Oof, I forgot how hard jet lag can be! In the Olde Days (TM), I used to be a good, brave traveler when I went from America to Europe by staying up all the way until a reasonable European bedtime (which meant about 36 hours of wakefulness beforehand). I gave up on that policy and fell asleep the moment we got home yesterday morning, only forcing myself up again at 3pm, and keeping myself up from then until 10pm with lots and lots of blinking and self-control. When the alarm went off at 9am this morning (or 4am Michigan-time, as my body reminded me!) I thought: No. I cannot. Nothing is worth this! Then I remembered why we'd set the alarm: to go pick up Maya! So I pulled myself out of bed after all. And it was so worth it. Mayamayamaya! We found her looking healthy and happy and very petted and loved by the big family we'd left her with (including three kids who obviously adored her), all of whom chimed in to tell us sweet or funny stories about her from the past two weeks. She was happy to see us, but not in a manic, worry-inducing way - she seems to have had a good time, overall. It was a much, much better homecoming than it would have been if we'd left her at a normal kennel, as we'd originally planned.

Now she's curled up against my legs on the couch as I type, and everything feels right again. Mmm. It's amazing how much more home-like the house feels now that she's back with us again - yesterday it felt pretty empty. Right now Patrick is heroically defrosting our refrigerator and freezer, while a rugby game plays over the radio. I'm in the middle of reading one of my birthday presents, Patricia McKillip's Solstice Wood, which is just wonderful - a contemporary (but not urban) fantasy set in rural New England, with magic that's creepy and mysteriously beautiful, with a real feeling of Otherness, and yet feels natural and believable at the same time. Really, really good.

And then for something completely different...tonight we'll start watching another of my birthday presents, Season 3 of Coupling (a British version of Friends that's darker, sharper, more explicit, and much, much funnier)...if I can stay awake that long.

Apologies to everyone whose emails I haven't replied to yet - I will soon, I promise!