Baseball is my refuge and my strength

Thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's post to express concern about my asthma problems.  I took it VERY easy for the remainder of the day, as I mentioned earlier, and made sure to get a full 8 hours of sleep.  One of the great things about good sleep is that it relaxes me, which really helps keep the airways open.  Today I also made an effort to NOT cough if at all possible.  The more one coughs, the more inflamed the airways get, so NOT coughing allows the inflammation to calm down.  I didn't start coughing until I had been up for more than 3 hours, and have been very careful to only do so enough to clear the gunk (sorry, I know that's yucky).  As a result, I've had much fewer problems breathing today...mostly it's happened when I've exerted myself or gotten a little bit riled up.

Speaking of exertion, I finally got to the laundromat and did nearly a month's worth of laundry.  Yes, a month.  Anticipating the oh so joyful experience of spending time at my neighborhood laundromat (it's usually a total ordeal), I did something that I figured would help keep me calm.  I brought along a "introduction to Buddhism" book to peruse.  I've taken a handful of meditation classes, done a bit of mindfulness work in therapy, and am at least somewhat interested in Buddhism, so I figured browsing through the book was an excellent way to learn a little bit more about the subject while attempting to remain impervious to the craziness around me.  As it turned out, today was the easiest time I've had at the laundromat in months.  All was calm.  There was one family there, as well as a single woman with a little boy, and that was it until I was getting ready to leave, when a neighborhood "laundry pal" of several years acquaintance wandered in.  He's very odd and a bit of a pill, but we hadn't seen each other in months so it was nice to catch up a bit.

Now I'm home resting my back a bit and having a pre-dinner snack before putting the laundry away and eating my REAL dinner, then it's time to start answering e-mails and LJ replies.  All in all, I can't complain about the way today turned out.  I'm too worn out from laundry exertion to do more decluttering this evening, but I've already picked out my spots for the next round, which will hopefully take place tomorrow evening.