it was a terrible horrible no good very bad day

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy

I suppose it really started last night.

Insomnia.

While my beloved slumbered next to me, blissfully unaware of his melodious offerings, I tossed and turned. Finally, against my better judgement (but who has good judgement at 2 in the morning?) I took a sleep aid. So of course I was completely out of it come 6 am alarm clock time. I slept through my sweeties good bye kiss, through the second alarm and, oh look, 2 missed phone calls!
At 9 am as I was struggling to even sit up the doorbell rang. Now, normally I'd ignore it. But, we had insulators coming to blow insulation into the attic so I had to let them in. There was no time to try and look presentable so.... pajamas and night hair would have to do.

Pretty sure I traumatized the young man who stood at my front door.

Now upright, I made a desperate trek to the coffee pot. Thank God, literally, for coffee. As I balanced my coffee and a breakfast bar in one hand, my phone in the other I noticed how tight my low back was. I noticed because I tried to sit down in my chair and I couldn't. Yah, my back does this from time to time. It's always worse first thing in the morning and usually takes about 30-60 minutes of gentle movement to unknot and allow flexibility. No worries, I can drink and eat standing up.
Of course coffee usually motivates other things to move. That's when it started getting nasty.

When your toilet backs up first thing in the morning, you might decide to just go back to bed. Because have you ever tried using a toilet plunger when your back will not let you bend?? But fast advancing water, nasty nasty water, will force you to push through the pain barrier. 
Then, adding insult to injury, the stupid plunger broke while plunging. And let me tell you, there was NO WAY I was going after whatever little piece just fell into the bowl!

Dear brothers and sisters,[ when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy... 

I don't know about that....

Finally, crisis averted, back throbbing I hobbled back to the living room where I discovered the cat had projectile vomited his breakfast all over the carpet.
When your cat throws up, you might just decide to go back to bed.

Dear brothers and sisters,[ when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy...

Ever wanna tell James to just be quiet? 

When my husband called to reply to the text I sent him about needing a new plunger, he asked me to relay a message to the insulators. Oh dear. I was still in my pj's with uncombed hair and now a surly attitude.

Pretty sure I traumatized the other guy on the insulation team.

From there, the day seemed to even out. I went for a walk hoping some gentle movement might bring about relief. It did somewhat. I was able to get some laundry going, some dishes washed and the floor swept. Never mind the tidy little dust piles here and there. I'll finish sweeping those up later.

The big chore awaiting me was of course the bathroom. That floor wasn't gonna mop itself.

Around 1pm I was finally able to take a nice hot shower. And the day seemed better. I forgot about the troubles from this morning. The cat had calmed down, the insulators were done and gone and I was able to sit for short periods of time.

Then,  I went to the post office.

I have been having horrendous issues with package deliveries of late. Blame it on the holidays but it seems Fed Ex has one set of rules for package deliveries, UPS another and then USPS has another set. None are the same and mess up just one and you don't get your package. I've had just about enough grief from lost packages, returned packages, packages arriving demanding postage due in crazy amounts. Today was no exception. I might do a separate post on this as it deserves its own special venting session. For now, I'm sipping some sugar free hot chocolate spiked with Peppermint infused vodka. Because it's 5 O clock and I'm done. 

And, I have a verse to meditate on.

Dear brothers and sisters,[ when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1.2-4 NLT

It's Brand New And I'm Tired Of It Already.

Day 3 of a brand new year and I'm already grumpy. I guess it's not the new year that has me grumbling, but rather the season. Winter has only just begun according to the calendar but the cold wet weather has me down, down, down!

I started compiling a list in my head about all the things that complicate this time of year for me.

1. It's cold. 
Cold means finding ways to keep warm.

Our house tends to be drafty and we heat with a wood burning stove.

Bringing in fire wood daily means wood chips sprinkled on the carpet, which means vacuuming WAAAAAY more often than I want. My back does not appreciate this, nor do my shoulders. (Of course the obvious option is to not vacuum again till spring but ignoring the trail of wood fibers just goes against my nature)

Dust is an ongoing issue and it collects in my nasal passage as well as on the furniture. My sinus's do not appreciate this anymore than my back or shoulders do. I should buy stock in Allegra.

2. It's cold
Cold means finding ways to keep warm.

I have to dress in layers this time of year, whether I am staying inside or venturing out.

I have a nice collection of fleece lined leggings that do a great job of keeping me cozy. But... if you wear your leggings under jeans like I do, we are faced with another little issue...known as the Force of Gravity. Ever since the invention of stretch denim this conundrum has existed. Because you know as the day goes on that the stretch part of stretch denim means gravity will eventually win.

I can feel my jeans sliding down my hips ever so slightly, rubbing against the fleece which causes the leggings to begin to slide downward as well. You know what that means right?  Yes....the undies travel with them. Seems I'm stopping every 5 minutes or so to gently tug all things upward... one layer at a time. Not so easy to do in a lady-like fashion when you are out in public. Who am I kidding? There is no lady-like fashion in which to do this.  I found myself waddling precariously through Fred Meyer's the other day, as the crotch of my leggings somehow snaked past the crotch of my jeans and no matter how tight I cinched my belt I could not keep them upright where they belonged. (Try wrestling your panties out of that mess on aisle 9 and see what kinds of looks you get!) (on second thought, DON'T --I'm not sure I can ever shop at the store again)

The other issue with dressing in layers is a word most women shy awake from in the fashion world.

Bulk. 

No, sorry. Not THAT kind of BULK!!

You know what I mean, right? You may have starved yourself through the holidays only to look in the mirror and see a much wider silhouette than you prefer once dressed and while you can blame in on the layers, you just know everyone else is thinking "she packed away a lotta truffles this Christmas."

Or, if you did indulge in every cookie, pie and chocolate goody and are now paying the price by squeezing into your jeans, you find that the added layer of fleecy means the stretchy part of your denim will indeed be getting a work out and when you look in the mirror at that wider silhouette, you know it's not just the layers talking.

Sigh. It's depressing no matter which way you look at it.
But. At least you're warm, right?

3. It's cold.
Cold means finding ways to keep warm.

And what better way to keep warm than to exercise! And what a perfect way to shed those unwanted holiday pounds!

Unfortunately, because it's so dang cold or wet (or both) you need to dress appropriately for the weather. I add extra-extra layers when I am going for a walk. (Of course the sound of the coat zipper triggers something in my brain to send a signal to another part of my body that necessitates some disrobing in order to 'take care of my business' before heading out the door. Dang it!)

And walking, (or waddling in the case of the slippery legging syndrome) does manage to work up a little bit of a sweat so that halfway through my routine, I find myself desperate to shed a layer somewhere. Of course, this isn't likely to happen because when I turn around to head back to home I face a wind that whips through me and the dried on sweat bringing chills. It's hilarious.

4. It's cold.
Cold means finding ways to keep warm

Toddy has it figured out.

Some days, the only logical solution is to make something hot to sip, grab a book and a blanket and pull your chair as close to the fire as possible.

Veg there all day long, ignoring the dust on the furniture and the wood chips sprinkled across the carpet. Get lost in that book, and occasionally gaze into the flames and dream about tropical vacations --or, central heating, take your pick. I'll take central heating... because it's only the 3rd day of the new year and we are barely 3 weeks into winter, and as you can probably tell...I'm tired of it already.