Joy in unexpected ways

This weekend is the "official" last hurrah of summer.  To our family, it felt like it ended three weeks ago when sschool started.  On the other hand, this was our last chance to spend an extended summer weekend up in the mountains at my father-in-law's cabin.

I had lots and lots plans for projects to complete this summer at the cabin.  My FIL is getting up there in age  and the basic and not-so-basic maintenance has fallen by the wayside in the last few years.  That combined with the boys getting older and us visiting there more often meant we needed to catch up.  This was my original plan this summer.  I was going to replace and fix long ago busted water lines, clean and seal a huge deck, install a new toilet/shower combo, and so on.  Of course, none of this happened after that phone call in June and the subsequent procedures.

I spent the last two months visiting the cabin to heal my body physically and mentally.  I really felt like I was operating with one arm on all those visits. It might have been my left, non-dominant arm but it still severely restricted my ability to do construction, projects and general heavy maintenance.  This visit was wonderfully, gratefully different.

I got the last two sets of stitches out last week.  Those wounds are healing far faster than the open wounds nearby that are almost 6 weeks older.  My range of motion in my left arm is about 95% from the original site and I hardly suffer any discomfort from it any more.  So, the projects were on.

Unfortunately, this weekend was only three days. So, we prioritized about what needed to get done before winter hits sometime in October, November, or December. (Yeah, it's that unpredictable in the Sierra Mountain Range).  My FIL picked cleaning and sealing the large redwood deck.  I simply did not care.  DID NOT CARE.  I just wanted to work. Really work. With no restrictions or conditions on my body.  And I did.  It felt so good. At least mentally. The physically sore part is NOT my back or left arm and I couldn't be happier about that.  My legs and back are letting me know I used muscles long over rested.  But I've never been so grateful to push my body physically and get a large project done. I had taken that ability for granted.  I was so incredibly happy to be pressure washing, sealing, sweeping, cleaning, etc, etc, this weekend.

 I almost felt normal. Almost. Maybe my new normal isn't far away.