What a pain in the....

...back. Ouch.

(By the way, sorry to flood you all with FOUR new posts at a time! I've been working on them and finally hit "publish" today.)

I woke up Tuesday morning with an slight ache in my back. It's not unusual. I have bone spurs on my lower spine and sometimes they irritate the muscles.

I went about my business that day, which included a couple of meetings, general work-related crap, and hanging out with Ranger. But by the time my 4:00 meeting arrived, I was in some serious pain. My back was locked up with horrendous pain. Pain I haven't felt in years.

I didn't make it to the 4:00 meeting. I could barely drive myself home.

Ranger was there as my mother prepared dinner. I put a heat pack on my back and took some meds. I hate taking those meds. I hate feeling groggy and not completely in control of myself.

But life goes on. The next morning, I still had to get kids to school. Instead of going back home, I went to Ranger's room.

I forgot to mention that I also burned myself seriously while cooking Shepherd's Pie for Ranger the week before. And it was looking baaad.

He tucked me into his bed. Massaged pain-relieving gel into my back. Doctored and bandaged my burn. And held onto me as I drifted in and out of meds-induced sleep. When it was time for me to pick up kids and take them home, he got me on my way and promised to be over at my house soon.

He got some delicious Indian food for me for dinner and sat with me as we watched one of my favorites shows: Ghost Hunters. It also happens to be one of his least favorite, so this was indeed a labor of love.

In the time before he came over, Ranger searched the 'net for pics of my beloved wolves. He printed a few for me, found a cute wolf nightshirt for me, a new wolf t-shirt, and an irresistibly-soft stuffed wolf for me. He hoped to brighten my day.

He didn't realize that taking such good care of me that day had already brightened it. His kindness meant more to me than he knew. I'm not used to that. My ex always left the house when I didn't feel well. Since my divorce, I'd become used to taking care of myself, by myself. Having someone else wrap me up in such loving care is indeed very special and meaningful to me.

You know, Ranger mentioned one day that he'd laid awake puzzling over the fact that we haven't argued about anything yet. He tried to think of all the things he might do to piss me off, so he could avoid them.

Is this something I should worry about? Methinks not. I'll just enjoy it.