make jelly and know that seemed way too complicated.  A friend of mine mentioned that she was making freezer jam and I googled to learn more about it.  She created a monster and now I just want to keep trying different flavors.  I really do think I'm addicted.  

I didn't realize when I first started out that they had a low sugar or no sugar version of Sure Jell.  When my friend mentioned Sure Jell I remembered the yellow boxes that my mom used for making Jelly and that is what I bought.  I was grabbing stuff in a hurry so I didn't notice any other options.  I made dark Sweet Cherry Jam and it was good but it was very sweet.  I made strawberry next and it tastes like strawberry candy.  I finally got some of the low sugar version and just made blue berry freezer jam using this recipe.  I will definitely be making it again.  Next on my list to try is peach jam.  

It has been rainy here so I have spent a few days in bed.  I am doing okay though and just reading when awake and able to think straight.  I picked up one book that I've had a long time and started reading it.  That book is These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon (Book 3 in the Mitford series).  I'm enjoying that book and love the other two I read also.  That is definitely an inspirational series and I'm surprised I haven't read all of these books already.  

Then I happened to pick up another book, Darkhouse (Joe Lucchesi #1) by Alex Barclay, and started reading that one.  I often read multiple books at once and switch off depending on my mood.  I'm doing pretty good keeping it to these two actually.  This book is so good I quickly read half of the book.  Alex Barclay is now a new favorite and I'm already looking at her other books.  

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