I had to battle some serious mood swings today. At one point I was bopping along the boulevard, smiling at the women pushing baby strollers and making faces at the babies. A little earlier I'd been snapping at Mom because she tried to give me five ones and I wanted a five. I felt bad about that, and I was awfully nice to the grocery clerk just afterward. I don't think that makes up for it, at least not entirely. But it couldn't hurt.

Keeping a positive attitude is a constant struggle, especially in the face of sleep deficit. But I'm working on it, and Mom gave me a nudge in the right direction today. She pointed out to me that I was way too edgy, and as soon as I realized she was right, I tried to get myself turned around. Walking in the fresh air helped, and maintaining this diet for a third straight day gave me something to feel good about.

One more thing I'm going to have to do is stay away from the news for awhile. Every time I turned it on today, someone was dying. Once upon a time I thought I could solve the world's problems by keeping informed and speaking out. At this stage of my life, I have to take responsibility for the lives of the people I come into contact with. If I can try to make my own half-acre a better, happier place, and if I can give comfort instead of grief, then I think I'll be living the way I should. After I've succeeded at that, I can take on the bigger issues.

By late afternoon, when David called on his way home from work, I was pretty much at peace. It had been an easy day, relatively speaking, and the sun was still out and it was still warm. It's not hard, under those circumstances, to take life as it comes. And talking to David always cheers me up.

He's recovering from his recent shoulder dislocation, probably going back to work before the doctor would like him to but you know David. You can't keep him from doing what he feels he needs to do. He says he's taking it slowly, and that's probably mostly because he has to. If he can't do something one way, he'll find another solution to his problem.

I'd warn him not to do too much and reinjure himself, but I didn't have to. I hinted in that direction and he assured me that the last thing he wanted was to dislocate the shoulder again and have to go back to that doctor and be subjected to his very helpful form of torture. He sounded pretty convincing, but again. You know David.

As warm and sunny as it was all day, it cooled off quickly. I had to leap up and bound for the door to shut out the chilly evening air, once I realized that night was falling like a cartoon safe. I'm grateful for the pleasant hours and ever hopeful of more. Some say it'll be even warmer tomorrow, but I'll believe it when I feel it on my pallid winterized skin.