Today was a good day. It started with a morning walk at 6:00, during which I got to watch the sun rise. It ended with an evening walk at 7:00, during which I got to watch the sun set. (I'd like to report that I set a new personal best in time, btw. I walked a mile in 28 minutes today. ... I know that this sounds less than impressive to most of you, but I haven't been able to do that walk in under 30 minutes for over two months, so this is progress.)
Also, I went back to work today. And... (drumroll, please) it didn't kill me. It made me a little more achy, a bit more sore, and a lot more tired than sitting at home and reading has been making me, but it didn't kill me. I did really well, sitting in my chair, reading my emails and putting a loan file together, until about 11:30. That's an hour or two earlier than I usually want (read: need) to lie down, but considering that I woke up at 5:30 this morning instead of my I'm-not-working 7:00, and then went to work and did more, physically, than I have in eight weeks, I'm considering it a win. I had to pick up a prescription at the WalMart after work, and then I came home and crashed. Literally. I fell asleep on my couch, watching TV, and slept the afternoon away. ... Something I haven't been able to do since July 25th. (Yes, I keep track of that sort of thing.)
It appears that the upside of getting up early, taking a shower, putting real clothes on and going to work, sitting in a desk chair and being hunched over a loan file is that it yields the result of nap time returning to my daily life. This is a blessed relief. I think I'll go back tomorrow.
*And for any of you who may be having a freakout that I'm back at work already (a surprising number of people think that this summer has gone by really quickly and it's not possibly time that I could/should be back at work), let me put your minds at ease and say... I am back at work, but with modified hours. I'll have six weeks to ease back into my full time schedule. I'm working 4 hours a day for the first four weeks, 5 hours a day in the fifth week and 6 hours a day in week six. I'll go back full time the last week of September. (Prior to surgery, I'd talked to my doctors about how long I'd need to be out both full and part time. We'd talked about 6-8 weeks full time (and I needed all 8 weeks, because let me tell you... I was still walking with the walker in week 6 and didn't drive until week 7. I can't imagine how hard this day would have been a week or two ago) and 4-6 weeks part time after surgery. The graduated hours were a suggestion from my physical therapist,. I've had between 5-8 weeks part time after my prior surgeries, but I've always gone from half to full days at the end of the part time period, and it's been brutal. I'm quite sure that the gradual return will make the adjustment monumentally easier.)
As I said earlier, this has been a good day. I was able to spend time in nature, at my two favorite times of the day, no less. I was able to see my friends and co-workers, whom I love. I was able to re-enter my "normal" life, even if it was just for a few hours. I got to take a nap, after which I ate a ginormous bowl of watermelon for dinner.
Today has been a really good day. Really, really good. Here's hoping for another one of those tomorrow, nap and all!
