I've found the best cure for lethargy, and it's so old and well-known that it's embarrassing to admit that it feels like a new discovery to me. Yesterday, as I stared blearily at my funding application and tried to remind myself of how important it was (but instead, kept thinking about all the little things that had gone wrong during the day--a drawer breaking, Nika throwing up, etc., etc.), one of my friends showed up to invited Nika and me out on a monster hike. Feeling completely unenthused, and warning her that I'd probably drop out after half an hour, I leashed up Nika, and set out into the cold wind. After half an hour, my friend looked at me with concern. "Do you need to turn back? It's okay if you do...."

No way! We hiked for two and a half hours. It was amazing. My legs felt like jelly by the time we got home, but on the way, we'd hiked over amazing hills looking down into beautiful green valleys, we'd ogled gorgeous old Yorkshire stone cottages in three different villages, we'd talked about everything that had been worrying me, and I felt great. My head felt as if it had been cleared out with a broom. I love, love feeling that way.

So yeah, it's cliched, but it's true--exercise really is the best cure for lethargy. As hard as that can be for me to believe, ahead of time...

Once I got home, things got even better, because Patrick had brought home a selection of Marks & Spencers curries, including my favorite, Matar Paneer. We feasted on curries and watched two movies ("Ali G In Da House," which was...about as you'd expect [**quick note for American readers: Ali G is a white guy from Staines, England, who, along with all of his friends on the estate, is desperate to convince everybody that he's basically a cool LA gangsta rapper**], and "Desperado," which I'd been wanting to see since I was sixteen, and which was wonderfully fun, stylish, and very, very silly). It was a really nice, relaxing evening, and I went to bed feeling much, much better than I had earlier in the day.

Now back to that darned funding application....