I keep meaning to put pictures up of the elaborate dinner party I had last week, but I haven’t had time. I will put them up sometime this week. There are so many other things going on right now that the dinner party seems like old news.

I like lists, so here is a list of life right now:

a. Last week I had three deadlines, one of which is 6,000 words of mini-reviews for a book contest.
b. Just visited my parents in Miwuk (up by Yosemite) for the weekend.
c. While there, I went through all my childhood toys. As a child, I drew a lot of pictures of women in beautiful dresses and comic books about wisecracking dogs.
d. I also carried on passionate correspondences with my pen-pals, a practice I now envy. I don’t know if I am capable of writing as good of a letter now as I was then, if judged on honesty, time, and intensity alone.
e. Kyle’s birthday is Tuesday. We are just going out to dinner.
f. I’m seeing Nellie McKay tonight and Dar Williams later this month in Petaluma.
g. Kyle is going to Tahoe in the middle of the week for his company off-site—a team-building getaway some former cheerleader thought up.
h. I am going on a road trip with Marcia to Humboldt County later this week.
i. I haven’t really looked at Humboldt with adult eyes, so it will be interesting to see what I think of the place where I grew up.
j. I hope there will be decent weather. That place is perpetually foggy.
k. We are staying at a Bed and Breakfast in Trinidad with a separate entrance and a view of the bay and lighthouse! Plus they will bring us breakfast at 8:45 in the morning. Classy!
l. Apparently, Kyle and I might also go camping later this month
m. In early September, we are going to Kentucky for over a week.
n. I said I wanted to go hiking in Kentucky, and Kyle said he had never heard of anyone doing that.
o. I am opening a bank account specifically so that we can put money aside for trips and vacations. Travel is very important to me. The first place we are going to is Puerto Rico. We’re thinking of going this winter.
p. Puerto Rico: