It’s still too cold and dark to go out walking, but in about an hour, the sun will be up and warming things up nicely. I wouldn’t mind walking in the dark, as I wouldn’t feel the least bit threatened by anything or anyone, but not when it’s down in the 40s. I want it to be at least 55°F when I go out there.

If there’s anything good about being on a rotating schedule, it’s the variety of workouts I can do. If I were always on days, I’d be tempted to just go out and walk except for when it was really hot, because that’d be the easiest thing to do. Walking neglects my arms and abs, though. Being sometimes on nights, however, I can do various exercise routines indoors that add good variety to my regimen.

I was notified on Blogger by someone in the UK that MyOpera is shutting down and to export anything I may want. I read an article about it, and sure enough, they’ll be shut down on March 1st. This is one reason I have my stuff published on multiple sites; because I know that any site can shut down at any time for any reason. I guess they’re having both security and financial issues. I don’t need anything exported, though, due to it being on other sites, so they can take what’s there with them. While it’s kind of sad, I won’t miss MO much. I got sick of the spam, scams, and unwanted friend requests. I also don’t like how I can’t backdate entries there.

Andy was saying that he was worried he hurt my feelings by saying he didn’t want to read my book because he doesn’t read books and is only interested in magazines. Also, he doesn’t have as much free time as he may appear to have just because he can check into Ask several times a day. For the sake of avoiding possible home invasions, he doesn’t like anyone to know his schedule, so that’s why he doesn’t usually mention what he’s up to online.

I can totally relate, and I assured him of this, too. People think I have more free time than I actually have because I work at home. Also, we can’t help what does and doesn’t interest us. I like books and movies but don’t care for TV, magazines, celebs, or those I don’t personally know, no matter how talented and rich they may be.

My fellow writing buddy is reading my story, plus those who are interested in reading it in various places I’m sharing it at. As always, I write for me first, be it journals or stories, and any reader is an afterthought that I see as a bonus. I appreciate anyone who’s interested in or inspired by my writing, even if it’s not a must.

I also realize that being older and wiser than I was in 2000 doesn’t necessarily make me invincible to potential trouble. However unlikely it may be, the possibility of once again being victimized, even if it’s in a different way for different reasons and by different people, is still there. And maybe just like last time, God will see to it that I am totally defenseless and unable to fight back. This time, though, my own voice will be heard because if anything ever happens to me again, there’ll be what the “victims” say, what the media says, and then there’ll be the truth. Well, keeping a public journal is a good way of sharing the real me and telling my story, even if I don’t share every single little detail, so here lies the truth, now and in the future. :)

Had a happy dream last night for once. It was a nice change after the usual negative/weird dreams, though there were a couple of weird things about it. It took place in our second Arizona house, and we were apparently expecting some goodies in the mail. It was a Saturday, and I was saying to Tom that I hoped we’d get these things in the mail that day so we wouldn’t have to wait until Monday. Well, one of the “goodies” consisted of an old-fashioned audiocassette of some music. I was so excited to get it too, and happily skipped around the house with it, glad we didn’t have to wait till Monday after all. I also got a purse with dangling palm tree charms, but I have no idea what Tom got.

Chapter 4 brings my book up to 6714 words total.

Later…

Had a very cold half-hour walk. Makes me wish I was in Florida at this time of year. If I were, I’d be walking in the middle of the night like I will be in the summer here. Yahoo said it was 37°F and our thermometer said 48°F. I believe Yahoo. Jim, the 6:00 man, rounded the corner as I was crossing the street, and we waved to each other. Although cold, the walk was great. I lightly jogged a bit, too. I did go see my ducks, but they didn’t ambush me like last time. I think that as long as they don’t hear/see food being served, they won’t do that.

This place is gonna be great for bike riding when I get a new bike! Anyway, my heart rate was in the 130s when I returned.

The cleaning is done, today’s chapter is written, and now I think I’ll study languages. I alternate between two different languages every other day. Yesterday was Spanish and Italian review, so today’s French and German. Might as well do it now before the traffic and landscapers get going out there.