Pain Parameters

This week I overextended myself. 

There was a lot to do, and my body decided to mutiny- and it was either sit down or forget walking for a week. Ever done that to yourself?

I was no longer interpreting pain on the scale of one to ten- it was more like one to a bazillion- and I had reached the threshold of what my body determined was feasible. 
Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but only just a little. I think my earlobes hurt from all the stuff I did this week!

The sewing room needed to be moved around so I could build the cabinets that we bought at IKEA- you know, that place where they can shove a cabinet into a 2 x 4 foot box that now has the weight and density of a black hole? Well we got two cabinets, one small and one large for fabric storage. 
The fun part was I had to try to find space around my unpacked boxes to make room not only for the finished furniture, but also to build the thing. It took me two days to put the small one together, not because it was hard (the instructions are so simple a preschooler could do it, provided they could lift a bus as well), but because I had to maneuver myself around the space like a contortionist.

And I wasn't about to complain, since all that unpacked stuff was only half of what I had before the move.Any whining on my part might ensue a fabric audit from my husband!

When finished, I stored some of my fabric in the littler cabinet, and decided that was enough for two days. This on top of all the other stuff we moms and homemakers do.

My daughter was celebrating her birthday with friends on Saturday (she is the big 12 today! Happy Birthday Sweetie!), so I had to clean house and make her a special cake. This year it was crumb cake, which was a nice change from the eight-colored-batter-with-eight-colors-of-icing cakes I usually do. And no, this time I'm not exaggerating!

The crumb cake gave me more time to do some marathon cleaning, because one of the girls is allergic to cats- and we have two kitties. They don't shed much, but I wanted the house cleaned and vacuumed by Friday, so the air would settle by Saturday. I got that tip from an allergic friend, who said if you vacuum that day, it actually makes the allergies worse! So Friday was the Get-It-All-Done day, and I was feeling it by the time I went to bed.

But wait- there's more!

I had forgotten that Saturday morning was Women's Ministry, and we were going to a place called SHARE- they have volunteers come and do what is needed to pack food for those in need. Last year we packed all kinds of yummy fresh fruits and veggies, and though I woke up aching, I still wanted to help. So my daughter and I went to go do some good for others.

SHARE didn't have any food out, which was a bit puzzling. There were scads of empty pallets and skid of flat boxes, and a lot of tape. They didn't need to pack food this time, they needed boxes made for a big charity drive for the next week. How many skids did they need? Fifty of them.

Fifty. Or as much as we could get done. With fifty finished boxes to a skid, that was a grand total of twenty-five hundred boxes. We had four hours to do what we could. The record was held by a group from the day before- about a thousand. 

Little did they know I used to work for my dad's printing company, and I did this kind of stuff all the time in my youth. Little did I know that they had no chairs. I volunteered for taping the boxes before this little fact was introduced.

We formed an assembly line- some would open the boxes, my daughter held them shut, I taped, and sent them down the line to the stackers, packers, wrappers and taker-backers. Others were taping too, but I was doing two-to-one only because of experience, and everyone was kept busy.

I was bent over for two hours before my body said you better sit, before I do it for you. After taking a few minutes to unbend, my daughter and I made seats out of the pallets so I could do the rest of the boxes sitting down. There were a few ladies who joked about it, but when they saw how much I had actually done, no one lamented about my homemade seating arrangements. In fact, some were glad to take a seat when they took their water breaks!

By the end of the morning, the SHARE people said we were done for the day- and we beat the record holders by at least two hundred more boxes. We had finished half of the quota in four hours! I'd have cheered except I had no feeling in my legs and it took a great effort to blink.

And I had to set up for my daughter's party in less than three hours.

We got a lift home afterwards- That was such a blessing! I hurt so bad my cartilage was aching- and my hair hurt! Yet I still had things to do when I got home.

Each year I usually make homemade pizzas for the girls, with dough made from scratch, but because of the diversity of topping preferences (and the fact my arms would probably turn to a gelatinous mass), we decided to order out instead. Thank You God for such a fantastic husband! He not only helped with setting up, but went to fetch the pizzas for me. 

By the time the girls arrived, My muscles had stiffened to the point of cement, my bones sounding like bubble wrap every time I moved. And going to church the next day was fun too, because most of the women that did SHARE with me were hurting too- we would just look at each other and start laughing at our gimpiness. 

I still ache even as I write this, but it's an ache I can deal with because I helped a lot of people and made my daughter happy- and that's all the really matters, right? 

As for the larger cabinet? My husband and son were my superheroes- not only did they put together the cabinet last night after the party, they put up all of my shelving so now all I have to do is fill them up! 

When I'm mobile again, of course!

And now that no one is here to hear me whimper, I think a steaming hot bath is in order- and chocolate- lots of chocolate!