Today was the day...

Today was the first day this year that I have been able to stand outside for thirty continuous seconds without bolting for my car. I look forward to this day every year. Today, when I opened my front door, I did not hunch over and run to my vehicle. It was nice, I won't lie. Spring makes me happy. It also makes my friends happy, because they get a break from my constant input about how people shouldn't have to live like this. Baseball will be showing soon, which is another boon to my existence. There's something comforting about a game that you can turn on, fall asleep on the couch for an hour or so, then wake up and have missed nothing. Pitching fascinates me - I don't know why. I don't play sports. The closest I ever came to joining a sport was throwing shotput in my senior year, and I think I did that just to get out of the house. Suffice to say that the venture was indeed unsuccessful. At any rate, tomorrow I might try one full minute outside the car. I'll report back on my progress.

Random story here:
This was about four years ago. My sister Rochelle and her husband took me out for my birthday. We went to Village Point, which is Omaha's answer to the Plaza in Kansas City. We went to dinner, and then we saw Rent, a musical that had been turned into a film. I had never seen the musical, but given its wild popularity, I figured the movie might be good. I was wrong. Some movies are just boring, some movies are so dumb that you can feel your IQ dropping, but Rent really lowered the standards to a whole new level. It was so bad that the three of us laughed the entire way through. It was that kind of giggle that is usually frowned upon in public places. In fact, there were many that did not share our mirth. (I think I'm trying to say that we were annoying.) At any rate, we retired to the lobby to wait for my sister to make a pit stop. At this point in the story, two things become very important. The first is that I was slowly recovering from a very bad cough. I generally only visit a health professional when there is a true emergency, like a gushing head wound. The second pertinent fact is that between fits of giggling during the movie, I had consumed almost an entire box of Hot Tamales. A great big box. I love Hot Tamales, but I have loved them a little less since that day.
We started giggling about the movie again, and before I knew it, I started to cough as well. My brother in law stood there, patting my back, and then I began to cough so hard that the Hot Tamales began to make an encore appearance. When I realized what was happening, I made a herculean effort to stop coughing - and then I caught a glance at Brad. He took one look at me, and RAN for some napkins - apparently he thought I was bleeding to death. At that point, I cough-laughed so hard that I had to sit down on the floor for a while. Brad was not quite as amused.

That's it for now - more random stories later!