A Really Long Week (and a Half)

Apologies for starting up and then not posting, but the last week and a half has been one of the most exhausting I've ever gone through.

It started out with a really amazing trip back to Iowa to see my family and friends. We had a really fantastic time, especially surprising my little brother. Granted I say little, and he's got about six inches on me, but still! Anyway, we got to see him in his play, which was wonderful, and spend some time on the Iowa State campus. We especially enjoyed visiting Reiman Gardens. I hadn't been there since they had their big expansion and added the butterflies, so it was really enjoyable.

One of the butterflies really liked my sleeve!

Honestly I could have spent hours sitting in the butterfly wing. It was really magical. Mr. C and I were also in venue scouting mode, and it seemed like it might be a really fun option for us. Definitely still on the list, although we'll have to go back later in the year and check out the road noise.

The trip to Iowa was great, but it was a ton of running around. I'm now seven weeks out from my surgery, and definitely not at full speed yet. Better than I was, yes, but spending those days back home really wore me out.

Added to that, on Tuesday I returned to work for the first time. It was really exciting to head back, and I am glad to finally have things to do. I really enjoy my job, which helps. Granted, there are always those little frustrating things, but overall it is a really great environment and I am doing some great work. Of course, my first day back I didn't just put in a normal day. We had a special donor event that night, which meant I put in a 12+ hour day. Needless to say, there were several early bedtimes this week.

The only real bad thing about returning to work is that Mr. C and I are back on a schedule of only having Sundays off together (My typical week is Tuesday-Sunday). We made the most of it today, went down to the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Trail and went for a nice walk. The weather was beyond beautiful, but of course I left my phone in the car so no pictures!

More updates soon, I promise! Ms. A and I are planning a craft night for Wednesday, so hopefully I'll let you in on some of our projects. I'm also going to start back to running tomorrow. Seeing as I've been on the couch for the last nearly two months, and have very little stamina, I'll be trying the couch to 5k program. I'll let you know how it works!

- J