I had a day filled with good people and food. Celebrated a birthday at vegan comfort food favorite The Chicago Diner. 

Later, I had a delightful dinner with friends Suzanne and Wayra. Amazing homemade red Thai coconut soup - Suzie's a great cook! Wayra has been on a great art kick lately and I got to take home one of her wonderful pieces.

Mama and daughter showing off original artwork and modern "paper" dolls. 

I have some wonderful people in my life - so much love.

It was brought to my attention earlier today that I haven't posted for two days. Unacceptable! I started this project on the first of the year, hoping to post every single day. I believe have missed three days altogether now, in this third month. Perhaps that would be a good goal, to not miss more than one day a month. I am back, hopefully to stay for awhile on the daily routine.

It was a lot warmer today - the sun was out in the most beautiful, bright way. Lovely. I went out running yesterday and today. It was good to be back in my running shoes. I haven't been getting much exercise lately - using my tiredness, my busy life, and winter cold as excuses.

I had a friend tell me once that running is total freedom for her. I remember not relating to that at all, but I think I got a hint of that a bit these past couple of days. Running gave me the real sense that my worries about work, fear about the future, and chatter in my head just could just drift away as all that energy got extended through my movements. It was just me and the birds chirping, a tease of spring air on my cheeks, and my steady breath.

I used to hate running. Ever since I can remember, my dad has been a runner. He would encourage me to get out there with him (or without) when I was growing up. I would resist.

Now running with my dad is something I treasure. We make sure to go for a run together every time we visit each other.

My dad is much more of an avid runner than I am. He inspires me to continue running even when we are apart. 

I have found a friend to run with here and I find it so helpful to have a running partner, though over the past couple of days, my jogs have been a nice solo activity to help me clear my head.
I love that all you need is a pair of running shoes and you can go. Get some fresh air, get some exercise, get some energy out there. It can be meditative, it can be really hard, it can be just what you need. I do it in such small doses, but I love that it's in my life nevertheless.

Today I ran through lots of  puddles as all the snow was melting away.

The Chicago Cultural Center is a standby date for Niall and me. I always think I don't want to go because we have been so many times and I want new, new, new all the time, but every time we go there I am glad we did. It's free, there's always new art, and the building is lovely. This time we even got a big Metropolis coffee to share and my grumbles about getting out the door and the day wasting away soon melted away.  

How do we fall in love?

 

You don't fall in love like you fall in a hole.

You fall like falling through space. It’s like you jump

off your own private planet to visit someone else’s

planet. And when you get there it all looks different:

the flowers, the animals, the colours people wear. It

is a big surprise falling in love because you thought

you had everything just right on your own planet,

and that was true, in a way, but then somebody

signalled to you across space and the only way you

could visit was to take a giant jump. Away you go,

falling into someone else’s orbit and after a while

you might decide to pull your two planets together

and call it home. And you can bring your dog. Or

your cat. Your goldfish, hamster, collection of

stones, all your odd socks. (The ones you lost,

including the holes, are on the new planet you

found.)
And you can bring your friends to visit. And read

your favourite stories to each other. And the falling

was really the big jump that you had to make to be

with someone you don’t want to be without. That’s

it.
PS You have to be brave.

 

-Jeanette Winterson

Last week, part of the conference took place at the SPCA of Texas in Dallas. I loved all of the light.

              

I really wanted to take this lovely, longing nine year old girl named Roscoe home-

Last night I had fun watching the Oscars with friends from work. Like usual, we had some great vegan food.  A platter from Native Foods, an above-and-beyond ice cream bar our host prepared, and this homemade lovely blueberry pie a friend made-

It has been an exhausting week in so many ways. It was really nice to be surrounded by these good people, watching warm Ellen DeGeneres on television lead us through this fancy, fun event. 

My aunt Madeline passed away just after Thursday turned into Friday. It's hard to fathom this strong, loving,vibrant woman no longer being here. I will remember her singing. I will remember her blue mascaraed eyes, always with a twinkle in them. I will remember her sense of adventure, her seeking, and her hugs. Such a big part of processing this is looking at photos, sharing stories, and remembering.  

Such a beautiful lady-

This was at my uncle Jon's memorial in Cincinnati this past summer. My dad on far right with his siblings - his  deceased brothers Jon and Pat there in spirit.  

Here's Mad on Lake Michigan during my wedding weekend. 

Right now, I can't stand that I can't find a photo of just us together. I suppose that's not entirely true- I did find this one from my cousin Allison's wedding- 

I'll hold onto that right now.

UPDATE: Niall cropped this photo for me - how sweet...

Madeline was such a wonderful aunt. I'm so grateful she was mine.