This blog post is brought to you by...

FAKE INSOMNIA! WHOOO-HOOOOOO!!

Fake because it isn't actual insomnia. Real insomnia is a serious pain in the ass and I do not have that problem. What I have is breakthrough pain or- as I say it on Facebook- "failed pain meds". These are the nights when my pain meds don't make me sleepy. The pain is too much for all the pain medication and muscle relaxers. And, because I follow my doctor's orders- I don't take extra. So, every once in a while, I end up staying up till the wee hours of the morning before exhaustion wins.

So, Fake Insomnia.

Let's move on, shall we? Good...

It seems there was an awesome article recently, informing all of us that "Fibromyalgia Solved: A Pathology, not in the Mind". It was a pretty good article. It tells us that this isn't a fake disease and that we're not totally mental. It even describes: "One result is a build-up of lactic acid in muscle and deeper tissue affecting the muscular system and causes pain that can seem to ‘travel’ from areas of the body one day to the next and cause fatigue, commonly reported from victims of fibromyalgia."

LACTIC ACID. How many times have I described my "normal everyday pain" as feeling like I worked out too hard? I even used those very words- LACTIC ACID! That's what your body releases to help you physically cope with stress- be it mental stress or physical stress. You would know it as that painful burning feeling you get when you push it TO THE MAX! Or CRANK IT UP! And the ever-popular NO PAIN, NO GAIN!! *roars like the Incredible Hulk* YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!!

No... no... wait. Let's not do that... that hurts. Whew... someone could have really gotten hurt up there in that paragraph. I hope you were lifting with your legs and not your back.

My fake insomnia tonight was caused by "bone crunching pain". I was curled up in bed, in my usual naked-under-fleece-blankets state (let's not forget the ever-sexy wrist braces I wear to bed. Because that is a hot look, I tell you what) and no matter how still I tried to stay, I couldn't reach a point of sleep. I felt as though my bones were being pressed together at the joints. In my shoulders/collar bones mostly.

I've been having a few-days-long flareup and have been meaning to write this blog post for those few days but I've also been busy. Teslacon is coming up next week and I've been using my spare energy to finish sewing the few things I need to sew. I'm not official at Teslacon, but since I know almost everyone there, I'm in my unofficial status of photographer. Meaning I will photograph the living daylights out of my friends and when they're not being fabulous, I'll photograph absolute strangers.

And yesterday- Wait... I mean Thursday. On Thursday, I decided to save my energy because my son asked me to take some photos for him. Well, of course I did. And for that half hour, I got to ignore my pain. And yes, you are right in that heavily-sighed assumption... I'm about to share the photos with you here.  But I kind of have to- they're pretty awesome photos. I'm quite proud of them. When I have to make up a print portfolio, some of these are definitely going in that book.

My 365days self-portrait for Thursday. Myself reflected in my son's helmet visor.










This one is my favorite from this quick shoot.



The clouds and sky look pretty cool in his visor.





He made this one his profile photo on Facebook.



I also stopped on the way home and took a few sunset shots from my usual spot in a parking lot of a school on the edge of town.











Next week, I will have three awesome days to forget about my pain. I'll be garbed up, wearing a camera, and taking photos of those wonderful people doing awesome stuff. And then I'll share it with all of the Internet.

Because that's what I do. And I refuse to let fibrofuckingmyalgia win this fight.