Ack! Did not mean to let more than a week go between journal entries.

Oh! But what a wonderful week, full of good friends, good drinking, good times... Any time I spent not at work (which was *horrible* this week b/c the toy buyer was out and I had to do her job and we were super busy... ) seemed infused with joy and beauty.

Saturday last Susan and I headed up to Napa, where we drank lots of good wine. She was dear enough to invite me and to drive, and I spent most of the day in a lovely, wine-colored haze of friendship and tannins. I feel that Napa is sorta magical, but that might be because of what a high percentage of the time there that I've spent intoxicated. The tastings are small, so you don't get *sloshed*. And I think I'm getting better at tasting the different flavors in the wine. I'm definitely less nervous about doing a wine tasting -- it helped that Susan pointed out that the people behind the counter spend all day long pouring wine for drunk tourists. I'm no expert, but I've done this before, so I felt I could express what I was tasting and not feel like an idiot.

Sunday, Holly, Aleister and I headed up to Berkeley to see Kodo which was *amazing*. The display of athleticism and rhythm, the use of crescendo, levels, the wave of even, pounding sound washing over us... I felt afterwards as if it was good for my blood, as you could feel the beats down to your bones. Really beautiful.

On the way there, Ali freaked out because Holly and I sang "The Christians and the Pagans" along with the stereo. He said he hated this song and wanted to sing "Start Spreading the News" (aka "New York, New York") by himself. He was bawling, because we finished the song before we let him sing (seriously, not going to be ruled by a 4-year-old). He sang the saddest version of "New York, New York" I've ever heard (a kid sobbing through the line "I'm leaving to-day" is a very melancholy sound), but he was also just hilarious, so we laughed, which made him even madder... Oh, so funny. Lucky for us he took a nap during the drumming (!) and was an angel after the show.

We met my old college friends, Becky and Ricky, and their children after the show. Haven't seen them in too long -- long enough to be meeting their 5-year-old for the first time! They have beautiful, smart kids. Todd came up to join us and we hung out, let the kids play together, and caught up. They live in Sacramento now, so I will hopefully get to see them more often.

The rest of the week was mostly me working hard all day, going to the gym to destress (I love it that I *want* to go to the gym these days) and snuggling at home with Tim. Thursday night I met up with Todd to hang out, catch up, bar-hop, which was lovely. Todd's one of my oldest friends, and he's way fun to hang out with. I haven't bar-hopped in so long that I don't remember the last time, and even though that's a pricey way to get your drink on, it's hella fun.

Yesterday was deal-with-hangover day (which could have been worse w/out D's hangover cure), so I skipped the gym after work and came home, ordered in Thai food, and hung out with Tim watching the latest season of The Sopranos on DVD.

If it wasn't for the stressful day job, life would be just about perfect.