end of the week

A full week for me with the following:

Monday: Swam in the neighborhood pool. Later, I met with Dr. C and she "signed me off" unless I a) have problems and/or b) want the harware removed after a year passes. It was kind of strange to have such a pivotal relationship just end, but that's modern medical care. I am grateful for her care and hope I don't have to return for more surgery, but we'll see how the healing goes.

Tuesday: Swam really early and then went to a very interesting Imagine Greater Tucson meeting and learned about techie-stuff that is not my usual professional interest. There are smart people in our town and, in particular, I enjoy listening to the younger generation share their knowledge. I also had phscial therap AND a Grant Road Task Force meeting, so it was a very full day for me and I was tired when I got home. I could only hang in for Star Trek for 15 minutes.

Wednesday: Did swimming routine at the Y. Picked up Dad to go to lunch--our first outing since my accident. He was depressed about some aches and pains and anxious about seeing his doctor the next day. Once he and I talk through politics a bit, Tiger Woods (he's more a fan of Tiger than I am) and the White Sox which we both follow, we have very little to talk about. That saddens me, but I am trying to practice acceptance about familial issues. Mark and I went to the Y in the eve and I biked, did weights but both were hard for me to do. I could feel a slight mental uplift afterward which I needed. I read a New Yorker mag article about double agency--a philosophical concept that attempts to explain God and humans' free will. Interesting. Here's a link I found to a short explanation of it: http://www.enotes.com/science-religion-encyclopedia/double-agency

Thursday: Swam before Imagine Greater Tucson meeting; both were invigorating in different ways. I also stopped by a nonprofit and realized how out of the mental practice I have become to talk about my work--I couldn't remember where my business cards were in my purse. Mark and I had lunch and then I had PT again. My therapist(s) said I am making remarkable progress and I can begin to see it, but it's a lot of work. I have about 10 exercises to do at home now, twice a day. Somedays I do two sets, sometimes only one, but I am doing the best I can. We watched Star Trek all the way to 11 p.m. Weird Klingon/exchange program story which, as usual, had undertows of moral reasoning.

Friday: I had ordered a cupcake/cake from Safeway as a thankyou treat to the Lighthouse Y guards and staff who helped me in my ankle recovery. I picked it up and took it to the Y early. It was very pretty, in a pool shape with water rafts and life preserver. I hope it tasted as good as it looked. I did a short bicycle
routine and weights before my swim and then I met my friend, Rita, for lunch. She and I are flying to New Orleans together next Thursday-Tuesday for a training with the National Endowment for the Humanities. I guess there are materials that I got in the mail that I better review this weekend, call the hotel, etc. Soon I need to go to the UA and have a couple of student workers help me move a few boxes from there into the car and, later, at home, move them into my office. I won't get to that reorganization task till after New Orleans.

It's very cloudy, "soupy" outside and I hope we get some rain but none so far. All of us desert dwellers get edgy by mid-July if the monsoons have been slow in starting. We need the shift of moisture, ions, smells and sensations that the summer rains bring.

I just heard from Aron who sounds gloomy, too. I guess he has to move again and just found out about it. Maybe at some point he will stop relying on "friends" who really aren't there for him and get to the point where he feels he deserves to be treated better. That's his journey, and I have mine, so, for today, this week, I confess this is the most writing I have done (tho I wrote a short poem about Aron earlier this week so I will give myself credit for that). I feel my eyelids drooping, time for a summer siesta.