How right I was to buy a little space heater. Takes the refrigerator chill off the bedroom and is not needed once duvets and blankets have had their effect. One lies burrito-folded, reading this and that, and listening to the rain (still) falling outside.
Found a large mosquito bite on the back of my leg this morning, which was annoying since my AfterBite has vanished and I must have spent my ammonia on the raccoons. At the end of the day, at work, I had three more. Maybe they're not mosquitoes, though they bump and itch the same. But work is still the same building where I was bitten twenty times by invisible noseeums a dozen years ago and had to undergo two courses of antibiotics to prevent flesh-eating disease.
In spite of my s-i-l's cheerful advice on how to get out of jury duty ('Say you think he's guilty when they ask if you have any biases') (or even better- 'November? I think that's when my client's trial is coming up') I'm resigned to doing time in the jury box. This has convinced me I must get my knees as strong as possible in the next two months which necessarily involves getting my weight as low as possible. Began well enough on the weekend, easing down on the food and gearing up on the exercise; couldn't walk today because of monsoons, but resisted the urge to buy a cocktail at a bar or some wine from the store. Alcohol may prove the greatest challenge, because I'm convinced that's what I need when weary and aching after a long day. Must convince myself that wine, certainly, will give me a headache at this time of year and alcohol will upset my stomach, and that water and stretching removes the aches and stabs much better. Good luck to me.