Oh happy day

It was a day full of many beautiful little things that combined for an overall really great day.

1. I woke up refreshed and happy. So did the baby.

2. I played a lovely volunteer fund-raiser for my favorite orchestra. I got to sight-read trios with two wonderful people while people walked around enjoying the lavish home gardens at which we were playing. No pay, but we did walk away with cuttings of a Star of Persia plant. So pretty!

3. Enjoyed the commute for the gig with my dearest friend. You know you have a special friendship when after three hours of talking, you feel a little panic when you turn onto her street because there is no way to fit all the conversations you have left into the two minutes before you arrive.

4. Came home to find that the newish baby-sitter had been fantastic with Luci. Not only that, but we enjoyed a few moments to converse and discovered we have all sorts of things in common.

5. Went out to run some errands and found my husband running the same errands after work. So fun to meet up unexpectedly and finish our errands together.

6. Worked in the garden just a bit - caging the tomato plants, snipping the arugula blooms, putting up a trellis for the cucumbers, and inspecting the new damage done by a critter who keeps eating my spinach and romaine plants, and which today also took one little bite out of a beautiful red strawberry, a leaf off a broccoli plant, and a few stalks from a cucumber plant. Apparently this critter wanted to try just a little of everything. Planted the Star of Persia (I hope it takes!). Getting excited about tomatoes, broccoli, and squash starting to grow.

7. Enjoyed the last of a set of homemade meals a family from church had given us last Sunday - leftovers from a party we could not attend the day before. They tried to think of who would appreciate it most and thought of us - which really touched us since I had been working so much last week we hadn't had time to go grocery shopping for this week yet.

8. Spent the later evening at home playing with Luciana and relaxing. (And had time to write on my blog!) Looking forward to vanilla ice cream with bananas and peanut butter later!

Nothing overwhelmingly special happened. And there were lots of less-than-ideal moments: We had to deal with construction traffic. I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for on my errands. I had to pay a baby-sitter for five hours during which I earned no money. I took stock of my rain-beaten perennials and realized the damage was worse than I had realized. But those things were just little drops in a bucket of contentment.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the pace of my life for the past several years and how very often on days like today I am just racing through trying to get to the end of it so I can do the same thing the next day. I often feel breathless (and perhaps bitter?) keeping up with myself. Maybe it was just the pleasant circumstances of the day, the company, or the beautiful weather that made it different, or maybe it was my attitude. Because even though I was fairly busy today, I feel rested, rejuvenated, and reminded of how great it is to enjoy the process of living.

It's a good feeling. It was a great day.