Marching Out

OK, so it's a hokey tagline; but the entire month has passed by without an update, so get ready.

I've been keeping my Lenten resolution pretty well, I think: only have felt twinges of guilt very occasionally, and squashed them immediately. (Do I have to start up with the guilt again as soon as Easter is here?)

At least I have gotten the ball rolling on some procrastinated matters: I had a first Pilates session with our expert next door; I've applied to the local ecumenical-church-sponsored food bank to take a volunteer position of some sort with their nonprofit agency and have a meeting scheduled for after Easter. I've found a local pool that offers aqua aerobics classes twice a week beginning in June and will sign up as soon as they are open. And for those of you who are sartorially minded, I am getting my long-neglected hair cut and styled at one of the best salons in Santa Barbara, as we arrive in our fair city the end of this week.

Yes, we leave tomorrow for the long drive down to visit my siblings and spend Holy Week and Easter in Santa B. On this weekend, I will be on retreat at La Casa de Maria (and will have a massage while there, to benefit the arthritis problems) ... and John will be in Altadena visiting his siblings – we both return to SB on Sunday afternoon. We'll do some visiting with friends during the coming week, and then observe the Triduum Weekend (Thurs.-Sat.) of Holy Week at services at our dear Trinity parish. Easter we'll celebrate with Frank and Melissa; and then we will return to our cottage in the woods early the following week.

The day that we get home, we both begin the long-delayed South Beach Diet regime (while John continues his 3-mile daily walks and I continue my range-of-motion and Pilates exercises).

Dear readers, wish us luck and pluck, as we pledge to be gorgeously svelte for the big reunion in Carmel Valley this summer – and beyond!