New Discoveries…

It’s been a rough start to this year for me physically, AND emotionally, too.  My skin cancer procedures and the horrible golfer’s elbow in my right elbow (I’m right handed) that has debilitated me so much that I’ve had to change my life for the past 8 weeks so that I don’t use my right hand much AT ALL.  It’s been painful!  Painful to do all the little things we take for granted – turning a door knob, washing your face, turning a steering wheel – just to name a few things.  Medial epicondylitis is the medical term for pain in the specific area of the elbow.  My condition was brought on by overuse, in general.  Vigorous painting and my tennis forehand specifically did it in.  I have had to quit those things for the foreseeable future until my elbow has had enough time to heal. (Several months to a year) My tennis elbow took a year to heal several years ago.  Sigh……… I’m the worst patient when it comes to quitting my favorite things in life to do and just resting! So, one has to decide in situations like this how to deal.  You have a choice to shrivel up and whine (which I’ve done plenty of) or to regroup and discover other things to do.  I’ve decided to work on other things and be strong.  See pic. 😉

Mom – my daughter, my third and last child, finally made her decision on college but not before taking a trip/tour of Denver University!  We made a quick trip there and she loved it and decided right there in the bookstore that this was the place for her 4 years!  Boom!!!  So excited for her as it’s been a rough 9 months and was like finally birthing a baby.

Photography – After 20+ years of shooting with Nikon, I made the difficult decision to jump ship to Sony for their newest, greatest MIRRORLESS camera that just came out a week ago.  I sold my Nikon equipment for good money and turned around and bought the camera body (mirrorless camera body) and one lens – the Zeiss 50mm 1.4.  It’s a SWEET setup! For those of you wondering what “mirrorless” means, it means that no mirror reflects the image shot onto the sensor as in a DSLR – digital single len reflex camera, but rather the image goes directly to the sensor and records it producing a sharper image. After playing with it just a little, I am so thrilled with what I have to shoot with!  People and travels are my favorite subjects to shoot, and I will have plenty of opportunity in the coming weeks!  Squeeeeeeeal!!!!!

Fitness – I have had to completely reassess how hard I work out and frequency of my workouts.  I had JUST decided to reignite my yoga and incorporate rowing into my fitness routine when things drastically changed on February 26, the day I hit a forehand after 80 minutes and my elbow going out on me in severe pain.  Needless to say, rowing is completely out of the question with the need to grip and pull with heavy forearm use.  No.  No way.  Yoga is out as planting hand and fingers into the floor with so many poses presents tremendous pain. There still are plenty of moves I can do to stay fit.  I just have to be more creative!  See? See more on my wellness instagram cmonbfit

Books – I have had much time to read and enjoy some books I’ve wanted to read.  One I highly recommend for fiction is Kay Wright’s book Dr. Brown. It’s Klondike love story.  It’s a page-turner!  Check it out.  Now, I’m on the Daniel Pink’s When – The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.  He wrote a book years ago that I love called A Whole New Mind – Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future.  I so believe!  Mr. Pink is also coming to my kids’ school to speak next week, and I’m thrilled to be going!  Hope to meet him, too.  He’s been on Oprah and various other shows over the years speaking his philosophy that he has spelled out in various books.

So, there you go!  That’s what I’ve been doing these last few weeks!  I’m going to start painting again soon, but with care of my elbow…