Why is it that....

.... I can be on a healthy, alcohol-free, sugar free, coffee-free health conscious diet for an entire week and not feel any better and maybe, worse?  Oh, I didn't feel truly bad to begin with, but little things that I thought were the result of sugar, or brandy (which turns into sugar in the bloodstream) are still with me, maybe more pronounced.  I'm sleeping great (thanks to the right amount of lecithin before bedtime), but I'm groggy, foggy, tired when I shouldn't be, and all kinds of little annoyances.  And I haven't lost weight, to boot.  Losing weight isn't the goal of this month -- health is the goal -- but it would be a welcome side benefit.  I passed a big test this afternoon at the grocery store when I had the munchies and all the smells of fried chicken and other stuff filled the air.  I bought cat food, which is all I was after.  Good girl!  I still wonder why I don't feel any good results of all this healthiness.

My new meditation pillow arrived yesterday, and I love it!  One reason I haven't bought one before is that all the ones I could find online, or even in stores in Eugene, were too small.  I've measured my 'knee-span' when I'm in position, and it's wider than the standard zabuton, or meditation cushion.  Since the knees are supposed to touch the 'ground', or surface, I didn't want them hanging off in mid-air.  I found a couple of jumbo sized examples this time, 'suitable for those 6'1" or taller', and while my knees can fit, there's not a lot of extra room.  Anyway -- it's fluffy and soft, no more ankles hurting on the hard floor, no more cold seeping from the wood.  Lovely!  The kitten also likes it -- found her perched on it quite comfortably a little while ago. 

BTW -- if you have any interest in mind/body medicine at all, check out this blog: Living in Harmony. It came to me in an email from its author, Mary Ann Wallace, an incredible practitioner in Corvallis with degrees in nursing, medicine and psychology as well as being a devoted practitioner of Vipassana Buddhism and general meditation.  I bought a copy of her book from her several years back and she has kept me on her mailing list.  It's a newish blog, should be very worthwhile for anyone interested in the subject.

We are battening down for what an Atlanta news weatherman said this morning was a storm that has the potential for being the worst we've seen in the last 20 years.  My, goodness! That would cover the blizzard of '93 that I remember quite well.  Brought Atlanta to a standstill.  I called the nursing home where my mother was in Rome and asked how they were doing -- they had power, but none of the staff could leave, no replacements could get in.  They were 24/7 for a couple of days.  The locals said it wasn't as bad as another that had happened a few years before I arrived, but it was pretty bad.

I was fine.  The news people had been warning for days that the storm was coming.  Not 'might', but was coming, and since it conveniently hit over a weekend, I stopped at the store on the way home from work Friday and stocked up, hit Blockbuster for a bunch of videos, and snuggled in for the duration and fortunately, my power stayed on.  It was beautiful -- I went for a walk along the access road to my apartment complex, which happened to run alongside an interstate highway.  I walked to the bridge over the interstate and looked in both directions -- nothing but white, on a highway that is generally filled with cars.  Cool.  Walked to Blockbuster the next day to return the videos, and eventually, walked to work on Monday morning, which took me a couple of hours.  I can't think this one will be that bad -- the weather services aren't making nearly as big a deal of it as the morning weatherman did. This one isn't due until Sunday night/Monday/Tuesday, and I've already got it in my head that I won't be going to work until Wednesday. That would be fine by me. 

My lunch with the ladies yesterday was wonderful -- two beautiful people that I am so happy to have met.  I have family, even if they are distant family.

Nothing on tap this weekend except working on the back room.  Oh, and there's a little football game Monday night that I guess I'll have to watch.  GO DUCKS!!