Matthew's New Friend

Meet Clammy:

Matt found this little guy (alive!) in the tide pool that Mark dug for the kiddos yesterday at the beach. Of course, he promptly named him Clammy and claimed him as his pet for the day. He and Clammy quickly became best buds.

Clammy had a grand old time going for rides in Matt's bulldozer:

 

(look closely at the driver's seat)

Discovering a boat that Matt gave to him "to play with in his bucket:"

Posing for pictures:

And at the end of the day, Clammy returned to the ocean, a much wiser and experienced clam for his adventures on among the landlubbers:

 

A few side notes (cute things I want to remember, copied from Twitter and Facebook):

• Jill: "Daddy, can I get a toy at WalMart? When we go dare, I won't touch any dangerous fings. 'Cause dangerous fings are very very sharp." 
• Matt put his shirt on backwards and I told him so. His response? "Sorry boss, my mistake!"

Oh, and an update on my back! My appointment with the neurosurgeon was surprising, to say the least!  He told me that after looking at my MRI,  he does not see a bulging disk or a torn disk.  He explained that what some may interpret as ruptured disks, others might see as the natural progression of age.  But he definitely saw that I had a lot of rigidity and spasming going on in the muscles in the lower back, and recommended 6 weeks of intensive (3 days a week) physical therapy, as well as an appointment with a pain management specialist for cortisone shots in my lower back.

I started PT yesterday, which seemed to go really well.  She noticed that my pelvis was way out of alignment, which could be causing a lot of discomfort, and after an hour and a half of therapy which included adjustment, heat therapy, massage, ultrasound, electrical stimulation (not sure if that's what it's called) followed by an ice pack, and some stretches and exercises to do as homework, I was feeling pretty good!

Don't ask me how the heck I'm going to do this PT three times a week for an hour and a half each with two kids... I may be calling out my favors over the next month or so just to get by... but I guess I'll cross those bridges when I come to them.  I just have to stay focused on the fact that there is an end in sight to all this pain and do what I can do to get better.