Better. Not Great, But Better

So, what was the story with yesterday? It started with the what-else-is-new winter grumps, probably since we went from 60 degrees on Saturday to 30 with a brisk wind on Sunday, if by brisk you understand I mean, "Step outside and you will lose all feeling in your face, as well as your will to live." I did go to an enjoyable brunch with friends, and ran a couple of errands in the afternoon, but my mood was decided non-cheery in the late afternoon. It didn't help that I was coughing, you know, from the thing I got at Christmas. Why, yes, I'm still coughing! On St. Patrick's Day! It's making me crazy! The medicine is helping, but not eradicating. (I have a doctor's appointment on Friday; it's for something else, but guess what I'm going to talk about?)

After moping a while, I decided to try to get something done about the kitchen table, since the mess level had advanced to the "losing things in it" stage (I used a different purse on Saturday, and managed to go off to the brunch on Sunday without my lip balm, lotion, tissues, or cough drops, aka the top four things I want to have with me). I started working on that, and did make some progress, but the next thing I knew, I had severe stabbing pain in my lower back, and it was just too much. Talking about adding physical injury to emotional! Sitting or lying down only kind of worked, and getting up could be agonizing. Carlos was mooching about begging for the laser or fishing pole, even though both had been brought out earlier and he had gotten to the "I'll just watch you moving it" stage with both, and I just kind of lost it.

Sigh. This winter, man. The back is somewhat better today, but not great. Honestly, like I needed something else to go wrong.

I did try the exercise bike later last night, and amazingly enough, it didn't hurt the back, so I was able to do that for a few minutes. Slowly, slowly, I am getting back into the biking habit; it isn't quite one step forward, two steps back, but it does feel like one forward, one back sometimes. Since I re-started in late January, I missed four days in a row here, three days there, as well as single days, for various reasons, so it makes me happy that I've also biked four days in a row, more than once. It's sad how hard the habit is to build and how easy it is to lose, but that's not news, I know.

Anyway! Let's end on a happier note than that. How about this one, for today?

Or, if you prefer sound:


Or, unrelated to today, one for the literalists:

True enough, I am expensive!