Boomerang

Dear Readers,

After a restful weekend, including one day in which I was able to read for HOURS at a time (a riveting book about incest called "The Kindness of Strangers"), I seem to be bouncing back following last week's fatigue. While I'm not ready to do back flips and cartwheels quite yet, I've had enough energy to resume my full schedule of activities - running 20 miles per week, spinning, weight lifting, core, stretching, yoga and now, newly added, Hip Hop. This week I did a 7 mile run, which is the longest distance my feet have carried me since completing the Madison Half Marathon, and Saturday morning I'm scheduled for the Run To The Peak 5k in Hartland.

I can't recall if I mentioned that my right knee has been a bit sore the past couple weeks. It is tender just under the lower part of the patella. It bothers me when I kneel, if I poke it (so don't poke it, right?) and when I go down stairs. Though it's not a problem when I run, I prudently took 4 days off running last week, iced it, put Arnica on it, compressed it, etc., but it hasn't gotten better or worse with rest or activity, so it's rather mysterious at this point. My next hope is that tomorrow's massage will help, if not that, then perhaps next week's chiropractic appointment, and if not that, I'll see a sports medicine orthopedist. With our backpacking trip just a month away I don't want to risk hurting my knee further.

Tomorrow is my Nemesis's last day. It's such a load off knowing she's leaving, that I found I could be rather magnanimous at her goodbye breakfast potluck this morning. I've also learned some juicy news that adds to my feelings of joy. News that confirms my instincts to not want the job were right on. Apparently the person who is leaving the position my Nemesis will fill, is leaving because she is soooooo terribly unhappy in the job. To leave a cushy county job with great pay and benefits, for a part-time gig at that, indicates a desperate level of dissatisfaction. But wait, there's more. Another clinical therapist position opened up this week in the same area, only this job is working with kids & families (so I wasn't qualified or interested in it), and that woman is leaving without having a new job. Word is she was soooo unhappy that her parent's told her to just quit and they would support her until she can find new work. Armed with this knowledge, I feel affirmed that everything always works out the way it is meant to be. It's a real blessing that I didn't have to take the job, and that I lose my Nemesis at the same time.

Tomorrow will be two weeks since Dio's passing. I got his ashes back last week, along with paw prints the vet took shortly after he died. I've ordered a special spherical pewter plated urn that will arrive tomorrow. With the distance of time, I am able to review the events of the month leading to his death with more clarity, though the sadness remains, and am better able to absorb the whole of his life, rather than just experiencing the devastation of those final weeks of decline. It's a relief to no longer be a caregiver and worrier, or to be forever sweeping litter, tossing uneaten food, and anticipating the future pain.