Today....

....feels like a beautiful day.

Some things I'm loving:

--Finally sun-bathing on the back deck again yesterday afternoon.

--An enjoyable and fulfilling afternoon/evening conversation with hub yesterday.

--Coconut popsicles and Coconut coffee creamer (yes, I'm STILL on my coconut kick!)

--Saturday morning low-cost pet vaccinations from LuvMyPet and a new purple collar for Anna so people might actually know that she's a girl...

--The garden: A bowl full of marionberries, a handful of bush beans, bags of lettuce, hoards of rhubarb, tasters of blueberries, and the beginnings of zukes, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, and other yummies.

--A Thursday evening out with friends at Montage (cajun food in the PNW). Food wasn't as great as we remembered, but the drinks and the company were perfect. In the bar after dinner, we half-participated in a game of hosted trivia, and dinner conversation covered everything from basic tid bits, to documentary reviews and suggestions, the current state of environmental and maternity affairs, sports debate, and hiking suggestions--making me so glad to be back amongst friends in the PNW. Friend's boyfriend is new to the PNW and hub and him got along well, so here's hoping the four of us can make a regular venture out for food and convo.

--Visits with cousins--an evening advice & catch-up session with one and an afternoon tour & chat with another at her home. Nice to spend a little time back with family.

--Checking off items on my to-do list for work and business.

--The sound and smells of the neighborhood: sprinklers in the evening and afternoon BBQs. The whistles from the high school football field with their summertime practices.

--Two dogs lazing next to the couch and a black cat curled up by my feet.

--A scheduled first Book Club meeting next month and the start of scheduling for the new public health discussion group.

--Completed professional observations (even if I did stress myself into sweaty feet, major cheek break-outs, and a few extra cortisol induced inches along my waist line...). ;)

--And the best thing of the month: hub constructed me a work space/desk out of a spare closet. It's the perfect amount of space for me and now I have a spot for passed course work, this term's notes, old text books, bills, etc. It's seriously perfect and absolutely wonderful---I love functional, simple gifts best of all...

Some things settling upon my soul:

--Excitement for babies, near and far.

--Five and ten year plans (in pencil)...

--Thoughts about how re-selfish I've become, mainly stemming from this topic:

     ---Famine in the Horn of Africa. Mercy Corps got ahold of me via an email plea the other evening, my heart broke, and my pinched wallet gave after a second "sign" came via a random mention of something similar in a new book I just started. Every once in a while, God cracks through my hardened soul in a new way or maybe by a remembered lesson. I've been giving regularly via a mission related to my Presbyterian background and actually was going to withhold this month since we're a little tighter on funds lately......but sometimes it takes a smack in the face to make me realize that what is "tight" to me is nothing compared to what is tight or non-existent for so many individuals on this planet. How frequently I take so much for granted, how frequently I fill my house with food, with clothes, with furniture, and most of it isn't even needed. I fill my life with extra possessions to fill "some void" when most individuals on Earth are just trying to survive. Makes me begin to take a hard look at how far I've come since my whole purpose of starting this blog....and so my heart and mind are opening (ever so slowly) and my wallet emptied a bit more to attempt to make even the slightest difference if I can.

A mixed bag of blessings, remembrances, gifts, lessons, appreciation, and determination added to a lil' bit of old fashioned hope. It's a great day to be alive.