11 a.m. March 13, 2010

The magazines that have piled up next to my couch – Better Homes & Gardens, Sunset, ReadyMade, Mine, The New Yorker, Cooks Illustrated, Food & Wine, plus a few stray Real Simples and National Geographics – have finally called my name. Backlogging in dates ranging from six months to probably a year, some still have their protective plastic sheath, enveloping the “LAST ISSUE” notice, which I’ve promptly ignored. Yet, the mountain still grows.

It takes me being sick to finally sit down and leaf through the magazines. I don’t really read any articles, except for personal essays and my New Yorkers, of which I’m four months behind (drooled through the November 2009 food issue this morning; paged through the December 2009 issue of Sunset with breakfast today). Since purchasing my house in 2008, my genetics kicked in and I started buying home decor magazines to help me turn into a little Martha Stewart. Like my mother and her mother before her, I rip out pages, sort them by categories (bathroom, garden, kitchen, organization, bedroom), in hopes that when I finally get to redoing some of my rooms, the ideas from those pages will leap off the page and fit right into my thinking.

But it sort of conflicts with the constant piles of outdoor gear that show up in my living room from Spring through Fall. As well as with my continual absence, as I sheepishly mutter “sorry House,” as I run out the door to climb, bike, go to the city or meet with friends. And no decorating techniques have been translated yet my brain to my walls.

The struggle today is the fact that it’s relatively pleasant outside. I made no plans for the weekend, rented four movies from Blockbuster, plus one from NetFlix, to force me to sit down and well, force me to sit down and not go anywhere. Some nasty virus struck me about 10 days ago, just as deadlines loomed for work and an out-of-town visitor came to stay with me. However, thanks to technology and an understanding boss, I’ve managed to meet my deadlines, do minimal and enjoyable entertaining and get better.

So, now that it’s the weekend, it’s not too bad outside (a rare cloudy/sunny PNW Saturday), but the conflict arises – i’m feeling just about 99% again, but don’t want to push it and wind up two steps back, given that one of four major deadlines I MUST focus on a year is next week. The gardens call, with the weeds that the Evil Squirrels planted during the winter with their peanut shells from the Evil Peanut Lady down the street. A scrap piece of paper is taped to the wall, scrawled in black Sharpie, the goals I’d like to accomplish in my gardens this year. That whole training for Mt. Rainier thing also looms over my head. While I can’t wait to get back into the mountains (hell, just get back to exercising – the walk from the ferry to Qwest Field the other night for the Sounders game was the most exercise i’ve gotten in two weeks), May through July will be intense-every-weekend hiking/mountaineering to make sure I feel my best when we start our climb on August 20.

SO, I’m stuck in That Place between Sick and Healthy. Finally feeling normal but almost afraid to push it. It’s like this time of year – antsy to get going again on life, but you also know you need to be patient just a little bit longer. Wishing I was out camping, skiing, climbing or biking, but also perfectly snug in my OU sweatshirt, dirty hair and pajama bottoms with two blankets and a cup of tea on my couch, losing myself in Hollywood’s imagination.

What do you do to get through that antsy period?