Happily Exhausted

It's been a week since I last posted but I promise I've thought about it many, many times! :) I've been busy, I've been tired, and honestly I've gotten a ton done. Redecorating/project doing/rearranging continues to be a go-to coping strategy, but I'm going to attempt to force myself to slow down and just chill out for a bit in the next few days as well. I need to focus on sleep, I need to eat well, I need to heal, and honestly, I just need to, well, BE--present...and still.

So let's see, what to update on?!

Health: I finally called on Monday and made both a doctor and dentist appointment. The doctor's appointment was this morning and I walked in with 4 additional items to take care of besides the recurrent cough. The results? The cough will eventually go away, probably bacteria induced bronchitis but she prescribed a round of antibiotics and an antihistamine to help. The knee pain is probably due to overuse. Based on location she didn't think it'd be a problem and suggested 1-2 weeks off from training (although 2-4 mile runs are okay) and then picking it back up. I'm to take Motrin for the pain and to reduce inflammation...and it's already working. I got a Tetanus booster w/ whooping cough vaccine. The mole on my back checked out fine, and I had some lab tests run to ensure that everything else is in order too. Interestingly they measured my height and I've grown 1/4 inch since high school....and I've lost 12 pounds since January (although I'm sure my weight was even lower a few weeks back). Dentist appointment is scheduled for November and I'm a little hesitant to hear what all might need to be done beyond a general cleaning.

Training: Obviously my training has been off since traveling and the knee issue. I honestly was going to postpone the half goal until later in the year....but the physician (who was someone I went to grad school with actually....and a runner) assured me that I should be able to manage, even if  I'm using Motrin as needed. I had a "good" run on Sunday--meaning that I wanted to vomit every 1-2 miles from eating a kale scramble prior to running and my knee hurt like the dickens after 4 miles....but I still managed to make 6 miles and I'm happy with that. The fact that I can run 6 miles with a bum knee and wanting to puke makes me pretty impressed with my current physical health status actually. Mentally I know I can make 13.1 at this point....now I've just got to get my body back in gear. My 3.6 mile run yesterday was awesome, even though the first mile was fairly painful, but as I pushed on, it got better and I was able to kick it into fairly high gear. This Sunday is Run Like Hell downtown and I'm running the 10k for fun with a gal from book club. Excited to run another organized race...and to be doing it with a friend!

Work: I've been grading like crazy--both online and in person classes! One thing I've been focusing on is trying to return to my passion and drive for being a great instructor. It's been incredibly rewarding already to have great feedback from students, and I can't believe that we're already almost at the half-way mark for Fall Term--where does time fly?! First exam was given this week, so I'll need to run scantrons and grade essays this weekend. Additionally, on Monday I received calls from both potential positions and have interviews scheduled for next week--keeping fingers crossed that I'll be offered both jobs and that one will just feel like the "right fit."

Faith: Church on Sunday was amazing. I almost didn't go, but decided to get out of bed, throw clothes on, and chug coffee IN church....and I was incredibly glad that I did. Not only am I relishing sitting next to my cousin and her husband each Sunday, but the message was incredible and funny too! They had a guest speaker who was originally from Argentina (always near & dear to my heart) and who really recommitted myself (and I'm sure many in the crowd) to re-embracing and accepting our faith. I'm recognizing that I need to get involved IN the church and potentially with an evening homegroup, but am unsure which evening I'm wanting to commit (especially since I already teach in the evenings). My landlord has invited me to her women's group but for some reason I've been hesitant thus far to join...

Divorce: Haven't seen Tall D since our trip to Indiana....and its been incredibly renewing. I'm still working on him to pick his stuff up from the garage and I'll be printing the papers myself this weekend. I'd really like to have this finalized as close as possible to the new tax year. At this point, I've just realized that I'm going to be much better off with this opportunity to begin again. I can't change the decisions of the past, but I'm recommitting myself to the choices of the future...and am fortunate to have been given the opportunity to see things in a new light and been given another opportunity at happiness and to pursue the life that I think God intended for me to live. Still have a few final things to take care of, but I'm really looking forward to the moment when things can officially be severed and I can truly move on for real.

Counseling: I've self selected with the support from the counselor to space my sessions out at this point. She continues to be impressed with how much I'm processing and the growth that has occurred since our initial session. We're still working on some key items, but we've started transitioning into new topic areas too. I'm thinking about choosing to implement nightly journaling for a bit to help organize my thoughts more clearly--seems like a good process to utilize currently.

Projects: My biggest focus honestly has been returning the house into the state of a home---MY home. And I'm honestly embracing adding back in the things I loved before, ie I've majorly replenished my throw pillow and throws stock---nothing quite like comfy items to snuggle with and extra color/patterns. I've purged, I've reorganized, I've daydreamed, I've cleaned like crazy, and I was fortunate to have my brother come up on Saturday and help me move furniture, hang things, and saw wood. So here's a list of some of what's been done:
---ordered, received, & assembled new leather chair for living room
---unscrewed shelves in living room, filled holes, repainted
---purchased new & used frames, selected prints, battled printer for entire night, finally arranged pictures as desired and hung in lay-out on walls
---cleaned bathroom
---dusted cobwebs from every room in house, washed light fixtures, killed spiders
---cleaned mini-blinds in guest room (this job needs beer next time....or to be farmed out...)
---rearranged guest room furniture
---created craft closet in hallway & organized items in it
---turned front room into office, had bro hang shelves, hung art work, arranged items on shelves, moved futon into space, found old desk in shed & spray painted...twice, spray-painted and recovered old chest made by Dad to be used for desk seating, moved all office goods into new office and organized
---weeded out old files/photos/magazines
---reorganized clothes & moved into office closets to create a dressing space
---cleaned kitchen, removed Tall D's extra items, reorganized cupboards & fridge to better fit needs, tossed out items from fridge, created improved pantry w/ more storage solutions, created snack & speciality cupboards
---moved TV into old dining area and moved table into old den
---researched potential couches & buffets on craigslist (& short term housemates)
---swapped area rugs around in house
---swapped curtains around in house, purchased & hung new set in new dining area
---organized linen closet & napkin/towel drawer in kitchen
---organized front entry closet
---purchased fabric for more throw pillows
---purchased small cast iron pan
---turned coffee table into office storage
---hammered together & cleaned pinterest inspired sign base
---measured & marked additional wood for two more signs
---came up with idea for wood/faux log storage in living room
---reorganized closet in my room
--weeded out & reorganized some of my pinterest boards

Needless to say...I'm tired, plus these LATE nights aren't helping :) But I do love the look of things and I'll post pictures once it's all finalized! It's nice to be creating a space that's my own again...and to really be USING each space in my home once more. I feel like I've been nesting and happily so. I'm eating meals at the table. I'm hanging out grading in the office. I've been sitting on the couch in the evenings enjoying a fire and a beer while grading. I'm still relishing the extra plushness of the bed. And I'm longing to enjoy a bit of TV watching in that area once I get seating arrangements finalized. I'm even out in the backyard with the animals and using the garage for spray painting. It's seriously nice to be using the place again and its been great to watch long-awaited projects unfold!

And with that I'm off to sleep so I can get up in time to enjoy a coffee date with my cousin! Hope you each have been doing well!