breakneck

tonight as i sit and watch the us open, i am acutely aware that my left elbow is aching more than my right. and appropriately i can only attribute it to tennis.

since tentatively trying out the racket for the first time a couple of weeks ago and noticing no ill effects in my still healing (right) elbow, i've been dragging haley to the court at every opportunity. and while she's in florida, partying it up with the family, i've been constructing my own tennis camp: practicing my serves with mega, working on my backhand with chrissie, rereading the inner game, and watching the us open at all other opportunities. i even signed up to play singles in the fall, for the first time.

so, yes, my left forearm is a bit tender. and i welcome it. a bit of pain in the name of strengthening is a far cry better than what i've felt in the wake of injury. i'm a week away from the three month anniversary of my dislocation and though i know it can take longer than this to heal, i'm subscribed to the school of fake-it-till-you-make-it and refuse to back down. when it hurts, i figure that's a sign i'm sufficiently replacing the torture of formal physical therapy.

anyway, much like my reentry to tennis, life seems to be hitting a steady pace. a breakneck pace, but steady nonetheless. the boys' schedules have stabilized. soccer two nights a week. taekwondo one night. trumpet lessons another. and drums yet another. it hasn't left much time in the evening for us to breathe, but then tonight luke finished trumpet practice, dinner, and shower with half an hour to spare before bedtime and he said, 'what do i do now mommy?' to which i replied, 'whatever you want' and realized that we'd come out on the other side of the first three weeks of school, with thirty minutes of air. and it was simply divine. and so i offered a silent prayer of gratitude.

d: may the pace of my backhand match the pace of my life: steadily breakneck.
b: i've found my footing for the fall season...of school.
g: time to spare.