6/30: closing out the month with good things

June went by quickly (oh so quickly), and I'm a bit sad about that.  But the last day of the month was filled with little goodnesses:

- Reading a novel over breakfast (and realizing how much more interested in it I am when I'm not reading it only right before I go to sleep).

- Sweeping the house while listening to an audio version of another novel.  Watching Tilde watch me sweeping.

- Playing with Tilde once the sweeping was done.

- Getting things ready to weigh Emma, and seeing him jump down from Chris' lap (a place he doesn't usually voluntarily vacate) to come over and be weighed completely willingly.

- Finding almost exactly what I needed at a store.

- Meeting my own self-imposed deadline for a project.

- Trying a new restaurant for dinner with Chris (and enjoying it).

- Getting to go kayaking (thanks to no threat of thunderstorms)!

- Laughing with our neighbors once I get back to the dock from kayaking because, it turns out, they tried the same new restaurant for dinner this evening themselves, just an hour after us.

- Talking with my brother on the phone.

6/29: cookies for breakfast

I tell myself it's okay to eat cookies for breakfast because these particular cookies have lentils, oatmeal, and walnuts in them.

6/28: afternoon on the road

The afternoon started with us dropping off some cookies I had made yesterday at a friend's house.  It felt good to share.  And then we continued driving until we got to new-to-us roads.  As we drove through the Ozark National Forest in Conway and Van Buren counties, I got out of the jeep to take a picture:

6/27: on the way

I was driving to my office this evening to do a little work when no one else would be around; it turned out to be an ineffective plan, since some office equipment didn't cooperate with my hopes.  But I saw a rainbow as I was driving to campus, and I pulled over to take a picture.  I only had my least-good camera with me, but it still feels lucky to catch a rainbow in any way.

6/26: super-quick reply

I've been in little contact with students or colleagues for awhile, what with sabbatical blending into the summer.  Today, however, I needed to get in touch with a student to ask if she'd work with me next year, advising the first-year students.  She's abroad right now, so I wasn't even sure she'd be checking her email.  But she was, and she wrote back to me within an hour or less, and very enthusiastically--a good and welcome reminder of the very good parts of my job that I'll be glad to reconnect with when fall rolls around.

6/25: solo

When I lived in Los Angeles, it wasn't odd for people to go to movies alone, and I like that in cities it's generally considered within the range of "normal" for people to go to movie theatres or restaurants by themselves.  In my now-less-urban existence, I can tell that people think it's unusual when I do those things on my own.  But today I didn't mind, and I was glad I went to a matinee.

6/24: tea-time

Afternoon tea and conversation with a friend, ending with somewhat of a plan to get together again soon!

6/23: getting into work

A slow start to the day, but in the late afternoon and into the evening I've made good progress on one of my summer projects.  It's been one of those nice spells when work doesn't feel like work.