The goal is to write something every day

And today I don't have a whole lot to write; just want to go through the motions. I'm actually quite grateful: Dr. Ruden is trying an experiment, and for this month I'm skipping my diabetes and blood pressure meds. (I'm still on a cholesterol med, even though my cholesterol is totally normal.) We'll wait for the results of the bloods drawn yesterday and compare them with the bloods we'll draw next month, and that will determine whether or not I have to continue taking meds. Still taking lots of vitamins...

Anyway. So I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for life, health, and strength. I'm grateful for things too numerous to count.

I'm even grateful when I appear not to be -- sometimes I complain that everyone on the Bx15 line is an elementary school dropout (or failed elementary school). The reality is that I've always enjoyed a life of privilege. I don't have to stand at the front of the bus and shout to someone in the back that I'm going to have a colonoscopy, because, in the overall scheme of my life, a colonoscopy is not that big a deal. What I have to remember is that because it _is_ a big deal for someone, that that's their reality, and that's a valid reality. I'm grateful that I don't have to shout out to the world about my colonoscopy, and I need to remember that blogging about my thoughts or posting my rafting pictures is the same sort of self-centered indulgence.

This morning, and every morning since I've been back, I've slathered volcanic mud over my face. I brought back a couple of containers of mud from the thermal springs up in Guanacaste. When I was in them, I thought I noticed an improvment in my skin tone. It could have been the tan, since when I came back, people said I'd gotten darker. As is usual for me, I didn't notice the color, only that I liked my skin more. I thought it was a result of the volcanic mud, so I've been slathering that on my face. It's kinda fun. I get up about seven and put it on, wait a few minutes until I feel it start to dry and harden, then go back to bed and snooze til about 8. It tightens up, and is generally fun to have on and to take off. Wonder what, if anything, it actually does?

I have 49 minutes left before I have to leave work, so I should get busy.

I've kinda lost my writing chops and think this exercise will be helpful in rebuilding them.