My late night on Sunday was unavoidable. I went to bed on time and my son, Steve, started texting me from his small village in Samoa. He is with the Peace Corps and his assignment is teaching young children how to read English. School started last week and he texted me to tell me how upset he is about witnessing one of the male teachers beating up 8 year old kids. What Steven described is really disturbing. He has reported the incident to Peace Corps HQ but he is not sure what comes next. He is pretty certain that they will reassign him to avoid possible retribution. I am sure you can see why I stayed awake to finish that conversation.
Last night's late bedtime was more avoidable, but my curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to watch the Iowa caucus results. This blog is not going to turn political, but I will say that I was glad that Trump did not win the Republican caucus and that Rubio made a strong showing. On the Democratic side I was pleased to see Sanders give Clinton a run for her money. On to New Hampshire!!
On the plus side, Jack and I did go for walks on Saturday and Sunday, which is my currently prescribed exercise regimen. In fact, on Saturday we had a lovely outing which included bowling (I bowled two games and averaged a 150), going out to lunch, strolling around the plaza, and shopping. It was nice to spend a large part of the day out and about without getting too tired. I really enjoyed myself. On Sunday we went for a nice two mile walk in the neighborhood. Not quite at pace, but almost. My strength is coming back.
Another accomplishment for Sunday is that I got all of the meals, including vegetables, cooked for the week before noon. Since my surgery I have been relying on Jack's help to get the cooking done. At first, he did all of it, with me sitting in the kitchen providing instructions and moral support. Then I started helping a little. By last week, I was keeping up with him. This week I went back to my normal routine which is to start cooking as soon as I wake up on Sunday and to continue cooking until all the meals are cooked and in the fridge. I took a break to cook and eat breakfast with Jack and I still had everything done before noon. That felt like a real sense of accomplishment. Part of the relief is knowing that no food will spoil and go uneaten if I have to work late or am too tired to cook in the evenings. It's nice to be able to get back to routines that work.
My stamina is improving. I can work a full day with very little discomfort. I still get a little ache in my tummy at the end of a long day, but it's not bad. The most uncomfortable aspect of recovery is the scar away strips under my breasts. They rub against my bra and get kind of itchy and irritable. Not much I can do about that. I have 4 more weeks of scar away treatment left, after this week. It's all fine.
I am happier with the results of my surgery with every day that goes by. My clothes fit great. I keep changing my mind with regards to what I like best about the results. A huge improvement that I have not discussed much is that my belly above my belly button is now flat. My tummy had gotten stretched enough that I had a significant roll of loose skin between the lower edge of my rib cage and my belly button. That roll of skin showed through everything other than the loosest of clothing and I hated it. A lot of my clothing choices were made specifically to conceal that particular part of my body. Now, I can put on a shirt that fits, and there are no rolls or bulges. Yes, I am pretty happy about that!!
Speaking of clothing, I am planning on purging my closet in a couple of months, when I switch my closet from winter to spring/summer clothes. I am going to try on everything I own. If I look in the mirror and love it, I'm keeping it. If I look in the mirror and go, "Eh, it's OK," it's going in a box for Goodwill. As I said, most of the clothes that I own I bought not because they looked good on me or because I loved them, but because they hid the rolls and bulges that I hated so much. I am looking forward to slowly rebuilding a wardrobe of clothes that I like. I am looking forward to wearing clothes that reflect my style and who I am. Of course, I have to figure out what that style is, but hey, these things don't happen over night. But the first step is getting rid of the clothes that I know I will never wear again. That should be a fun day!
Until then, it's work, work, work. I really do have to run. Too much to do and not enough time in the day. You know how it is!
Have a beautiful day!
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