I hate winter. Yesterday the temperature was in the forties. Not that I left the house at all yesterday, but I swear Weatherbug said it was 48 at one point. Today, when of course I have places to go, and of course I have to walk to get to them, it's 12. That's not even the problem though. The problem is... you know what happens when it gets up to 48? Stuff starts to MELT. And you know what happens when it drops down below 32 again? ALL THAT MELTED STUFF FREEZES. It becomes ICE. And ICE is freaking SLIPPERY. And then people like me, who decide to give up extraneous driving for Lent, step out their front doors onto a patch of solid ice hidden beneath some powdery snow. Yeah -- down I went. So I had snow all over myself and a slightly twisted ankle and I ALMOST went back inside to my warm bed. But I didn't. I pulled myself up, cursing the ice, and hobbled all the way to church. And I was glad I did, once I got there. And then church ended and I picked my way home, made it most of the way, and then fell right on my knee. You'd think by now I'd be used to falling right on my knees, since that's the way I usually land if I trip. But some reason lately I guess I just hit it the right way or something, cuz it freaking hurts, A LOT, like I almost start getting woozy and need to sit down right afterward. Luckily I was right across the street from home. The same thing happened last weekend at the movie theater, but at least there I got to sit and recover for a bit.

*sigh* But it was all worth it, cuz I got to church today. :) (I have to say that...) Seriously though, it was good. It's the first time in a long time that the sermon seemed to speak right to me, not that I've been to church regularly in about three years but still. This morning the pastor read a really short passage from Mark, talking about the baptism of Jesus and how immediately afterward he was sent into the wilderness with Satan for forty days. Then he talked about how it seems like a lot of times, when something really good happens, it's followed almost immediately by something really bad. You have a really good day and feel like you're on top of the world, and then the next day something brings you back down out of the air you've been walking on. Your boss tells you you're not doing your work up to his standards. Your professor gives you a twenty-five page paper when you're already drowning in other work. Bills arrive that you can't afford to pay. Someone in your family gets sick. You get the idea.

One example the pastor gave was, your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you. The person that you love, that you're sure you're going to spend your whole life with, comes to you and says "This just isn't going to work out." A lot of the congregation chuckled at that one, I guess thinking of high school type relationships that last about a week even though both parties are sure it's *forever*. I didn't laugh though -- that one hit home for me. He didn't say "you realize you can't live with the person you thought you would spend your whole life with", but I think that is there too. It's at least as hard to be the one doing the breaking up as it is to be broken up with.

But I digress. The point of the sermon was that highs are accompanied by lows. The high points give you the tools to get through the low ones. The low points bring you closer to God. And it's so true. Talk about a sermon that totally describes my life as of late. :)

I also started wondering what I'm in for... :P I've been so happy most of the time lately and I only see it getting better. Not that it's all been smooth sailing though, it's been a roller-coaster, so I guess I am getting my downs along with my ups. It's just that the ups are so good that I kinda forget about the downs. :) I guess that's a good way for it to be.

Well, it is a beautiful day, despite being a mere 13 degrees outside. So I hope I can finish everything that needs finishing today and leave myself an excellent worry-free afternoon open for tomorrow. :) Have a wonderful Sunday all!

(PS Funny how calming all my "Hopelessly Romantic" music can be. When I started writing this I was cold and sore and grouchy, but I'm feeling much better and more optimistic now. Although I think I will be driving to the lab this afternoon... I think I've put in my walking for today!)