Recovery

Wow, was I tired yesterday! Having a 5-year-old around can be exhausting. My niece is cute and smart and lovable and amazing, but she is also a ball of energy, and as the most novel person in the room I was getting a lot of her attention. She wanted to be carried and bounced around and photographed, and I complied on all counts as much as possible. She, my brother and his wife all went back home late yesterday afternoon, and after a relaxing glass of red wine (because I need those antioxidants for health reasons, of course) I went to bed at about 9:30!

It was great to see them, though. I don't often have a chance to spend much time with my brother -- he has his family and his job in Jacksonville, and our visits are often condensed to a few days a year when there are always lots of other people around. This time we took a long walk together and got caught up, just the two of us, which I think we badly needed. Hopefully we can do that kind of thing more in the future.

Families are such strange animals. It's amazing how different people can be, even when they spring from the same genetic material.

Today I'm just running some errands for my mom and visiting my college pal, known to the blog world as "e."

I went running a few days ago and struggled to complete a two-mile circuit of my neighborhood. I couldn't believe how hard it was -- I was gasping and wheezing and had to walk part of the way. This morning I did the same run and had no trouble at all. The difference? Temperature! I did that first run at 4 p.m., and I thought it would be cool enough because it was past the heat of the day -- but I nearly died. This morning I went at 7 a.m., and I can verify that's definitely the way to go!

(Photo: The croton in our front garden. It's one of my old houseplants -- when I moved to New York 12 years ago I put it in the ground, where it has prospered!)