A lot of things have happened in the past week. I have had one hard cider and two caffeinated teas to drink, all three definitively rejected by my body. The former with four hours of tingling face, and the latter with five hours of racing heart and shaking hands. No more substances for me.

I discovered that my body has been hosting a strep infection for the past few months. Yup, months! That it was caught are matters of chance: that I live in the same city as my mother, that she insisted on making a doctor's appointment for me six weeks ago, that the doctor did a strep culture even though I said my throat felt ok, and that she sent it away to a lab even though the quick culture came back negative. It is gone now, and I do not have rheumatic fever or a heart problem. I feel very, very lucky. This is really just the icing on the proverbial cake on the dark comedy that my life has become over the past several months. I feel completely removed, now. Nothing can surprise or shake me, anymore.

The sun came back! The wind is here too, but I don't even care. I have switched from Old Wooly to my 2 dollar sweater-jacket and I am not going back.

I am a Spice Girl. Dunno which one yet. The job is loads of fun and smells good, and I am learning the most fascinating things. Spice lore is specific and somewhat secret, a knowledge passed in whispers and laughs over stockpots between mothers and children, chefs and sous-chefs. There are some problems, but there are always some problems...and they are few and far between. Truly, I've liked every job I've ever had. They've all resulted in amazing stories and this will be no different.

I am re-entering the social world. This, too, has been good for me, if not totally seamless.

March is good, but I want April. I want a little warmth and the occasional evening on the porch.