I Have Clearance

It's not everyday that I say words like this but...Yay, I get to go back to work!!! After a long week of being cramped up at home, I'm finally heading back to work tomorrow. I saw the doctor this morning and he cleared me. Actually what he wrote was "return to work as tolerated". Which may well be the greatest words ever written. What this means is that, not only do I get to go out into the world again, but I get to set the schedule for it as well.

I can tell you right now that there is no way that I would be able to work 9 hour days in the condition that I am in. I simply could not sit with my leg down for that long a period of time. Plus I've gotten used to mid-afternoon naps (if that sounds like bragging, it is :-) ) and the occasional pain pill. I've also gotten used to having my own schedule. This work release, along with the wonderfulness of my boss, is allowing me to go back to work for 5 hour days to see how it goes. The rest of my hours will be made up with sick leave. I'm incredibly excited about this.

You would think that getting to stay home for almost a week and a half without any pressures would be wonderful. You would think that getting to read, sleep, eat, and watch TV whenever you want would be nice. But it gets old. Quick. And more than anything it is a tad isolating. I've had a number of people stop by to check on me. I've run my phone battery out a couple of times with long conversations with friends. I've had my brief forays to the doctor's office. But other than that, my only contacts have been Jeff and friends through Facebook. I love Jeff and this week he has proved to me that I truly married the right man. But there is only so much together time we can take. As for Facebook, I've had a ton of wonderful well-wishes from friends. I was touched by how many people were worried about me. But typing on a website is just the not the same as face to face conversation. And even that, after a while has left me feeling restless. An entire week straight with little interruption and no where to go has made me a bit antsy.

So as odd as it sounds, I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow. I'm excited about having some work challenges rather than just getting around challenges. The crutches are providing their own issues but I'm ready to be with people again. I'm ready to be social. But more than anything else, I'm ready for a little normalcy.