AFK

It's almost 8 pm. It is the first time today I sit down at the computer. And it felt good, in more ways than one.

I have been struggling with some achy hip joints, which - I discovered - have to do with too much sitting, especially on a bad chair. I now try to make a point of stretching my hamstrings a couple of times a day. That helps and this morning I woke up with no hip ache and no tummy ache. Lovely!

I actually eagerly got out of bed today. I don't know what I did right yesterday, but the satisfaction of having cleaned out both fridge and pantry and leaving a large pile of clean dishes may have something to with it. So this morning started with putting away dishes, breakfast and the newspaper. Since I was up and dressed by 9 am (on a Saturday I'm usually up and dressed by 11 am or 3 pm or whatever), I could open my door and get the newspaper in front of the delivery guy. It's not a 13-year-old boy. Hasn't been for years. But I really wasn't expecting a 40-ish guy with a waist-long pony-tail. As he came back down the stairs, he saw me and instantly said, "Hi!" I thanked him for the newspaper.

His "hi" cheered me up a bit, because I'd had a rather bizarre experience with the 20-something mail carrier on Wednesday. Since I saw her little red truck parked outside, I thought I'd say hi to her, having never talked to her before. So I went into the building as she was stuffing mail in our mail boxes. Since she had earphones on, I figured she was listening to something. So I didn't say anything, waiting for her to make it clear she wasn't immersed in her listening pleasure. She did no such thing, though. Instead, she kept glaring at me, looking more and more annoyed. Maybe I should have said something. What is the etiquette for interrupting someone who has something blaring in their ears? Heck, for that matter, what is the etiquette for when someone keeps standing around, looking at you, and you have something blaring in your ears? Isn't there some rule about lifting up an earphone to indicate you're prepared to listen to the human rather than the MP3-player? What are they teaching these young folks, nowadays?

But I digress. I did laundry this morning. Three loads emptied the laundry basket and I caught up on some TV-watching while I folded. Then it was time for a late lunch, which was a successful plate of pesto ravioli with black olives and microwaved zucchini. A bit more laundry folding and TV and then I decided that it was time to catch some sun. So I put on my bikini and iPod and parked myself out on the balcony. A cloud was moving in from the east and finally caught up to the sun. I gave up the tanning. But I kept my iPod plugged in because I was listening to the podcast of Oprah Winfrey's series with Eckhart Tolle. I haven't read his book, "A New Earth", but I don't need to. It's such familiar territory. What I do enjoy are the reminders about living in the now, and the questions from viewers. And it's just really nice stuff to spend a couple hours listening to. In fact, instead of being disappointed in not being able to get some sunlight on my body, I found myself on a roll and took Oprah and Eckhart into the guest room, which had once again become the repository of those items I can't be bothered putting away right away, and took care of piles of laundry there, too.

Then it was time to make dinner. Since I'm on a restricted diet for the time being, I had bought some vegetables for baking. Tasty!

As I sit here, trying to sum up my day, I can feel some worries letting go. I can feel that my day's activities - both purposeful and gentle and self-nurturing - have calmed me and inspired me. I was in a zone. I was so tempted to write here, "Today I did nothing", but I did a lot. I did myself good. Even writing this blogpost feels good.

AFK = Away From Keyboard.