healing is hard work
Jan. 9th, 2008 11:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alonewiththemoonI had my first physical therapy session since before the holidays yesterday--ow. My PT pushes me, which is good, and I can feel that exactly the right muscles are being worked. But we went beyond burn into wobble and crash, to the point where my left calf simply could not lift my body weight any more. PT's comment: "Oh, we fried it? Good!" Left aching and sore and wrapped my foot in ice when I got back to the office.
Three hours after that, what do I do? Why, go to Najmat's boot camp for belly dancers, my first dance class since before the holidays! I actually held up quite a bit better than I thought I would, in part because I was excited to note that a) despite the ache, I did have better range of motion in my left calf and foot and more stability in my turns and b) a pre-Christmas resolve to do more ab work is apparently paying off, as my control was pretty decent. Oh, and as we were learning one move, I watched what I was doing in the mirror and recognized it as something that Suhair Zaki often uses--then was slightly stunned to realize that I could recognize something that Suhair Zaki does in something that I was doing! Eventually I couldn't go up on relevé any longer and then after that my leg ceased being able to shimmy, so I sat out the last few minutes of class. My foot cramped badly during the cool down but I stretched through it.
So all in all, even though everything I did yesterday ached, I felt very good about it all. I feel like I'm making progress with my foot (and ankle and knee, it's all connected) and I feel much better about my dancing than I have been lately. I think leaving the Middle East was such a scary step it made me doubt everything, but now I feel back on track, motivated and re-energized. I have a chiro appointment tonight; getting my bones sorted out while my muscles are in the right places seems like a good idea.
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On a completely different note, stayed up too late last night to watch the post-primary speeches by the Dems. Missed Edwards, but don't much care. I am still quite undecided over whether I think Clinton or Obama would make a better president, but I'm glad the results turned out the way they did, as it will keep the race competitive and keep both of them on their toes. Plus there's the historic precedent to be celebrated for each of them. Obama's post-primary speech was very stirring, though the use of "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" as the closing song was perhaps a bit ill-considered. Clinton showed the most emotion she has yet during this campaign and came across as very real--and I have to say, she also came across as more real about the issues. For once, she managed to get into some specifics without sounding like she was reciting a report. And I was proud of her as a woman, I must admit. So I don't know. I need to learn more about their detailed platforms.
I did catch some of McCain's speech. His supporters chanting "USA! USA!" was totally annoying, as though McCain's victory represented the USA winning over something. But I did appreciate his message of cooperation and reaching out. He seems like the least of all evils republican to me (did I mention I vote Democrat? I do. Except for when I vote Green), which isn't saying much but he does come across with genuine sincerity and some level of honesty.
Three hours after that, what do I do? Why, go to Najmat's boot camp for belly dancers, my first dance class since before the holidays! I actually held up quite a bit better than I thought I would, in part because I was excited to note that a) despite the ache, I did have better range of motion in my left calf and foot and more stability in my turns and b) a pre-Christmas resolve to do more ab work is apparently paying off, as my control was pretty decent. Oh, and as we were learning one move, I watched what I was doing in the mirror and recognized it as something that Suhair Zaki often uses--then was slightly stunned to realize that I could recognize something that Suhair Zaki does in something that I was doing! Eventually I couldn't go up on relevé any longer and then after that my leg ceased being able to shimmy, so I sat out the last few minutes of class. My foot cramped badly during the cool down but I stretched through it.
So all in all, even though everything I did yesterday ached, I felt very good about it all. I feel like I'm making progress with my foot (and ankle and knee, it's all connected) and I feel much better about my dancing than I have been lately. I think leaving the Middle East was such a scary step it made me doubt everything, but now I feel back on track, motivated and re-energized. I have a chiro appointment tonight; getting my bones sorted out while my muscles are in the right places seems like a good idea.
-----
On a completely different note, stayed up too late last night to watch the post-primary speeches by the Dems. Missed Edwards, but don't much care. I am still quite undecided over whether I think Clinton or Obama would make a better president, but I'm glad the results turned out the way they did, as it will keep the race competitive and keep both of them on their toes. Plus there's the historic precedent to be celebrated for each of them. Obama's post-primary speech was very stirring, though the use of "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" as the closing song was perhaps a bit ill-considered. Clinton showed the most emotion she has yet during this campaign and came across as very real--and I have to say, she also came across as more real about the issues. For once, she managed to get into some specifics without sounding like she was reciting a report. And I was proud of her as a woman, I must admit. So I don't know. I need to learn more about their detailed platforms.
I did catch some of McCain's speech. His supporters chanting "USA! USA!" was totally annoying, as though McCain's victory represented the USA winning over something. But I did appreciate his message of cooperation and reaching out. He seems like the least of all evils republican to me (did I mention I vote Democrat? I do. Except for when I vote Green), which isn't saying much but he does come across with genuine sincerity and some level of honesty.
