Hi friends, It’s been one year since I posted last and I have a little sharing to do. I bet you do, too! In the last year, so much happened with business and life and health that I stopped blogging. There wasn’t another ounce of energy left to blog after long 14-18 hour days, 6-7 days a week, as we navigated building a new, massive website for the International Institute of Genealogical Studies. It’s gorgeous, by the way, and I have a lot of people to thank for their help and support. Our YouTube channel has been growing so fast! Lots of great videos on genealogy and writing topics for you to catch.
But by April I was down to 12-14 hours a day until the spinal surgery mid-June. Then it was all stop for a week. I came back to work in short spurts starting at week 2, part time by week 3, going full time around week 6 with time out for doc and physical therapy appointments as well as the prescribed walks. I’ve loved watching all the kids playing in the pool during recovery, even if I couldn’t join them until a few days ago. Such joyous laughter floated out from my backyard that it kept me smiling. It’s just a 4 ft little thing, but is in constant use each summer with neighbors and grands. I don’t always have to be in the middle of the activity to get great joy out of it 🙂 The kids range 2-16 this summer and all have such a nice time together.
I have a lot of gratitude to doctors, nurses, and those that helped me through neck and back procedures as well as a 2-level spinal fusion about 6 weeks ago. Those same medical folks have been in absolute surprise at how well I’m recovering. I know there are some things that went into preparation, the skills of medical staff, and doing the work of following doctors’ directions. But, there are a lot of people praying for me, too. I know that God is honoring and answering those prayers. Thank you for praying for me! I just returned from a 7/10 of a mile walk. I can report no pain, no shuffling, and a buoyant spirit.
A few things I did to help prepare for spinal surgery (but not taking away from the power that prayer is making in my recovery!) I think we need to be obedient, too.
- Visits with following directions and all requirements (that meant a lot of physical therapy and injections in my neck and back over a year’s time.)
- Lost 12 pounds to lighten the load on my spine. (That was hard because exercise over the last 10+ years has been hard since the vehicle roll-over on black ice caused so much of this struggle.)
- Researched the surgery, results, and recovery expectations.
- Asked friends and family who could help me to schedule a little time as they could for a few weeks after.
- Sent out prayer requests for the medical team and for me during and after surgery.
What I’m doing since surgery to follow doc orders and recover:
- The first week I pretty much slept and shuffled around with a walker.
- Second week I started walking with the walker around the house until I felt confident to try a little without it.
- Third week I walked to my mailbox, then my neighbor’s mailbox, and back. Such a slow shuffle the snails were laughing.
- Started in that third week to walk to the end of the block and back twice a day. Wow, the first few weeks were really hard. I shuffled, stopped and rested, and made a snail’s pace look like the Olympics from the effort.
- By week 4, I could walk slowly around a 7/10 of a mile loop with less effort and less shuffle.
- Today, 2 days shy of 7 weeks, I bubbled with joyful smiles as I walked at a quicker pace, no stopping or shuffling at all. I just kept thanking God because I felt so happy and good. I couldn’t stop smiling and broke out into a silly song I made up to a tune I knew thanking God for all His blessings. I’m sure He was giggling! I was 🙂
I know I have a lot more healing and physical therapy, but it’s surprising how fast time goes. Lots of things have been a challenge like the close forrest fires, the A/C went out, the septic field has to be rebuilt, and we had a massive 80-109 mph storm that tore through our small city with a lot of damage. But in those things, lots of things went right, too. Neighbors are helping neighbors they don’t even know to continue the disaster clean up. People are showing kindness and seeing one another again where media and political things caused such divides. I don’t want to grumble about these challenges. I’m so grateful for fire fighters protecting us, friends and strangers working together, and businesses able to come help our little household emergencies. Yes, it’s been a busy year with a lot of unusual hurdles. But, wow, I’m so happy to be here one year later seeing the flowers bloom and the hummingbirds sip at the feeders. I also learned how to let go and stop working so my body can rest. Say what? Being an overachiever makes it hard, but I’m really working to listen to God and my body better. I’ve struggled with this one thing for years. So, okay, surgery created a good lesson, too.
What’s coming up?
- I’m working on new courses for the genealogy trade school with my team, including Latin for Genealogy and a new certificate program, and several other courses.
- Planning a writing retreat with my friend, Mindy Peltier, to be held Sep 21-22, 2024 in Helena, MT to help new writers (and those who want to refresh) get their books written. Send me a note if you’d like more information at angie [dot] breidenbach @ gmail [dot] com (yes, broken to stop the spammers). The retreat is very hands-on and because of that we limited it to 12 attendees. We’ll have 4 teaching sessions with 4 brainstorming/writing sessions as well as Sunday worship time together. The writing work follows what you learn to help you put it all together in your head and in your book. You’re going to work hard, I promise 🙂
- Working on a Master Class for genealogists. More to come on this one as it fleshes out for later this fall.
What am I reading?
- Besides course curriculum to edit and approve, I’m in the hunt for clean time travel. I’ve read a few good stories this summer during recovery and enjoyed them. One I’d recommend is called The Lost Healer of Carthage by Lynne Gentry. It had a few minor typos or word errors, but I always knew what she meant. I know how hard it is to catch every little riddle out of thousands and thousands of words. Had a hard time putting the book down. It’s a bit edgy and I liked that, too. Loved the world-building of the ancient city of Carthage and the characters she wrote. Looking forward to the next in the series.
- Just downloaded Kimberly Rose Johnson’s book, A Love to Treasure, about a school teacher on summer vacation following her grandmother’s final wish. A bit of romance and touches on my love of generational story.
- Business-wise, How to Grow Your Small Business by Donald Miller. I’m also a member of his small business group online since last summer. Learning some good things there.
- Looking for: Great, simple to understand copyright books I can preview for students. Remember, I teach internationally to genealogy students and writing students, if you have a good recommendation for me 🙂
It’s been a fast summer so far, but aren’t they all these days? I hope yours is full of gratitude because it leads to such bubbling up of joy!
Angie
