2011, So Far...

...has been rough, and my back pain hasn't been the worst of it.

9/11:  This year was hard.  With the 10 year anniversary, it was everywhere.  The images, the news coverage, the heartache.  Everyone remembers where they were.  I had taken a day off from work and college to visit my parents and trade cars with them.  My dad came home from work shortly after the second plane hit.  He stood in the foyer in his BDU's hugging my mom and me, while tears rolled down his cheeks.  I think he knew we (the country and my most immediate loved ones) were in for a lot of suffering.  I remember in 2003 when my dad and my brother were both in Afghanistan.  While it was hard for us at home, it was good for my brother because I think he desperately needed something of a morale boost in the form of visit from his ol' dad.  When my bro came home, he was diagnosed with PTSD.  He has attempted suicide twice, the most recent being this past Memorial Day.  We hope and pray he will stick with treatment.  My brother's crisis has been the roughest part of the year.  On 9/11, I couldn't help but think about how significantly the attacks that day continue to affect my family and so many of our friends.

This is not a sad post though.  I'm filling you in on where we've been this year and how we've gotten to where we are.  Between hospital visits and backpain, Hubs and I haven't been doing much, and we're sick and tired of being lazy mopes who sit around the house during the remaining time on our days off, playing video games.  Well, he does that.  I sit around against a hot pad and roll on my foam and tennis balls.  This has become the habit, and this girl is ready for a change.  I really just have to get back outside and live a little.

We're going on a little adventure...