It's another lundi matin and I've got that song in my head.... "Monday, Monday... so good to me". But so far I'm not sure Monday is being very good to me at all. I woke up with some nasty back pain that actually started up yesterday morning. I've been going to a kiné (someone who does physical therapy) but due to being sick 3 weeks ago, and then him not having any openings for me the past two weeks, I haven't had a session. But I've got one this afternoon and hopefully that will help put things back in alignment, literally. He claims I have my left leg a bit shorter than my right, and since my left leg is the one where I broke the leg and ankle in three places in 1996, I can easily see where time and circumstance may have shortened that leg. He says I need to get les semelles (those custom orthopedic shoe inserts -- I forget what they're called in English, isn't that funny?) made or this will keep happening whenever I start walking a lot more.
Which is probably the root of the problem. Last week, I did more walking in that one week than I'd done in the past two months put together. The weather improved and I was walking all over the 18th, up and down hills and staircases, visiting apartments and running errands. Great for my overall health and for future weight loss; not so great for my back, apparently. But of course movement is also what I need to work the kinks out, and in the 90 minutes since I got out of bed, I already feel a bit better. I'm thinking when we move, we'll go out and buy a better bed and mattresses designed more for someone with chronic back pain, like me.
There is the possibility that the couple who may adopt Clachat will come this afternoon to actually meet the cat. And of course, they will probably come when I'm at the kiné, but I'll leave a note on the door and hopefully they can wait if they come when I'm not home.
Yesterday we actually managed to make the first dent in sorting and packing. I tackled all my own extra/off-season clothing, and ended up with 1 bag of stuff to give away, 1 bag for the trash, and 5 moving-size boxes of clothing: 3 are mostly extra winter coats and some summer clothes, 1 is all shoes and 1 is all handbags or tote bags. And I still have all the stuff downstairs in the bedroom to sort and pack, but that will wait a bit. And Georges made some big progress in cleaning out stuff in a big closet where he stores tools and assorted technology bric-a-brac. There is a big pile of stuff sitting near the front door to go in the trash, he took an old office computer back to the office to let them dispose of it, and the closet already looks a bit more empty. We feel quite virtuous, both of us, for our efforts... even though this is only the tip of the iceberg. So far, no arguments, although we have agreed to put up with each other's occasional bad tempers during this entire packing and moving thing. It seems we have different styles of dealing with things like this -- I tend to want to jump in, deal with it early, and I can be ruthless at tossing out stuff, and he tends to move through each task of sorting and purging more slowly. So I have to try and be patient, and he'll have to sometimes put up with my pushing for faster progress. I have already given him fair warning that as the moving date approaches (and we don't even know when that is yet), I will get more stressed out if things are being left until the last minute. This is all part of us learning more about each other under unfamiliar circumstances, as it's the first time we've ever moved into a new place together.
As to my weight loss, it seems I managed to gain a pound on my first week, but I know why that is (monthly water retention, which as we all know can mean a temporary 2-3 lb weight gain) and I'm not freaking out about it. I'll just stay on the program and keep tracking everything, and try to do a bit better this week at choosing what I'm eating. I found out my brother-in-law's sister has been having a lot of success on WW since before the December holidays and she's been giving me some encouragement, so now I have a "buddy", albeit long distance (waving at her in NC!)
So that's the start of my week. A bit rocky, but could be worse. Lots to look forward to this week though: a second visit with Georges to the apartment I found and liked last week, and hopefully it will turn out to be "the one" and we can move forward. And the rest of my week will be all about WRITING.
Which reminds me... better get started and crank out a new chapter or two!
