I'm sitting here at 7:30 am waiting for the time to leave for an early morning doctor's apppointment.

This pinched nerve or whatever it is in my back isn't really getting any better and is keeping my mobility limited. How funny to listen to me yelp and groan when I get out of bed in the morning and try to bend over the tub to wash my hair.

Here are some pieces of stuff that never made it into entries this past January:

Sunday afternoon I took myself and Erica outside to do some things in the yard and I went outside in SHORT SLEEVES. And didn't freeze. I was one completely happy individual.

Had to pick up the sticks and trash that Zeke brings into my yard to chew on. Pain in the rump. Poor Uncle L. doesn't have a matching set of boots and someone will never see their flannel alive again. Ergh. Dogs.

After doing that and doing a swing through the yard to see what's up and what's blooming (Winter Honeysuckle blooming, daffs coming up),

I split the Peace Lily that was given to us from Stuart's Gramma's funeral and I now have two Peace Lily's though they are a bit sad looking and will be for a few weeks until they recover from the shock of being split in half by a shovel. AND THEN.

I went in the house, got a book and sat myself down on the back stairs with the sun beating down on my back. The urge to just lay down and soak in as much heat as I could, was given in to. It was so warm and so hot and it felt so damn good. The best 5 minutes of relaxation I've had in weeks. I get like this every year and try to hold back the "i hate winter entries" as long as I can but it's been a long and cold one for me this time around and my bones need some sun and some heat.

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(Somewhere around 1-21-02)

I was able to finally think about and actually GET back on my bike yesterday. My old, wide yet somehow boney rearend took almost 5 days to recover from the first ride. Now that is a sad, sad thing. It was dark by the time I decided I wanted to go so I asked Stuart to drive behind me down to the pond.

It is off the road and takes about 20-30 minutes both ways depending how fast you go. It's sort of spooky along this one stretch of dirt path. Very enclosed and quiet. I just know a big bear lives there in those woods. So I put my gloves on and my hat and Stuart's pullover hooded sweatshirt and off I went with Stuart trailing behind in the truck. I made it there and back in under 20 minutes.

I may have felt like a heart attack about to happen by the time I returned home but I'm only marginally sore today and my rear end doesn't hurt hardly at all. The cold air on my lungs is another story. I was breathing as fast as if I'd been running and of course my lungs ARE not used to that kind of activity. So it took about 15 minutes for me to be able to breath without pain or wanting to cough up a lung. I plan on going again when I get home.

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I lost a whole entry some how last week and I was SO disappointed. I do remember that I linked to Columbine's entry here. One of the most interesting things I've ever read in a journal and I don't even LIKE cartoons very much.

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Watched "The Princess Diaries" Saturday night and it was really good and Mandy Moore was either too perfect for the role or just a good actress.... It had some flaws with the big one just being that it's a teen movie but Julie Andrews and Hector Elizondo (i think that's how you spell his name) really made that movie. Worth seeing it just for them.

The pain in my left shoulder is a muscle that is going into spasms every time it's flexed. The doctor said: heat and take this steroid for 6 days.

I don't think so. I'm not taking the steroid. Not unless it gets bad enough that I can't move like the other Saturday. Until then, heat, heat, acetiminophen, stretching exercises (continue with) and trying not to tense up in my sleep.

Oh and my washer decided to spew water all over the floor last night. Can't wait to see how much this is going to cost.