Busy?

Not me.

Sophie's prizegiving, cried all the time, don't know why. Possible reasons:
- gratitude that, whereever it takes her, Sophie is at an outstanding school with good pastoral, academic, sporting and whole person support.
- sitting down for a couple of hours in the presence of all those girls - all that potential.
- being aware that there are places where it is normal to expect to achieve, supported by the understanding that achievement is an iterative process, comes in intensely personal forms and includes failure as part of the never-ending trip. Validating for me, not just on my childrens' behalf.
- Sophie's own achievements - an academic overall Achievement award, a Parents and Friends' award for Fellowship, and the Writing prize for year 9. I'd say in spite of all - if I didn't think that results are because of, not in spite of, events that happen and the way we are helped to deal with them.
- being there on behalf of both Gerald and myself, with all the unprocessed weight of Gerald's expectations and hopes for going on supporting his kids.

Alex decided to resit his restricted driving test (next Friday, at Orewa). His decision was prompted by the Monday tester's assessment that without a resit he would not have a license :-)
Two hours instruction on the course the day before with a lady who will poke with a sharp stick every time carelessness or inattention or overconfidence strike will hopefully do the expensive trick.

A CT-scan-guided corticosteriod injection into my spine at Auckland Radiology to bathe the nerves of L4/L5 yesterday afternoon passed without drama. Need to keep stillish for 24 hours, then take it easy for another 6 days. Sounds a bad idea to me ... only because I have little hope for change.
Nothing has worked so far, I have lots of pain and lots of dysfunction (leg doesn't work) and live on painkillers and anti-inflammatories and restricted amounts of walking and no running and odd positions with a 90 degree cushion-assisted kink in my spine, always a chair for my feet, or flat on my back, pretty rough for studying or any kind of normal life. Grumble.

Rant over. I hope it works.

The weather is still good. Almost a straight run, barring a few days, of warmth and sunshine since Gerald's death (5 weeks today). It helps.

Enjoy the day, the warmth, the pain, the progress, the people - whatever you get today.

L