Our chiropractor always says when we leave his office, “Have an awesome day!” Well, today, we have indeed had an awesome day.

Nothing climactic. Just a simply lovely day.

First of all, we woke early to our new and improved dog regimen; we now take the dogs for a good long hike or run three different mornings. Today Ian mountain biked with one of his buddies from work, and Molle, our 9 month old white labrador, tore up the 10 mile trail alongside them. While they did that, I nestled myself by the river with a book and magazine alongside our faithful old companion Luke who is now 13 years and wobbly yet wise, stoic yet sweet.

I borrowed this book from the chiropractor’s stacked shelf. I haven’t read much, but I can already tell that I love it. It’s all about knowing your own body, feeling your senses, expressing yourself artistically, opening up your mind and heart to the deeper parts of your soul. I crave abstract art concepts such as those. I am really a feeler by nature, and find solace in my own creative instincts and my own spun musings about life. Which is basically why I blog about a variety of interests and intrigues.

Starting the day in the woods is peaceful to the mind and heart and soul. Even though I was very sleepy when Ian’s alarm went off – I’m really not a morning person – I knew I’d have a better day if I just went along with the plan and savored the brisk September breeze.

After our morning routine, we unloaded the dogs back at the house and traipsed off to our appointments with the chiropractor and the dermatologist. We have regular adjustments, twice a week for now, as I am pregnant and Ian is a firefighter. It’s been one of the best decisions we’ve made concerning our health; regular adjustments facilitate the body’s natural pathways of communication through the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) to the rest of the body. Our chiropractor has a solid philosophy of how the body is designed to work on it’s own, and he makes the adjustments necessary to our individual systems so that our bodies will have the ability to function at its peak capacity. All of that to say, it’s a great thing to have a great chiropractor and to leave feeling better than before.

Just disregard my poor unhealthy snack choice here. I was craving chocolate and pumpkin spice, hence I sprinkled some and added a little cream and marshmallows for a scrumptious autumn mid-day dessert.

As a result of our early morning jaunt, we are all sacked out and being very lazy. But it’s such a good kind of lazy. The kind of lazy that makes you appreciate the heat of the mug in your hand, the soft fur of your puppy’s tail whipping against your leg, the sway of the pine branches, the blue hue of the mountain ridge, the chirping of late summer insects, the presence of a good man and books.

While contemplating and relaxing, I wrote a note to an old friend who’s Brazilian but finds the whole world to be her oyster. She lived near me in the States a while back and has been traveling since then and we correspond from time to time. We always pick up right where we left off. And where we left off was over the summer while I was making my transition out of the work regimen into the home regimen… These were my sentiments that I shared with her …

I resigned from my position as a Vision Therapist at the end of August. That was by far one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. I cried for weeks and grieved the passing of time and the need to say goodbye. I came alive while I was a therapist, and I don’t know that motherhood will have that same effect. But I had to give it up, because it was very taxing, the hours were difficult for a home life, and Ian was ready for me to be at home full time since we’re having a baby. At first he was willing to support my decision to stay, but it became clear to me that it wasn’t going to be financially prudent for me to work part time and pay for a nanny. I miss being at the office and helping my patients; that’s the worst part of it, leaving my patients behind; I have never loved working with such a variety of people and their problems as much as I did there! Being a Vision Therapist is a very special type of work, unique in its field of Developmental Optometry, its techniques and results, and its far-reaching need. I’ll probably never have another job that challenged and inspired me intellectually, emotionally, mentally, physically like that job did. Alas, two years there and then it became time to move on. I have had to trust the Lord with this; it’s not been easy to let go and embrace something else.

And that is why it’s good to be lazy – so that I can process and formulate into words this transition from walls to woods. I’m not sure yet how to traverse these woods of life, but reading books and sipping hot chocolate sure does help.

I hope you’ve had an awesome, lovely day, dear reader, and that you share some of your own musings in your own ways now and then. Please feel free to post some of them here!

In the hands of the potter,