No Time For Dat!

Begone, foul virus!  

I'm fighting the valiant fight over here at the studios, swallowing crushed garlic and washing my hands after touching everything.  Jae is sick and I've been well aware of people all around me who are experiencing the annual "Christmas miracle" that is cold and flu season.   There's no time to be laying in bed sweating, I've got a blues album to work on and a fitness regime to keep up. Every morning begins and every evening ends with aches and the familiar sensations of "I'm gonna git you sucka" from the invading germs, but I swallow more garlic (with hot water), pop a couple of aspirin and soldier on.

Conventional wisdom tells me that the best thing to do is just chill out and let my body do the work, but I also believe that getting out into the day, breathing fresh air and moving around will continue to keep me strong and on the slow-track weight loss gain that I've set.  I use Weight Watchers Online, none of their food and meetings, just a dedicated plan to control portion and exercise more than I eat.  I've been using this plan for quite some time now and it totally works, except in August and September when I decide to indulge in Mexican food on the road more often than I should and end up right back where I started.  Call it a weakness for eating or call it the annual splurge to balance out the rest of the year.  Usually, I'm in pretty good shape for the holidays and I even lost weight during Thanksgiving week due to what can be a very tenacious focus on sticking to the plan. Do you know how hard it is to say "no" to pumpkin pie and egg nog?

My body's complaining a bit more this morning, the aches are a symptom of the onset of something fighting me back, and having it drizzle on my head yesterday during my 3.5 mile walk probably didn't help matters much, but it's sunny this morning and I'm going out there.  At least when I'm moving, I don't feel all of the creaks and cracks in my defenses.  It also clears my head to have some quiet time (well, relatively quiet, as most of my walk takes place by interstates and busy roadways.)  My sinuses are clear and that, to me, is a sign of success.

Wrote another blues song yesterday, "Drinkin' and Drivin' Blues",  and have been steady working with the resonator and double dulcimers.  This kind of focus has resulted in some big leaps, music vocabulary-wise, and I'm gaining a bit more confidence each day as my plan of attack begins to reveal itself.  No trying to outgun the big guns, since three strings and a 1-5-8 tuning will not allow that to happen.  Careful consideration of tone and arrangement plus passion and blues style selection is what I'm aiming for.  Having studied the judges' score sheets from the Central Florida Blues Challenge, I know what they gave me high marks for and I know what I need to improve - that's the mission I'm tackling right now.

Which is why this threat of illness is just that; a threat.  Ain't nobody got time for dat!  By sheer force of will and garlic, I will emerge victorious. And thinner.

Take that, germs.