OK, so the doctor’s report was very favorable–my lungs are clear. He gave me antibiotics and told me to keep doing all the stuff I was already doing. 🙂 (Rest, drink lots of water, etc.) I feel better already, and while my recovery may be mostly psychological, I’m still very happy about it. I’m not exactly setting the world on fire, but I was able to stay on track with my exercise schedule, which means I earned this week’s sticker. This was by no means a certainty, since I woke up feeling so gnarly yesterday morning that I immediately called the clinic to ask for an appointment and then spent much of the day smearing myself with Vicks and taking aspirin. This was to be day 4 of the current exercise week, and I knew if I didn’t get it done, I wouldn’t get my sticker (I know, I know, it sounds silly), since I attend Weight Watchers on Wednesdays and so that’s how my tracker (food journal) is set up, Wednesday to Wednesday. Also, I like to exercise in the morning, as early as possible. In any case, once I returned from the doctor’s office, much cheered by the knowledge that I don’t have pnuemonia or bronchitis, it suddenly occurred to me that I could still make my 5 day quota. So I jumped on the bike and it wasn’t difficult at all. In no time, I had my 35 minutes in and I was back on target for that sticker. This morning, I rode first thing–and happily pressed a little foil butterfly sticker on the appropriate page of my tracker.
Now, for an account of my visit to Western Washington, earlier in the month. (Here’s hoping the cyber gremlins behave themselves.) I flew to Seattle on a Tuesday morning–the trip only takes about 40 minutes by plane, barely time enough to que up an audiobook on my iPod. Once I’d retrieved my baggage, I hopped into a waiting car and headed for Port Orchard, which is approximately an hour from Seattle, when the traffic is light. I was dropped off at Debbie Macomber’s just plain fabulous office, where there were hugs and cries of glee. By then, it was time for lunch, so we headed for a favorite local Mexican eatery, where we’ve had many, many meals over the course of our long, long friendship. I had my usual–1 chicken enchilada with rice and beans. Debbie and I talked a mile a minute, and I had a chance to say a brief (at that point) hello to the Divine Miss M’s two beautiful daughters, Jodi and Adele. More hugs and cries of glee. Jodi and I were both sporting items of clothing purchased from QVC, so we compared notes. 🙂
After the meal, Debbie and I drove to the elegant castle-type house Debbie shares with her husband, Wayne. We dropped off my suitcase, chatted with Wayne for a little while, then zipped on over to Gig Harbor to–well–SHOP. We found great stuff at Chico’s and J. Jill–and I was delighted to find myself needing smaller sizes than usual. 🙂 That night, we enjoyed a quiet, simple and very delicious dinner back at Debbie and Wayne’s place, and called it a night, since we were going to hit the ground running in the morning. (My guestroom was HUGE, with a lovely view of the water and the lights of Seattle in the distance.) I slept like a rock. At breakfast, I learned that Debbie had already been to the pool for her daily swim–she’s amazing. We stopped by her office again, since she had some things to take care of, and I amused myself chatting with the staff and perusing a stack of catalogs on the break-room table.
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
