Once Upon a Mattress

Chicago.

A weekend with the girls.

Precious "mom-only" time away in the Windy City.

Sidelined by an air mattress.

Here I had a bed all to myself. I slept easily. Deeply. And yet, in the morning, I found my upper body to be positioned lower than my lower body.

This is a problem.  Used my newly developed ab muscles to sit up, for the upper body wasn't having it.

This continued to be a problem upon my return home.

And thus, off to the orthopedic massage therapist I went.

Orthopedic. Not to be confused with a relaxing massage. Very. Very. Different.  Not only did he seem to find every knot and bump and sensitive spot from my neck to my lats, but I was also told that the only exercise I could handle for the next 48 hours was/is stretching.

Light stretching to an exercise addict is like O'Dules to a beer connisour.

And yet, I know he's right. And I will follow his instructions so as to not incur further injury. I will even be returning next week to have him work on it again.  Thankfully, he sounds like Owen Wilson, a fav of mine, so that made the experience of being pushed and pulled and prodded and poked a tad bit more entertaining.

I shared with him that I am a Beachbody Coach and that it is hard for me to sit out from ChaLEAN. His eye's lit up. "The P90X people? I need to talk with you about that." Only, I couldn't quite talk 'cause I was focusing on breathing through the massage. There was no catching a few winks while ethereal music floated in air.  We'll catch up on that conversation when I'm a bit more limber.

The lesson?

Sometimes you have to take some time off. So I will be repeating this week of the Push Circuit next week.

And in the interim, I have stolen my husband's Shakeology and am drinking it like water. Perhaps I should order my own.

I need to make the best of it, so that I can BRING MY BEST when I press play again soon.  It's not worth pushing through a pain that could ultimately turn serious.

I will, however, be checking for peas underneath any foreign mattresses on which I sleep in the future. For this princess really needs to "go heavy or go home" and is not known for standing still while watching the parade go by.

You got me this time, air mattress, but I'll see to it that you won't cross me in the future. I'm keeping you where you belong. In a bag. In the closet.