When I was seventeen, I twisted my knee. A year or two later, it was scoped and I was in physio. It’s never been well ever since.

Last September/November I was in excruciating pain for about six weeks and could barely walk. I went to a new doctor and had a referral to a different specialist than the first time. The XRay I had a few months ago was inconclusive, so I had an MRI last Wednesday. Yesterday I finally spoke to the orthopedic surgeon about what was wrong and what we’re going to do about it.

The answer to both would be: nothing.

Great.

Well, I can go to physio. I will likely have to do that every day of my life if I’m going to live relatively pain-free. This is basically a lifetime sentence no matter how I look at it. And I am such a bad habit-former I’m worried the sentence is for pain.

To make matters worse, I’ve been doing a lot of research and writing by hand these days, and my shoulder, wrist and fingers are killing me.

And just to add insult to injury, I have an ingrown toenail.

In an attempt to quit with the whining already, I’m off to see Kathy of the IET and Reiki on Monday. I need some centering.

I feel like I want to make jewellery again but I’m not getting the motivation for it. I have ideas and plans and instead I sit on the couch. Today and last night I made a few heart pendants (which sell like crazy, go figure) but my hand is actually killing me, so I’m having trouble doing any more.

I need to sequester myself in with my gemstones and wire and force some productivity, or else the coming season will be a bust. I made a pile of money last year but money just isn’t a great motivator for me. Doing the shows sucked the good out of me, I think. I’m glad I’ll only be doing one this year (OK, maybe two).

I have an amazing project going with my friend Angela, who is a printmaker and bookbinder. We’re making individualized boxes for each of my major neckpieces. The only thing is, between me getting my wisdom teeth out and her making a trip to Halifax and various other schedule conflicts, we haven’t worked on it since the first night, about three or four weeks ago - so that’s in a stall too.

Blah. I’m just blah.

So, er, yeah. I got promoted! No raise just yet, but I did get a bonus in the form of an Eee PC two weeks beforehand, and I’m sure the $$ is coming. Also, they didn’t exactly call it a promotion but that’s what it feels like to me.

They’ve created a Research & Development department, and it’s basically… me. I hired (me! I did the hiring!) someone to replace me for student work and I NO LONGER HAVE ANY STUDENTS. The moment I realized this - about six days ago - I had an amazing rush of adrenaline. I was pretty high for a bit. It means my phone doesn’t ring, I don’t have any whining people to take care of, no more boring (or brain-numbingly bad) assignments to mark, no more chasing grown adults to do their homework, none of it.

My day now goes like this:

Work on project*
Work on different project
Invent new project to work on
Work on original project again
Look up, realize it’s lunch time, eat
Play on the internet to find new ideas
Have more projects added to my list
Get asked for my opinion on any of the above
Work on projects some more
Look up, realize it’s 5:15, and go home!

*said “project” could include: develop new programs, order new books to review, review said books, create visual email signatures for all, learn about guerrilla marketing or SEO (helpful to have in my brain for my own site!), test new software such as webinars or learning management systems, write articles or announcements, figure out new ways of helping the students (without having to actually DO IT), streamline procedures, update the websites, post to a design blog, create new advertising/marketing materials, etc etc etc (PS these are all examples from today only).

IT IS SO PERFECT FOR ME.