that it's gonna be up and down
It's been an up and down sort of week.
Steady improvement on my knee is good. I got the rest of the stitches out, finished the antibiotics, and have been working in getting it back into shape. The doctor said she'd be happy to prescribe me therapy if I wanted, but that it sounded like I was already doing it to myself. I've been rock climbing a few times, focusing on easy routes where I can put the right amount of strain on my knee and leg. Yesterday xuth helped me get my bike back in ride-able shape, and I did a few turns around the neighborhood. I'll see where I get to on my own, then reconsider in a week or so.
Every morning it feels a little stronger and more agile, but then every evening, after walking around all day, putting strain on it, being upright, and being in the heat, it's sore and swollen and tender again. I'm grumpy that I am going to miss all the fall races I was hoping to do, because I can't run. I am tired of having to think about it every day and have my actions limited by pain. I am impatient with this and want my old body back again. Argh.
There's been a lot of summer lately. It's quite lovely weather, with clear skies and dry days, which makes sitting outside in the shade pleasant. But my lovely old house doesn't keep in the cool air all day, which means by late afternoon, it's as hot inside as outside, but without the breeze, and includes the addition of people. This makes me lethargic and not want to touch anything, which bodes very poorly for any kind of cuddling. Even the cat doesn't want to be as affectionate.
I am around a lot of people this week. Xuth's boy is back in town for school; the jboys are here this week; my mom was visiting for part of the week, bhudson is crashing here for a short Pittsburgh visit; and there are camping and cookouts and other parties this weekend. It's nice to be able to see so many people without even leaving the house. I've really enjoyed the company of the friends and family I've spent time lately.
Except being surrounded by all those people, some of them all day long, together with my limited mobility, has me socially exhausted, while at the same time feeling like I'm NOT seeing or keeping up with a great many of my other friends who I haven't seen or heard from in weeks or months or more. My usual solution would be to just have a games party or invite folks over for dinner, but I don't have the energy right now, so instead I'm feeling simultaneously overwhelmed and ignored/distant.
The boys all started school this week, which alleviated a good bit of the kid crowding. That has only the usual gripes of back-to-school shopping, such as: a school that charges so much for tuition, that then also wants the students to a) buy a special assignment book and binder, which the school then charges for, and b) donate classroom items like printer paper and kleenex, which it seems would be MUCH more efficiently bought in bulk, then distributed, rather than making the parents do it. I suppose they figure anybody who pays that much money for their kids to go to a private school MUST have plenty of spare cash to throw around on the little things. There's additional school griping, but that deserves a post and filter of its own.
I'm still looking for a job (as is Xuth). I've had a few interviews; I'm theoretically waiting to hear back from several places. Google and I decided that my skillset was not what they were looking for in Pittsburgh. I'm ready to be done with my vacation, and I could really, really use some more disposable income, and I know several other people who are in a similar position.
On the bright side of things...
Health-wise, my knee IS getting better, slowly but surely. I have almost all ROM back, just need more strength and time for the deep bruising to heal. Just need to be patient and keep working (argh). I've gotten in some good book-reading, too! Weather-wise, the nights this week have been mostly getting down low enough for me to sleep, and the rain today helped immensely. Heck, just a couple hours ago, the outside temperature dropped about 20 degrees from the lovely storm coming through! I'm really looking forward to this weekend's cool forecasted weather.
People-wise, I have a whole lot of relaxing planned for this weekend, and will enjoy the parties as much as I can (and leave when I want to, without feeling bad), and then come Tuesday, we get an empty, quiet house. And I have a lovely partner who is just fine with me telling him I need space, and a fantastic co-parent who is willing to take on all three boys for an extra evening for me. School-wise, the boys all seem to have survived their first week just fine, were happy to see their friends, and I hope school will be overall a good experience for all of us this year. And job-wise, I've had friends giving me helpful leads on recruiters and companies; I'm finding plenty of postings to apply to, and I'm not in any sort of desperate situation.
