Well, the whole weekend was absolutely wonderful - one of my favorites in a long, long time - and then yesterday turned out to be The Day From Hell. So I've been swinging between extremes, here, and I'm just hoping for today to be closer to the weekend side (or at least not as horrific as yesterday).

Highlights from the weekend:

Going out with Patrick on a date to see Bridge to Terabithia. I loved, loved, loved this movie! I'd read the book way back in 5th grade (lo, these many decades ago), and remembered almost nothing about it except how much I'd liked it - which was enough to make me really skeptical about whether the movie would really work, especially based on the advertising. But the reviews were great, we wanted to go see something...and it turned out to be absolutely perfect. It's by far the best film I've seen about the actual experience of what it's like to be a kid, and the shifts between the real world and the imaginary world the kids invent for themselves are just beautifully done. This could have been really cheesy if done wrong, but it turned out to be Just Right - and despite some really sad parts, it was a very life-affirming movie, not a depressing one. This is one of those movies I loved so much, I'll definitely buy a copy when it comes out on DVD.

Realizing that - amazingly, shockingly, and miraculously - I still fit into my wedding dress, which means I get to wear it to the Dessert Salon at Wiscon! Woot! Not only is it the most beautiful evening gown I could possibly wear, but considering how self-conscious I've felt about my weight recently (after nearly 6 months without exercise), this counts as a MAJOR moral victory! I felt massively, massively reassured by it.

Watching Maya's eyes light up with awe and happiness when we gave her a fabulous new toy. Ridiculously expensive, but so worthwhile - she completely adores this one, she's been playing with it non-stop since Saturday and curling up with it to sleep. Amazingly, she hasn't even started destroying it yet - normally, she rips through new toys within an hour, maximum. This one is Special. And it has at least 7 different squeakers!

Horror Moments from Monday:

Walking across the kitchen floor to make breakfast and hearing ominous, squishing, watery sounds underneath the tiles.

Having to do an unexpected 30-minute walk in the middle of the day that left me really sick (damned CFS!)

Having to do an unexpected hour-long cleaning session afterwards, which made me feel Much Much Worse. Bah!

And then so much more...but on the bright side, I got to see a friend, ogle a baby, and cuddle with Patrick and Maya at the end of the day as consolation for all the bad stuff.

Now I've just finished Chapter Eleven and started Chapter Twelve of Kat by Moonlight, having passed the halfway point of the novel (WOOT!), and Maya is snuggled up next to me on the couch (and yes, of course, she's lying on ALL the pillows!). I've started my list of What to Pack for our flight to Toronto on Friday (hooray!), and although I hate packing, I find making packing lists to be oddly soothing, so I'm happy. The soundtrack to Doctor Who is still playing on my laptop, leftover from my writing session.

Overall, life is pretty good.