Dessert First (and Byron's back slowly improves)

Today I had dessert first, which is to say that I read my pleasure reading before my work reading. It felt sort of luxurious to just read for the joy of it. But it was Sunday and the pleasant verandah at Sidai was telling me that this is what a Sunday morning away is for.

Last week was a bit of a blur to me. Most of our emotional energy in that time went into managing this pain that was radiating down through Byron's sciatic nerve to his calf and foot. It was just no fun. In fact, it was quite hard.

Can I just qualify that by saying that both of us are acutely aware that debilitating pain in the leg is a very small problem compared to what most of sub-Saharan Africa deals with. So Byron and I are well convinced that his pain isn't too important in the scheme of things, but it sure was throwing a wringer into life for us. I was surprised by how much work we got done despite Byron's condition, but I was distracted from most everything, worried for Byron and discouraged by the ramifications that this much pain could apply to our up-coming time in Portugal and the States.

And so it was that, after a full Friday morning of therapy and doctors appointments and x-rays and amped up pain medication, we finally made it over to Ciska and Ian's house to leave for a weekend away at one of the camps under their care. This has been in the works for a long time. We wondered, in the days before, if Byron's pain would cancel the trip, but it didn't.

We didn't DO a lot this weekend and that was just right. We mostly enjoyed the beautiful setting, our kids and the friends we were there with.

For my part, I was thankful that no speeding lorries knocked me off the tarmac and that, once we got into camp, I had a very nice verandah and a selection of good books to enjoy. Byron was none-the-worse for the car ride (he was lying down for a lot of it) and he relaxed, too.

Reality sets back in tomorrow. We are entering our last full week here before the great journey to the other side and there is a TON to do.

Blech. I don't look forward to being away from home for so long. But... Joy! I look forward to the friends and family we will see :-) Hugging our older boys... coming soon!