arried life is great, but I've been struggling with work lately. A combination of feeling ambivalent about what I've been doing and the unstructured environment of working for myself has led to a lot of disorganization, procrastination, and stress. I got a much-needed wake-up call from a client so I've been getting it together this week - it's amazing how productive I can be when I put my nose to the grindstone. I'm so much happier overall when I don't torture myself with work hanging over my head. I'm my own worst enemy sometimes.

M. said he thought part of it was that I'm always here in the house. I get into a rut sometimes where I seldom get out and interact with other human beings. M. prescribed a daily morning walk with Virgil down to the coffee hut in town - everyone around here knows it as the Butt Hut because it's constantly staffed by an ever-changing stream of young girls...with shapely derrieres I suppose. Virgil loves it because they fawn over him and give him cookies. I love it because it gets me out into the world first thing in the morning, which makes it easier to sit down and get right to work with a clear and energized mind when I come home. I see my neighbors picking up their papers, entire pelotons of cyclists (a very popular activity around here), and I forgot how much I enjoy the time of morning when everyone is bustling about - the day is just getting started and is full of potential.

It's been so cold here lately that it's hard to bundle up and go outside first thing. We live amongst the trees in the shady hills, and the temperature always drops when you head up our street. But after I get my coffee after descending into town, my frosty fingers being warmed by the hot cup at last, I turn home and the Eastern sun beams down fully upon me. It starts to melt my stiff muscles and soften my creaky joints. Help is around in so many ways, if only you seek it a little.