So overall, I declare that things are good for me. How are you?
Steady improvement on my knee is good. I got the rest of the stitches out, finished the antibiotics, and have been working in getting it back into shape. The doctor said she'd be happy to prescribe me therapy if I wanted, but that it sounded like I was already doing it to myself. I've been rock climbing a few times, focusing on easy routes where I can put the right amount of strain on my knee and leg. Yesterday xuth helped me get my bike back in ride-able shape, and I did a few turns around the neighborhood. I'll see where I get to on my own, then reconsider in a week or so.
Every morning it feels a little stronger and more agile, but then every evening, after walking around all day, putting strain on it, being upright, and being in the heat, it's sore and swollen and tender again. I'm grumpy that I am going to miss all the fall races I was hoping to do, because I can't run. I am tired of having to think about it every day and have my actions limited by pain. I am impatient with this and want my old body back again. Argh.
There's been a lot of summer lately. It's quite lovely weather, with clear skies and dry days, which makes sitting outside in the shade pleasant. But my lovely old house doesn't keep in the cool air all day, which means by late afternoon, it's as hot inside as outside, but without the breeze, and includes the addition of people. This makes me lethargic and not want to touch anything, which bodes very poorly for any kind of cuddling. Even the cat doesn't want to be as affectionate.
I am around a lot of people this week. Xuth's boy is back in town for school; the jboys are here this week; my mom was visiting for part of the week, bhudson is crashing here for a short Pittsburgh visit; and there are camping and cookouts and other parties this weekend. It's nice to be able to see so many people without even leaving the house. I've really enjoyed the company of the friends and family I've spent time lately.
Except being surrounded by all those people, some of them all day long, together with my limited mobility, has me socially exhausted, while at the same time feeling like I'm NOT seeing or keeping up with a great many of my other friends who I haven't seen or heard from in weeks or months or more. My usual solution would be to just have a games party or invite folks over for dinner, but I don't have the energy right now, so instead I'm feeling simultaneously overwhelmed and ignored/distant.
The boys all started school this week, which alleviated a good bit of the kid crowding. That has only the usual gripes of back-to-school shopping, such as: a school that charges so much for tuition, that then also wants the students to a) buy a special assignment book and binder, which the school then charges for, and b) donate classroom items like printer paper and kleenex, which it seems would be MUCH more efficiently bought in bulk, then distributed, rather than making the parents do it. I suppose they figure anybody who pays that much money for their kids to go to a private school MUST have plenty of spare cash to throw around on the little things. There's additional school griping, but that deserves a post and filter of its own.
I'm still looking for a job (as is Xuth). I've had a few interviews; I'm theoretically waiting to hear back from several places. Google and I decided that my skillset was not what they were looking for in Pittsburgh. I'm ready to be done with my vacation, and I could really, really use some more disposable income, and I know several other people who are in a similar position.
On the bright side of things...
Health-wise, my knee IS getting better, slowly but surely. I have almost all ROM back, just need more strength and time for the deep bruising to heal. Just need to be patient and keep working (argh). I've gotten in some good book-reading, too! Weather-wise, the nights this week have been mostly getting down low enough for me to sleep, and the rain today helped immensely. Heck, just a couple hours ago, the outside temperature dropped about 20 degrees from the lovely storm coming through! I'm really looking forward to this weekend's cool forecasted weather.
People-wise, I have a whole lot of relaxing planned for this weekend, and will enjoy the parties as much as I can (and leave when I want to, without feeling bad), and then come Tuesday, we get an empty, quiet house. And I have a lovely partner who is just fine with me telling him I need space, and a fantastic co-parent who is willing to take on all three boys for an extra evening for me. School-wise, the boys all seem to have survived their first week just fine, were happy to see their friends, and I hope school will be overall a good experience for all of us this year. And job-wise, I've had friends giving me helpful leads on recruiters and companies; I'm finding plenty of postings to apply to, and I'm not in any sort of desperate situation.
So overall, I declare that things are good for me. How are you?