LumberJane

Today it is supposed to be cold and rainy all day. An excuse to stay indoors could not have come at a better time. I plan on playing the "Billy the Exterminator" marathon that I have saved on the DVR, kicking off my leg and relaxing for a few hours. After the week I've had I certainly deserve a break, and my leg is in desperate need of a rest.

With the weather turning colder, Scott and I have been relying more heavily upon our fireplace for heat. Because we live in the woods and have a plethora of fallen trees, firewood is readily available. Unfortunately nature only provides the wood in the form of long, heavy trees. Cutting it up into chunks and splitting the logs for burning is a laborious undertaking which somehow has become my responsibility.

Every afternoon this week Robby and I have been in the middle of our woods, splitting logs. Actually, I was the one doing the splitting. Robby was collecting all of the worms that were crawling out from under the bark and placing them in "Wormie Town." He, of course, was the mayor.

It has become glaringly clear that we are ill-equipped to live in a rustic setting. We don't own an axe. I do have a handy log splitting tool that I bought from QVC several years ago. It eventually splits the wood, but it requires a lot of energy and time.

Because of the exertion from playing lumberjack, my stump has seen better days. The constant twisting in my socket has caused both pinch cuts and welts. My bone spur/ bursa, which had been settling down, is again rearing its ugly, painful head!

I was prepared for my upper body to be sore, but I was unprepared for the leg pain that ensued. Sometimes it just stinks being an amputee! I not only feel the soreness in my upper body, which I expected because I am relatively weak, but also I feel pain in my residual limb.

Today I am taking a vacation. I need to rest my leg before the situation becomes worse. Thankfully we have enough firewood cut that I know I'll be warm and toasty watching TV with Robby all day.