So, I hurt my back again. I packed up a closed case - three storage boxes' worth of paper - and in hauling it to the back room on my handy luggage cart I managed to hurt my back. The pain kept waking me up in the night, so I was dragging at work today, and sitting hurt more than standing so I had to keep finding tasks I could do while standing. I know better than to do what I did. I know better than to lift and then pull 70+ lbs of paper on a small luggage cart while wearing 3 inch heels, yet I did it anyway. I can tell from the location of the pain that the act of getting the cart off dead stop to drag it on the carpet is probably when the damage was done - I'm right-handed. Okay, too much information. This too shall pass, it always does, since the first time I messed up my back by doing heavy lifting in high heels - I was 19. I have been living with this a long time and still manage to be stupid at times. At this moment I am receiving treatment from my chiropractor, Jose Cuervo, and his capable assistant, Margarita Mix, and I feel better already. I predict that by tomorrow my back will be fine, these little incidents generally last two or three days, tops.

It's my fault for slacking off on the Pilates. I can either walk or do Pilates in the morning, there isn't time for both, and the dog wants the walk so we have been walking. The dog is going to have to suck it up and settle for the short walkie at least 3 mornings a week so I can work on strengthening my back.

I picked up the Softball Cotton crocheted shawl while drinking my morning coffee and could barely put it down. I hadn't worked on it in at least a week and I am so pleased by how lightweight and airy it is - cotton tends to make you think dense and heavy, a dishcloth shawl, but this definitely is not heavy and dense. I really like it. I'll be making more like this, but first I need to finish this one.

Sorry 'bout the lack of photos, but things are looking up, I think. Once the patio is in and I have outdoor furniture I will have a place to display projects in natural light, and end the "Okay, so this color is totally wrong and I tried to correct it and got something else that wasn't as wrong but is still wrong," excuse-fest. Then there will be more pictures.