Long Story Short ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- springy I just looked in the mirror and my cheeks are all pink and healthy looking. How nice! After hmm.... many many months of greeting a washed out ghost, it's nice to see some color in my face. I just took a long walk around outside during my lunch break. I ate too - I scarfed a turkey and cheese wrap at my desk so that I could take some outside-time. I've been feeling really unhappy about my recent couple-of-pounds weight gain. I've been really careless about my food intake lately, and I spend a lot of time couch-bound. It adds up to a general sense of ugh-iness when I take my clothes off. It's not too bad - I'm realistic about this - it's just that I realized it's MAY and I'm amped to wear beachy springy clothes. I bought these two cute linen skirts at Banana Republic - silly me, I say "bought" like I paid for them and not my mother - and I am excited for the first day that I can wear them. But first I need some color to my skin and a few shedded poundeds. Hee Saturday was a day from heaven. It was dreamy warm weather, and May first to boot - did I mention May is my favorite month? Pre-summer loveliness. Mmmm... So I took Professor K over to my parents house while they were away so we could do about ten loads of laundry - seriously, we were there for hours. In between stuffing in dirty clothes and taking out clean we enjoyed the beautiful day. First we sunbathed on the deck - I wore SPF 30 so I wouldn't get my traditional 1st-sun-of-the-season lobster burn. The Professor insisted that he doesn't burn and just layed out - a few hours later it was obvious that he was wrong. I rubbed lotion on him to make it better, that was fun. After sunbathing I took him on a hike in the trails behind my parents' house. It was so nice to be back there with him and Bailey. It has been my special place with Bailey since I moved up here - I remember the first weeks of living in Massachusetts right after college, before I started working, I would walk around out there for hours smoking a joint and thinking about where my life was going. It has a magical quality for me, I don't think I've spent an unhappy minute back there. Bailey loves it back there and hops around like a bunny. She always has to be the leader so if you accidentally get ahead of her all of a sudden you'll hear this galloping noise and then a brown blur will rocket past your leg, dangerously close. She's really good about not getting too far ahead. She'll disappear for a minute and then you'll see her about fifty feet ahead, looking back like "Come ON Mom!" And then off she goes again, nose to the ground. My father and I have spent some quality time out there as well, sitting by the lake and throwing a ball for Bailey. We had a naming ceremony one day, dubbing a little rise in the grass the "Hill of Joy" which is has been jokingly called ever since. So Saturday it was so warm and sunny and I felt great sharing my special place with Professor K. Haha, that's funny - "special place". Anyway, he likes to camp and hike and seemed pretty excited about the fact that I actually suggested tromping around in the woods for a couple of hours. We had a great time and exhausted the hell out of Bailey. I took him to the Hill of Joy and around the lake and we just talked and enjoyed the day. There is seriously no better feeling than really making use of a beautiful hot day. If it had fallen on a Monday it would have been useless and wasted - but it wasn't! I got a tiny bit of color to my skin, just enough to make me feel a bit less frog-belly. And exercise of any kind is always welcome, especially Saturday hikes with my two favorite companions. Now I'm really looking forward to warm weather. Today is a very pretty day, but it's still cool enough to need a jacket. My walk was great and really invigorating, but it was chilly enough that I've had that ringy ear pain for about half an hour since I went out. It was worth it - I felt the muscles in my legs working after months of doing nothing. And I'm thinking how nice it would be if I could make walking around a daily routine. I know it would be energizing and add a great break to my day. Of course, in typical fashion I will probably walk for the next few days and then be too "busy". The only factor that might keep me doing it is the weather - I can't stand being cooped up on pretty days so maybe as it gets warmer I will be driven outdoors. Guess what! Twenty days until my birthday! I know, I know - 24 is no good reason to be excited. But it's not just my birthday that I look forward to - it's the time of year. May 24th is usually just when it's getting beautiful out, warm enough for short sleeves. It has always signaled the end of school, too, not that that applies anymore. I just get a general feeling of well-being and warmth when I think about the end of May. My grandfather's birthday is five days after mine, and my brother's birthday falls in the first half of June - all three of us Geminis - so it's a very festive time in our family too. I don't really get excited about presents or cake, I just enjoy the specialness of having a day that is "mine". I'm glad it isn't some other holiday or another family member's birthday - it's a random enough date that it's usually the only thing going on that day, and I feel extra special for 24 hours. My mom is the one to thank for all the warm fuzzy memories associated with birthdays - I hope to create the same spirit of magic and fun for my children. Alright, looks like now I'm just getting all dreamy and ridiculous. I should probably attend to some of the work that has slowly accumulated on my desk. Reading US Weekly and writing diary entries isn't really all that productive. One last note: I'm wearing a pink zip-up sweater with BRIGHT pink elbow patches and it makes me so happy. I've gotten teased a bit by my friends at work, but in a good way. After my French bistro striped bow shirt last week people are paying more attention to my clothes, and apparently pink elbow patches are just as amusing as hip bows. It makes me feel special. I'm a special bunny! 12:52 p.m. - 2004-05-04 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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