Grateful: Day 81

Phoooooo! I'm a bit giddy tonight, so this will be short. Ha! I say that now. Every night I think 'oh, I'll just do a short one', then an hour (and
lots of ridiculous photos) later, I'm still there.

The main thing I am hugely grateful for today is that I do not have a rash. I've been thinking about it daily. I can feel it and sometimes see it slightly under my skin, like a little reminder, but I don't itch, and I'm not covered in blotches. It never made it to my face (hooray!) and it now seems to have gone away.

[Gaahhh... Google is a liar! The picture results for 'no rash' are intensely rashy. This one's quite nice though. Nice throw!]

And a bonus too (hand in hand with a mild Too Much Information warning). I never thought I'd say this, but the steroidal cream did magic, not only to the rash. Generally, I have ridiculously smooth skin, like a baby. Not everywhere, but where it's soft, it's really really soft. Except on the top of my arms, where it's always been a bit bumpy with little spots (TMI - doesn't get worse).

But no longer. Because my arms were so badly affected (second only to behind my knees), they got steroided all over, every day, until the cream was gone. And now, I have no rash, and newly smooth upper arms. Radical! Now, I wouldn't have gone in for it as a beauty treatment - everyone knows that steroid cream makes your skin thinner and is not good long term. But I'd have rubbed pretty much anything into that rash by the end of it, so I reckon I got off lightly. And I am grateful for this bonus.

Ooh, the wind is all buffetty and dramatic. Exciting. I have a very lovely friend who gets terribly giddy in the wind. Like dogs do. They go a bit mental and über playful when it's very windy. Or, I've noticed, in long grass. I think it tickles their bellies and makes them light-headed. I must try it on my friend.

I got gusted at a bit on my bike today, but nothing dangerous. It was on the Holloway Road, though, so you have to be careful, as you're sometimes flanked on both sides by streams of pushy cars. I thought of trying a new route, but it was slating it down with rain and I only had a backwards route, B to A, (which doesn't count for one way systems). The idea of getting lost did make me giggle, but maybe that was just the wind.

I like the rain. As Esther Lilley says, it's nice just to be out in Weather, whatever type of weather that might be. I like the rain, but I don't like umbrellas. I am NOT a fan. Poky eye-skewers. A physical manifestation of lack of consideration. I am righteous about them, and wary. I don't like umbrellas, but I do quite like not liking them.

Thank you for Ruth back from Snowdonia and packed with stories. Great to see her. Thank you for The Hub today (the full whammy: Anna Levy, Multi-Alex, Andy Hix, Tom (whose name I now know), Smiling Mr Reason, Weird-Word Luke, Kirstie, Katie, Johanna and many more. Just a lovely vibe. I like being part of something. It makes me thrive. Good to know.

Thank you for an unsolicited email from Amy Murphy about this blog. SO nice to hear good things. It's funny - I do it, clearly, for my own juice and I strive to be authentic and write what I was going to write anyway, not what will please. But it's a gift to hear nice things, especially from people I could have no idea were reading.

Massive Pond Fail today - or rather Massive Alarm Fail. I checked the bugger - I swear I did - but it didn't go off and I woke, all crusty-headed, at 8.21. ARSE! Then I did things like checking emails and cycle routes, working out whether or not Finchley was, in fact, a good idea as somewhere to live (no, too far, even for a lovely place, unless there is dog candy involved: cancelled appointments and apologies ensued).

I did swim, though, as I missed yesterday and I'm likely to miss tomorrow because of work. At 11.30 (instead of 8). And it was worth every second. I thought to myself, during the post-pond high, that I suspect that I am, in reality a Better Person when I swim. That's the thing. Not Better, of course, but happier, fresher, clearer. I feel better. There is still no single time when I have regretted going. Not once. It is always, always worth it.

Very excited about my job tomorrow. Very very. Very. Eeep!