We had our first snowfall of the season over the weekend! It started with some big, fat, gently falling snowflakes on Saturday and then by Sunday it was wet, heavy, drenching snow. While I miss the beauty of the fall — especially the gorgeous yellow tree in my backyard neighbor’s yard that leans over our hedges into our yard — the trees had long since lost their leaves anyway, so I am pretty pleased with this introduction to winter.
Since I am not doing Dinners This Week, this week (I did a double last week), I thought I would post some updates about random things.
- The State of the Ceiling: The plaster expert is gone – after four days in my house instead of the originally-stated two – for good. (I am a little concerned for him, because he told me a lengthy story about how one of his other clients is sexually harassing him. It was a story that I listened to with a Very Serious face, and at the end, I told him, “I am so sorry you are being harassed.” at which point it became clear that he was telling the story in the hopes that I would think it was funny? “I guess I know what it’s like to be a woman now! Har har!” he said, and I nodded very seriously and said, “That must be an eye-opening perspective, although what an awful way to attain it.” He went back to work.) Despite his tendency to talk too much, and about subjects that made me slightly uncomfortable, he did a wonderful job on the ceiling. Here’s a little before and after for you. I’m sorry it isn’t more exciting.
- Vaccines: My husband and Carla are now both boosted! (They each already got their flu shots several weeks ago.) Despite all plans to the contrary, I forgot Carla’s vaccine card at home. SIGH. What IS it with me doing that??? Her doctor gave me a little sticker to put on her card at home, so it worked out okay and I remain the only one
in the universein our family who has three vaccine cards. Carla had a very mild fever and some arm pain after her vaccine. My husband felt pretty crummy the day after his; the same thing I went through, with the skin sensitivity and the aching and the general yuckiness. No fever though. And now we are all boosted! (As are my parents, who are visiting us VERY SOON!!!! Hooray!) - The State of My Feet: I continue to struggle with plantar fasciitis. I got a third injection a few months ago that, like the other injections, did nothing. I continue to dabble with things that are supposed to help: wearing my brace, icing my feet, doing stretches, rolling a ball beneath my feet, trying to pick up a washcloth in the shower with my toes (they are incapable of doing this). I have purchased foot insoles and special socks. I bought a new pair of shoes. I have even tried just Powering Through, and walking even though my feet ache. Nothing is helping. No wonder; what I have trouble with is trying a variety of things that a variety of people have suggested, and doing it inconsistently and haphazardly. What I need is A Real Plan. I can follow A Plan! But I need a medical professional to tell me The Plan so I can initiate it. However, I don’t think I can go back to the podiatrist. He seems… overly invested in the injections. The person who referred me to him claims he is a miracle worker, and that he worked with her extensively to fix her own plantar fasciitis, but he hasn’t been quite as attentive to me. He just says, “Let’s try another shot.” I want him – or some other foot expert – to say, “This is what you do. Do these specific exercises in this order, daily for 15 minutes. Wear this brace every day for two hours. Buy this specific pair of shoes and wear this specific insert.” Not, “Oh, well, let’s check back in two weeks and maybe you need another injection.” Speaking of needles: a (different) friend who formerly had plantar fasciitis said that acupuncture had cured her, so I have an appointment with her acupuncturist later this month. My husband is being very supportive. I told him I am excited to try it, and he said he is excited for me. I said, “Do you think it will work?” and he said, “No.” Sigh. We’ll see.
- Treadmill Desk: My husband bought me a treadmill desk for my birthday waaaaay back in February and I loved it. But then my plantar fasciitis kept getting worse and worse, and I stopped using it. I have every intention of getting back into the habit. Maybe when my feet are in less constant agony. (There will come a time when they are in less constant agony, yes?)
- The State of My Skin: I read every single comment with great interest. So many great ideas, so much comforting commiseration. My best guess is that, as many readers suggested, the skin thing is a result of age and/or hormones. Which means I probably just need to tough it out. I have definitely had Skin Stuff before, usually precipitated by trying a new skincare product. But it didn’t seem to linger quite as lengthily as this most recent issue. Anyway, the action I took was to put all my faith in NGS’s comment. She said, “I have terrible eczema and I use Neutrogena wipes to clean my skin every night and don’t worry about the environmental cost because any time I’ve changed it, my skin has gone insane.” So I went back to my old, environmentally detrimental cleansing process. My skin has responded quite well. It is no longer unbearably itchy, and the only remaining problem area is a rough rectangular patch of redness between my eyebrows. This does not mean I am going to give up on trying to find a skincare routine that doesn’t involve disposable wipes. I am going to try again – looking to your comments for ideas. But for now, this has been helping to alleviate my misery.
