Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Back on my back



This is a picture of the small porch outside of the sliding door in my living room. I've been trying to collect things in Singapore that make a home, more of a home. One of the other American ABS families in Singapore is heading back to the US this summer, so they offered me a few of the things that they won't be bringing with them. This outdoor furniture and nice potted plant are some of those things. Take a closer look at that plant.




It's heavier than it looks. Trust me. I've got the back pain to prove it. I knew as soon as I pulled it out of the car last night that something was wrong, but I figured I'd tough it out and get it onto the porch. That was a mistake my friends. I should have just put it down and left it. That way, I wouldn't have missed work today.

I've had problems with my back before. A great physical therapist in Houston taught me a series of stretching exercises a few years ago. I spent an hour lying on my back and stretching before I went to bed. It helped a bit, but not nearly enough. Though I can walk, I look kind of like a 90 year old woman with arthritis in her legs.

So I sent an email into the office to let them know I wouldn't be there. It seems they were very concerned about me. Because they didn't have my home number (it just started working at 7pm tonight) and my cell phone still hasn't arrived yet, they couldn't get a hold of me. So, to make sure I was OK, they sent my real estate agent over to my condo to check on me and see if I needed a doctor. I can't tell you how surprised I was to see her show up unannounced while I was shuffling around in my pajamas.

She offered to take me for some "Chinese Medicine" which I appreciated, but politely declined. I'm kind of thinking now that I maybe should have gone. It would have made for a more interesting blog post.

Hopefully I'll feel well enough to go into the office tomorrow. I feel better tonight than I did this morning. Either way I just have to go in. I'm not all that pleased about missing a day in the office during my 2nd week in Singapore.

From now on, no more heavy lifting without help.

3 comments:

Liza said...

Happy Birthday you idiot! You should have gone for the Chinese medicine, silly. You probably would have eaten some shrimp shells and a horse penis and been good as new!

Britt said...

NIce work! Pretty plant though. I called to say happy birthday but you were probably out drinking and eating toast! Oh well.

tytania said...

beautiful plant. I think it must be nice to sit in your porch looking at what happens outdoor.