The boys are upstairs doing something that’s shaking the house. I’m worried I won’t sleep well tonight. This afternoon I used my new coffee grinder to prepare some Starbucks-brand coffee I bought at Costco. A couple cups of that and I was FLYING. Will I sleep tonight? Too early to tell. I think so.

This morning I woke a little after four and managed thirty minutes on the elliptical between five and five-thirty. Before six I drove over to the Y. A friend promised to leave me a guest pass at the desk so I could play hoops, but the girl at the desk, a student at my University, let me sneak into the building. Awesome. Twelve months have passed since I last stepped on the YMCA court. For the previous seven years I played three or four times a week. Truth be told I don’t miss basketball much. Seven years in Wisconsin, plus four or five in Chicago, left me burnt out. Still, I had fun playing with the same group of guys and after a few minutes my rhythm returned. I wasn’t awful. How’s that for a ringing endorsement? Still, I doubt I’ll play again, and I’m not joining the YMCA.

After returning home I started lifting weights but decided to bag the session and pick up the routine Friday. All the pushing and shoving in the key left my muscles off-kilter. I showered, ate, answered email, and started cleaning. After nine I hit the library (nothing), Target (coffee grinder), Kohls (nothing), Costco (a lot), and Pick and Save (a little). I put everything away, ate a quick lunch, and began the cleaning/laundry session in earnest. Ninety minutes later the house was clean enough for writing. I can’t write when the house is messy. Have I mentioned that? I drank coffee and worked on an academic article. This subject (boring, I won’t go into it) isn’t all that intense but I’m struggling to get my head around what I’m trying to say. Excuse my language, but I think you’d have to be retarded not to know already what I’m trying to say. Still, this struggle worried me I usually find academic prose a breeze. I pushed through an hour as the sun set and the house grew dark. I walked from room to room, turning on the lights, and started dinner (lasagna rolls). I listened to Schumann because NPR was too depressing. I also made tomorrow’s lunch and folded laundry, so I can take some solace from domestic productivity even if I couldn’t write for shit. M and the boys didn’t arrive home until just before five because of some school activity, but the timing was perfect as I had just putting dinner out as they entered. I had planned on leaving the computer off for the night but I wanted to tackle the article again (goddamn academic prose isn’t getting the best of me!) so I fired up the machine and felt better about the results. Dan called, so he and I chatted until I came downstairs to finish the journal. Now I’m turning off the computer. Good night.