Please call me Grace. . . So Steve and I fly out from Oakland on Wed to Leavenworth, Kansas where my son has been stationed for the last 3 years and help him, Alyse and our two granddaughters move to their new base, Fort Drum, New York (about 4 hours from Buffalo). Brrrr. Yes, it is the dead of winter and I am, to the core a California girl (finding the need to put on a hoodie in the middle of a summer in California). Cold weather and I are not friends. But nothing could stop me from an opportunity to spend time with my son and his family, even this cold winter weather in the northeast. I had planned to be a fearless solders mom and Man- Up as we say in my family. Well mostly the girls say that anyway. This just means I am scared inside but pretend to be without fear. Thats the way our family keeps things moving forward. So when I say help move, I do mean boxes, U-drive moving truck etc. Those of you who know me know Im usually a great work horse for this type of thing, sadly I enjoy almost any physical work. My day job is all a mental workout, so I really like doing physical activity in my off time. Usually Im the one taking care of everybody else and by no means could you call me a sissy girl, except for my tendency to be cold and for my irrational fear of spiders. But, Ill leave that for another rant. I have two work days left on my job before our big two an a half week vacation and I probably have about 24- 30 hours of work left to complete so I can head out without bringing along my laptop (my usual way of vacationing). I made special arrangements this time so I could really be offline at work the whole time. So 24-30 hrs in 2 work days plus some opportunity to work Sunday is totally doable if Im fully functional. I had been worried about making sure we had the right clothing for such scary weather, an understanding of how to avoid frostbite, how to drive and navigate the route, etc. You know the usual neurotic mom stuff. But, Im really not thinking about any of that now. See how unproductive my worrying was? I should have stayed focused on walking and general physical body movement. This brings me to my long awaited and ridiculously delayed point as well as my new nickname of Grace. . . Just to make this interesting or more challenging. . l fell down the stairs last night bringing in Christmas presents from the car. Not awful except that I turned my ankle and landed only on the side of my ankle which was twisted as my other foot was behind me and my arms were full so I wasnt able to catch the rail in time to stop myself. Its was not pretty and in no way graceful. Thus the new nickname. Nothing really serious either, so not looking for sympathy. Feel free to laugh with me at myself. It probably looked ridiculous, but I was too busy saying those words which are especially appropriate at a moment like that to have the good sense to laugh out loud. If I didnt know myself at all would have wondered if it was all self inflicted to get some rest. So now walking is a bit of a chore and very funny to look at. Those who know me are aware that I am undeniably a work-a-holic. So staying down is nearly impossible unless Im sleeping. I wake chipper as can be by around 4am each morning. No alarm clock, just my love of mornings and a wish to get started on a relentless list of what I want to do that day. Its actually ridiculous, but they dont have 12 step programs for people like me, and if they did I would be so relentless to keep up with there would be no helping me anyway. And lets be real, work-a- holics dont really think they have a problem. They think its really just a strong work ethic. ;) Now what? Im one of those people who doesnt give up, I cant cancel. I have to contribute, not just take up space. How can I get from now to Wednesday and still get it all done? How will I be useful on the trip? People dont take care of me, I take care of other people. No victims here, never been, never will be. I cant be a burden, those are things I usually carry on my shoulders. I have a some insight that I may not accept aging gracefully either being really stubborn and strong my whole life, despite my asthma. Im tough. I dont like feeling weak or less that capable. On the bright side, because there is always a bright side. . . I clearly am not badly injured, Steve believes its just a sprain. while uncomfortable, its no a show stopper. AND my husband is now a licensed Dr of Physical Therapy and will be traveling with. That was thinking ahead right? Ok, no, just lucky. So i guess thats were Ill start my new plan. . .. I also am typically fast to heal. So maybe if Im careful. I can be useful by move-in in New York and can be a useful navigator along the drive from Kansas to New York. Advise or snickers welcome.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 16:56:21 +0000
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