Linking up with Meghan over at Clean Eats, Fast Feets.

Last week was not a good week.

Monday, one of my co-workers went home, leaving us short-staffed and woefully behind. I walked almost 16,000 steps that day, in 14 1/2 hours of work. LONG. FREAKING. DAY. And I don’t mean just time-wise.

Tuesday morning was our monthly meeting with all of our team and the doctor, so by 8 a.m., I’d already picked up breakfast for everyone and was at work. The meeting went well, and I spent a few hours getting caught up on stuff that didn’t happen Monday.

Then I walked across the parking lot to my follow-up appointment with my doctor for my leg. Still nothing definitive, but I can’t run for 3 weeks, until I go back and see him again. He was using nasty words like “x-rays” and “injections,” in addition to “No, you can’t run,” so I wasn’t very happy, but I’m following instructions. Which also included daily stretching and foam-rolling (I’m positive this could be used to extract information from enemies. For real.).

Then I went home and discovered that my final, which I planned to take on Thursday (after—hopefully—more than 5 hours of sleep), was actually due that day, so I spent two hours trying to answer two essay questions coherently. (I was only partially successful, since I made an 84 on the stupid thing.).

Another 14-hour work day on Wednesday, though less stressful.

Thursday, I finished up the odds-and-ends of discussion board posts, had lunch with the BFF, and had an epiphany that the salon & spa I use does more than just relaxation massages, so I booked a therapeutic massage for Saturday.

Friday was a short work day, only 10 1/2 hours before I rushed home for my last appointment with my health coach. She’s been super-helpful, and I hope to book a couple of appointments with her next year. She’s my age, and just had hip surgery, so she had a lot of useful suggestions for my injury; including a castor oil compress with applied heat. (Verdict:  some relief afterwards, so I’ll continue that.) She also ventured the suggestion that I should maybe prepare myself for x-rays and the possibility of a stress fracture diagnosis, as she’s had several, and her symptoms were similar. I hate when someone else voices the dark suspicion I’ve been harboring.

Saturday, I went to the gym for 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the bike, stretching, and a couple of leg exercises. Then I went for my therapeutic massage.

I would like to say that i enjoyed it. But that would be a lie. Fortunately, I was not expecting it to be relaxing and pain-free. Deep tissue manipulation is not pleasant, and she felt that the issue was with my IT band, so she worked on the area for an hour, plus stretches, and Rock tape. I went home and started the castor oil/heat therapy, then took a nap before getting ready for the company Christmas party.

It was 72 degrees when I got home. By 9:00, when we left the party, it was 25 degrees, with a windchill of 2 degrees, plus a gale-force wind. I am not exaggerating. Y’all, it doesn’t get that cold in North Central Texas. This morning, the actual temp was 13 degrees, with a windchill of -5. Guess who hasn’t set foot outside today? Also guess whose leg is pretty sore after that massage?

And I WON NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK TICKETS at the Christmas party!

I’m not sure who was more excited, me or The Diva, because we both tried for them, but we are totally psyched for this concert in May (2 days before my 40th birthday). NKOTB was the first concert I ever went to. Oh, Paula Abdul and Boyz II Men will be there, too.

That’s all I’ve got for this last week.