I've been a bit incognito the past few days. My back has been giving me a world of hurt. I was starting to make progress towards the end of last week so I decided to join the family on "Blueberry Safari" -- a giant camping trip with 50-60 of Greg's relatives. I don't know what I was thinking.

I was beginning to feel better and was excited about spending a few days with my hubby. The first few hours in the car were wonderful, catching up with Greg and enjoying good conversation. And then my back started to hurt. Sitting is definately a stressor, as strange as that may sound. And sitting for 6 hours in the car, including 2 hours on a gravel road where the car was shaking did nothing to improve my back.

By the time we arrived at the campsite at 10:30pm I was exhausted and in pain. The next morning I felt better enough to go out blueberry picking with the folks staying close to camp. By the time I returned, though, after just a few hours of picking, I was in pain again and stuck on my back in the RV for the rest of the day. The next day I joined in a pinochle game, but even just sitting for a few hours was enough to send me back to the RV for more rest and flexoril. Yuck.

I am not a fabulous camper to start with. This was my first attempt at a really "long" camp trip (longer than a few days). Start with me out of my element camping, add a good amount of pain (and the yucky medicines that help with the pain, but make me feel fuzzy), add a lot of people in a relatively small RV space and you can get the picture that circumstances were not ideal. Then add another 6 hour return in the car (including that gravel road) and you will get a girl who is now very committed to doing the right stuff to heal.

The good news? I got some blueberries (about half a gallon -- they were plentiful if not at their peak ripeness due to the vast amounts of rain this summer). If only my back had allowed for more picking, I would have had enough to last me all winter. And Christopher had a blast. He's definately in his element out there. His best moment? When Ramy arrived and Christopher sidled up to him asking, "So, Ramy, what's going on in your life these days?" The group around him roared in laughter -- he just sounded so grown up, and yet it was so sweet that he really, truly cared to find out what was going on in Ramy's life. As for Cate? I'm not sure of her love for camping. She enjoyed spending time with some of her little cousins, but also spent a lot of time in the RV, and sequestering herself off, staying close to mom and dad. She's generally shy and doesn't necessarily feel as comfortable as her brother in such a big group, even family.

As for me, I'm back at the chiropractor and massage, and trying to do relatively small amounts of work between resting my back. Wish me luck to heal up in the next few days. It's killing me to see all the work around the house I should be doing, and trying to stop myself from doing it all.