Work, Home, and Health

Well… I’ve had very little time for anything but work and home these days. My new position is stretching me at both ends, since I need to be up early to address the needs of Moscow and at work late to address the needs of Seattle.

Jerry is more active than ever, crawling on all fours, standing (with assistance) and starting to babble. He’s a lot of fun to watch and interact with. Eriko’s doing well, but needs me to take over Jerry-duty as soon as I return home.

I did take some time to go to the doctor and check on my hurting feet and knees. The feet and knees have been hurting me since I was a child; I used to tie a “sock tourniquet” around my ankle to fall asleep. Recently, I’ve also had some acute pain in my left knee. I went to a Dr. Berg, podiatrist, who promptly diagnosed me as slightly flat-footed and prescribed new shoes, arch support, and physical therapy. I purchased the new shoes (Rockport), arch support (Superfeet), and today I had my first dose of PT at Therapeutic Associates. My feet and left knee are hurting due to the change in posture/footware, but it seems like these are pains with a purpose.

I haven’t found anytime for my Japanese study. My goal is to take the JLPT level 3, but if I don’t start studying Kanji it will be a futile venture - I have approximately 200 to learn! My reading has also suffered as of late. One factor was that the Queen Anne Branch of the Seattle Public Library closed, so books are now very inconvenient to get. The other factor, of course, is lack of free time. I have subscribed to The Economist magazine, which has a pretty amazing amount of information from around the world - both economic and political - right up my ally. Due to factor #2, however, I’m two weeks behind in my reading (having finished only one magazine to date.)

I have yet to introduce any new exercise regiment, but I am walking up and down Queen Anne Hill almost every day. My physical therapist, Jen, asked me to do some regular stretching; that might help me get into a habit of exercising. Habits are such a powerful force.

5 years ago today, <a href=http://www.eriko.org">Eriko and I met each other in what can only be described later as fate. How amazing my life is.