Mom in the Mirror

Inspiration wherever I can find it

I'm a bit of a quotation collector. I find inspiration wherever I can, from my favorite cards to church marquees, I'm not picky about the source.

This week, I found inspiration in McDreamy and McCann.

In a TV Guide interview, Patrick Dempsey said: "I don't need to know where I'm going, I just need to know where I'm coming from." He was talking about acting on "Grey's Anatomy" without knowing future plot twists, but who among us has the script for the rest of our lives?

Before I had surgery in July, I put together a collection of healing quotes to keep near me during my hospital stay. While I was recovering, I saw a TV commercial for some medication and was moved and motivated by the song playing in the background. I've since learned the song was "I Will Be," sung by Lila McCann:

I will be here
I will be strong
I'll face my fears when the night is long
And still go on
I will be brave
I will be bold
Follow my faith to a higher road
And I'm not there yet
But I will be

I will be.

For great quotations about writing, see "And I Quote" by Chip Scanlan, a friend and Poynter colleague. He includes this collection of his favorites.

What inspires you?

That's just life sneaking up on you

How did my days get so full? It seems like only yesterday I was in bed watching TV and recovering, venturing out to get my hair cut or buy books (wait, that was yesterday), and suddenly here's what's coming next month:

• My sister is visiting (I can't wait!)
• Gary is going to travel for the first time since I got sick (I'm excited for him, but I'll have to be Colter's chaffeur for two days and I haven't yet started driving again!)
• I'm returning to work (I'm excited for me!)

Then in November, Gary is going to travel after I'm back at work (still excited, but now worried about rushing around too much between my job and Colter's school). And after I get through that, we fly to Chicago for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see my family, I just can't imagine that I'm capable of all this activity.

I keep telling myself to take it one breath at a time and then I will be ready when each moment arrives. Or, if I'm not, I can adjust accordingly.

But change is hard. And I wanna live easy.

Day 3: Withdrawal

For the third day in a row, I'm taking no morphine so I can slowly get weaned off the heavy narcotics and return to work at the end of next month.

As a result, I'm finding life a little rough around the edges. Part of it is the pain I feel between the time one of the short-acting pain relievers wears off and the next one takes effect. Part of it is other stress.

Recovery is slow, but sure. The best therapy so far: At Colter's student-led school conference yesterday, in front of his peers, he pulled me and Gary into a family hug and said, "I love you." For that and his excellent academic work he got dinner in the TV room while we watched the season premiere of "Gilmore Girls." This week, I liked "Studio 60" better. It surprised me more. And in entertainment, surprises are good.