Things I read today that stood out to me:
Contemplate, not react.
Ponder, not plan.
Pay fuller attention to the miracle of life itself.
Now is your life. Live it. Love it. That’s all you can do. You won’t get anything else. You won’t get another moment.
Go down the gratitude rabbit hole and see where it takes you – how far can you go?
Things at work are on an upswing, the board hired a permanent Executive Director and he started on Monday! It does mean that things will be pretty busy as I work on onboarding and handing everything over, but it is so good to know there is somebody who will be permanently taking on the role and working to make the organization stronger. It is such a fantastic group of people – staff and volunteers – and does such incredible work for the community, it’s important that there is good leadership to help the organization grow. The new ED is very excited and has already developed positive relationships with the team. I’m excited to see where he takes things.
Besides work, I spent some time looking after Winston while Emmy went down to Southern California to visit a friend and her cousin. She spent the day at Disneyland and California Adventure Park with her friend Sarah, who she’s known since she was born. Sarah‘s mom was my best friend when I was a kid and her grandma is my mom‘s best friend. It’s really cool to see a third generation of friendships. While she was gone Winston kept me busy. We got out for walks where he played in the water and managed to get slobber all over his face. Emmy’s neighbor already had his house and yard decorated for Christmas!
I would’ve loved to spent all day outside because of the incredibly beautiful trees whose leaves just become more vibrant every day.
I also looked after Javi for a couple of days, we got out to Muir Beach where he had a blast running in the water and digging in the sand. Also got out for a few walks in the neighborhood and got my laundry hung out to dry.
Last Sunday, my mom celebrated her 89th birthday and most of the family was able to be there to celebrate with her. After everything that she went through over the summer and fall, it is so good to see her doing so well and enjoying time with everybody.
The next week when I was at Emmy’s she tried out a ‘couch defender’ that my sister Michelle uses to keep her dogs off the couch. It was not so successful with Winston – at one point he managed to push one end off the couch and later he just burrowed underneath it! Back to the drawing board.
The rainy season has finally started, and we are all relieved. Fall is always a scary time because it’s usually the height of fire season. You never know when the big fire of the year will start, and often it has happened in November if there hasn’t been much rain. One morning I got out for my walk and saw the most dramatic skies – clouds and the sunrise competing to be seen creating amazing colors. As I headed back to the house, I was also treated to a beautiful rainbow. Made for an amazing start to my day.
