I'm definitely feeling better, but not as good as I've been telling people. Maybe I can convince myself? Since I ran out of cold pills this morning, I should go out and get more, but the wind blowing down from Alaska is keeping me in the house. The pills make me feel better, but the weather I'd have to endure to get them makes me feel worse. Alanis would find irony in the situation.

Wait! All that's in those pills is acetaminophen for aches and pains, pseudoephedrine for nasal congestion and dextromethrophan for coughs. Well, I have Tylenol and Sudafed, and I haven't been coughing anyway, so ha! I'll be my own druggist. Problem solved.

So tomorrow it's back to the rut. It's been ages since I've felt as if I were working according to a plan or following a routine. The holidays will do that. Tomorrow it all catches up, and with the end of the month, quarter and year, I'll be putting in overtime all through January. So it's not really back to the old routine at all. I don't know how my system will cope with running at double speed, after running at half speed for the last few weeks.

January is a cruel month for office drones like me. Payroll tax forms, W-2s, 1099s, sales tax returns. Then there's the task of getting all of the 1999 financial records ready to go to the accountant. All of this has to be done along with the day to day drudgery that makes up most of my job. Can you tell how much I'm looking forward to this?