RedBarn Studios

today was a blessing in disguise.

although i spent the whole day in bed (doctor and hubby’s orders), let me tell you it was no fun.  thankfully (knock on wood) i am not a person who gets sick very often but it also means that when i really get sick, a whole heard of elephants needs to sit on me to keep me still.

i definitely feel compassion for those who are confined to their beds for any length of time but, this time, the person confined was me.  thing is, I knew that I could get up anytime i wanted but knew also that, for my health, i needed to take the opportunity given to me to give my exhausted body a rest.

of course part of that is because i’ve had a whirlwind few weeks dealing with a recent family medical issue then, a week later, preparing and having my brother, sister and mother with me for a week over Christmas and new year’s (15 of us in the house….whew!).

so maybe i really needed this day to catch up.

i did have a lot of time, however, think about the where/what/how of what i want to accomplish in this new year.  with my notebook near i jotted down all manner of thoughts and ideas on the work i want to do going forward and ideas for future creativity. my direction has shifted slightly but more about that in a later post.

Tomorrow i will make a mental note to ease back into my “regularly scheduled programs”.

What are you doing to take it easy after the holidays?

Tags: down time, sick leave by grace
2 Comments »

So I go to my podiatrist’s office today because I’ve been limping for a few weeks…okay so it’s really been a month and a half. The nurse asks me to put on the dreaded lead “apron” (more like a brick coat) and to step onto the x-ray machine. Did you know that podiatrist have their own x-ray contraptions? Anyway, I digress. After I twist my foot this way and that for all the different angles they needed to diagnose my problem, I settle in my room and wait for the Doc. She comes in, intoduces herself and proceeds to squeeze the beejeezuz out my hand to give me one of the strongest handshakes I’ve ever had. Now I need to go see another doctor about the pain in my hand!

Doc presses and prods my foot then looks at my x-rays. She is blown away! Apparently I have a really rare condition…extra sesamoid bones on ALL of my little toes-ies, something she’s only ever seen during her clinical work. Most people just have them on their big toe but, lucky me, I have two of them on all five toes, on each foot no less. She explains that although it is a rare condition it should not be a problematic condition. She then tries to fit me for inserts and adds pads that she fashions herself, cutting these cushiony soft supports to fit the ball of my foot.

Next it’s onto a little bit of papier mache casting of the feet. I’m told to lie down on the examination table face down and the nurse massages (yes, I said massages) a cast-like substance onto each foot thereby creating cute little impressions of my long and slender feet. I’m not kidding, the nurse oohed and ahhed at how “slim” my size 9 feet were!!! Nothing but the genes kid, nothing but the genes (although I could have done without the butt I inherited on my backside. I call that HERITAGE now).

Long story short I now have to wear othopedic inserts in all my shoes—no more heels (not that I wore them much anyway), no more flip flops (which I just discovered how to wear only a few months ago with help from my teenaged daughter who laughed incredulously when she found out that bit of info) and no more slip-ons. What is a girl to do? Obey doctor’s orders and wear those sneakers that’s what, especially since we are headed “across the pond” to England to visit the in-laws for a few weeks. Notice here no in-law jokes what-so-ever…father-in-law (luv ya Ron) might be reading this sometime.

With all that said, I decided to take sick leave when I got back home. Haven’t been in the studio today…I know, I know, how will I produce art if I don’t even set hurting foot in the room? Tomorrow is another day…and I’m in there early in the a.m. as usual. With my aching foot I’ll…

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: life etc., sick leave by k grace howes
2 Comments »