4 The past twenty-four hours has been filled with little irritations.

I couldn’t get online for hours yesterday morning, and since online is where I work, this was a big issue.

Before that was resolved, I had to take #2 son to his CAPs conference. The gas light was on — I was not the last driver of the car, of course, so I didn’t foresee that. I also didn’t foresee the traffic and parking problems of getting to the high school at 8:00 a.m., but that was just stupidity on my part.

I stopped for gas on the way home — and left my purse at the gas station, so I had to hare back to get it.

I managed to get online and get my work done, but of course I had to work later than usual to make up for the 4 late start, and so I was irritated again when my husband came home and needed help going to the unemployment office. And really irritated when #1 son wouldn’t help him, and I had to stop work and go. And then the people in the office informed us that they stopped helping people an hour before we arrived there.

I overcame that irritation and spent a pleasant evening with my family, but woke this morning to foul-smelling messes in both dogs’ crates, which is just not what you want to wake up to.

Especially not as early as I get up.

However, I got all that cleaned up and set to making a special breakfast, because today is #1 son’s birthday. We’re starting out with mini quiches and little bran muffins, and the Spiderman themed ice cream cake that #2 son bought at his workplace.

4Someone has put my tools away in the wrong places, so that I had to search the kitchen at every step, instead of reaching for the right tool in the right spot.

It is a good thing that I was able to take a walk in a lovely park yesterday.

 Actually, the various complexities of life and the viruses that I’ve faced this year have left me with an average of only three days a week that I actually get out walking or to the gym. I have hardly been doing any strength training at all. So I guess it is time to recommit to getting the right amount of exercise.

I do that so often — realizing that I am falling short and recommitting again — that I get bored of it. I can see why a  quarter of Americans are completely sedentary and only a third of us actually get the recommended amount of movement into 4our lives. You just get tired of trying to do better.

However, I probably won’t die young. So I don’t really have an option. The medical establishment makes an error, I think, when they couch recommendations in terms of number of years of life lost. If you do this, they say, you will live 3.7 years longer than if you didn’t. Young people say, “So what?” Life stretches out ahead of us (even at my age) so far that losing a few years doesn’t seem important.

What they should say is, “If you don’t do this, you will spend your final 27 years suffering from horrible little health complaints.”  Then they should get a bunch of elderly people who spent their youths living sedentary lives, eating fast food, smoking, etc. to come in and complain about how they feel now. Do you feel inspired?

Since I am beginning my day with quiche and birthday cake, I hope I will feel inspired enough to get some weight-lifting in before I go up to the store today.