A Small Smattering of What's On My Mind

• Last night a friend and I saw the new Steve Carell movie, "Dan in Real Life". If you're looking for something light and sweet, this is the movie for you. It was a really nice break from the multitude of post- 9/11 movies that are out right now. I don't know how you feel, but I have no interest in paying to see a movie about something I see for free on the nightly news.

• For the "never done that before and hope I never have to again" list: Coaxing a freaked-out cat out of a 30 foot tree. My next door neighbor, "W", saw the whole thing unfold and told me that Martin, with two big dogs in hot pursuit, ran to the base and didn't stop until he literally ran out of tree. It was a pitiful sight, especially because I could hear Martin crying. Finally after a lot of hand-wringing (because I'd never dealt with a situation quite like this), cursing (because Martin's people are incredibly irresponsible, deadbeat "caretakers" who not only let him run loose without a collar and ID tags but are also rarely home), and brainstorming about possible solutions (my best being walking down the road to the firehouse and sweet-talking the firefighters into helping), Martin s-l-o-w-l-y and carefully shimmied down on his own. Face-first, of course, just for extra drama. He's fine. I, however, needed a beer to settle my nerves

• As regular readers of my blog know, for the last week I've been struggling with an assignment given to me by my new career coach. The challenge is to come up with a list of seven to 10 satisfying activities which I enjoyed doing for the sake of doing rather than just the outcome. It's a tall order, believe me. There are lots of things I've done in which I've enjoyed the outcome but not what had to be done to get there (e.g. learning to water ski, becoming a licensed realtor, doing laundry, washing my dog, making vegetable soup), but thinking of things I've done in which I've also enjoyed the process is so much harder. This is what I have so far: a) as a child playing with my dollhouse and outlining whole communities using crayons; b) as a child making homes for my Fisher-Price people in the sandbox; c) creating mix tapes and CDs; d) baking almost anything; and e) horseback riding. I'm racking my brain for more ideas...

• Happy, happy birthday to my sweet mom. The first thing she said to me after I was born was, "I hope we'll be friends." We definitely are, Mom. I love you.