It's been an incredibly busy start to the summer. I'm feeling a little uprooted. My blog is a great place to try to lay a few outlines and set a few goals. Trying to do all the thinking and planning in my head has not been helpful, as usual.
Mom's Surgery:
My mom had brain surgery last month. Brain surgery! She has had a very rare meningioma for several years, which is a noncancerous tumor. Doctors at the University of Virginia hospital attempted to remove it in 2008 with a full craniotomy, but her heart stopped under the anesthesia for several minutes, and the surgery was cancelled. It was one of the scariest experiences of my lifetime so far. Everyone agreed that there was no need to try again if the tumor stayed put. Unfortunately, it began to grow again about a year ago, threatening to damage her optic nerve or other sensitive areas of the brain. A new technology to remove these small tumors has been developed since her last scare, and she was able to have it removed with a much less invasive procedure involving a slit in the eyelid, a bunch of scary stuff I don't like to think about involving scraping and sucking and drilling a hole into her skull, and voila! No tumor!
Mom and my stepdad Ronnie were in town for about a month surrounding the surgery. We all spent some time sightseeing in Baltimore for a few days before her procedure at Johns Hopkins, which was really meaningful. I enjoyed spending some quality time with my parents. Every other time they've visited since their move to South Dakota, they've been almost constantly busy with rental maintenance and visiting other folks. Jeffrey and I were able to have a few romantic moments during that week too. We saw Atmosphere in Philadelphia, traveled a few new back roads together, dorked out at the Aquarium and Science Center, and found some new favorite beers at Heavy Seas Brewery. He was incredibly supportive through all my moodiness before, during, and following the surgery and stress.
I'm so happy the surgery went so well, and that I was able to have so much time with my folks around. However, having company jacks my schedule up in a major way. Having guests in the guest room means that workouts and kale smoothies in the morning seem too loud, and that despite them telling me not to worry about waking them, I just don't feel good about not letting them sleep through my 5am get-ready-for-work bullshit. I really fell out of my daily workout habit, and didn't put a lot of thought or mindfulness into my nutrition during the entire month of June. Throw in some added stress, a week alone at work while the boss went to a wedding, and less sleep than normal. This is a huge part of my feeling uprooted. For the record though, as soon as Ma and Ronnie drove away, I was sobbing and whining about how I wish I could see them everyday.
Fitness Certification:
I passed! I am officially an ACE-certified Group Fitness Instructor! I was so nervous on test day, but I managed to pass with a slightly above average score. I'd been daydreaming about hooking up with the yoga instructor in Deltaville to discuss possibly lending her space to me for a boot camp, but I'm still feeling way too inexperienced and insecure. Plus, I put all my daydreams on hold while Ma was in town and healing. I really feel it would be smartest to actually attend a few different classes with varying instructors and styles, and continue to practice on my own to find my "instructor personality," which sounds lame but totally won't be when I find mine.
More to come in a few days.
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