It's 11 o'clock on Thursday night and I've been up since 5:30, so I don't have enough energy to write down everything from the last week in full sentences - here's the general idea.
Ran my two mid week (tues/thurs) runs last week. Felt great! Loved it. Appreciated the comments you all left!
Missed my Sat. long run because I was working in Motown at the SuperBowl! Had a great time and the city look fantastic. All of us were just praying nothing would happen that would give the rest of the world yet another reason to bash us. It didn't, and the national press was there to celebrate with us. I was on my feet for 2 and a half days straight so even though I missed my 5-miler on Sat., I probably walked 15 miles over those two days. It's not the same, I know, but still...
Spent the next couple of days working 12-15 hour days working and trying to recover from the weekend. Got lots of sleep - just worked and slept and that worked out well.
Today - wow - today was just one of those days that's exhausting but makes you so happy to be alive.
Got up at 5:30 and was in my office by 7
Collaborated with a physical therapist and occupational therapist with a patient who is a Ph.D. holder, former superintendent of a school district, who suffered a brain injury as a result of a car accident 5 years ago. The guy is all heart and has guts to spare. He works so damn hard and his speech is becoming more intelligible and we plan to get him up and walking later this semester.
Went from there to a school for kids with developmental delays. They are just so full of joy and my student is working on helping them increase their ability to attend and become more aware of their peers and others around them. Their lives are simple and true.
Popped over from there to a local medical center to supervise a student who is working on a pediatric oncology unit. Have to admit - that is hard for me to deal with - my kids are young and I have to really get a hold of my own emotions so I can help my student help these kids deal with their treatments and ongoing changing self perception. They remind me of the temporary nature of life.
Went from there back to campus and gave a lecture to a biological psychology class on the neuroscientific substrates of rhythm perception and how that can affect motor functioning for athletes and various neuro' patients. Awesome class - inquisitive students.
Lunch, then to one of my own classes - practiced a gait rehabilitation technique - rhythmic auditory stimulation - used with stroke, parkinson's, tbi, and huntington's patients. the students struggled a bit. i may need to slow the pace down for them.
Drove over to a center for adolescents in crisis situations - supervised a student of mine who traveled from Australia to study with me at this site. I still feel humbled and honored she did that and hope the time and effort she is putting into it is worth it. She did great and the "patients" there responded to her warm Australian personality and accent very well.
Went back to campus and consulted with a student working at a site for older adults with dementia/Alzheimer's disease - she's scared s---less and just needed a few ideas and some support.
Went home and had dinner with Karen and the kids - what a blessing they are - coming home and seeing their faces was great (particularly because they weren't fighting when I got there!!) Talked with Karen for a bit after dinner, went upstairs to grade/e-mail/etc. Called Eddie up so he could look at the stocks he just bought earlier this week. He owns his own little piece of Apple, Stryker, Disney, XM Satellite Radio, and Sirius Radio. He's still tring to figure out why the XM stock shot up just because Oprah signed a contract with them. I had to explain to him that she's reorganized the universe around her and every little move she makes seems to ripple across wide expanses of space, time, and wall street. Back down and hung out with the crew and played a couple of games of Rummi-something-or-other.
Oh yeah, went out for my Thursday run and was literally dancing in the street! I had Eddie's new iPod shuffle and just couldn't resist - anytime some jam came on - I just started dancing right in the middle of the road. Had a party out there for 2.5 miles and then came in, grabbed a glass of wine and some razor thin prosciutto, and wrote all this.
Good night!!
