It's a beautiful, spring-like day today, to make up for all those days of rain. Warm sunlight, a cool breeze, and a bright blue sky... I've made plans to meet a friend for a joint Nika-walk, and I can't wait!

I finished about 80% of my goals yesterday, which isn't too bad. I wrote 850 words on my article, nearly finishing it...I typed in the rest of Chapter Ten and the beginning of Chapter Eleven, although I didn't write any new pages...I took Nika out on a walk in the pouring rain, but then she turned herself into a dead weight, sat down, and performed numerous acts of passive resistance (nonviolent civil disobedience, as perfected by Nika) until I finally gave in and let her pull me back home, where she shook herself off and spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in front of the fireplace, shooting me piteous looks as her fur dried.

But hey. I had a fantastic phone call in the middle of all of it, with my closest friend back in the US, and it made me feel great. And 80% of a set of ideal goals isn't bad. I'll finish the article today, and I wrote 3-1/2 more pages of Chapter Eleven this morning. Nika's walk is coming soon.

It's hard to feel too guilty in the sunshine.