I woke up this morning with very sore leg muscles as a result of climbing stairs at St, Dominic's yesterday. While waiting for Mike, I got a little restless and decided to exercise. Rather than walking the inside track, I decided to climb stairs and made it up 6 floors before being totally winded. Am I out of shape that bad, or was it the bad cold? Either way, it's BAD! Today I'm feeling really old and decrepit.

Most of the stuff on Monday's long "to do list" got done, I'm happy to report. I saved a couple of them for today - take the dogs to the vet, take old coats to Kolb's, and by 10:00 this morning, those were done, too. This afternoon I'm taking Mike to St. D's again and I plan to walk instead of climb. The cough and sore throat aren't as bad today as they've been, so I may go to choir rehearsal tonight.

I'm about ready to get out the Christmas tree and start the Christmas music. I'm expecting a couple of guests for Thanksgiving dinner and would love to have the house looking festive. I may have started too late to pull all this off before Thursday, but maybe not. Since we've ordered our turkey and dressing from Kroger, I won't have nearly as much cooking to do before dinner time on Thursday. Unless I get off this computer, however, I won't get much done.

It's been a good day to hibernate. I skipped church this morning, couldn't stop coughing. I've spent most of the day watching the Law and Order SVU marathon on USA. I've also washed laundry and played computer games. A very laid back kind of rainy day.

My favorite next door neighbor Art just called and offered to reserve a surplus spin cycle for me when he goes to Jackson Country Club this afternoon to check out the exercise equipment they are replacing with newer equipment. I've never exercised on a spin cycle, but I've observed the classes at the Y and realized it was a hard work-out, probably harder than I want to tackle, but I need to start something. My treadmill has been moved to my garage and I promised myself I would start that again, but it hasn't happened yet. Until I get over this cold, I'm sure it won't happen. I'm world-class lazy when it comes to exercise, even though it would help me to maintain my weight loss, relieve my depression, lower my blood pressure, etc. What I need is a heavy dose of motivation. Shouldn't those three factors be enough? It isn't.

I took Mike to St. Dominic's this morning for occupational therapy and his gym work-out. I can't tell that he's made much progress, but I guess he has or Medicare wouldn't authorize more therapy. He had not made enough progress in physical therapy to justify more, so that's why he's doing his own exercises in the gym that is adjacent to the therapy clinic. I sat in the coffee shop the whole time, journaled about a recent dream, watched people go by, caught up on telephone calls, and talked myself out of walking the 1 mile inside track in the hospital. It's actually an interesting walk stretching from Dominican Plaza on the north side of Lakeland, over the crosswalk, and through the main hospital across the street. Not nearly as boring as treadmilling, but today I just didn't have the energy to do more.

Mary Ann took off for Tampa around 9:00 this morning. She's got a long 13 hr. drive ahead of her. She's picking up her father-in-law in Gulf Shores, and he's spending Thanksgiving week with them. Maybe he will help with the driving. She sold lots of stuff at our party last night. I'm expecting to look younger soon. Mary Kay has a miracle serum that has produced really good results, so I'm giving it a try. After being described as "elderly" by a young woman a couple of weeks ago, I realized my youthful looks are not nearly as obvious as I thought they were. Time to take drastic action. I'll let you know if it works.

I didn't go to choir last night. The tickle in my throat has turned into incessant coughing and a lowering of my pitch to bass range rather than soprano. So annoying. I sucked on menthol lozenges all night long. Hope I don't send this bug back to Tampa with Mary Ann.

She has one of their Shelties with her - Maggie. What a gorgeous dog. Gus and Jay-Jay wondered what happened to their breakfast when they dawdled around like they usually do, then found empty food bowls instead of full ones. Maggie thought she was at an all-you-can-eat buffet. That'll teach 'em!

Today's sunshine is so much cheerier than yesterday's overcast skies, so the blues aren't dogging me. I actually feel like getting ready for tonight's party even though the cough is still with me. I just bought Sucrets Complete at Kroger - suppresses cough, serious sore throat relief, cools nasal passages, fights bad breath, plus vitamin C and Zinc. I hope it works the cure I need. We'll see.

With the onset of the dark winter months, I'm once again drawn back to blogging. It helps when my outside sunshine time is limited. If you've ever been affected by depression, you understand; SAD, they call it.

Mary Ann is coming today. She's at her mom's now in Baldwyn and will visit with her sister in Gautier before heading back home this weekend. She's doing a Mary Kay party for me tomorrow night. I hope a few of the many I've invited show up. Leaving those 3 Borden boys in Tampa for a week takes nerve, but if you know my daughter-in-law, you know she has plenty. Ricky runs a pretty tight ship, though, so I'm glad she has such a good partner and feels confident enough to leave Dad in charge, PLUS he will have a brand new appreciation for her when she returns. What a bonus!

My Water Lilies are eating at Amerigo's today. This group of ladies keeps me smiling even on the darkest days. Last time we ate at Amerigo's, they treated us to free desserts. Recently they have advertised a plate lunch complete with tea, Tirimisu, and tip for $10.00, not a shabby deal, at all.

UPDATE: Just returned from Amerigo's where 14 of our 20 Lilies gathered for a scrumptious feast Italian style. I ordered the Wednesday special which was grilled chicken with angel hair pasta and sauteed veggies, so good I didn't leave one morsel on my plate. My mother would have been proud. Had to bring my dessert home, though, just too full to eat it.

Wednesday nights continue to be one of the highlights of my week with choir rehearsal at St. Philip's and dinner at the Lacy's afterward. I love hanging with this group of smart, super talented, fun people, and the food and wine are great, too. Our choir is always working on something that challenges me. The upcoming three months will be very busy with Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Mardi Gras, but without all this, I would probably hibernate and get fat again. I'm glad I've got it.