My new iPod has arrived!

Now I have no more excuses for not running. The iPod is here.

It's teeny and beautiful and has my name and phone number engraved on it. Not that anyone who found it would return it, but there's always hope.

Now, though, I do need to upgrade my system to run the current iTunes software. That's one thing I've been procrastinating on -- and I also need to do it in order to get rid of my archaic email address, which Paul has been begging me to ditch for years. I've had it since before we were married. You would not believe how much spam I get.

My first real injury

The injuries that hamper my running tend toward the wussy.

Case in point: Benign positional vertigo. That's my primary issue.

Other occasional hampering issues include minor twinges in ankles or knees of either leg.

In other words: No big deal.

I , however, managed to bang my knee today to the point that it is swelling up, purple and sore.

Of course, it's not like I have been getting my tail out the door, with all the sickness in my house. Now, I couldn't even if I wanted to.

Zucchini muffins

"These muffins look weird," my 12-year-old said.

But I assured her they'd taste good. 

I apparently haven't made zucchini bread of any kind in a while, if the kids don't remember it.

With things I don't eat, I sometimes get in a rut. Cornbread or Banana bread have been my go-to quick breads lately.

Dinner table baseball talk: The 14-year-old had a hypothetical issue for Paul and me today.

"OK, if the Yankees and the Cubs met in the World Series, who would you be for?"

I realized the extent of my indoctrination into White Sox Nation when my gut response was the Yankees.

Bizarre.

The truth is, though, I just can't hate the Yankees as much as I used to as a pre-adolescent Red Sox fan. I was actually happy when the White Sox swept my Sox last week -- there was less wailing and gnashing of teeth in my house than there would've been otherwise, and I know the White Sox better.

My loyalties have almost completely shifted.

Part of the problem is that I know baseball better now, and I get irritated with bad play; when I was a kid, I thought the Red Sox were just unlucky and they should've won, that they were the greatest team ever; now I recognize that teams lose because they're just Not That Good, and the Red Sox always had significant holes when I was a kid.

Illness: The whole house is full of sickness now; the littler kids have scary coughs and fevers. It has at least kept us home rather than running around like crazy. (The paradox of homeschooling is that we're very rarely home.)

My terrible musical taste

This was "Camp Rock 2" weekend in my house. What a treat!

After I mentioned how I liked one of the songs on it ("This is Our Song," if you must know), my 12-year-old bought it for me and put it on my playlist.  She's so funny.

What I've really been listening to, however, is folk/country stuff.

Like this, by the band Widower.

And, this, "California Stars" by Billy Brag and Wilco.

Paul's response to all this: "Kathleen's trying to get me to divorce her."