Summer is coming to an end. Labor Day is over. And the day has finally come. My baby girl is off to her first day of kindergarten! I’m probably more anxious than she is. That is our first big change. I’m anticipating (and hoping for) a lot more change this month.

I will now have a long afternoon to myself every day. I hope my healing process starts to show some big signs of improvement. The weather has already started to change. Lots of things. And I’m sure God has more planned that I would never even dream of.

Here is what I have planned for the month. We’ll see how it goes!

1. Healing

   *Continue to push my OCD – sleep in more, eliminate compulsions, give up control. I will also be using my afternoon free time to do my baking and experimenting. It will be a good distraction for me.
   *Experiment with my Betaine dosage.
   *Possibly start seeing a chiropractor to help with healing and overall body function and to address my scoliosis.
   *Light exercise, possibly start taking yoga classes again.

   *I hope my swelling/fluid retention starts to go down at some point this month if I continue to eat well and get rest.
   *Research leptin – a critical thing for hormone function.
   *Research and maybe purchase a water filter to remove fluoride (and other heavy metals) from our water.

2. Food Preservation – September is when my canning really gets going!

   *Spaghetti sauce
   *Salsa
   *Peaches
   *Pears?
   *Applesauce?

3. Mommy-Daughter Date

This is still TBD. It could be a trip to the Children’s Museum. Our September is already quite full. So we’ll have to see what activity we can squeeze in.

4. Simply settle into routines.

We will have school, dance and kindermusik (for both kids). We might put Abram in soccer as well. And I’ll be starting MomBreak steering team meetings this month. It will take some adjusting to be this busy all of a sudden.

5. Acceptance

This seems to get harder by the day. I don’t like being at the middle of this process. I know somewhere down the road my body will be done with the intense healing. I know my weight will stabilize. I know the swelling will go down. I know I will be able to exercise a little more and get my body back in shape/get stronger. But I’m not there yet. And I have to accept it. This is so hard for me. I’m not one to just sit back and wait. I like to be proactive and productive! But I can’t really speed this up. I just have to let my body do what it needs to do. And accept that I’m uncomfortable in my own skin. Accept that I have to go up 3 or 4 sizes for a while. Accept that sometimes I need to put my feet up when I’d rather be getting things done. Accept that a lot of this is the result of poor choices I made almost 20 years ago. Accept that this is not an overnight fix. Accept that I am not in control. And trust that God has good things planned. He is good. He can do amazing things. And He will use this for his glory.