June 23, 2011 Back to dancing tonight!

Tonight was my first night back on the dance floor, post Levaquin poisoning, and I did pretty well.  I stuck with line dancing and avoided one that was fast and had a lot of turns (though it hurt to have to sit and watch!) but I knew it would not be a good idea while I am babying the right knee while the tendon heals.  The chiropractor gave me some black radish pills which he said would help flush the toxins out of my intestines and organs so the Levaquin wouldn't continue to eat away at my tendon, or whatever it is that it does which is not good!  There is major improvement since last week, though.  I can actually crouch down and pick things up without screaming in pain, which, I'm sure, makes people in stores where I've been so clumsy about dropping everything from my glasses to bags of stuff knocked off shelves much less freaked out.  Nothing worse than hearing a grown woman shriek!  I am, however, very grateful that my healing didn't occur due to the drastic measures Michele experienced, but am convinced that the chemo probably flushed the toxins out of her system just as the black radish and the probiotics are doing for me in a kinder, more gentler manner.  Either way, that stuff is poison to our bodies and needs to be evacuated as quickly as possible!  It apparently settles in the bowels, intestines and other organs so even though we stop taking it, it's still secreting its poisonous effects into our unwitting systems.

Dinner last night with Heather, Mathom, Jenni, Serenity and Tony went fairly well.  Serah doesn't really know me so when Jenni left her with me to go fix a plate, there were tears until I gave her a small piece of bread and her milk.  Then I was ok, at least until Mommy came back!  Although Jenni was still very touchy and seemed to be trying to pick an argument at times, I have found my own peace and acceptance, and just let her get what she needed to out.  I may not agree 100% with how she's raising her child, but as I had to be harsh with my own mother about letting me make my own mistakes with my children, I realize that Jenni deserves the same right, and will only offer suggestions if she asks.  She even suggested meeting again at the park one weekend when we're both free.  Baby steps and short visits will be the name of the game for now.  That will give Serah a chance to get to know me in small doses, and limit the amount of time Jenni has to get irritated with me.  It's a win-win all the way around. 

So far, it looks like I'll have a semi-quiet Saturday when I hope to get some more writing done.  Sunday will have to be an adoption day.  I have a couple of errands to do on Saturday, but getting up at a decent hour will have those accomplished and still leave plenty of time to write.  I get on a nice roll when the house is quiet and I can just sit and let the words flow.

I had an interesting conversation with my new doctor yesterday.  He talked about the three causes of stress.  I'll try to paraphrase as I don't remember it exactly now.  But essentially, the one we can control comes from ourselves.  The other two are beyond our control, so we have to learn how to minimize how they affect us.  One is the culture we live in, and is especially strong if we've only experienced living in one country.  The other is, if memory serves, from our community: family, friends, acquaintances, neighbors.  He mentioned driving down the freeway and having someone cut you off.  Although it may annoy me momentarily, I've learned, and said so, that I just give them room as they're clearly in much more of a hurry than I am.  Of course, I also have the beautiful drive every morning through the hills with their trees, bushes and flowers.  On days like today when the fog settles into the valleys, I feel like I'm driving to Shangrila and all sorts of magical things await.  Most of all, even though my life is full and I have a lot going on, I've learned to slow down and enjoy the journey.  If I get someplace a few minutes later than intended, it's really no big deal any more.  The fact is, some days, I'm 10 minutes early, others, I'm 10 or 15 minutes late.  It all works out.

I reflect, each day upon the many opportunities I have to forgive, accept and be grateful.  My life is wonderfully full and I look forward, every day, to the new journeys that await me.  It all starts with a single step.

Love and light.