1. Monday night I went to an R&B Soul Line Dancing class through my local parks district. I used to go country line dancing in my late teens and early 20’s, so I thought this would be a lot of fun. And it was!! It was a little bit different vibe than when I used to go dancing at the country bar; back then I would have to watch the dance for a few minutes from the sidelines and just jump in. It was different to have an instructor actually teaching me the different steps before we added in the music. I can’t go every week, but I might try to make it back to the class at least once a month.
2. I’m almost finished with the Novena of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (recommended by our host, Jen). This is my first novena, and it was probably a good fit for me because I’ve been giving the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit a lot of thought in the past year. I remember when I was 19 that I told my dad that I wasn’t sure if I even believed in the Holy Spirit; I shudder to think over how ignorant I was based courtesy of some of the terrible catechesis I received in Catholic school. Multiple times since then that I have experienced the workings of the Holy Spirit in my life, and I crave to experience the clarity and assurance that comes with it more often in my life.
3. It’s been five weeks since my roller skating accident. I find myself wearing my arm brace less and less; my wrist is less sore and I can do fine motor functions without pain anymore. I still have to careful about bearing significant weight on that wrist or in that hand (i.e. milk jugs). The bigger issue is actually my elbow. I still can’t fully extend my left arm without it being stiff, and I’m most likely to still get a jarring pain if I forget and reach for something with my left arm. I figure that I’ll give everything another week to let everything heal up more (the doctor projected six weeks to get it mostly back to normal), and then I’ll try a little home physical therapy (some gentle stretching and weigh bearing exercises).
4. Usually around May is when all of the television shows start finishing up their seasons, and I am always relieved when this time comes. Between Saturday and Sunday night I had six shows recorded on the DVR (Dr. Who, Call the Midwives, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Mr. Selfridge, and Survivor), and two of them were 2 or more hours long. I enjoy watching television, but at the same time I start to get a little “TV-ed” out.
5. So far I’ve gone jogging three times. I borrowed a few running books from the library, because ever since the roller skating incident I’ve been really worried about injuries. The whole thing at the rink was just a wake-up call that I am not as young as I used to be. That same fall 15 years ago probably wouldn’t have been as bad as it is now. It never even occurred to me that I should have been wear wrist guards. While the running program I am using is gentle, I still didn’t want to risk injuring myself out of ignorance. I have found a few tips for proper stretching, and so far any soreness has not lasted more than about 24 hours.
6. One running book recommended keeping an exercise log, so I whipped one up for myself on Excel. (I adapted one of my homeschool scheduling sheets.) The days that I walk/jog have a little more variation thanks to notes about the weather. Right now the Wii Fit days are pretty basic: a few yoga poses, the ball game in the balance section, and step aerobics. But I can see where it will be nice to have a record of what I am accomplishing.
7. These are the first things I put on my “To Do” List everyday: breakfast, school, vitamins, Novena, exercise, read to the kids. If I can do these 5 things every day, everything else seems to take care of itself.