Sylvia's Journal

I woke up from a long night full of dreams about juggling. This is not surprising since I am juggling what feels like a 1000 balls at work. In November I could not have done this, holding this much stuff in my RAM (random access memory) but things are better now and there is more space available although I am bumping up against my limits. Axel, on the other hand is still experiencing the after effects of his concussion: he is forgetful, easily distracted and has other symptoms that require specialist attention. He will soon see a head injury specialist at Spaulding Rehab Hospital. The doctor is Chinese and does acupuncture as well, so we are hopeful.

I just got off the phone with William in Ghana who reported to me about the second leadership workshop that the team we created in Ghana for this purpose has successfully led. He was enthusiastic and reported that all participants returned with reports of progress and that a healthy competition is fueling the commitment of participants to do even better next time. It warmed my heart to hear that teams had gone out in their districts to consult with groups they otherwise would not have. They collected data about the true state of affairs (rather than assuming they know) and engaged their peers who stayed at home. The coaching visits were critical and made people realize that this program and the commitments they made are for real and they will be held accountable for producing the results they said they would. It was a great start of my day!

Yesterday was another intense and long day with new tasks coming over the transom as soon as an old one was completed. I drove home exhausted. When I turned into Masconomo Street I saw people walking and enjoying the extended daylight hours. At home, Axel suggested we go for a walk as well and celebrate daylight savings time.

Going for such a ‘constitutional’ was one of those intentions from last fall when we could only contemplate a walk around the Masconomo/Proctor Street loop but not actually do it; now we can and have been able to for some time now. But the pace of our life has picked up; we need to be more intentional about this walk, otherwise it will never happen.

It felt good to get the stiffness out of our limbs. We both tend to get very stiff when we sit in one position for some time. Axel was stiff from sitting at his desk the whole afternoon and I was stiff from sitting in the car for an hour.

While Axel cooked I read him the latest entries from Mike Morris’ sixcense blog (see blog roll on the side) about the elections. We prefer to listen to Mike on stage but reading his entries as an aperitif for dinner is pretty darn good! Sita and Axel then settled down for a movie but I had nothing left and went to bed around 9 PM.