So my back is somewhat better, not much better. I felt fine last night - took a long bath, went to bed without pain, woke at 3 a.m. aching again. So apparently sleeping is almost as bad as sitting. So much for "curing" this with bed rest- up and around is definitely the way to go. No heavy lifting, obviously, but moving and stretching feels much better than not.

Fortunately I spent this afternoon on my feet, mostly in Home Depot. Tomorrow morning, 9 a.m., my kitchen has a Date with Destiny - I have an appointment with a kitchen designer. I came home loaded down with cabinet manufacturer "design handbooks" and tonight I have to do some serious homework, but something tells me I'm going to end up with Kraftmaid - I'm in love with their cabinet inserts, like roll out shelves for pots and pans, and built-in spice racks, and the little niceties that make a little kitchen more efficient. I do have a little kitchen. I measured my kitchen today - most kitchen design packages give you an ballpark estimate for a 10x10 kitchen (your price of course will vary, and seldom in a downward direction). My kitchen work area is a petite 8x8 feet. If I don't go nuts and rearrange the entire space, and I don't intend to because that would involve ripping out the existing tile floor (though if that has to go, so be it, I'm not in love with it) I think I can go for the really good cabinets and a Corian countertop and integrated offset sink and new dishwasher (I already have the new stove and microwave) and get out the door for under five grand. We'll see how much my mileage varies. I want to keep it light, simple and clean - my kitchen has a Northern exposure and very cool light, so I think I need to go with a light but warm wood tone, a light but dirt-hiding countertop, (not that my countertops ever have a crumb or a fingerprint) and it all has to coordinate with the existing terra cotta tile floor unless it won't work, then the floor is history too. I am totally flexible about just about everything at this point, which means I need to get it together and really make decisions tomorrow. I could trim cost if I must by, say, ditching the Corian, I'm not wedded to it, but I figure if I'm going for Lexus cabinets I need to go for the top of the line finishing touches, because I'm all about the resale value, and in a space this small I think the way to go is dainty yet luxurious. Sort of what I want to do to the bathrooms one of these years.

I may get some yard work in this weekend. I am half as sore now as I was yesterday, and I'm betting that by Sunday I'll be fine. I did pick up some tomato and pepper plants at HD, and will probably visit Lowe's to see what they have to offer after my cabinet appointment tomorrow (because I'll probably need a monster white mocha latte from Starbucks to recover my strength). I'm going to make a small vegetable garden patch, and I can put that in this weekend even with a sore back, because the ground is clear in that area and needs little preparation. I saw some amazing roses, I really want to plant roses, but there's no way I can do that in my current state. It'll keep, I guess. At least things are getting done on my days off, and I'm not wasting this time.

Side one of the Lo-Tech Sweat is moving along - I'll probably finish it tonight and start side two. I stopped in JoAnn's to look for buttons - eh. Major Eh. I'll be buying buttons online, methinks. This sweater is Mission Falls Cotton in Fog, which sounds like it should be a light gray but is actually a pale minty green. I'm seeing it as a throw on over shorts and tank top in air conditioning beachy thing, so maybe something like the Miami buttons would do it. Or these Flamingos. This is Florida, realistically this sweater will rarely be buttoned - the buttons are an accessory.

My funny JoAnn's moment - I rarely sew and am not very good at it, and I keep talking about trying quilting but never get around to it, but as I was hunting for buttons I started thinking that it would be really fun to make my own kitchen accessories to celebrate the redesigned space - maybe some quilted placemats, or a wall hanging, or something. Yeah, right, I need to win the lottery first, so I'll have TIME.