Wow, I have no idea what I'd submit for this challenge. And that makes me sad. I'm mentally walking through my apartment, and there are a lot of things I love, but nothing that sets itself apart. That's bumming me out.

Warning - rant ahead:

So I hit the trifecta of pain in my leg this weekend/week. I started having problems with my foot (I've had similar ones before) on Saturday, but I could still get around OK enough to walk into town and do some errands and get lunch. When I got back home, I noticed my ankle was twinge-ing a little, but didn't give it much thought. I dosed on ibuprofen and spent a quiet night at home.

Sunday, the ankle still hurt a little, as did the foot, but still not enough to ping me. I again walked into town, got brunch and watched the first half of the Pats game. When I got home, the ankle felt a little worse.

You see where I'm going with this.

When I got up off the couch later that night, I could barely hobble. Also, I noticed my knee was starting to feel a little twinge-y as well. Finally warning lights go off.

Come Monday morning I'm even more hobbled, the knee is now definitely an issue, and so I have to call in sick. Because of how we remote in to work, I can't really work from home because I have a Mac (I have to request a laptop when I have an on-call week, and they won't issue a long-term one for this particular reason). This makes me feel bad because, a) I'm a little stir-crazy after spending the last two days relatively housebound, b) I called in sick last Tuesday (after a Monday holiday) because I was down with some fever-y/ache-y thing from Sunday to Tuesday, and c) this is now the second weekend I haven't been able to do much of anything I wanted to because I'm incapacitated.

This morning, the ankle and the foot felt better, though not 100% by any means, but now the knee is hobbling me. So I'm out another day and going even stir-crazier.

I'd really love some less-pain-ma because if I need to call in a third day, I need a doctor's note and getting to a doctor is going to be as difficult as getting to work if the knee hasn't improved. Also, I hate taking this many doses of ibuprofen for this long a period.

None of these symptoms are new (I have a number of joint problems), but I've never had them cascade this quickly before. It's like a perfect storm.

The biodiversity project.

Awesome!

This thing!

One of the more hilarious lemurs. Check out its ground moves! [link] And, just because I can, here's the mating dance of the blue-footed booby. "Hey babe, these feet? Totally blue." [link]

I dunno--can a sloth be trained to not shit on the floor?

Probably not. In the wild they're some of the most dedicated tree-dwellers around - and yet, despite the danger to a creature that would be hard pressed to outrun a glacier, they invariably come to the ground to defecate. (Apparently they view ground level as one gigantic litter box.) On the plus side, however, they only go once a week.

That's awful, Frank. It sounds like a trip to the doctor might be a good idea, though.

Ouch, Frank!

It sounds like a trip to the doctor might be a good idea, though.

See, I have, and it's always the same treatment - ice, elevate when possible, stay off it, NSAIDs. For the knee once there were also some exercises, but I can't really do them at this point (it's more for after the incident). It's a combination of arthritis, a years-ago sprain, and walking for decades without arch supports and flat feet.

I just really need to start reading the warning signs a little better, so I'm kinda kicking myself (if I could, which I can't at the moment). The last twinge like this I had was in my other ankle and only lasted one afternoon and evening with minimal treatment, so it's hard to tell what's really going to be a problem.

woke up with stomach yuck. waves of yuck every couple of hours. do not like.

Timelies all!

Feel better people!

You're right. The people I'm feeling now just aren't up to snuff.

So I retrieved Emmett from the East Bay and we got into the Peds Urgent Care relatively quick. They have a rapid test for strep and, yep, that's what he's got. Which was actually good news since it wasn't Mono or some virus he'd just have to tough out.

I got the ABs and he should start feeling better in 24 hours. Just fed him beef broth over rice and will make him a cold smoothie in a bit. He's hungry but everything hurts to swallow.

Between this and Matilda having an extra holiday (Lunar/Chinese New Year on Monday) I'm getting behind on the writing time I usually have on Mon/Tues.