lazy day

Dinner and a late night talking with a friend turned into a late start today with a long nap in the afternoon, leaving enough time to finish a book, but less time to anxiously wait for news I'm hoping for tomorrow.

isn't she lovely

Had a video call with my Cambodian mentee, and I love her already. Can't wait to get her into college and meet her next year.

suddenly

I can't remind myself enough times that in the end, it's mostly about who you know and only a little bit about how much you stand out, and you never know which person you know is going to end up doing you the biggest favor with the greatest of ease.

perfection

That thing when a dog-loving friend decides she might be ready to start meeting dogs after losing her beloved dog of many years, but leaves the shelter to think about it, and then you send her a picture of a dog she didn't meet because he hadn't been brought out yet when she was there, and she goes back and adopts him the next day. That's a good thing.

complimentary

When a nice volunteer at the shelter stops you and says you're so beautiful that you should be a model. Aww, thanks, nice volunteer. I'm old enough to be a model's mom, but I'll take it.

my cheating heart

Spent a few hours at the shelter today, walking and cuddling dogs and trying to play matchmaker for them with all the people who came in for Clear the Shelters. Happy dogs make my heart happy.

wow

When you get an amazing offer and they are proposing to hand you both the thing they value the most and the thing you value the most, it's pretty humbling. And when you realize it's still not exactly right and don't take it, it's pretty scary. And then when you sign on for a really cool volunteer program in the meantime, it gives you hope that you can still make a difference without flipping your entire life upside down.

close call

Tire blew out when I was going 70 mph on the freeway on the way to work this morning.

The bad stuff: It was terrifying. My battery then died while I was waiting for AAA to show up. I missed my first two meetings. I have to buy two new tires. The wait time at the garage is two hours.

The good stuff: I didn't die. I actually had my AAA card with me and the guy came and changed the tire and jumped my car (fortunately he hadn't left when I realized my battery had died). I got into work in time for a massage that I had scheduled weeks ago. My schedule today was forgiving enough that I could come to the garage and buy new tires and get them installed, and still get work done in the mean time. The garage is by Target, so I can buy a few things we need. Henry made lots of friends at Target.

early bird

It's kind of crazy how much you can get done if you leave the house at 7 a.m. with a carefully plotted calendar.

hold me

Quick snuggle break before diving back into the inbox.

green thumb

Apparently, if someone gives me a box full of rich compost in the sun, appropriate seeds and plants, and strict planting and watering instructions, the plants don't all die. The tomatoes, radishes, cilantro, green onions, and jalapenos have been fun to eat, and the bees appear to like the sunflowers.

good start

Calendar looks jammed, so an apologetic treat in advance should make Henry's day a little better.

next up

French Laundry with friends, for no special occasion (except maybe heirloom tomato season?) in just under a month. This reservation was months in the making.

prime

Back into the thick of things, but then found out it's Amazon Prime Day, so I bought a new Kindle (the one I've had for five years is starting to hold less charge and get dinged up, and I'm a sucker for sales, and honestly, if there's anything I get my money's worth out of, it's my Kindle), and an electric toothbrush (to replace the one that died a couple weeks ago). I guess that's a happy early birthday to me?

10.5

That's the longest I've slept in one night in a long time. I should do that more often.

back to normal

Epic journey home, but only four hours after walking in the front door, my laundry is clean, the house is prepped for the cleaning lady, the dog is fed and walked, dinner is eaten, my work bag is packed, and I'm ready for reading then bed.

whirlwind trip

Saw lots of friends (several more than once -- this was the best part of the trip, catching up with so many of the best people ever), watched fireworks, bought about 29 kilos of gummy candy, ate way too much food and drank more wine than necessary. Despite only spending a little over two days in Zurich and five days in Italy, we packed in so much goodness that I was only able to finish two books!