Bye 2014

So today marks the last day of 2014. My plan was not to be doing anything other then messing with my 3-D printer, drinking some alcohol, and maybe going for a bike ride and a few other things.

Instead first thing this morning I decided that I would reach over, lean way far forward and pick up something that was slightly out of reach. Because of this my back decided hey it's time that I throw you out because it has not happened in such a long time it sounds like fun.

Oh boy thanks a lot back. I will be ringing in the new year and starting off 2015 with a sore lower back. I am not sure if it is a muscle issue or if it's a nerve issue. It's always so hard to tell but honestly it feels more like a pinched nerve issue because it does that thing where it knocks the wind out of you and makes you feel like you have an adrenaline rush. At the same time, it almost feels a little bit inflamed because when I sit idle on the couch or in a chair for any length of time and then get up it takes a few before it finally starts feeling loosened up again.

My guess is that it's not from my bike ride last night or from anything else that I have done or not done. My guess is that it happened when I decided it would be a good idea to run during part of my cardio the other night on the treadmill.even though I only ran about 10 or 12 minutes out of the 60 minutes that I was on the treadmill it was more than enough to say hey 'fuck you', you know better than to run because every time you do I make sure you remember it by either a sore neck, sore shoulders, or I tweak your back. Because of the fact that you can't seem to listen to me, says my back, now you are going to hurt for a couple days.

Play Yard

Anyway enough about my back it gets annoying I'm sure and I know Cicily gets annoyed by it because she does not want to ever talk about it once I mention it.she was at babies R us the other night and noticed this really cool play yard that is made by the same company that makes the swing that we got for Zoey when she was a baby, actually she still uses it today.

The cool thing about this new one is that it sets up extremely easy basically with a push of a down stroke it set-up and spread out. Once you are ready to go you pull up on it from this handle on the bottom and wham, it's packed and ready to go home.

The other pack 'n play that we bought is just a little bit out of the return or exchange policy so we were afraid we would not be able to get the new one. I am still not 100% confident about it until we have the new one in our hands but the employees at Babies R Us said they would do the exchange.

It's only one month out of the one year Exchange time-frame when something is purchased off of the baby registry. The cool part for them is that they will be making $150 more off of us when we purchased the new one.

My only real concern when I think about it is whether or not it was actually purchased off of the registry (this is what gives you the one year return) or if I bought it online and then did an in-store pickup to save some money or something. It's hard to remember, there were so many deals going on around them and there were several specials since we were on the V.I.B (very important baby) program.

I really hope it does not get screwed up and we are stuck because I want us to have this new one. The new model is so much easier in every way. I guess worst case I will just have Cicely buy the new one and we will figure out something to do with the other one. Either donate it or sell it to one of the recycled baby stores and see what we can get for it.

Cycling

So even though my back is feeling like shit and I had taken a pain pill and a sort of muscle relaxer I am thinking that I still may go out and go for a bike ride and see if that will loosen up my back, nerves, muscles and make me feel better. I realize it sounds like the exact opposite thing that I should be doing but the strange thing is that more times than not it actually helps quite a bit versus sitting on your ass hoping that things will feel better, plus it's my last chance to ride this year and I start over at zero tomorrow.

I plan to just take it slow and put in the time more than anything else and not worry too much about the overall speed or power or watts. More than anything I just want to put in some time to get a few extra miles and to loosen up my lower back. Worst case it will feel shitty and the same, best case it will feel better.

The hardest thing for me so far is that my favorite thing to do in the morning is give Zoe out of her crib and carry her out to have her breakfast. I was unable to do this today because of it and nothing hurts my feelings more or pisses me off more when I can't hold her.

Ring Ring

Alright with that I'm going to say goodbye to 2014 and get on with my day. Whatever you are doing I hope it is a safe day and you enjoy it to the fullest. Whether you are staying at home with loved ones or you are going out with all of the crazies. I think we are staying home and just hanging out. That sounds okay to me but if Cicely decides she wants us to go somewhere else then I am up for that as well I think, painful back or not.

Happy new year to everyone and let's get 2015 underway so we can all grow another year older and another year wiser.

Tomorrow is also my sisters birthday so I have to be sure to give her a text or call and tell her happy birthday.

Last but of course not least tomorrow is our fuzzy kids birthday as well. Oggy will be nine years old and is still as good of a boy as the day we got him. We love him so much and he has been such a big part of our family we are looking forward to at least nine more years with him.

Photo: Croatian beer to start off the ringing in of the New Year!