My New Lease on Life

Our new wicker porch swing is comfy.  It's best enjoyed early in the morning, or later

in the evening after the sun has gone down.  It's going to be a really hot weekend, and the

temperature will hit 100 degrees both Saturday and Sunday.  I don't think we will be

doing much outside.  I really wish we had a pool now.  Those plans got shelved when I

started getting ill last summer.  I have had some very strange kind of virus that zapped

every bit of strength I had.   It lasted for months and months.  I finally just started to

turn the corner this past April.  I feel like the virus has finally gone away.  Now

I just have to work on regaining my strength.

I have always been a high energy girl.  Months of living on a couple hours of sleep

each night, and whatever sleep I could get was disturbed by coughing, left me

very weak.  My muscle tone started to disappear and I was starting to look

like a live skeleton.  I tried working out, standard cardio and strength training,

but couldn't handle it.  Just this past Monday, I tried again.  So far I have

completed 30 minutes of cardio for five straight days, and three days of

strength training.  I can't begin to tell you how much different I feel.  I have added

an afternoon nap each day too.  Suddenly, instead of dragging around, I have

started to want to do things again.  

These past few months, my interests have been so limited.  I thought I

could just take it easy all day and read books.  For the first time in my

life, I couldn't even concentrate to read.  I was so restless, yet exhausted

at the same time.  Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon has been sitting

unfinished on my nightstand for months.  I knew there was something really

wrong with me because I love the Mitford books.  

I kept working on Sweet Tea Cottage, but only for a few short minutes

per day. Despite the fact that it tired me, I knew I had to have something

to focus on other than this strange virus.  My poor manuscript has been

sitting on my desk, untouched too.

Now that I am getting that blood circulating better and getting more

rest, I am starting to to reinvest in life.  This afternoon I walked out into

the backyard and started focusing on the shape of the pool and exactly

where I want it.  Life is good once again.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley