3/04/02 - 10:42 p.m.

I had a great day today. I stepped out of a building, and the crossing sign was changing to "Walk." I found lots of parking spaces, and meters with time left on them twice! It was even sunny....

I cheerfully ran through miscellaneous errands, then spent the afternoon driving to bookstores. Didn't find what I wanted, so I kept cruising around in the sun looking. Eventually, I'd visited six bookstores, and then -- back to the first one, which had had the best book all along! (Though I also bought a novel at bookstore #4 which wasn't available anywhere else....)

And then I felt so cheerful I did, in fact, finish all the administrivia behind a contract project I start tomorrow.

Today was my "stolen" day off. I pushed the whole project off until tomorrow for an extra day to store up some energy and run errands. And they all went so well, I felt terrific. Got my health insurance squared away -- and someone finally responded to a resume I'd sent in. (And when I missed their call, they called a second time!)

But best of all was: hearing from Lady Friend. She hadn't emailed since Friday, and she'd warned she was going to be busy, getting caught up on her own errands. But she stopped what she was doing to send me a short email. And I was delighted.

It's what was behind all the bookstores. She's inspired me to finish a project I'd lost enthusiasm for a-while back. It's something I can share with her, now, I decided, when it's done. I like having something I can "share" -- even when I'm on my own. You could call it an act of devotion, I guess. I like having something I can do that will remind me of her.

I'm not going to be with her for a while -- if ever. So it's good to have this....

And I'm still getting these unexpected bouts of cheerfulness, so something's definitely going right...