&#034The joy of life consists in the exercise of one&#039s energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience. To stop means simply to die. The eternal mistake of mankind is to set up an attainable ideal.&#034 -Aleister Crowley

I know that I set out to get in shape a while back, and I&#039ve sort of been working on it. Yesterday, however, simply left me sore and aching, and I almost wouldn&#039t consider myself as having done all that much! The cat got me up around 8:30 for no reason (as usual), and I was going to play SWG but this damned bumblebee that got in the apartment Saturday was both annoying and eluding me since I could neither stomp nor catch it. So I put on some shorts and sandals, walked to the nearby CVS (about six blocks away) to get some Raid. Back home, I couldn&#039t find the damned thing. I gave up on it and plopped down on the couch and read (hence yesterday&#039s post about reading) until a friend called to see if I wanted to go on a walk with him. Shoes back on, I met him at his place across the street, and we walked roughly two and a half miles north. The funny thing about walking a long distance away from home is having to remember that the farther you walk away, the farther it is going to be to walk back. So if you start getting tired before even turning around, it&#039s going to be that much more painful on the return trip. Luckily, I walk a lot, so I wasn&#039t having this problem, but Lushbaugh said his knee was bugging him before we even reversed course. Two and a half miles back, we managed to make it stopping for water (me) and soda (him) at a vending machine a mile from our apartments.

The husband was home by the time we got back (having left work early), so we chatted a while before calling Jim (a friend with a truck who plays DnD with us on Saturdays) to have him meet us at Staples so I could get a new desk. I picked up a wireless keyboard while there, and we loaded up Jim&#039s truck and hauled the desk and table (which sort of compliments the desk, pictures coming later) back to my place. I had to finish clearing off my existing desk, something that took about four little boxes and a half hour, before Ian and I could carry it into Kitty&#039s room. I then plopped down on the floor with one Philips screwdriver and a tacking hammer and began piecing together my new monstrosity.

To be honest, I&#039m not sure how many hours I worked on it, but Donnie Darko was over and Fight Club was underway by the time I was done. Then it was the simple (?!) matter of putting Uriel, the computer, back together. That took both me and the husband because of the issue of running wires behind this new megalithic structure. I didn&#039t bother reinserting all of my crap yet because by the time all of that was done, it was nearing half past eleven, and the husband was passed out on the bed snoring. I stayed up though. Why, you ask? One of my friends asked me to bid on some dice for him, and I wanted to watch the auction end to make sure he got them. It was while sitting there clicking the refresh button on my browser and playing SWG that I realized my shoulders are sunburned from the walk because I scratched an itch on one and it hurt. The auction was over at 12:50, so I paid and then e-mailed my friend to tell him about it. Within ten minutes, I was unconscious.

So, this morning I wake up sore with raw hands and shoulders (but for different reasons, obviously), and my legs feel fine other than the trick knee that&#039s telling me it&#039s going to rain soon. Probably sometime today, looking at the clouds that are hanging low like impending doom. Guess who forgot her umbrella again? Fuck it. I&#039m getting one of those little ones when I&#039m in the Commons for lunch. Between the weather and the exercise I did most of yesterday, I&#039m achy and moving slowly. Works for me. We&#039re not doing the Sycamore Advantage stuff today, and I don&#039t have a student until three thirty. I just hope that this week isn&#039t nearly as long as this weekend! I have yet to put together the table (tonight&#039s project), and I might just use it as an excuse to not do as much yoga tonight. I just wonder how much more raw my hands are going to be after tonight. As if they weren&#039t calloused enough… <Wince>

Posted: June 21, 2004 at twenty after ten in the morning or so.