Even though I wasn’t out-of-town that long for Thanksgiving, it still took me out of my routine. And when I got back, it felt like I needed to focus on getting back to normal and doing what I usually do. It’s funny how being away for even a few days can affect me as much as being away for a week. And since I’m not gone that often, it isn’t super easy for me to get back to my old routine. But last week was one where it did seem to work out well for me.
It never hurts to have an outing to a theme park since that is something I do pretty often (and I’m aware how lucky I am to get to do that). But that alone isn’t enough to make me feel normal again. It also didn’t help that last week I didn’t have my normal work schedule until Friday.
But what was surprising that did help was having a doctor appointment. I had to see my dermatologist on Thursday for a follow-up appointment. It was at a new medical office building (which was right by my old work), but having a normal doctor appointment was a nice change for me. I’m so used to crazy doctor appointments (and hopefully those will be very limited now), so having a normal one felt routine. It was an easy appointment and I was out of there pretty quickly, and I’ll be back again in a month for another follow-up (which might be my last one).
And not as surprising was feeling normal after hanging out with a friend who I hadn’t seen in over half a year. She and I just never could make our schedules match so we could meet up. But on Saturday she texted me to see if I happened to be free that night for dinner. Shockingly, I was and we made plans to get dinner and finally catch up!
It was so wonderful to get to have a fun dinner out. I’m so used to seeing her all the time (she used to go to Orangetheory with me) and it’s weird not catching up as often as we used to. The last time we hung out, I still thought I was having surgery. And she had been seeing a new guy and was talking about maybe moving in with him. Now I don’t need my surgery and she is living with her boyfriend (and they are talking about getting engaged!). So much has changed in the months we hadn’t seen each other!
But not only was getting to catch up with a friend an awesome night out, it also made me feel back to normal and connected with my life. I struggle with being over scheduled and under scheduled at the same time. The balance is tough to figure out and it seems like that’s a pretty common struggle. But as with many struggles I have, I think recognizing it as a struggle is one of the ways I can make it better. If I know that I’m having a tough time, I can work on fixing it. I think that’s one of the reasons I have over and under scheduling issues. I see that I’m over scheduled and I cut back, but then I’m under scheduled and add more things in, and the cycle goes around.
But the reality is that this struggle is one of the ways I feel like things are back to normal. I’m used to fighting this fight and it feels routine at this point in my life. I know that with the holidays I’ll be dealing with it more, so I guess I’m just getting an early start to the craziness for me.
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Back To Back Doctor Days (or At Least This Was A Virtual Appointment)
Another Virtual Doctor Appointment (or Planning Some Next Steps)
More Prepared Than Necessary (or Splitting Up Dentist Appointments)
Back To Focusing On Health (or Back To Back Doctor Appointments)
Seeing Friends In Random Places (or Unscheduled Hangouts)
An Easy Therapist Check-In (or Virtual Appointments Make Things Easier)
