A good day

When I woke up this morning and before I even opened my eyes, I realized that the rain had stopped. There was no pitter patter on the roof, and I could sense less dampness in the air. Opening my eyes confirmed what I was hoping..... the sun was shining! That, in itself, was enough to make today a good day. But from start to finish, one nice thing after another happened.

I got to sleep in. After two weeks of Saturday-school, it was so nice to have a real weekend. I slept until I woke up of my own accord -- no alarm, and I didn't even hear the roosters.

The morning sun streamed in the kitchen windows. As I sat on the bench alongside the stove, coffee in hand, I closed my eyes and let the rays of sun warm my face and my spirits.

Flowers were blooming everywhere. Now that the rain has stopped, the sun is encouraging more and more flowers to show their beautiful faces. On my way into town today, I saw the first irises and apple blossoms of the season.

I heard Abba today in the marshutka. How could that not make any day great?

I successfully used a lot of Georgian. In town today, I went to the market to get some clothespins and some groceries. I had no trouble communicating with any of the people I bought things from --  I even asked for things by the kilo and understood all the numbers I heard.

I went for a long run today. Well, sort of long -- an 80-minute run isn't really long for me, but it's all I had time for. I wore short sleeves and capris!

Two of my friends got engaged. Happy day!

Sports dominated the house tonight. Usually the TV in the kitchen is monopolized by Elene, "Our Grandmother," and Georgian-dubbed Mexican telenovelas. But tonight a soccer game was televised on the kitchen TV that wasn't on the other TV. (The TVs are hooked to two different satellite dishes, so they get different channels.) Georgia and Croatia played here in Georgia, and of course, Leban wanted to watch the game -- I did, too (I really miss watching sports). Georgia was the underdog of the game, and in the first half, it was obvious why -- Croatia completely controlled the game, but they didn't score. In the second half, though, the Georgian team started dominating the field, and with only 3 minutes left in the scoreless game, they scored a fantastically beautiful goal. Everyone in the kitchen went as nuts as all the fans at the game. It was great!

The stars were amazing tonight. When I walked up the stairs to the upper house, the black sky filled with pin-pricks of light stopped me in my tracks. Lovely.