What makes you happy today?

[TheBlackSheep]

Emiliana, that sounds awesome! My girlfriend lives in New Jersey now and over the weekend she went on a hike and saw a watchtower from the Civil War and all of the barely changing leaves. I'm jealous of all of you that get an autumn. All we have here is a it's-no-longer-so-hot-that-you-want-to-die.

As for me, the PTSD meds work enough that I no longer feel like I'm dying, and the new antidepressant isn't giving me crazy side effects (so, should it work, things look good that I will tolerate it). All of this has amounted to me going jogging (!) three times in the past few days without hating life, exercise, or the futility of it all. Also I just landed my first highly lucrative tutoring hours, and things look good for me getting the job I actually want (even if the pay is $3k/year less than they said). Also, I'm going to see my girlfriend for Halloween.

Wow, I didn't realize that there were so many good things until I wrote them all down. Sometimes Mormon tropes are right. (Though I'm also working on not minimizing the terrible things, so let's consider the terrible things, which are more than I want, acknowledged. Break.)

[Emiliana]

I've been vaguely out of sorts the last couple of days, nothing huge, but little things kept going wrong--I overslept, the copier jammed, a pile of paperback books fell out of my cabinet, I'm behind on grading, that sort of thing. And also, there is still a chance that Trump will be my president in the near future. Then this morning my water bottle came open in my bag and made a big mess, and I was REALLY grumpy. (I'm getting to the happy part, I promise.)

Then a kid came by to turn in a paper, saw me cleaning up, and spent ten of his precious minutes before class helping me clean up. It was a little thing, but it re-assured me that there are decent human beings in the world. And I carried that with me all day today--there are decent human beings in the world.

[Shrinky Dink]

I have been cancer free for just under five years and my doctor actually said it was appropriate for me to use the term "cured"!!!

[Cognoscente]

I have been cancer free for just under five years and my doctor actually said it was appropriate for me to use the term "cured"!!!

WOW! Fantastic!! That's wonderful.

[Portia]

^That is indeed good news, SD.

Finally FINALLY met with the chair of the English department at my grad school (and wrote and submitted a piece to a contest that actually stands a chance of being winnable!).

[Marduk]

Finally FINALLY met with the chair of the English department at my grad school (and wrote and submitted a piece to a contest that actually stands a chance of being winnable!).

I didn't even realize you were in a program. What's the program, and where is it?

[Emiliana]

Running is keeping my anxiety more or less under control!

[Portia]

Finally FINALLY met with the chair of the English department at my grad school (and wrote and submitted a piece to a contest that actually stands a chance of being winnable!).

I didn't even realize you were in a program. What's the program, and where is it?

I'm afraid to jinx it at this point, enough has gone wrong.

It's an M.A. in not-Utah, I'll say that much. Hoping to move out in seven months.

[Emiliana]

I've had, not a bad week per se, but a very long one. So today before I got home from work, Marx cleaned the bathroom, did the dishes, washed the sheets, and walked the dogs. My 12-year-old self would find it very strange that my current self finds that so romantic, but there you have it!

[Whistler]

definitely romantic