another Friday in this girl’s life

This week has been so interesting for me with regard to my sleep issues. The thing is… there’ve been no issues! Can I get an amen? For months I’ve struggled with topsy-turvy schedules, late nights and all-nighters, and total insomnia for 40 hours at a time, and suddenly, this week, I’m sleeping and waking like normal people. Even when my nights ran long (there were a few 3am bedtimes), I still woke in six-to-eight hours and felt fully refreshed. Unless you’ve experienced this, you simply cannot know how glorious it feels when things seem to settle down. This week has felt glorious. No doubt!

After waking much earlier than my alarm this morning I decided to go ahead and watch the CreativeLIVE workshop about street photography, even though I’d pretty much talked myself out of it the night before. [I couldn't bear sitting in a chair at the computer for 7 straight hours again today.] When I woke I wasn’t really planning to tune into the workshop but I also wasn’t excited about anything else, so I just put the workshop on anyway and let it run in the background while I started checking email. An hour later I got a phone call from K2 asking if he and the last boy could come over for another swim day. My first reaction was not excitement, but very quickly I decided that sitting out in the sun was exactly what my body needed. Not to mention how refreshing it would be to have the change of scenery. In half an hour I was poolside, waiting for the boys to arrive.

Now, I haven’t swum in years. I don’t even remember the last time I owned a swimsuit. But lately I’ve been wishing I had one, and on one recent pool visit I realized it was time to just get over myself. There was a woman at the pool that day who was near my size and shape and was wearing a bikini with absolutely no inhibitions. I was at once shocked and impressed. She was completely comfortable with her mushy, curvy body rolls, and it got me to thinking how my own body issues have been holding me back from doing some things I once enjoyed. I decided that day to start investigating swimsuits so I could join the boys on future swimming adventures. I’ve no interest in exposing that much of my body to an unsuspecting public, of course, but I do believe I can find a suit with decent coverage that would also allow me to feel comfortable enough in public. Until then, I’m content to sit poolside in shorts and a tank top (also a huge step for me, as my arms are one of my worst features) and soak up some sun on my pale and freckled skin. Just getting to hang out with the boys and dangle my feet in the pool is actually pretty cool. For now.