Life Gets Better and Better Every Day

I have had a fantastic week. Every now and then I would stop and think – “Linda, you wouldn’t have been able to do this a year ago.”

I spent Sunday evening through Wednesday morning in Chicago for the SAMSHA Women and Recovery Conference. SAMHSA had really gone all out and managed to pull in top notch speakers. My favorites were Stephanie Covington (the expert in women, trauma and substance abuse), Jean Kilbourne (media expert), Joan Borysenko (writer on spirituality and self), and Gil Kerlikowske, the President’s Drug Czar.

I was very impressed with the chef at the Chicago Marriott. The vegetarian lunches were amazing. On Monday they served lasagna with grilled eggplant as a substitute for the noodles and on Tuesday it was a Caesar salad with falafel balls replacing the grilled chicken. Both are recipes I am going to duplicate.

At the end of both days I was able to walk at least three miles around downtown Chicago. The weather was beautiful. I spent some time walking along Lake Michigan on Monday and on Tuesday I found the best vegan restaurant I have ever been in, Karyn’s Cooked on Wells Street. If you are ever in Chicago, go there. Even if you aren’t vegetarian. It is well worth it.

Last year at this time, if I had gone on a trip like this I would have been so tired by the end of the day that I would have gone to the nearest restaurant or convenience store and gotten something to take to my room so I could sit on the bed and watch Law and Order SVU. Not this year. I had energy to spare.

I got home on Wednesday evening and spent Thursday running errands and visiting with my sister, Barb, who came up to go to the STING concert with me and Denise D and her friend Laura. Everyone was concerned about time and traffic and all that jazz, but I have known from the first moment I found out STING was going to be near Boston that it was all going to go well and it did. We were there at 7 p.m. and in our seats by 7:30. The weather was perfect and a cool breeze came up as the sun went down.

I really can’t describe the concert very well. It exceeded my expectations and I am afraid that if I try to describe it I will not do it justice and only come off sounding like a gushing fan. I am a gushing fan, of course, but also a lover of great music and the combination of STING and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was the recipe for bliss.

On Friday, I met with Dr. Jane Sullivan-Durand at the Concord Center for Integrative Medicine. We went over all my supplements and how I am feeling. I told her about my week and how I am walking longer and faster and combining a little weight training with my yoga. I also told her I have a goal of walking the Cigna 5K in a couple of weeks and she was as excited about my progress as I am. AND, I have lost a total of 17 pounds since I first started seeing her on May 11. She said that my weight loss is perfect as it shows I am losing fat and not water. We upped my DL-Phenylanine as there have been some breakthrough sweet cravings. However, all in all, I am doing very well. My blood pressure is down and I have less body aches. She is recommending that I start working with a personal trainer at WellSpring Fitness Center when they open in September. I will keep you all posted on that.

I love exercise. I always have. It was so frustrating the past couple of years when doctors were not getting that it wasn’t that I didn’t want to exercise, but that I would feel worse after I did. The aches and the tiredness would drag on for days. Now I am revived by exercise, my endorphins are up and I look forward to getting out for a good walk. I am very fortunate to live less than 2 miles from both the Merrimack River and the Contoocook River. Both have great trails to walk and I love being in the woods.

Yesterday I did a long training walk for the Cigna 5K. I want to do a few 4-5 miles walks between now and the 12^th so that the 3.2 mile walk feels easy. Yesterday I did 4.8 miles in a about 70 minutes. I did the first 2.5 miles at a good clip but slowed down for the second part. I would like to have a good finish time. I was running 5Ks when I was 35, but I know that no matter how I feel I am not 35 anymore and my knees would appreciate the kinder, gentler approach.

On top of all that activity, I went to a wedding yesterday. One of the young women I used to work with in Keene married the man of her dreams. I know she was thrilled, but I have never seen a groom so happy in my life. He was grinning from ear to ear and looked as if he was levitating from joy. They were a beautiful couple and I was very glad to be able to witness their joy.

Wilson and Rebecca Perez 7/30/10