life stuff

My life has been so crazy.  Mostly the good kind of crazy, but still absolutely crazy.

My back is still healing. I am driving and sort of going for walks and swim-walking at this point. At this week's PT I started working on learning how to bend over again. My current go-to method is to stare helplessly at whatever thing I drop on the floor until someone walks by or I roll a chair over to it (if the chair rolls) and spend several minutes carefully trying to reach it. I've also been picking up a lot of stuff with my right foot, which is on the side of my body that still knows what's what. 

Home life has been great but different in ways I didn't expect. I have been spending most of my time focused on a big change in my life (Robert's too, but no we're not expecting). But I can't talk about it at the moment. I'm still figuring out a way to talk about it, but don't want my family and friends to think I've just disappeared or don't care.  I do! And I'll explain soon.

Rachel is enjoying her college classes (biology, chemistry, and two design courses) but has been buried under homework since the first day. She is glowing, snarky, ridiculously happy, and will not shut up about college life, which is just about the most amazing thing ever considering how quiet she normally is. I usually have to ask about a thousand questions to get her to talk about most things.  Now I just stand there, open-mouthed, as she goes on and on about college. Margo and I feel a little rejected but we are super happy for her.  Ella keeps looking for her, which is a kick in the gut whenever I see her heave her creaky self off the floor and go sniffing around the house for her.  I'm not sure about Robert, who is so busy I barely see him, and Josie, who hasn't figured out who she loves best and is just happy to take anyone's love.

Work has been nuts! Storytimes began this week, and I'm currently giving two of them while we do some shuffling at work. Having two storytimes and two teen programs is awesome but tiring, and I've been finding a new kind of balance.  

I also have several art projects going, and have been making an earnest effort to set up different stations in my office so I can jump from project to project. A good portion of the hours of tennis I played weekly has been put into my writing and art, and I enjoy the hours I spend pottering about my office. My back injury has definitely made me think about what is most important to me and what I most enjoy out of life. I may not go back to tennis. I'm considering taking swim lessons when I've been given the go-ahead by my doctor. I have to decide if it's more important to nourish my spirit but at the risk of more injuries or find another sport that's easier on the body but not as nourishing for the spirit. I may get lucky and find out that swimming laps is good for everything - the soul, spirit, and body. I thought I'd play tennis forever, but I also want to take care of myself, and it's quite the commitment. Hours of playing each week just to stay at my level. I've learned that I really enjoy coming home a night or two a week, and it's going to be tough to go back to playing most evenings.  I still have time to figure everything out though.  I have to figure out how to pick up things off the floor first!