mistressofmuses | (no subject)

Somehow* I royally fucked up my spine.

* I probably know how. I think about a year and a half ago I twisted the wrong way while lifting a box full of reams of paper. Since then it's been an on-and-off problem trending worse.

I spent the three days before Christmas baking ...way too much stuff**. It occurs to me, too late, that I should have at least taken a few pictures, because a lot of it turned out pretty well! But those three days of standing and kneading and rolling out dough and bending over to get things in and out of the oven really made it angry. Then last week I slipped on the ice, and while I didn't fall, I tensed everything up which was Bad. So now I can barely get up or sit down, and it's kinda miserable.

** I made a new-to-me recipe for "birch tree/yule log cookies", which was basically a shortbread rolled into a rope, and cut into pieces that resemble logs or branches, iced and then dusted with nutmeg. I think I might try the same with a wider array of spices next year for more flavor. (And WILL NOT double the recipe next time, because it already made twice as much as it was supposed to, lol.) I also made Kolaches (apricot and triple berry, since apparently poppyseed pie filling is not a thing you can easily find in the store anymore.) Those I'll maybe triple the recipe for, because they were my favorites of what I made. And I made dark chocolate kahlua truffles.
Alex made some little shortbread sugar cookies and an apple cake, both from Norwegian recipes.

I'm not formally making it a goal to post every day or anything, but I DO miss journalling when I don't do it. I'm also trying to decide if I want to do a habit tracker/bullet journal thing again. I did it for maybe 3 and a half months back in 2019, and kinda liked the visual. I'm not super fancy artistic like the bullet journal inspo stuff (even if I'd kinda like to be), but it was still nice to look at.
Alternately, I'm clinging to anything that gives my poor ADHD brain the illusion of organization and control, haha. (I'll stick with it for a couple weeks and then lose motivation.)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Ouchies, hon! Do you have Icy Hot? I've found that helps my back A LOT when it hurts.

And that is a lot of baking but it sounds like fun! The other thing to look into if you can manage it is look for one of the padded kitchen mats. It'd help when you're standing there for long periods while baking or cooking. It gives you support like in memory foam shoes.

I don't have icy hot... I haven't ever tried it, but I definitely should! Anything that helps would be appreciated.

It was fun! My mom has those kitchen mats in her house, and they are SO helpful. Eventually I stole one of the dog's pillows to stand on, lol, but that didn't occur to me until the very end of what I was doing, and isn't as good as the nice foam pads.

I recommend the shit out of Icy Hot. Walmart has their own brand, so it's cheaper. GET IT. I used to put it on my abdomen when I had extreme cramps, and it helped with those. That's how good this stuff is. The mats will be more expensive, but maybe if you're not too strapped, you can invest in one at a time and just have them all around your kitchen wherever you do the most standing while you cook/prep food.

If Icy Hot is able to even touch my menstrual cramps, it would be a damn miracle. Those are *debilitating* for me for a few days out of every cycle. (And obviously my poor borked spine.)

If I ever wind up doing more kitchen stuff, I think the mats would be a worthwhile investment. (And honestly, Alex would probably get daily use out of them, since he does more of our cooking.) I will have to price some out.

It'd be worth a try. First time I tried it was in San Marcos. I'd been using Icy Hot on my back religiously, and one night, the cramps were so bad that I thought, fuck it, and I used it, and it was such a relief.

I will absolutely give it a try!