Today I went to the gym, for the first time in probably two months, maybe even more. That's one routine I look forward to getting back into. It feels like I'm going to be sore tomorrow, but hey, it's a good kind of sore.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of waiting to take a shower until I got home, instead of in the locker room. And we didn't have any hot water. Zoë said she just took a cold shower and found it refreshing, but personally, I'd call it torture. Lukewarm shower - well, that's one thing, but an actual cold shower - if it's not fixed by tomorrow, I'd rather drive to Vermont Sun (the health club) than shower here.

I say that because it's not fixed yet. When I talked to dad about it on the phone, he thought it was a relatively simple problem. It wasn't until 9 p.m. when mom and dad were getting ready for bed that we noticed, hey, no one had actually seen any warm water yet. So dad spent some time on hold and gave a credit card number to a few people and finally persuaded an Agway technician to come out here while I was getting a fire started.

Meanwhile, I found an even better method of heating: pets. A few minutes ago I was sitting in a recliner watching TV, and no fewer than three cats and a pug made themselves at home on my chest, my lap, my side, and on the footrest between my feet.