- Calcium: I still worry about Carla’s calcium intake, and the variety of foods she eats in general. Especially in this busy season of our lives, the majority of her diet seems to be chicken nuggets, peas, and rice, interspersed with tacos and the occasional filet of salmon. I know this isn’t the worst combination of foods, and she is still growing and thriving, but… I would like to expand her diet to include other things. She ate a bowl of snow for breakfast yesterday, but that’s not what I mean by “other things.” One of the issues, it seems, is that Carla doesn’t have a great grasp on which foods include which nutrients. Like… she’ll indicate that she thinks white rice has protein in it, or that eggs contain calcium. I’ve tried correcting her in the moment and talking to her more generally about which foods fit into which nutrient group (and I wrote some lists on our whiteboard of which foods, in which nutrient categories, would be good for breakfast), but it’s not sticking. It might be useful to find some book resources, but I’m having a hard time finding anything that doesn’t seem too young. I’ve ordered Are You What You Eat? from our library, and I might order Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell from Amazon. We’ll see if they are useful.
Are there any topics I’ve raised in the past that you are burning for me to revisit? (LOL.) If there’s something I brought up awhile ago and you’re curious about the resolution, let me know in the comments or on my Ask Me Anything form and I will post about it.
It seems as though I am doing NaBloPoMo this month, which is 30 blog posts in 30 days. (Will I make it??? Only time will tell.) Details at San’s blog here.
I love your update posts. I laughed at your sexual harassment conversation with the plaster guy. I love it.
I am so sorry you’re still suffering from plantar fasciitis. That sounds so painful and it’s been going on so long. It’s so frustrating to try something that is supposed to work – an injection – and then it doesn’t. I know some people who swear by acupuncture, so hopefully it will work for you. I mean, it’s worth a try.
I might copy your ask me anything form, if I can figure out how to make a form!
In terms of skin stuff, I went through a terrible acne stage about ten years ago, so I was in my late 30s. It was dreadful, and I did manage to get it under control. I think it was a combo of hormones and stress. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, you know? So keep using what works, I say!
Lololol “do stuff do more stuff stuff” – I kind of feel like that’s my to-do list!
My kiddo is so hilarious — I love her little notes. 🙂 And yes, do an Ask Me Anything!
I did not realize you were suffering with plantar faciitis. I’m so sorry, and me too! Twinsies! My podiatrist (a new one) has me wearing an insert, and I’m supposed to stretch my calf muscles 5x, 5x/day. It’s a lot of stretching. And so far it seems to have helped zero percent. Next appointment, he told me, we could do an injection if there was no improvement, but I don’t want to have to rely on that, you know? I kind-of think a night splint/brace might help me, but who knows. Argh. Why is this so hard to fix?!
Yes someday some magic combination of everything that you’ve done for PF will work and it will be gone. And if the worst thing that you’re doing for the environment is using a disposable face wipe then you’re light years ahead of the rest of us so wipe away!
A couple suggestions from someone you don’t know, so obviously do with them whatever you want.:)
For plantar fasciitis – is there another podiatrist you can go to? I have PF and went to two different podiatrists over the years. Both did pretty much the same thing: custom orthotics (arch support is key), ultrasound, electricity (can’t remember what this therapy was called) and whirlpool. Night splint to wear for at least half an hour a day (I wore it while watching TV and still pull it out when my calf feels tight) and then stretching. I had the therapy twice a week for however long my insurance would cover it. I only got a cortisone shot once before I was going to have to stand in a conference booth for 4 days but other than that they didn’t do shots. The combination of the therapies helped with inflammation and the stretching and orthotics have helped keep the pain from coming back in the past few years, but I can tell when I haven’t been stretching enough because I’ll feel tight in my calf or a little sore on the bottom of my foot, so then I know I have to stretch more consistently.
As far as food – I am an adult with no kids who somehow started following feedinglittles on Instagram, I think because someone shared one of their recipes. They have lots of strategies for working with picky eaters and ways to talk about food with kids (or yourself). The focus is on young kids but i keep following them because i find the advice interesting and comforting. And they have a new cookbook.
Thanks for the tip about feedinglittles! I will check it out. And yes, probably I need to see another podiatrist. 😕
Love Carla’s to-do list v. yours.
I’ve had a touch of plantar fasciitis for several years, but it’s milld and in just one foot and after shoe inserts didn’t seem to help, I just decided to live with it for now.
