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Saturday, August 01, 2009

Quiet

It's grey and rainy and dreary right now. The house is quiet - the only thing I can hear is the rain on the windows. The girls are out (Emily's working, and Sophie's at a sleepover) and Bobby and Stephen are all the way downstairs. The weather forecast says we should get some sun tomorrow, and I hope we do; the combination of wet and chilliness, along with not being able to exercise (sore hip/back/butt) is starting to get me down. I caved in and went to the doctor this morning; she has given me some stronger anti-inflammatory painkillers, and I think they are helping. I am so frustrated at not being able to run - it's been two weeks now, and it really irks me to think how much fitness I must be losing with every sedentary day that passes. The doctor said it'll probably be another two or three weeks before I can run again. I'm hoping it'll be sooner, though.

I think part of the reason I feel so blah tonight is that, in addition to missing out on exercise-induced endorphins, the past few days have been so busy and so much fun that now, in the aftermath, I have the what-now blues.

Wednesday was Sophie's roller-coaster riding birthday celebration, Thursday and Friday I spent with my parents in Beccles, but today has been mainly laundry and vacuuming and rain.

Sophie's birthday worked out really well. We dithered about whether or not to go to Thorpe Park - it's quite expensive, and the weather forecast wasn't good. So the thought of paying a lot of money for a rained-out day worried us. But we couldn't think of anything else that would be as fun, so we decided to go for it. And it didn't rain at all! We got there early enough that we were able to go on the best rides without queueing at all - and Sophie was pleased to be enough over the height requirements that the people with the measuring sticks didn't even bother to approach her. In the evening, at Sophie's request, we played Risk, and Charades, and then watched a DVD.

Here she is eating her birthday breakfast (crepes with lemon and sugar, and chocolate milk)



This was the first ride we went on - quite an adrenaline rush!



And here are the girls on the last ride of the day. We saved the wet ones till the end...




So, all in all, Sophie had a good birthday. And then the girls and I left for Beccles first thing the next morning. (Bobby had to work, and poor Stephen is jobhunting.) When we got there, my folks had put balloons up, and my mom had baked birthday cupcakes for Soph. We were thoroughly spoiled all the time we were there - they'd gone to all sorts of trouble for us. It was very touching... Made me happy, and also sad. I still get panicky sometimes; it's been five years since my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and she is so well at the moment, but I can't help worrying that it will come back. I know that this worry is pointless, and normally I keep it at bay, but it's really bothering me right now. I need to deal with the anxiety - rationally I know that it's not serving any use, and that allowing it in only spoils what we have now - but it's hard to deal with...

Ugh.

One more picture, just because - it's a cabbage white butterfly, sitting on a cabbage at the Beccles market. There were dozens of butterflies fluttering around the veggies - beautiful - and surprisingly hard to photograph! Guess I will never work for National Geographic.

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