Oh, friends, what a goddamn week. I’m sorry to everyone who had to live through that week. If you’re able to call your senators and representatives this upcoming week about the tax bill, please do it. If you’re not, hang in there because you have people rooting for you.
Despite all the shit in Congress, I am feeling ~98.6% better about life than I was last Sunday. Here are a few of the reasons why:
This week, one of my very favorite people came to visit, and I was able to give her a small gift that I’ve been hanging onto for her since December 2016. Seeing her is always such a joy. She made me laugh, I got to give her hugs, and we watched an episode of Black Sails together. All the things that are best in life.
Our fanfic podcast went live (after more time spent editing than you can imagine), and I learned that someone I made friends with on Twitter because she’s a fan of the podcast is the whole entire reason I now read fanfic. That is slightly an exaggeration but not much of one: She consulted on the Vulture article that got me started reading fic, and the first fic I ever, ever read (The Shoebox Project) was her recommendation. It made me super happy to learn that someone I really like introduced me to something I really like. Synergy!
My cousin called. If you are among the fortunate people in my life who haven’t had to listen to the tragic and tedious saga of 2017 Family Drama, you may not appreciate how momentous this is. But it meant a lot to me.
I saw an Akita out with its human and suddenly remembered one of my very favorite dogs from childhood, my grandmother’s Akita, Buddy. Until I met Jazz, Buddy was the best dog I had ever met, and it remains a very close run. Buddy was always gentle and sweet with me and my cousins, no matter how annoying we were. When he wanted pets (i.e., as soon as we got out of the car at my grandmother’s), he walked over to you and lean heavily against your side. If you were the smallest girl in your class, you really had to brace yourself against Buddy’s affectionate leans. He was such a good, good, good dog. I am sad that he is gone, but happy to have had the years with him that I did.
Finally, my baby nephew has been adorable this week even by his standards. I was over at my sister’s place, and she was fixing me a gin and tonic, and my nephew reached out, touched the bottle of Hendrick’s with one finger, and said, “Gin.” I said, “Whoa, what?” and he said, “Gin.” He also went to the bookstore with my mother and had a fit of delight over discovering that the bookstore had some of his favorite books. He toddled over to the shelves and tried to take them down so my mother would read them to him. This kid’s a genius and has excellent priorities. I would alter nothing.
Tell me your good things! Link them below or get at me in the comments.