The news

My sister. My lovely, lovely sister.

Ciara is now home, thankfully, after 11 days of life in the cardiac unit at a Portland hospital. Forgive me for not going into the nitty gritty, but I don't have the energy for it. At this point, she sleeps a lot, she eats little, and her tummy hurts all the time. We are in a lull where she is healing from one thing before she goes back to the hospital on the 27th for a consultation on another. Her job is to get well, and I'm hoping to help in that process. So. I'm in Portland.

I'm taking advantage of the long hours of Ciara sleeping to do some things for myself. Juneau has been great, but the last couple weeks have gotten me looking off a ledge. Today, after watching a chick-flick with Ciara and reading a bit, mom went to town on both C and me, giving us some quality time via back/shoulder rubs. Ciara needed some lower back love, from all the problems with her digestion, and mom was keen to think that my driving shoulder, or my predominate shoulder, would be sore. It was. She rubbed just a bit, and was shocked at what she found. My mom has been doing something to learn how to help the body though massage (I don't know if its reading or watching) and boy did she ever!

I don't know a lot about how the mental/physical connection is put together in people, or myself, but it is there. Stress can manifest and seep into physical parts. As best I can explain it, Mom ripped open one of those little balls of manifested something, and I was sitting there on the floor, squirming at first from the tension, then flat out weeping. Not sobbing with heavy shakes, but definitely crying. I didn't know where it came from. I couldn't stop it, though, even if I tried. I felt better when she finished, on several levels.

So this trip, even though I came for Ciara, has been extremely beneficial for me already. A rest from work, Juneau, the bus, and a little refreshment with family, reflection, and a change of climate. The other happy side effect, is I am on a more compatable schedule with India, and therefore with Dan. :) It is never bad to be a little more connected with him. He is almost done with his stint there, and by this time next week, he'll only be four hours ahead of me. Yay!

If you couldn't tell, I'm really happy to be in Portland right now.