Winter Quiet

Spent another lovely week at my sister's home helping out with my new nephew. The first week I went up to help and visit they didn't really take advantage of my help as much as I expected. Now that they've gone a whole month with sleep deprivation, they were far more inclined to use me. I took the night shift a couple of times which allowed them to get seven or more solid hours of sleep in a night. It felt good to be so useful. It was also amazing to see all the changes in my nephew after just a couple of weeks. They grow awfully fast at this stage.

This past weekend was the annual re-creation event hosted by my local group. I spent the day volunteering and visiting, even had some spare time to peruse the merchant hall this year. One year I'll get around to taking an Arts & Science class again. But didn't find the time for it this year. Several friends from Minnesota came "back home" for the event. Got to spend a big chunk of the evening visiting with them and having a good time.

The only bummer in the day was some back pain that decided to crop up late afternoon. I think it is probably due to some constipation, but also maybe because I stood and walked and skipped around from nine in the morning until the pain hit at four. Might have gone a tad too long without some rest in there. Getting accustomed to limitations has not proven to be one of my strong suits. Left the party Saturday night pretty early for me. And didn't get much sleep in the night because I was trying to get the pain regulated. Luckily there were no plans for Sunday, so I mostly caught up on sleep and squashed down the last of the pain.

The cancer center is holding a short eight-week version of the LiveStrong Y program. I signed up and it started this morning. I'm hoping that getting moving again and building some core strength back up will prevent, or lessen, those kinds of pain issues. I'm looking forward to the warmer days of spring as well, good walking weather.

Winter has solidly settled in, as it always seems to do in Feburary. Cold and snow and wind and gray days, my least favorite season. I often find that my energy levels are down at this time of year and it seems as if parts of myself are in hibernation. It's my season for curling up with tea and books for hours. And blankets, lots of blankets. My cats love me in this season however, because I actually sit still for some amount of time rather than getting up and consequently kicking them off my lap every twenty minutes or so.

Not full of any inspiring words or epiphanies this time around. It is a quiet evening and my mind is still and quiet as well. I guess I can't expect all of my posts to be revelatory. Though I appreciate you all continuing to check in on me.