Valium for Breakfast

Got back from the VaBook Festival last night and was going to hit the ground running today:

• Orthopedist appointment at 9:30am to discuss the next fun surgery on my arm (alas, the surgery on Jan 2 isn't going to be the last of the year).
• Pick up Jenny afterwards at Shylo, "the country club for dogs."
• Post a gazillion pics and comments about my fabu time at the festival.
• Send emails to old friends, all the wonderful people who were on my panels and the other wonderful people I met along the way.
  

Instead, the ground almost hit me at 7:30am, when I bent over (with knees properly bent, I'll have you know) to get something out of the suitcase on the floor, and my lower back went into a screaming spasm. It took me almost 10 minutes to raise myself up by leaning heavily on a nearby chair, and another 5 minutes to creep to the bathroom and down 5mg of Valium (God's gift for spasms; hence my "Valium de Loire" trip to France a few years ago). I very carefully crept back into bed, where I lay immobile on my back with a pillow under my knees and a furry, 14-1/2 lb. vibrating heater on my chest (that would be Max, purring loudly to show how glad he is that I'm home).

After 45 minutes, I thought I'd get dressed and head off to the orthopod. But when I couldn't straighten up after getting my jeans out of a bottom drawer, and the back went into spasms when I attempted to pull up and zip, I knew there was no way I was going anywhere. So I'm seeing the orthopod on Thursday and Jenny is having another day in the "country" (i.e., sere, brown--make that white, as we had snow overnight--windswept plains east of Denver airport).

New plan for today:

1. Valium
2. Bed
3. Read
   
4. Sleep
5. Repeat

Now to heave myself out of my desk chair and work my way down the list.