Begin Again and Again and Again...

I am writing this post from my couch.  Not a bad thing, nor an usual thing, to be honest!  However, I have been on this couch for about a month!! :(  I "injured" my back four weeks ago and my Physical Therapist has given me quite a few restrictions.  One of which is bending over. Seriously.  Do you have any idea how many times you bend forward in a day?? Even unloading/loading the dishwasher is a "no-no".  I have to think about every move I make from putting on my shoes to standing up from a seated position.  When I sit, no slouching and I have to use a lumbar roll. No running, no lifting, no swimming, no twisting, no bending, no... you get the picture.  The verdict is that I have a "slipped disc" along with already existing hypertrophy (arthritic changes basically) in my lumbar/sacral vertebrae.  Grrr!  It's slowly getting better, but not quick enough (of course)!  I am dying to work out!! (I had to put that...

I hope everyone had a great holiday! The pic above is of our local fireworks, which we are lucky enough to be able to see from our house :) We had my family over today for a cookout. Steak and chicken on the grill. Yum!!! I chose the chicken. Weird right. I LOVE steak! However, I had two cupcakes yesterday that my daughter made and decorated red, white and blue for a party, so I felt like I'd indulged enough! I love cooking for people. I think I should have more parties :) I ran yesterday for the first time in a long time. I decided to try out the high school track made out of recycled tires. My hip (long story) was sore, but bearable. I started over with Week 5 of the Couch to 5K training program. Figured it was best not to rush it and injure myself again. I had enough left at the end to run the bleacher stairs for 3 minutes!! (My quads were screaming, but it felt oh so good ;) You can't really tell in the pic, but my face was sooo red! I hate that I get this red. My middle d...