Picking up the Pieces

• Tweet

• Tweet

I’m back after being out of town almost two weeks for a grueling family emergency. I could write lots about that, but due to the focus of this blog I’ll just say that it was one of those times when my health was not on my agenda at all. Now it’s time to pick up the pieces after many days of getting only a few hours of sleep each night, wrenching sadness, no exercise, and eating most meals on the fly. I do give credit to my sister for making a number of healthy dinners at a time when most families would have resorted to take-out. Celiac and other food sensitivities in the family made continued home cooking necessary. And I thank my husband for flying out to support me, neighbors for their good help,  and my friends for being available by phone and email. These things sustained me.

Now I’m home and yesterday I skated again for the first time. It was a lesson day for me and I was hesitant to take it. In the last couple of weeks I’ve fallen off a curb, run my face into the wall of my hotel room in the dark, and largely avoided driving after realizing that my skills were not up to par. Ice dancing seemed like maybe not a good idea. But I’d gotten a full night’s sleep for the first time in a long time, so I got up and went to the ice rink.

I told my coach that I wanted to just do easy stuff and he obliged. He demonstrated things by skating them and let me follow along behind or side by side, avoiding the need for complicated verbal directions. Near the end of my lesson we danced. It was fine. He told me I should try not thinking more often.

Last night I made a classic pull-it-out-of the-cupboard dinner, pasta puttanesca. Today I’ve gone through my fridge and thrown out all the rotten produce. It’s time for me to shop for some fresh food and make a healthy dinner. Tonight I will stretch and do my neglected PT exercises. I will rest. I will continue to talk to friends. And I will cook, and blog, and keep sharing what I discover with you.