Let's see. Why is today better than yesterday? Could it be sleeping in until almost 9:00 am? I could be, but that doesn't feel right. Sleeping late is just a way of making up for staying up too late and then waking up too early. For some reason I was restless all night, throwing off the covers and then pulling them over me again. That's unusual for me. Most of the time, for the few hours that I'm actually in bed, I don't move around much.

Could it be that I feel better today because the work load was more like what I'm used to? Or what I used to be used to, back when things were normal. The Boss is out of his office, Julie is in Texas, Tim is busy on a job site, and the only faxes I get are from investment advisers (what a laugh) and the only phone calls I get are wrong numbers (I am not the Icee company; how many times to I have to tell you?).

No, it couldn't be that, because despite the lack of interruptions, it is the end of the month and there's plenty of work that doesn't fall into the "normal" category.

It couldn't be the weather, either. The brief visit we had from the sun yesterday afternoon didn't translate into a warm, sunny day today, as I'd hoped. This was about the same, in fact, with thick gray clouds most of the day, and a little sun in the late afternoon. There was a Midwestern heaviness in the air, as if a storm could break out at any moment. It didn't, and there was no chance that it would, but that's how it felt.

But no, I think I know what it really was. I found time today to get to the mall and get my hair cut. Oh my, what a difference. First of all, for the first time in the nearly twenty years I've been going to that place, someone recognized me. She even sort of halfway remembered how I like my hair, although (as always) I won't know until tomorrow whether she did it right.

If I'd known that would be the cure for the blues, I'd have tried it a long time ago. It's pretty pricy there at the mall, but real therapy costs even more, and takes up more time. If salon therapy works, I'll just have to get more haircuts.

Mostly my enhanced mood is just because today was a different day, with a new opportunity to make it a good one. Some days, for whatever reason, I can seize that chance and run with it. It seems once I get started that way, I'm okay. I decided early today that it wasn't going to be another yesterday, and so far I've been able to follow through.