I don’t know if you’ve tried a foot rocker for your PF, but I’ve had it 3 times and the foot rocker helps with the stretching (took about a week to notice it was helping), plus I wore a brace at night for a few weeks to keep my foot closer to 90 degrees and that helps to, in concert with the foot rocker stretching. Both in concert keep that ligament from seizing up and helps keep it “loose”. I’ve also done specialty PF massage (NOT relaxing, but it helps break up the tissue a little) and also had my foot and Achilles taped with KT tape, which helps provide support (in addition to my rigid insole inserts etc. Good luck!
I am happy to hear that going back to the Neutrogena wipes helped out. I know it’s not great for the environment, but it is what it is. I am happy to hear that going back to the Neutrogena wipes helped out. I know it’s not great for the environment, but it is what it is.
I have PF and over the years have had so many treatments. I now think that everyone’s experiences are so different that it doesn’t matter what works for one person because the next will be completely different. (I don’t wear heels at all, mostly wear Mephisto sandals in the summer, all my winter shoes and boots have Superfeet insoles, I do yoga all the time, am never barefoot, and regularly massage my feet with tennis balls.) Good luck finding the right mix of weirdness that works for you!
I’ve ended up with three vaccine cards as well! These things happen.
Let’s discuss your wizardry with the before and after sliders on your pictures. My mouth literally gaped open – that is so cool! And can I just say I am so glad – after reading various blogs – that we still don’t have snow on the ground here. There is a snow symbol in the weather forecast for later this week, but I’m choosing to ignore it and hope it goes away. I’m just not ready for the white stuff.
My husband was diagnosed with plantar fascitis – it was terrible. He was too busy to deal with it properly and it just…eventually…got better. But it was awful for him and I really, really hope you find a solution soon.
You know I have my own treadmill desk (attachment, in my case) demerit. Maybe this week. I know once I start using it, I’ll get back into the habit because I actually enjoy it and I have literally no excuse to not be using it.
Finally, I am just so glad that the ceiling is fixed (three cheers; I know it has been bothering you for a long time and I suspect will make you much more confident when people are visiting) and that the contractor is gone. Yikes. That just all sounds like so much…too much. There is definitely such a thing as oversharing, and he burst right through the barrier and took things to a whole other level.
Ok, first of all… kudos for those “swiping images”… is that a feature in WordPress? I use that tool at work (I work with maps) all the time but didn’t know you can do this on blogs. So cool 🙂
Re: skincare, if your disposable Neutrogena wipes work so well, have you tried to find a Neutrogena cleanser that could replace the vibes. I swear by the Neutrogena Naturals Cleanser – it has never given me any breakouts.
I am sorry about your PF, I know so many people who deal with this (and I totally understand that you’d rather do some exercises than keep getting injections. That’s the equivalent of just throwing a prescription drug at a problem and you know how I feel about that!). I do hope the acupuncture will work. I know people who swear by it and others for which it does nothing… but I think it’s worth a try!
GROAN! You have plantar fasciitis in BOTH FEET? That’s horrible! I’ve had it in my left foot since April of 2020 (I know, arg) but at least I have one good foot to use when getting out of bed in the morning. Obviously, I don’t have any good advice, but I’ll tell you what I’ve learned: everyone has a “magical cure” for plantar fasciitis that ONLY WORKS FOR THEM. So, take it all with a grain of salt. I had a series of shockwave treatments which were “guaranteed” to cure it, but didn’t. Still… it might be something to look into because a lot of people- again, not me- have had success with that.
The other thing is, I finally got custom orthotics and I’m pretty sure that’s what’s enabling me to run. My foot rarely hurts when I run, and as a matter of fact I think the running helps stretch it out. But it hurts at most other times of the day. Let’s keep talking about this because there is a solution out there- we just have to find the right one.
For your foot: have you ever been to physical therapy for it? I had some foot issues that resembled plantar fasciitis, and ended up at PT with their foot specialist. They could have helped with plantar fasciitis, too, but it turns out that foot pain can also originate from the leg or back. My issues were resolved with some specific stretches aimed at a leg muscle issue, and some advice on footwear. Maybe it’s something to consider if you haven’t yet. I was not keen on the way podiatrists push injections and surgery, either!
A treadmill desk! Oh that’s wonderful and I’m not at all jealous. I have a standing desk arrangement which I love. It’s great to not slouch in a chair when writing, but I bet walking is even better. Glad to read y’all have gotten your boosters. That’s important.
