Run, run as fast as you can...

Officially, this economy sucks.

Self-employed people like my husband and me are used to hustling for work, but lately we seem to have to hustle harder to get the kinds of contracts that used to come to us easily.

Unofficially, I'm still the same old cheerful, pithy @juliejulie, and I'm still happy to wake up every day to see what the day brings. I'm still willing to force the day to bring me something.

But for real? Stress can take it's toll, even on me. Stress gives me insomnia, which can be a bit of a drag, when you choose a busy life like I do, where people expect to see high energy from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

So, I have new thing I'm doing to combat stress: whenever I feel the teeniest bit overwhelmed, I go for a walk or a run. I've been averaging 2 walks and one run a day. If my knees hold out, I should be in great shape by June.

Here's a picture of me after my mother's day run. I think I went 4 miles, but I was on trails and didn't know the exact distance. It sure felt like four miles! I'm running far enough now that I have to start brining a water bottle. This is a good sign.

So far, so good on my stress-fighting program. I'm sleeping well, and Stacey says I'm getting stronger, and lifting more weight at my workouts than I was last month when I started with her.

Plus, I just saw Star Trek today and I love how cute those Star Fleet gals look in their short dresses. I'm hoping all this running will make my legs short-skirt worthy. Except the What Not To Wear people say I can't wear anything too short, since I'm 43 now.

Anyone else have ways to deal with stress?