Friday night lights.

I left work early today. Like, really early. I took the 4pm train home. And the sun was shining and the weather was nice, so I decided to forgo the gym and just jog/walk around my neighborhood. It was much nicer doing that than going to the stuffy, crowded gym. I'm glad I made that decision.

One decision that may not make me so glad is my decision to embark on a a homeopathic treatment, because I can no longer indulge in my decaf iced coffees every once in a while, wear perfume, or have mint (or menthol, eucalyptus, and there's probably other things, too). The mint thing includes minty gum, toothpaste, mouthwash, minty ice cream (including peppermint stick!!)... you know, all the things that I love. This is a huge sacrifice for me. Huge. There are some homeopaths who say that you don't have to give up coffee, or perfume, or mint, or that you can do them all in a much more limited and controlled fashion, but mine suggests giving them all up completely, especially when you're starting your treatment, since you don't know how your body is going to react to the remedy. So tonight, when I went to the grocery store and was reaching for the jug of mint tea, I had to stop and remind myself that I couldn't have that kind. And when I pushed the cart past the gum aisle it reminded me that I had to get non-minty gum, because that's all that I had at home. I will now chew bubblegum flavored gum, and cinnamon flavored gum, but not bubblemint or cinnamint, and I will brush my teeth with lemon toothpaste laced with anise oil. The anise oil does leave my mouth feeling surprisingly refreshed, but that feeling is nowhere near as lasting as it was when I used my super-minty toothpaste with mint-blasters. The things I do, all in the desire for a better quality of life! Seriously.

But here's something that gives me a better quality of life, and I don't have to give up anything for it: Yes, I am wearing a down comforter and holding two citrus-y soaps, thanks to Chris and Chris and Ruby. I've always liked the basic idea of the Snuggie, but didn't like the idea of having it be a blanket and open in the back. And I guess I could have pined for a regular bathrobe, but they're just not warm enough. This down housecoat, though, this fits the bill, especially more so because it has a fashionable Asian design. I highly endorse the product. You can buy your very own here.

I also highly endorse having freshly-cut flowers in your house at all times. We don't have them here nearly often enough, but when we do we all love them. All of us. Even the furry ones. These flowers were intended to be my birthday treat, but they ended up being Meg's birthday treat, too. Which was fine, actually, because on March 25th it was Meggie's 7th birthday. We now have had her for seven years! Seven wonderful, fur-filled, sleepless years. Thank you, Meg, for adding such joy to our lives, and for not completely killing the flowers. We can now see them opened and vibrant and placed on higher ground where the cats haven't been tempted to roam.

And now I am off to brush with my Homeodent, and then hop in bed to watch what I can of Benjamin Button before I oh-so-unfortunately fall asleep. If I make an attempt to watch the movie but don't get all the way through due to no fault of my own, then I can without guilt send the movie back to Netflix and await the arrival of... Ghost Town? New weekend chore - reshuffle queue.