days_unfolding

I've been looking for a good guidebook to Illinois, and I've not been finding much. There are a bunch about Chicago, but not the rest of the state. Maybe that means that I should write one :) I'm semi-serious about that. Working title: The Other Illinois: Get Out of Chicago and See the Rest of the State! It could be fodder for a lot of road trips. And maybe an article or two. I need a decent DSLR though. (It's always something.)

A Road Trip Illinois blog would be a good idea too. It would get me out of the house and exploring. It sounds like fun!

I found a state park about 2.5 hours away from here that I really want to hike. It's kind of hilly (it's in Eastern Illinois), but that might build my leg muscles up.

I solved the problem with my boss about my working days while she's gone. I'm going to take the Monday after my Sunday conference presentation off, and work the rest of the week, including Friday. Including the Sunday, that would be a full week. And then I'm going to work Wednesday - Friday the following week.

There is a horrific fire in a tall apartment building in London. Most of the building seems to be ablaze. Those poor people trapped inside....I hope that firefighters contain the blaze soon.

I did go back to sleep relatively early last night. I did lie awake for a while, tossing and turning (I was waiting for Zara to smack me for being a lousy bedmate, but she didn't), cursing myself for getting so much sleep, but then I did fall asleep. So I slept most of Wednesday away. I've been back at work today, and feeling slightly manic. I don't seem to have a middle ground; I go from drag...drag...drag to wheeee...zing. So I should get a lot done, right? The problem is that I've been feeling very distractible. The task that I'm doing at work is kind of mind-numbing, but easy to screw up if I don't pay attention.

There was a job posting that interested me, in Allentown, PA. It's only 90 minutes from New York City and Philadelphia, which is kind of cool, but there is no train or bus to either place, and driving would be a bear. There was another job listing in Pennsylvania as well, but that one is closer to Baltimore and Philadelphia. Not going anywhere right now, but...I'm restless.

I was thinking about hiking. I need to develop some sort of plan to get my strength up for hiking. Maybe start going to the gym again to work on my knees and walk on the treadmill. Do short hikes in the local parks. Plan to do a longer hike once or twice a month.

My boss is taking two weeks off at the end of June and the beginning of July. As soon as I read that on the calendar, BOOM--my headache came back. She certainly has earned the time off, but she's leaving for good at the beginning of August, so there is even less time to 1) get our project done, and 2) do knowledge transfer. Plus I need to see if I can get someone to cover the full-time worker's lunch on Fridays while she's gone. So the headaches are partially due to stress. I was thinking of stress management techniques:

• Meditation


• Walking and hiking (another reason to do it)


• Exercise


• Snuggling with Zara


• Yoga classes?

Tonight, I bought a reflective vest and LED light for walking at night. And yoga clothes. One goal for this weekend is to get my exercise gear in order. And find my missing hiking boot.