Miscellany

1. My grandmother has been moved out of the ICU, but will still be in the hospital for a while. I have seen her almost every day this past week and it's been hard to tell if she is improving....although today when I asked her if she felt any better, she responded,"Yes."

That was a first.

She still needs help eating and is too weak to do much, unable to bear her own weight, or even think about walking. This medical craziness has completely wiped her out.

I worry that she may never fully recover....but I am usually a medical pessimist...so hopefully she will prove me wrong.

2. I have continued running 2-3 miles several times a week. I had been hoping to do a 5K at the end of February, but I'm not sure my schedule is going to be able to fit it in. I have been working hard to improve my pace. I've managed to shave a little over a minute off of my per-mile average...but I still have a long way to go before I will feel like a true "runner". Right now I think of myself as a jogger with ambition. I'm aiming for a 5K on the beach in March. Maybe I'll be able to increase my speed even more by then. That's almost 2 months away.

3. Things are still dragging along with my father's house. Between the uncooperative weather and the crisis with my grandmother I am running behind schedule...again. I don't even know why I bother having a schedule. It only serves to mock me when I can't actually abide by it.