It’s nearly 2. I haven’t yet had a chance to sit down to the computer to speed read through two dozen articles and find the one or two snippets of information that can boiled down for a good blog post. I enjoy doing it. Even if the rewards for this bizarre and nerdy activity seem more and more distant. I’ll get to it, my patient blog readers, but first let me tell what’s going on here.

It’s damn beautiful here in this corner of the world. I keep meaning to stop the car and take pictures of the little bits that are especially awesome — the ancient river rock walls that are sprinkled throughout our town, a patch of perfectly happy blue hostas, the twin baby girls rolling around on a blanket on the neighbor’s front lawn. I keep meaning to stop the car and snap photos, but usually I’m on the way someplace and I’m terribly late.

It’s so beautiful that I would rather not go anywhere. On Friday, I met some friends in New York City for dinner. And it really took a lot of energy to find a nice outfit and get on a train. I would rather putter in my backyard than drink wine in a cafe? Who is this person? In the end, I went and had a lovely time, even though I missed the connecting train and got stuck in Secaucus in 1 am. Steve had to come rescue me. Which was sweet, because Saturday was our 17th year anniversary. Husband the hero.

After a two-hour special ed PTA meeting this morning, I zoomed into the driveway and hauled the empty garbage cans back to the garage. The Chinese grandma inched by our house, holding the hand of her one-year old grandson. My roommate from college had a mom who didn’t speak English. Whenever I said “Ni How Ma” to her mom, she laughed hysterically.  I tried out my “Ni How Ma” on the Chinese grandma last week. And she also hysterically laughed. Now, she’s my best friend and waves enthusiastically whenever we cross paths during the day.

After a nice Greek salad with my sister for her birthday and a dozen or so little chores, I’m almost back to business.