A former coworker of mine once proudly proclaimed himself a “hardy New Englander” when I wished him luck driving in for his next shift because we were expecting a snow storm. I wonder if he, like myself, felt at all unsettled by the four feet of snow we accrued two weekends ago. But before we get to that, let’s rewind to December so I can update you on a couple other things that have happened since.
Tendonitis
About a week before Christmas, I woke up one morning with some pain in my right wrist. I assumed I slept on it funny and didn’t think much of it. But the pain started to get worse, and I noticed I was starting to lose mobility in my right thumb, so I went to my doctor who told me I had tendonitis.
I don’t remember doing anything to cause the injury, but my doctor said it could’ve been from repetitive strain, and then I might’ve done something small that was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” I do work a desk job, and the strain of using a mouse and keyboard all day has caused an issue with my neck/right shoulder/right arm before, so I wonder if this is just the sequel.
To be honest, I kind of disregarded the PT referral with the first injury, but this time around, my PCP made it sound like the tendonitis would only get worse if I didn’t do PT and I’d risk permanently losing the function of my thumb, so I followed through this time.
PT is surprisingly popular though, and I’ve only been able to get two appointments so far. In between, I’ve been doing the home exercises they assigned. I’m still in a fair amount of pain, but I’m also seeing small improvements in daily tasks. Things like holding a makeup brush, showering, and opening my contacts don’t hurt as much as they used to. You really take the ability to do simple things for granted until you can’t do them anymore!
Taskmaster Live
So that was December. Then mid-January, my husband scored two tickets for us to go see Taskmaster Live. As a human on the internet who you don’t know, there’s probably nothing I can say that would convince you to go watch Taskmaster. I mean, even if I knew you, I probably couldn’t convince you. It’s not easy convincing someone else to like what you like. But seriously, go watch it.
The original show is British, which is the one we watch, but its popularity has grown and spawned multiple international versions as well. The show consists of a panel of five celebrities (usually comedians), the Taskmaster, and the Taskmaster’s assistant. Each contestant is given the same task to complete, with some cutting to the chase and completing the task, some thinking laterally and finding clever loop holes, and others choosing to do it in a funny way rather than doing it well. And then there are the contestants that are just so bad at the tasks that that’s the humor itself.
You find yourself laughing with the contestants, laughing at the Taskmaster’s quick and witty commentary as they watch back the footage, but also wondering what clever loop holes you would have found if you were given the task.
I know, I know, I’ve done such a good job convincing you to go watch it that you can’t wait to exit wherever it is you’re reading this blog post and head over to YouTube – oh by the way, did I mention it’s all free to watch on YouTube? Free!
But finish reading my blog post first.
Back to Back Blizzards
Thankfully, Taskmaster Live happened just before the first big blizzard of the season. A week after the show, we got over a foot and a half of snow, and because the temperatures in the following weeks were always below freezing, the snow just sat there. Then four weeks later, we were hit with another blizzard and another two feet of snow.
Aside from the anxiety of having to drive to work in the snow back when I still commuted, blizzards don’t normally phase me if I’m staying indoors. But I can’t remember the last time we had back to back blizzards, and when I’m 4’11”, and the snow is almost my height and the forecast says there’s more snow coming, it does give me a feeling of being buried alive in snow and it is a little unsettling.
Luckily, except for a couple inches of snow in the forecast here and there, it looks like we’re finally getting some warm weather days, and the snow is finally starting to melt. I can see some patches of yard peeking through, and it’s getting me excited for spring!
What’s the weather like where you live? Are blizzards foreign weather to you, or did you get slammed like we did?
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