I�m feeling oddly really good today.

Maybe it�s because it�s summer, and I love the hot and sunny weather, or maybe because Adam is on summer break, and has been taking care a lot of household chores, which frees me up to have a life outside of work and household duties. Maybe it�s because I�ve been meditating more often, lately.

Maybe it�s something I�m not even thinking about, or a combination of everything.

Ever since Adam has gotten out of school, I�ve been waking up on weekend mornings with an agenda. I�ve been reorganizing, and updating little things in the house; things that I didn�t have time to do when there were baskets of laundry to tackle, dishes to do, floors to clean, etc., and have been wanting to get done for the past couple of months.

I really dislike those big box stores that sell the cheap things for getting small household jobs done, like Ikea and Lowes. I go in there, and I never get out. I walk in, and the next thing I know, it�s an hour later, I have $100 worth of merchandise in my cart, and I can�t remember why I went there in the first place.

Going there on an actual mission is the only way to make the experience somewhat sane, but then it feels like running a marathon because the place is HUGE and the two things I want are shelved two miles apart.

Anyway, Saturday morning, I didn�t wake up with a home improvement mission in mind. Instead, I woke up, saw the gorgeous day, and decided that my mission for the day would be to have fun. I wanted to go frolic in NYC. This meant that I had to get Mr. Morning Cranky Pants up at a reasonable time, so we could make the two hour trek.

It happened, I got him up at a reasonable time, and we were out the door by 10, and in New York by noon.

Our first stop was a kosher deli, so Adam could get a bagel.

While he was polishing that off, we passed an organic restaurant with outdoor seating. Their menu showed plenty of vegan and vegetarian dishes, and they were serving brunch. Really, could you get any better?

My idea to be vegan-ish went out the window, as I ordered a crepe dish that included two eggs. The meals were hearty and good, but still, nothing to write home about.

The rest of the day was random wandering. We stopped by the public library. The one other time I�d tried to visit the library, they were closed for an event, so I�ve never been inside. Ever since seeing Breakfast at Tiffany�s, I�ve always wanted to go in, but I previously didn�t have the time, when I was in NYC, or wasn�t in the right part of the city. But, it was a day of doing whatever we wanted, and we had full metro cards, so who was stopping us?

During our wanderings, we also passed by Tiffany�s. Adam asked if I wanted to go in and take a look, and I said that I would feel weird going into a store where I had no intention of buying anything. It doesn�t seem right to treat a store like a museum, so we passed it up.

Also, I glanced in the window, and saw that the inside no longer looked anything like it did in the movie.

We spent some time walking in the park, then took the subway up to the Columbia campus, because I�d never seen that before, either. I was surprised at how quiet the neighborhood was, but Adam said it was probably because it�s summer. After some wandering and another kosher deli stop (I had some awesome baklava), we wandered past the Seinfeld caf�, and then took the subway to Chinatown (Yes, we were all over the place), to end the day with some vegan dim sum. It was quite good.

While we were there, we fantasized about Adam getting a job at NYU or Columbia, eventually, but then it occurred to me that living in New York might mean that I�d have to continue working full time, and blah, I don�t want to do that. Adam said that if we lived there, he�d just eat all the time, and end up getting fat. After visiting the second kosher deli, I said the same thing about myself, especially after I caught myself saying things like, �You know, I�ve never had an egg cream, where do you think we could get a good one?�

What we did on Saturday is definitely one of my all-time favorite activities, but I didn�t fully relax into it. I wonder if feeling good today is just a delayed reaction.

On the way home from NYC on Saturday, my car was making an ungodly sound, so we took it to the mechanic on Monday. I got it back the same day and for less than $350, which, is far as I�m concerned, is a good day at the mechanic�s.

Monday, we also had a guy come to do an estimate for getting new carpet for the house. We were supposed to know the estimate, by now, but apparently, the guy has disappeared off the face of the Earth. I hope nothing bad has happened to him, but at the same time, I want my carpet, dammit!

Monday night, I taught a yoga class for the first time in a while. The students had evaporated, so I had stopped teaching. Then, last week, the studio owner sent me email telling me that she had a few students that she thought would be better suited for my style, so could I teach a class on Monday?

I felt like I was horribly out of practice, but I also felt like class went fairly well. I�m hoping to get re-inspired to want to do this, because during that non-teaching spell, I really didn�t have that much desire to go back to it.

My neck and shoulders have been tense and bothering me for the past couple of weeks (probably not enough yoga). I went to get a massage about a week ago. It was good, but it didn�t fix the problem. I made an appointment with chiropractor for tonight. Hopefully that�ll fix things.

My brother is visiting from Turkey the first week of July. I scheduled massages for both of us, right before it�s time for him to leave Philadelphia, for a trip to the Midwest to visit friends and family. That�s the odd dissonance between us. I see myself as undeniably American, but I don�t truly belong in any region of the United States. My brother is a Midwesterner. It�s amazing what a difference a few childhood years will make.

I counted my days in Wisconsin, until the minute I could leave. It was just not my place, but my brother made it home, and only opted to leave once he got a job in Japan. When he visits the states, Wisconsin is high on his list of places to visit.

I actually live in the US, and I haven�t been to Wisconsin in over a decade. It�s where I graduated from high school, and I have friends and relatives there. I just can�t bring myself to go.

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