Well... Mark and I had a wonderful time at Myrtle Beach this weekend.... but waking up this morning wasnt so fun. As soon as my feet hit the ground beside my bed, I was reminded that I am a soon to be 56 year old with a 28 year old mind in an 80 year old body! Let me explain.... Saturday morning. We wake up, have a quick breakfast, get prepared for a day at the beach which included dressing in our bathing suits, flip flops, gathering water to drink and hoisting our beach chairs on our backs. Before I walked out the door, i grabbed a large zip lock bag for all the shells I intended to gather... because I knew there were TONS of awesome shells on this stretch of beach, and I could use my gatherings for the crafts I do throughout the year. Ready, set, go.... After a two block walk to the most amazing beach in the USA, we set up our chairs, kicked off our flip flops, and dug our toes into the whitest, powdery-soft sand I have ever experienced (my first trip to the Atlantic ocean)... and then waded out into bathtub-warm water. Oh man... almost too good to be true. But looking down, I saw these gorgeous shells... perfect for crafting, jewelry, and decor accents.... and my mission was beckoning me to begin. I told Mark I was going to walk down to a pier.... approximately 2-3 miles away... and start scavenging for shells and sharks teeth (yes, there are sharks teeth along the beach also). Well, Mark said hed join me... and we begun our walk. But soon after he realize that every two to three steps I would stop, bend over, and pick up a shell or two... or five.... take another few steps... stop and bend over and pick up a few more.... and then take a few more steps..... and so on..... He got tired of my extremely slow pace, and said he was going to walk on ahead to the pier. That was fine with me... I had a mission.... and my goal was not focused on reaching the pier far ahead as it was collecting my treasures from the face of the sand. Off he went... far, far ahead.... and I continued....step, step bend, step, step, bend, step, step, bend..... After a long, extended time, I looked up and here he came returning from the pier that was still far ahead of me. My sweet darling had picked up about 5 very nice shells and handed them to me, and then announced that he was done and was going to head back to the house. Well, my mission was only 1/4 complete.... so I told him to take all our belongings back to the house with him.... I had work to do and I would venture back after my mission was complete. Done deal. So I continued... step, step, bend, step, step, bend.... for 2 more miles..... and then... when I reached the pier... I turned around....and continued to step, step, bend, step, step bend..... for about 2 miles back in the direction I came. My bag was about full to the place I couldnt get anymore in it... and it was getting very HEAVY... and then there was the issue with my back... it was telling me LOUDLY that I had bent up and down approximately 600 times that afternoon.... and my calves were reminding me that I had failed to stretch my hamstrings before I began my venture... BAAAAD choice..... I attempted to stretch them about 1/2 way back to where I began my trek, but by then they were tighter than a violin string under duress, and stretching them just made them scream more. Mercifully, God sent a lifeguard driving an ATV past me... and I quickly flagged him down and asked for a ride... in which he happily obliged me. I love southern hospitality. He drove me the rest of the way to where I could exit the beach and head home.... barefoot on a gravel road. Oh great... I had 2 blocks of walking on what felt like glass while holding what felt like a 500 pound bag of shells. NOT VERY PRETTY... especially when walking past 3 HEAVILY tanned Barbie-Dolls in bikinis... who had SHOES on and were striding like runway models. Once I got home, I climbed the flight of stairs to the front door.... one stair at a time.... dropped my now 800 pound bag of shells on the table... and headed for the shower. Oh man, did that ever feel good!!! I popped a few pain pills and later went to bed, ecstatic I was off my feet and flat on my back. Yep... slept like a baby. Fast forward to EARLY this morning. Middle of the night really..... I wake up... got to go to the bathroom.... feet hit the floor and I stand. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I nearly fell to the ground. My calves cramped up into two large balls of Charlie-Horse.... and I slammed into the door jamb of our bathroom. It was all I could do to make it to the porcelain in time. Then I had to sit down... on my thigh and hiney muscles. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My lungs were spasming because of the pain I was in, and all I could do was moan between short, labored breaths.... because now I had to stand up again and walk ..... allllllll the wayyyyyyyyyy back to bed. It was like hiking to mount Everest with a knife in my calves, thighs, hiney, and lower back..... but praise the Lord, I made it!!!! ONLY by His grace and mercy. Fast forward to this morning. I woke up around 8 AM... but was afraid to get out of bed. But by 9:45 mother nature was calling me... and I had to get up. I struggled to sit up... and I knew what was coming next. My feet hit the floor... and it started all over again.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am convinced that I am a soon to be 56 year old woman with an 80 year old body... and have a 28 year old mind. My youthful mind sees something id like to do... my age says that I can still do it... and my body is traumatized by trying to execute the goal.... and I spend many weeks healing from the task I completed. This morning I am gingerly sitting at the breakfast table catching up on emails and Facebook posts. I have been here for over an hour. I an terrified to stand up and get going with my day....because it took about 1/2 hour to get my self from my bedroom into the kitchen. There are two large bags of shells on my kitchen counter... cleaned and dry and ready to be admired,,,, but I can;t reach them from here.... and I am afraid to get up and take the two steeps to get them. But my hiney muscles and beginning to scream from me sitting on them all this time.... and I need to divert the pain to another place on my body. My goal..... to somehow get my ancient body back into the bed.....chores are out of the question.... lunch will be out of the question...and at some point, dinner will have to be made. I think the menu will be cottage cheese and peaches... or peanut butter sandwiches.... and anything else we can scrounge around and find. Popcorn... that takes only two minutes in the microwave. These shells are going to have to last me for a long time.... cause its going to be a long time before I set my eyes on the ocean and sand again. 6 miles... round trip... bending ever few steps.... WhAT wAS I thINKING??????????
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 15:23:34 +0000
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