Pleasures of the weekend

After feeling so weighed down by grief lately, I had a real brightening, lifting weekend. Thank God! It really started to lift for me on Saturday. Getting my hair colored did wonders. I'm happier with vibrantly red hair!

On Sunday, I drove over to see my wonderful friend Pam. We walked outside in the cold, which was more out of our exercise obligation than out of taking pleasure in the wintry air, though there is that...it especially feels good once you've conquered the first five minutes of being outside in it! And coming inside, now that's a pleasure.

Pam kept me for a while. We sat down to lunch--it felt SO good to have someone prepare a sandwich for me, I kept thanking her--we looked at the Sunday New York Times, talked about our work, family, love, and I got a few minutes to visit with her teenage son and his friends, who tested me on the "Name that tune" game...it was easy, "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. I flunked out on the second song, which was something by Donovan, I think "Mellow Yellow" (I didn't recognize it by the intro).

At Pam's I also got to hear a little bit of the "Emperor" Piano Concerto of Beethoven, on her boom box. I adore that piece. Pam thinks I should play it. Ok, I will, I even have the music, but I haven't an orchestra!

The rest of the day Sunday, I worked. A.J. and I postponed our driving lesson because I had a headache from the cold. Instead I went to the library at my university, and then I studied and proofread at home, in between chauffeuring A.J. to and from his bandmate's house. I had a good talk about love and the heart with my friend Stan on the phone. All of this was enjoyable. It was a quiet, cold, but good Sunday. I met my goals for work, and I had time with friends and A.J. and the dog. What a lucky girl I am some days. Seriously.

In the evening I returned A.J. to his dad's house, then took my work project to the publisher's (two days early!), and walked the dog in the clear, cold night. I had another long-distance talk, this one with my friend Mike, and came home to yet more reading and a beautiful scented bath before bed. Slept like a baby lamb (do baby lambs sleep well? I did).

I wish I could post a photo of how peaceful and good I feel this morning. I am excited about my upcoming trip, but not stressed. I fly to California again on Saturday morning. I expect to have wireless access every day and I am going to try to blog and post a photo each day from California, the 10 days I am there.