Brrrrrrr!

What a difference a few days makes. This is how the valley looked Saturday when I went for a walk. Beautiful fall colors, snow capped mountains. It was beautiful.

This is how it looked this morning!

Oh winter. I'm so not ready for you.

Fall is in the Air

The sun, lower in the sky, rises later, sets earlier, shortening the day

The air, crisp with the first smells of burning logs in the fireplace

brings the sound of recess, football, crunching leaves

Red hot fire blazes everywhere

Shadows creep, hinting at the beginnig of the end of another year.

What happened to September?

Yes, an entire month went by with no post. It's amazing how quickly that can happen. But there really hasn't been much to blog about. School started, the weather was unbelievably warm for this time of year, and we didn't really do much to enjoy it. Unfortunately the 2nd of September I hurt myself moving some furniture and was in pain most of the month. It didn't really hurt when I did it, but the next day my left shoulder was really sore. It just kind of felt like I had slept funny and I though for sure it would go away. But, as the days went by, the pain was shooting down my left arm and I was having tingling, numbing, and muscle spasms. I Googled it of course. I looked up pulled muscles and pinched nerves. It could have been either one judging by my symptoms, and the treatment for both was ice/heat and anti-inflammatory's like ibuprofen and naproxen. So, I did all that. It got a little better for a couple of days, then came back with a vengeance! It was non-stop 24/7 pain. I couldn't sleep, couldn't find a comfortable position. I went for a "trigger point" massage. That didn't help. I just knew if I went to the Dr., like always, they would just say "heat/ice, rest and ibuprofen". Finally I couldn't stand it any longer so I went to the doctor last Monday. I fell apart. She understood that I really was in pain. She told me right off that she didn't think it was my shoulder at all, but more likely a herniated disk in my neck and it was pressing on the nerves causing the pain, numbness, tingling, spasms, etc. She started me on prednisone and muscle relaxants and sent me for an MRI. Sure enough, I have two bulging disks in my neck. One that has been there for a long time, and this newly acquired one which is causing the most significant amount of pain. She sent me to see her husband who is a spine specialist. He told me he would try everything he could, shots, physical therapy, etc., but that surgery is most likely in my future. He hooked me up with an epidural shot of some steroids last Friday. The pain has graciously subsided, but I still have the problems in my arm. I am doing some exercises the physical therapist gave me to help with that. I will most likely need another shot in a week. It's supposed to help in the healing process. I know at least 4 different people who have had the surgery and they say it has fixed them 100%. That's good to know, but I was so hoping to get through 2010 without another surgery. Is this what happens when you get older? What will 2011 hold? I still have my appendix....

Cooking Class

Tinga (basically a Tostada with a really tasty chicken concoction)

The past few weeks Rachel and I have been taking a Mexican cooking class. We love Mexican food in our house! :) Our teacher, Sandra, is from Mexico City and has a beautiful and heavy spanish accent. To her, everything we make is so "jummy jummy". Cute! Yesterday she was teaching us how to make a new dish and I asked her to spell it for us. She started out "A, L, A, M, "V as in Baby"... I swear that is what we all heard. She is so sweet. The first week she taught us how to make several different kinds of salsa. They eat salsa with everything, and you can mix some of them together, or with guacamole, for even more variety. The next week we did appetizers and made a couple of things I have definitely never heard of. I forgot to take pictures. Last night we made entrees. I will post pictures, but right now Blogger seems to be having issues with that. The class has been really fun and I have enjoyed spending time with my Rachel. It is taught at my alma mater, Cottonwood High, and it's been interesting spending time there. The place hasn't changed much since I went there 30, yes 30, years ago. In fact, a couple of my teachers are still there! Crazy. It seems like it was just yesterday. Anyway, we have one class left, desserts! The only Mexican dessert I know is flan, which is what we'll be making. To be honest, I am usually too full after eating Mexican food to ever order dessert. :)

Cute Sandra, our instructor.

Alambras


Enchiladas

Back of Rachel..LOL