Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I'm sure the view from the top is wonderful

and I'm becoming more certain the climb uphill will be worth it. I've spent the past few days feeling better about myself and the world in general, helped by some good organised activity over the weekend. On Saturday, daughter and I wandered into to town shopping for ingredients and baked choux pastry buns with vanilla cream and chocolate sauce, with savoury pancakes for dinner. We had great fun cooking the pastries and we need to make more of an effort to cook new dishes together more often - something we seem to be doing less as time goes on. On Sunday I walked eight miles with my parents in lots and lots of lovely sunshine and squishy ground. My legs ached and still do somewhat two days later, and I restored a tricky blister on my left foot which doesn't stop coming back. That pales in comparison to the huge benefits I got from just being outdoors, expending some energy and basking in the brilliant January sunshine.

When we stopped for lunch mum spotted snowdrop flowers, tiny white heralds of the era of the flowering plants. I was so chuffed I took a photo, although I've stopped myself getting excited until I see the first daffodils poking through, although I noticed it's light to almost 5pm now, and I saw the very faint glow of the approaching sun through the clouds as I left for work at 6.50am today. The days are steadily getting longer and there's almost time for me to fit in five miles after work before it gets completely dark. Hey! Daughter's busy this evening so why don't I do a quick five-miler round my regular circuit? That's a cracking idea, so if the weather's not rubbish I might just do that.

Daughter's got her eye on me, too. She asked her grandma to call me and check how I was on Sunday evening after my little dip on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's lovely that she'd do that, equally so that her grandma would care enough to ask me how I'm feeling. She's been incredibly supportive these past few months and continually offers her support every time she calls. It's like there's someone watching over us, which is wonderfully comforting.

So yes, onward and upward, steadily heading up the hillside. It's still a tough climb, but I feel much more positive about reaching the peak.

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