Greetings from parts south and west of Monroe, LA!

Now that it's the weekend and with softball over, I have time to recap as I should. But first, the drop off of Cherry Coke Zero versus Cherry Coke is greater than that between Coke Zero & Coke.

*tries to spit out the aspartame aftertaste*

Anyway, it would appear I don't have any lasting effects from last weekend's apparent concussion. Still a little sore to rub the point where the ball conked me, but the headache and mental fog have cleared.

This past week marked a handful of milestones, two of which I will share with you.

(Neither of these milestones are my survival of a Fury Swipe or three from Boots, Amanda's cat, on the way up here to Monroe.)

First, Tuesday was Amanda's birthday. To celebrate, we skipped out on the gym and went down to the French Quarter. We took a dinner cruise on the Natchez. Weather was perfect. Food was good, but not extraordinary. Jazz was great. Company was lovely.

I recommend the dinner cruise if you ever get to visit New Orleans.

Second, since we skipped out on the gym Tuesday, I had my weekly (when it can be scheduled) workout with a personal trainer. This was rescheduled for Thursday, which is normally Amanda's day with the same personal trainer. Thus, I got someone new. We worked on my chest muscles, and I got to bench press for the first time in my 28¾ years.

It wasn't pretty.

These muscle groups have never, ever gotten worked. Ever.

It showed.

I successfully benched all of 65 pounds (29 kg) Thursday night. It was both hilarious and pathetic at the same time.

And my arms are still sore.

-KIE

P.S. If you've followed my blog at all, you should know that I don't haphazardly pull titles for blog entries. Any of you sharp enough to gather what the title means, I'll tell you that the answer is "yes". The rest of you will have to mull over the enigma for a bit longer. No hints, no confirmations.