Today Was a Good Day...

You know that Ice Cube rap tune where he talks about his "good day?" Momma cooked a breakfast with no hog and all that kind of stuff?

Today has not been the ideal good day, but it's been a much-needed "good day."

The only thing on my agenda today was a Valley Coach group swim at the Calabasas tennis and swim club. And since that swim was called for 8:30 a.m., I got to sleep in a little bit. And since there was no freeway traffic (another rarity), I arrived on time.

The swim was tough, but manageable, which I sense is a calculated scheme from Coach Gerardo. I completed my first set of interval training where the laps went from 100 to 400 yards and then back down to 100 yards, with the second set of intervals needing to be faster than the first. I wasn't quite able to go faster, but I hit the same 100 time on my closing set as my opening (two minutes) to feel good that I can shave time in the future.

Following the swim, I decided to visit my one of my favorite breakfast spots in all of Southern California: Joseph's Deli off Ventura Blvd. and Tampa. I've been going there with my family for as long as I can remember, so much so that I firmly recall the man who runs the deli today was working in the kitchen as a clean-up kid at least 20 years ago. After burning a ton of calories, nothing sounded (and tasted) better than Joseph's salami and eggs, with potatoes and an onion bagel. Unlike yesterday botched breakfast at Paty's, Joseph's got everything right the first time, and for $4 less too. Ahhhh, the little things.

From there, it was off to visit my grandmother at the Jewish Home for the Aging, just down the street. Once again, I had to fix the remote control so she could read the closed-captioning on the screen. Had I not gone, she would have just been staring at a blank TV screen all day. It's infuriating and frustrating that if someone in my family doesn't check on her, she may get a bit neglected. (C'mon people, go the extra mile!) But, my grandma was happy to see me and even able to communicate a little, which went a long way with me. I will remember that moment.

Finally, the rest of the day has been spent in the rarest of locations for me...the couch! I never have free-time. Time to just escape for a while and veg out. Time to not worry about working out, or work, or life, or a million other things that occupy my brain lately. It was even quiet enough for a nap since Trudy and Bam-Bam must not have been home. I avoided it though because I have a stack of videogames I need to play for work before I head back from break. Yes, I work in the videogames industry. Yes, I need to play games as part of my job, to stay current and all. You know, for research. On the docket today, FINALLY completing Uncharted 2, which truly lives up to the hype as Game of the Year in so many ways. The set pieces are stunning, the gameplay pacing is spot-on, and the camera angles fool you into thinking you're watching a movie. It's got everything you could ask for in a cinematic action experience.

I have a lot of stuff going on for the rest of the break. Some good, some not so good. Today, for just a few hours at least, I had a good day. My own day.

I didn't even have to use my AK!

337 days and counting.