body upkeep
5/25/26

on saturday i spent a pretty offline day, indulging in my hobbies. on this occasion, mostly ceramics.

(i love ceramics; it's my most expensive hobby i've ever had, but the most rewarding and satisfying one.)

the hobby however does involve a lot of heavy lifting. i do slip casting, so i have lots of heavy, plaster molds. and buckets filled with liquid clay. lots of things i lift and pour and move around. anyway, i had a fun day. and then sunday, i woke up in excrutiating pain.

i seem to have pulled or strained a muscle in my shoulder. hard to lift my arm or move it in certain way. the pain goes up into my neck so i can't turn my neck to one side. really delightful. i spent all of yesterday lounging on the couch full of nsaids and applying ice packs.

today it's a bit better, but still painful when i move certain ways. as i get older, when i get hit with injuries like this, it is always something that takes me out for a couple weeks, and clearly this is another couple week long recovery i'll now have to deal with.

i just had my yearly obgyn exam last month, and the doctor had said to me: "you should work on strength training." i knew she was right when she said it; i mean, strength training is a good idea no matter who you are or at what age. it's not about getting ripped, it's just about keeping muscles strong and healthy. but i kind of just shoved it to the back of my mind. but sitting on the couch applying an ice pack to my aching shoulder made her words just float through my head. i all but had an image of her in my mind, wagging her finger at me, saying "see??"

obviously i'm not twenty anymore. twenty year old me spending a day lifting heavy things would have been a bit sore the next day but shaken it off. now, i've hurt myself so badly i need my boyfriend's help to get my sweater on and off and i can only use one hand to wash my hair in the shower.

everything in life needs maintenance and my stupid body is just one more stupid thing that also needs it. it's SO annoying. i've already been buckling down on doing a cardio/yoga routine to keep my heart healthy and my body limber. but now i gotta think about my stupid muscles too.

oh well. i better get to amazon to order a set of dumbbells. hooray!