Today is a 6.  I can deal with a 7. I’m functional at 6 but not happy. I think the Cymbalta is making me tired, so I switched it to dinner time.  Last night we went to my brother’s for Father’s day.  If you read my post on the bird phobia, I am certain the drugs are working.  I sat in their hammock for a few minutes and noticed a feather next to me. No panic attack. I even flicked it off with my finger. Yes, I touched a feather. That is huge and I couldn’t have imagined that a couple of months ago. As I mentioned in my post regarding my guest post at Mommy Masters, I got my fire-pit plus my kids made me about a dozen art projects. So Father’s day was enjoyable.

And another thing I couldn’t have imagined doing a couple months ago; we let a teenager babysit Friday evening.  OK it was our Pediatrician’s son, who lives a few blocks away. And we were walking distance from the house. Literally walking distance. Melissa and I walked up to the wine store/bar/Cafe in Park Potomac. Had a glass of wine and an appetizer, and were home in under 2 hours, before sunset.  It was a nice and rare break for us. But really this was a huge breakthrough for me.

I did a 12 mile run on Saturday morning. Still not at my top pace, but I ran faster and farther than I have been lately.  I was a little sore walking to shul an hour later, but otherwise was fine the rest of the day. Overall it was a good weekend. Most of it was a solid 7.5.  Today I am a little down because I’m letting something bother me that I know I shouldn’t. I won’t go into the details, heck I’m not even sure what all the details are, but I am having a significant relationship issue with a close friend.  I have been taking it in stride, but ever so often, not so much. Today is a not so much day.  I have walked away from other friendships before, but this one is different and I just can’t do it.

The Egret series is definitively helping to stabilize my mood, I may have found an illustrator if she and I can come to terms on price. She drew a sample image of Egret and pretty much nailed it. The back was a little too blurry but it was prettty much what I had in my head. My favorite professional copy editor is on board.  If all works out as planned, this could hit Amazon books, the kindle, and iBooks in the not to distant future. We’ll see, a lot of big if still out there though. But I am optimistic.  I already have enough poem/stories for 3 to 5 books. Lest’s see how the first one does.