Kind of a false start today. Even with my new running shoes (thanks Mom), I just did not want to be at the track. It didn't help that when I turned on my iPod it told me to “Connect to Power.” Ugh. I ran about six steps, then started walking and doing arm exercises as I walked. By the time I made it one lap, it started to rain. I took that as a sign that God didn't want me to be at the track either. So I left.

In other news, today I feel weighed down with about 540 pounds of “I hate Massachusetts” malaise. FM!

Too many days away from the track and whew boy did I feel it!

1×400@3:05

1×200@1:44

2×100@?:??

Was coughing fit to beat the dog by the time I left. Uck.

On Friday I decided I couldn't stand my office another minute, so got to work mucking it out and rearranging. Time well spent. Then on Saturday, I dug through my half of the closet and most of my dresser drawers and donated the resultant eight kitchen garbage bags full of clothes to Goodwill. We have a new Goodwill in my town and I'm an avid shopper there — have bought a bunch of great clothes for the boys as well as a couple of cute things for myself. Last week I used my “avid reader” card, which gets me one free book a month. The book I picked up was from the organizer of that TV show “Clean House” and it details how to divest yourself of excess stuff, and why.

I'm not done yet, but I'm a lot closer, and the house is looking a lot better than it used to! I even dug all the books and magazines out from under my bed last night. It helped to have a package of baby-wipes nearby to wipe the lint and dust off the books and my hands.

I have a book of cartoons called “The New England Experience.” Monstro noticed it on my bookshelf.

“The New England Experience,” he said. “You open the book and it punches you in the face. And then it rains.”

So Monstro and the boys and I were pulling into our driveway after church and we saw a man walking with a little girl around Lex's age. There aren't a lot of kids in our neighborhood so I asked, “hey, do you folks live around here?” The man said, “Yes,” and I said, “We've got a little boy around her size.” Lex and I disembarked and went over to them. Lex immediately started talking about fireworks and I introduced him and myself. He introduced himself and the little girl and I said, “Where do you live?”

“You know,” he said, “I don't think I want to answer that.”

“Uh, OK,” I said.

“C'mon Frankie,” he said to the little girl, and they walked away.

Monstro thinks the guy was crazy. I just think he's a typical Masswipe.

I didn't actually intend to do 3.5 miles today, especially as I haven't run since Saturday's race, but right about the time I was going to quit, “Alice's Restaurant” came on my iPod, and the version I have is eighteen minutes, thirty-six seconds, so I did a few more laps. Before that, I was going to quit, but “Brick House” came on, and after that a Hanson remix, and I'll be damned if I'm going to wuss out to Hanson.

So, 3.5 miles, which included about three walking laps, so we'll say 2.75 miles running. Whoo!