Whole lotta shakin' goin' on

I had my first ever pedicure last week. I get my fingernails done all the time, and so have seen them giving pedicures lots of times. I've debated having a pedicure, because I'm a little squeemish about putting my feet in a tub that dozens of other women have had their feet in -- here's an invention idea, a foot soaking/whirlpool tub with disposable liners! -- but in the end I thought, ehh, what the hell. I will never have another. First off, I couldn't seem to find a comfortable position to sit in with my feet elevated and propped on a little ledge, maybe because I have no stomach muscles to speak of. Secondly, I realized that my naked feet are not a thing of beauty, callused and BIG. But worst of all, I realized my feet are TICKLISH in the extreme. Picture the poor woman trying to put nail polish on my toes while they twitch and tremble and give a good imitation of feet with the DTs. It was awful, and I felt like an idiot, and the polish ended up everywhere, and I finally had to say ENOUGH! and leave a big tip. No sandals for me.

When I was taking lithium, I developed the most awesome hand/body trembles. I'd stretch my hand out parallel to the ground and lay a piece of paper on the back of my hand. It would sound like castanets as my fingers went rat-atat-tat on the paper. At the time I was working as an electron microscopist and if you think that wasn't a hoot, trying to manipulate copper grids 3 mm in diameter under a microscope. I finally took 2 months of leave to get over the lithium shakes and find a med that worked without putting me out of work. I never realized before, how fatiguing it is to shake all over all the time, I was just exhausted trying to do the simplest thing. I think I could have gotten a job at Sherwin Williams, they wouldn't need the paint shaker, just let me hold the gallon for a few minutes.

For a while I was on a medication that caused me to sleep-walk. Usually I went to the kitchen, and often my daughter, whose room is right next to the kitchen would intercept me. She and my son delighted in talking to me, knowing I would have no recollection at all of the conversation in the morning, even though I would reassure them that yes, of course I would remember. Once they even had me sign a paper to the effect that I would remember, and of course I didn't. Guess it's a good thing they didn't take advantage of me, sign away my car title or whatever. They enjoyed it immensely, and regaled their friends with our "conversations". Sigh. I don't get any respect.