What's Happening Around Here:

Warm and sunny, then a 50 degree temperature drop in one day. Now it is 40 degrees warmer and drizzling rain, and even warmer tomorrow. We have rocketed from 10 degrees warmer than normal to a hard freeze to 10 degrees warmer than normal in less than a week. Not complaining; the rest of the country is having a brutal winter, and the other hemisphere is having a brutal summer.

It appears that the norovirus has hit my daughter's household; her husband is sick as a dog. They both work with populations that make it likely to pick up everything out there, so this isn't their first rodeo. I've canceled the plumbing estimate for tomorrow, and will reschedule when they are healthy again.

On a far more positive note, I actually dragged out my yoga mat this week. I had an epiphany (fancy word for DUH!) when I realized that I have a perfectly fine place to unroll it in the living room, and why did I not notice this before? I've mentioned before that I have no core muscles, I have a liquid center, so I'm focusing my efforts on reminding my abs that they do exist. I am doing a 30 day plank challenge like this, and while I am not sore, I definitely notice that my abs are awake. So, in the first official week of the New Year, I have not only chased the spiders off the bike, but started to do something about my sorry-ass muscle tone. How much time am I investing in this? Oh, the average bike ride is 30 minutes-ish so far, and the morning mat time is about 15-20. I did not adopt a do-or-die, all-or-nothing approach. I see people do that all the time, and it never ends well. Like my mostly plant-based diet, I see it as doing SOMETHING, rather than nothing, because "No Time, No Time!" Yeah, I can squeeze in 20 minutes. I can get the bike out and do 30 minutes.

I really and truly don't have time to go to the gym. I finally faced this after wasting I don't know how many months of membership dues, but I finally faced it. So I quit the gym and have no plans to rejoin. I really prefer to get my exercise outdoors, walking, biking, or in the summer, just treading water in the neighborhood pool, or doing some stretches on a yoga mat. It relaxes me, and relaxing is as important as exercise and eating right - that's not just my NSHO, it's the best advice I got from my neurosurgeon after the Brain Thang.

And on a related note, I need a new knitting project. Knitting is my favorite form of meditation, and meditation is so good for you. I'm not sure what I want to start. I'm spending time on Ravelry, just browsing things I'd marked as favorites before, and looking for new inspiration, because I'm feeling a need to knit.