Reentry.
Our week in Cape May was truly filled with all the things that delight both me and my kids.....great food, long days on the beach, great time with friends as we got to entertain a few nights, fireworks, fishing, beach baseball, boogie boarding, swimming, running, and lots of card games and family laughs.
The kids slept late, were up late, we got to enjoy late, relaxed days on the beach, and I felt my strength and general wellness surging back into me bit by bit and day by day. Although I couldn't swim, the kids were happy to bring buckets of ocean to me, and dump it over me with laughter. The water was beautiful and dolphin filled, and Luke caught two huge Fluke and provided a delicious dinner one night after going out fishing on Pop Pop's boat one day with Frank and Nate. Bringing Brooke with us was amazing ~ she is truly another family member and worth every penny it costs to bring her along ~ having another set of hands along simply allows it to be a true vacation for us, rather than a lot of work in a different location. We celebrated the 4th with the Bickharts, which was awesome and the fireworks were beautiful, and the Carr's came down on the 5th and shared a late night with us out on the deck. This was the year of the boogie board and of beach baseball for the kids ~ their proficiency in the ocean astounded me and they looked like they had been riding waves for years, it was awesome and hilarious. Bec and Rich and my parents all got down on Friday ~ and on Saturday morning as we were packing us up and feeding the kids and everyone was out running or exercising I thought about how lucky I was, and now my kids are, to grow up in a house where exercising is simply the norm. I see people who are struggling to simply go take a WALK, and I honestly can't imagine what that must be like. I mean, walking is simply how we get from one place to another, you know? I can't imagine growing up as a child in a house where people are sedentary, or eat fat or sugar filled diets, how difficult it must be to right the ship for yourself. When you grow accustomed to being or eating one way, it must be incredibly difficult as an adult, to unlearn the bad habits you learned as a result of your parents. I'm so grateful to my parents for being active ~ then and now ~ and making my love of sports and athletics as ingrained in me as my love of good food is. I feel lucky that they made me want to or need to exercise because it's simply something that is as innate to me (and my siblings, and now my kids) as sleeping or showering is.
Everyone is sound asleep (Nate included) as we enjoy the cool of the air conditioning. We picked up some fresh jersey produce on the way home (our poor garden was limp and sad ~ a week without water and this horrible heat wave has done damage ~ hopefully tonight's thunderstorms will perk it up some) and we happily look forward to heading back to the beach in three weeks. I'm looking forward to hitting the pool this week for the first time.....I feel ready to start working again, gently, this week. The bigs are in camp all morning, so once I get the house righted on Monday and Tuesday I plan to tread gently and softly back into the gym. As of Monday I can drive again.....it will be 4 weeks post surgery. I'm still on one crutch, but I catch myself abandoning them more and more often in short bursts, around the kitchen when cooking, or when doing small tasks like showering or getting dressed. I feel like I'm right on track to be crutch free in another 2 weeks. I've been taking lots of long walks on it this past week (with the one crutch) and while occasionally it gets achy at the end of a long day, I have never needed pain medication, which is good. I definitely spent more time on it this week than I planned, doing things like long walks with the kids or miniature golfing, so I was less limited than I had feared, even on the sand. I kept the incision covered every time I was outside in hopes of minimizing the scar, and it is finally healed to the point where I will feel comfortable getting in a public pool.
It was a fabulous family vacation, and I look forward to getting back to some semblance of normal life this week as we don't have full time help for the first time since the break.
Wow Melissa, this really hit home:
ReplyDelete"I can't imagine growing up as a child in a house where people are sedentary, or eat fat or sugar filled diets, how difficult it must be to right the ship for yourself."
This is something that a lot of people just don't get. I am one of those kids that grew up with sedentary parents. There were reasons for it (long complicated, medical reasons), but I still struggle to unlearn it. I just hope that I am instilling in my kids, that being active is just part of life.