I have entered Project Recovery Mode, meaning that my brain is still whirring away in my skull like a frightened chipmunk all day long, but the rest of me is tired. I slept about ten hours each of the last two nights, and now I feel mostly normal. The most startlingly wonderful part of this is that now I have Free Time again. I edited in all the changes Dr. Snyder gave me on my project and annotated bibliography, but that only took me about two and a half hours altogether. On Tuesday I went to a movie, and I took my little sisters to the same movie yesterday. On Wednesday I went clothes shopping for the first time in months. Each of the past three days, I spent an hour or more playing tennis (that is, laughing hysterically as I *whammed* the little yellow ball over the surrounding 12'-high chain-link enclosure yet again). I have signed up for the summer Frisbee league in the STL area. Which brings me to the most marvelous point of all...

...My knee is behaving! I don't really trust it yet, but it hasn't been clicking since I returned from VA. Now people, this is truly amazing. My knee started tracking improperly with no warning just before I needed to concentrate on my project. As soon as I'm done... it's better! And with just about as much warning. For most of the time in the middle, my knee was pretty debilitating -- I couldn't do anything quickly, and I couldn't stand up from sitting without discomfort. But I think I understand the reason for this. It truly was a blessing. God was purposefully limiting me so that I could focus on my project. Otherwise, I would have tried to exercise every evening and write my project. Knowing me, that is exactly what I would have tried to do. I wouldn't have had the time, and I would have stressed myself intolerably. As it was, every element fit together perfectly to allow me to finish my project. God was taking care of me. I hope I remember this in the future when an even tougher situation arrives.

You know, I've changed in some ways over the last several months. I think my understanding has grasped a little more of the world. I understand a little better why Ecclesiastes is my favorite book of the Bible. Where is happiness in this life? It arises from enjoying the duties that are within my power to accomplish and from giving all my other worries about the world to God. With wisdom, these things deepen, but they do not change.  ¶ 8:25 AM