Why next Tuesday is The Most Important Day of my Life

BT told me something over a decade ago that I liked so much I wrote down:

"Our life is a collection of moments. Nothing more. Who we are is also determined by what we do in each of those moments. Decide who you would be and then act in each moment as you would have yourself act... If we commit to each moment and live it hard whether we are laughing, crying, working or playing. One day we will fondly remember a moment and realize it was years ago. We will look back and see years well lived."

After decades of watching people fret over the perfect prom night, the perfect wedding, the perfect anniversary dinner, the perfect vacation, the perfect birthday party, etc, I've concluded that I don't ever want more than 1/365th of my year's allotment of happiness to depend on a single day. At the end of our lives, the largest contributors to the sum of our days will not be the vacation days or the anniversary dinner nights. They will be the ordinary days, when we go to work, come home, and do not much of anything in particular. That's why it's so important to make our ordinary days meaningful. That's why it's completely unacceptable to me to have a job I hate, remain in a bad relationship, or live in a place where I'm unhappy. If the job funds a fantastic vacation, it won't be enough to compensate.

Last Tuesday was one of the best days of my life. I went for a trail run with the dogs, went to work, came home with DL, made dinner, had dinner with good cheap wine, walked the dogs (again!) on the trail, came home, sat in front of the fire, and went to bed smooshed in between Autumn and DL. You can't beat that. This despite having slipped on the ice outside Gold Hill on my way home, smashed two bottles of red wine into my coat, bruised the heck out of my knee, and bitten my lip and made a bloody gash. An incident like that could ruin a birthday, but it doesn't ruin Tuesday. :)

In other news, Miss Starbuck loves her kennel. DL and I had set her up a sled dog setup behind the cabin--complete with a chain on a spinner and a straw-lined box. She's not quite fully housebroken yet, so we thought we'd leave her outside nights and while we are at work. However, the second night she howled half the night, so we bought her a kennel to sleep in. She likes it and often naps in there even when the door is open: