10 on 10 on 10

i finally remembered to tote my camera with me to work this month so here are some glimpses into my day...

a king protea sitting on my dining room table with the morning light in the background making my windows wet with condensation. i bought the proteas a few days ago because they reminded me of south africa...

casual friday, leaving the house for work

the sky outside my office window...the clouds were shape shifters, constantly changing their shape with the blustery wind.

the blood mobile was on campus and this was my first attempt at donating, but the wait was over an hour long.

another picture of the sky, the clouds had all blown away at this point.

i do work at a beautiful place, and it's most apparent during this season, the brick and the autumn light seem to add to the scholarly feel of things.

the flagpole in the middle of the loop, you can tell by the way the flag furls that it was indeed a windy day.

lunch at my desk

my second attempt at giving blood, i was first in line after their afternoon break.

success! though i must admit it did hurt a bit more than usual.

6:10::10

how can june already be a third of the way over? here are some snapshots of my day yesterday for the 10 on 10 photojournal project.

the view from my new bedroom window

my work station

the view from my work office window

where i work: peterson hall

i liked the way the water drops nested in the veins of the leaf

my summer program website: artwork courtesy of b. gough

artwork on my office wall

a beautiful plant in the spu loop

my new living room...above ground and with windows that let the light inside. i love that i can see shadows!

my empty apartment that i was doing some final cleaning in last night after work.

a 10 on 10 thwarted

so i fully intended to participate in the may installment of the 10 on 10 photo project. i was so glad that it was a saturday so i wouldn't be confined to a cubicle and an office environment. the day got a bit of a slow start; i'd been battling a cough for a little over a week and so i decided to get as much rest in the morning as possible before dragging myself out of bed.

i finally got up and had plans to get some laundry in the washing machine before i headed off to an open house as i am apartment hunting once again. check and check. after the disappointment the apartment turned out to be, i decided to stop at a coffee shop and enjoy a latte. of course, sitting in coffeeshops--reading, writing, people watching, crossword-puzzling--is one of my very favorite things to do. about 20 minutes into my time there, i started feeling rather cold. i was feeling myself getting more uncomfortable and achy by the minute so i packed up my things, and headed home, with a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up a thermometer.

no sooner was i home than i found myself curled up on the couch, piled high with blankets and shivering like crazy. my temperature not so slowly climbed from 100.5 to 102.3. i was miserable and i couldn't seem to find any way to get warm. my body was wracked with aches and my lingering cough has been keeping me up at night.

that was saturday. today is monday and i'm home sick from work, having endured what i hope was the worst of my fever yesterday evening when my temperature spiked at 102.9. today it's been hovering between 99.4 and 102.2. any suggestions for how to get rid of this nasty thing? i don't think i've been this sick since i was in highschool. ugh!

all that said, below are the couple of pictures i took before my illness left me a weak and pathetic prisoner chained for the last 3 days to my couch.

4:10::10

today i decided to join in the fun of photojournaling my day! my photos are nothing fancy, and i certainly had to remind myself to take pictures. i was moderately successful and today was a very good day so i'm glad i have some reminders as evidence.

a house in bloom

here is an collage of some of the many flowers i've received during my hospital stay and recovery time at home. aren't they beautiful? i'm one lucky girl!

recovery

hello world. i know it's been a long time since i've attempted to write anything in this forum. so it's with a lot of time on my hands and my friend tiffany's words swirling in my head ("i look at your blog every day checking for something new and all i see is 'south africa photos'!"), here's an attempt at reentering this world.

it's funny that this should be the time that i attempt to find something to say, as my life is not very full or busy at the moment. in fact, my days are rather simple, and primarily consist of sleeping in, making myself a cup of coffee when i finally do get up, and sitting around my apartment reading a lot and watching the occasional movie or season 1 of "friends" that was lent to me on dvd. i am home for an extended period of time recovering from an invasive surgery. yes, i am mostly housebound. and when you live in a basement apartment and it's brilliantly spring outside, cabin fever can run rampant. i know how quickly spring can make her appearance known and i get anxious with feeling like i am missing all of the cherry and plum blossoms and bright yellow daffodils, and my favorite, the magnolia trees.

but right now my job is healing. how strange is that? i've never been the best at "taking care of myself". i'd much rather tend to someone else's needs than my own, and i'm terrible at asking for help. and now here i find myself in a position where i've had to rely on other people to help care for me.

the response has actually been almost overwhelming...in a good way, of course. one of my dear friends organized for people to make and deliver dinners to me for two whole weeks! i've been so grateful to receive these meals and humbled by the generosity of the folks who have participated by giving their time and resources to furnish me with a tasty dinner and some very welcome company.

to be honest, it's taken some getting used to for this would-be hermit, having so many people step up and offer their services to me. it's been a good lesson for this girl, who has talked pretty openly on this blog about my struggles with loneliness and lack of connection in recent years. through this experience, i've had to allow my friends to be just that, my friends--i've had to open myself up to receive the gifts of their presence and their aforementioned generosity.

i know some of you who read this (if there's anyone left reading besides tiffany) are part of that number, and i just want to say a very sincere thank you. i have been blessed beyond measure to see how many people are available to me and willing to share their lives with me.