Pain has been my constant companion this past week... it got to the point that It took about 10 minutes to get out of bed on Saturday so I called out of work, took a pill and passed out for another 5 hours.

Ron got me some stick on capsaicin heat back stick ons and they are working a small miracle... they really take the edge off the back pain. Personally I think they overide the back pain with the burning sensation they cause. I fear that if I wear them too many days in a row I will be left with a nice little chemical burn, but hey, they are working for now so I will continue to use them. Taking them off is like pulling off a big-ass, super-sticky band-aid. Can you say ouch? Needless to say I now have no hair on my lower back.

Well, despite having a sucktastic week and being in pain we got quite a bit done this week. We have ordered a dishwasher, bought all our closet fixin's, painted second coats on most of the bedroom... one more coat on one more wall and that's done! Ron installed a light fixture and no one got electrocuted! Alexi helped Ron start assembling the closet fixtures. When this is all done those two will have earned their IKEA merit bagdes. We even got the bulk of our holiday shopping done and have chosen our next paint color!


UPDATE: Do not, for the love of god, get those back pain stickums wet. We had heard from a reliable source that soaking them with a facecloth makes them easier to remove. WRONG-O! Not only does it seem to make the adhesive stickier, but it separates the paper backing from the adhesive. This makes it so you cannot do the rip it off fast like a band-aid manuever... you have to pick off each little sticky bit pulling skin and hair with it. And if you use water that's even the teensiest bit warm it increases the burning sensation. So please, if you use these, do not get them wet, do not feed them after midnight. Rip them off in one quick motion. Trust me.