I love that a groundhog makes national news every year along with his entourage of funny little men in tuxes and top hats AND makes predictions with only a 36% success rate, but who’s keeping track? (DUH – the weather people, that’s who! They are NOT at all thrilled with an adorable furry rodent getting all the attention.)

Image: Gene J. Puskar, AP

Psssst…I really can’t complain about our “winter” this year…very little measurable snow and unusually warm temperatures. Yesterday, I walked around Mill Run Park in a hoodie instead of a parka, feeling the sun on my face and a little breeze against my bad back.

And without our usual snowfall, the sunset was showing off a bit last night…

I may not be a winter person but I do love groundhogs and as far as I’m concerned, Phil can grunt say whatever he wants. I’m all yours, little buddy.

Image from Advanced Chiropractor Center but I swear they stole this picture of me!! I'd know that PAIN anywhere!

It’s amazing to me that after nine years (which is when I was last held captive by a herniated disc), nothing new has surfaced in the treatment of back pain. After my consultation yesterday with a new “pain management” physician, I was offered one option and one option only…an epidural steroid injection (or “ESI”) into the area around my bad disc. The frustrating thing is, it’s the very same option I chose in 2003 and it didn’t do squat. And this is straight from the new guy’s mouth…”there’s no guarantee this next round will work for you either” so I’ve got all my fingers and toes crossed and the perfect bridge in mind to jump off in case it doesn’t.

In case you have nothing else to do today (hey, you’re reading my blog, right?), here’s the 101 on my L-5, S-1…see those pretty blue rings? Those are the discs that cushion my vertebrae. See that little red thingy? That’s a crack or tear in my disc. See those little yellow thingys? Those are the spinal nerve roots – to put it mildly, if they aren’t happy, I’m not happy. The red thingy is pushing against the yellow thingy, leaking fluid and irritating the nerve = constant pain. See the pretty cross-section of the disc? It shouldn’t look like that…the chemically-toxic fluid inside the pretty blue disc is leaking out onto the yellow thingy and the yellow thingy is just sayin’…HELLO??!!! THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS COLORFUL PICTURE!! Lesson over.

Image from AAOS (I just love these colors, don't you?!)

The kicker is, I can’t get in for the ESI until February 27th. Seriously, Doctor?? I have to wait 30 more days??? Me and my little yellow thingy are NOT happy, not happy at all.

Then a pot of fresh-brewed hazelnut coffee and curling up in my favorite chair with the newspaper…

After lunch out with my peeps, I came back home, got under the covers for a nap and then woke up just in time to make some white chicken chili for dinner…

On Sunday, I opened the Mimosa mix I had originally purchased for a get-together at my house (but had to cancel) and then made myself a little brunch of blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs. Yummy…

And then enjoyed the rest of the unusually-sunny but cold day from the comfort of my warm house…

So I didn’t finish this book last night but I put a pretty mean dent in it. It was adapted for a movie and is winning big praise from the critics. I think I’ll save seeing it for next weekend, when everything will be back to a blur.

• I’m going on a social media hiatus this weekend. No Facebook, no email, no blogging, no tweeting. I’m unplugging the iPad, powering down the desktop and only answering my phone if Caller ID says it’s George Clooney (yeah, we’re tight like that). Seriously, I spent all five days this week glued to technology and, frankly, I got sick of myself being attached to all the gadgets. I long for the feel of a hardback book in my hands, a walk in the woods, some old fashioned face-to-face interaction with friends and real time to do nothing.
• Has anyone seen The Descendants yet? I mean, come on…Oscar nomination? George?? In Hawaii??? Does going to a movie on a cold, rainy day qualify as non-techy time? Hell yes! Feel free to join me at Lennox this Sunday for the 1:45pm showing.
• Speaking of face-to-face with friends…I had to beg off hosting my pregnant friend’s baby brunch at my house tomorrow (my bad back is still on strike – it even paraded in front of my house this morning with a picket sign that said SHAME ON YOU, BECKY J! TOILET CLEANING IS BAD FOR OUR HEALTH!) so we’re all meeting at La Chatelaine in Dublin. Oui Oui!

If you need to get a hold of me, just send up a smoke signal.

~ Henry David Thoreau

I have some “oral health issues” that need to be addressed and my dentist and his buddy, the orthodontist, agree that the only way to get jiggy wit it is for me to submit to a mouth full of metal for approximately 16 months. Yep, after several consultations, lots of X-rays, extremely unflattering photos of my face, jaw, mouth and teeth from every conceivable angle (I’m really hoping these don’t end up on TMZ and then splashed all over the Internet) and dollar signs galore, I’m taking the braces plunge.

Even at 58, a girl’s never too old to look and feel her best so here we go. And I mean “we” because you lucky followers will be going on the ride with me. I promise it won’t hurt.

Twice now in the last month, I’ve gone out to the car for something, turned on the overhead dome light and then walked back into the house, leaving the light on. The first time, my husband noticed it when he came home from work so the battery had just enough juice left to make up for my air-headedness (I just made that word up and it’s perfect, don’t you think?). This time, though, the light was left on all night so the poor little battery thingy didn’t stand a chance.

Knowing me, there will be a third and a fourth and probably even a fifth time – that’s just how I roll – but I have a feeling the money for a new battery every couple months will soon start coming out of my mani-pedi allowance and this self-proclaimed air-head can’t have that, now can I?? Lesson learned.

Besides roaming the cities where our ship docked, I took full advantage of the amenities on board – spa treatments, loads of entertainment, casinos and cocktails, swimming in every pool (I think there were five to choose from), yoga classes, sampling Italian/French/Hispanic/Asian and American cuisine  – but my absolute favorite thing to do was pour myself a glass of wine, sit on the balcony off our cabin, and gaze out into the deep blue sea…for hours at a time. Even in the pitch black of night, hearing the waves break as the ship cut through the water and feeling the warm ocean breeze on my face was a vacation in itself.

I’m reminiscing here because this time last year, I was preparing for a cruise along the Mexican Riviera on the Princess Sapphire. The Midwest winter had been super cold and super snowy so I was ready for sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine. And all I could think about was sailing away.

Which brings me to the recent cruise ship tragedy off the coast of Italy. I feel great compassion for the families who lost loved ones and I empathize with the people who survived such a harrowing ordeal. Having sailed on one of these magnificent ships, I know how excited the passengers were to finally be underway but then I can only imagine the terror and confusion they felt later on board that fateful night. It’s even more of a tragedy because it appears that ship protocol and safety procedures were ignored by the very people who were in command.

I pray for peace for all of the travelers of the Costa Concordia and for safety in the ongoing recovery effort. And I’m so incredibly grateful that my journey ended as it was intended – with joyful memories to last a lifetime.

Miss Piggy of Muppet fame is the guest judge tonight AND the muse for the designer challenge. I CAN NOT WAIT to see what they conjure up for the most glamorous female pig in America. Speaking of the Queen Pig, enjoy this little commercial I saw the other night (yep…waaaay too much TV).