So I somehow only have 1 vaccine card even though I just got my 6th shot this weekend! They just wrote it on the back. Which I am very happy about because I can not handle another card. Although my husband thinks they are basically useless now that vaccine mandates are kind of behind us. And he’s probably right. I somehow didn’t get a card for the boys’ first shot and did for their 2nd so their vaccine record isn’t complete but surely it’s correct in their electronic records I think/hope? I need to remember to ask their doctor about it when I take Will for his 2y appt in Dec.
Ugh, your podiatrist experience sounds rough. I’m kind of skeptical of podiatrists after a not great experience w/ one. I won’t bore you with the details but I don’t know that I would go back to one.
LOL, I somehow managed to completely miss that there was a slider in your ceiling photos and was basing my comparison just on the half of each photo that was showing. I was totally thinking to myself “The before ceiling doesn’t look bad at all to me! I guess everyone has different standards?…” Thank god for the commenters who mentioned the slider!
Your daughter’s to-do list made my day! LOL
I’ve had plantar fasciitis a couple of times. It is not fun, that’s for sure! Mine was helped by stretching and rolling a ball under my feet. I also remember that an insert for my shoes was helpful. Hope you find something that gets rid of it for you!
I just love your responses to the contractor so , so much. I doubt I could come up with anything even a 1/4 of as good in the moment! I need a WWSS bracelet… what would Suzanne say, of course.
And for my own plantar fasciitis… I didn’t mind being regimented to what one YouTube guy recommended for about 2 weeks. But mine was predominantly caused by tight calves, turned out- to the “stand on steps with just your toes and stretch up as far and down as far as you can worked. I also worked on my gait, and then used the tennis balls on my calves (f-ing excruciating). I also was taking a daily dose of some Stuff to reduce inflammation (sour cherry extract? Pretty sure that was it.) do I know which one worked? Hell no. But I know something did in that regimen so if I ever get another flare up I do the whole damn shebang and it nips it in the bud.
But I agree with the comment above- I think it has a ton of causes and treatments… annoying to have to give them all the ol college try to find what works for you!
That plaster guy of yours would have made me uncomfortable, too, but the ceiling does look good. I hope your feet improve soon. I have not had plantar fasciitis a good friend of mine did and it does not sound fun. My friend improved at some point so I hope you will, too!
Looking again at your ceiling photo, I just noticed how the colors of the macaroon art has switched between the two. Am I imagining things, or did you switch the pictures when you put them up?
We switched the pictures! I am so tired of the macarons and I wanted to shake things up a little. Carla helped me choose the new order but until I looked at this comparison I didn’t realize we had changed them all! I thought we only switched the middle one with one of the sides.
Ugh, jokes about sexual harassment, don’t do this, men. I have plantar fasciitis too because of course I do. Since I had the trainwreck c-section with Angus, my lousy feet have now resulted in a lousy back, and it sucks. Do you have orthotics? That’s kind of the only thing that’s resulted in any improvement for me, although not perfect and not consistent.
My 23-year-old child recently revealed that he thought white rice was a hugely nutrient-rich food. Did white rice have some sort of propaganda campaign??
Favorite part: “She ate a bowl of snow for breakfast yesterday, but that’s not what I mean by ‘other things’.”
I was so distracted doing the little slider back and forth to make the picture change, I didn’t even notice that the macarons changed color until I noticed Kate noticing it.
It’s Big Rice, stalking our children on YouTube.
My husband has not noticed the new order of the macarons! I wonder if he ever will!
Suzanne, how can you talk about how tech savvy I am when you’re over here doing before-and-after slider images in your blog posts? THAT IS SO COOL. I need your tutorial on how to do that. 🙂
I love the way you responded to the plaster guy. He probably expected you to have a different reaction, but maybe now he’ll think about these interactions in a different way!
Your plantar fasciitis sounds terrible! I hope you can find some relief.
LOL, I totally missed the sliders! I was SO confused by the ceiling pictures, and thought, wow, it must be a really subtle problem in the before photo!
The plaster guy… wow. Just, wow. I’m glad you said what you said but I might have lost the powers of speech…
And… for Carla, would it be easier for her if you came up with pre-approved protein+carb combos for her that she also approves of and will eat? i think it’s intuitive to us as adults to add columns 1+2 to get a more complete meal/snack, but maybe you should just take her to that next step? (Or is that what you’re trying to do with the bottom options? If so, or if this is totally unhelpful, just ignore me, please, as usual…)