On our way, Malala

The rain persisted all day yesterday; it does have a way of dampening the mood after a while. And while I love good storms, and even the occasional rainy afternoons, the past few days of deluge have made me feel heavy and tired. Or perhaps that's just sadness and saying goodbye; perhaps it's a grief concert played by nature and self. I had tickets to hear NPR's Michel Martin interview Malala Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin, at the Sidwell Friends Meeting House last night. A house dedicated to peace, contemplation and communion was the perfect venue in which to hear this poised, brave, inspiring young woman and her wonderful, equally brave father, tell their story. This week marked the one year anniversary of Malala being shot by the Taliban, and as you might know, she was recently nominated for tr Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest nominee ever. She didn't win but feels she did in a way. I'm looking forward to reading her book.

Jack and I are at DCA now, soon to board our first flight towards home. I am so glad he's coming with me, and he is happy too. His school nurse and librarian sent us off with three wonderful, age-appropriate books about death and life cycles, so we'll read those and some more Harry Potter during the next few hours. I was sad to leave T and Ol, clad in his Cinderella dress/slippers/gloves behind but this will be a good trip for Jack and me, and I know my mom will draw strength from our presence.

The perfect means to cheer, thank you everyone

One of my dearest friends, S, who I've known for thirteen years now wrote me yesterday morning and said this: "Doll, screw that ole bag Alice Munro.  You should be winning the Nobel in literature this morning.

You should read the Philly story in the Home and Garden section of the Times today.  I miss Philly.  Life is just so easy there.  Not hard like New York.  I think you need to do a piece and ruminate on your Philly days.

BTW, Sandra Bernhardt lives on my street and said to Macho last night on our walk: "Aww, cutest fucking dog ever."  What a classy lady."

I swear to god I haven't laughed this hard in ages. S (his nicknames include Stoli, Doll, Shawnie-Shawn-Shawn), I love you. And to all of you out there who have reached out to me with such love and support and kindness and thoughtfulness, thank you. Thank you so very much.

The best-laid plans

I slept in the basement last night to "get some real rest." At 1:45 this morning, the power went out, the battery back-up (in the storage/HVAC room immediately adjacent to the guest room) for pretty much every computer component in our house went berserk -alarms beeping, the printer printing as if it were consumed by a lunatic spirit- and I was up. This happened three times so I finally made my way back upstairs and into my own bed. Oliver came in at 4 complaining that his clock was blinking and because "I sleep with my eyes open, it's bothering me." Good god. I sent him back to bed but he returned just before 6. Then Jack came in. Then the cat. I feel like I've been hit by a truck, it is dark as night outside, still raining and I have a loooot to do. Also I slept in a funky way on my pillow so now feel creaky and achy and must look like the hunchback of Notre Dame. When Jack got home yesterday, I asked him how he was, and he said sadly, "I wish you'd stop reminding me. I miss Nanny." I asked if he'd want to go to Lake Charles with me for the visitation and funeral, and seriously, y'all, your heart would have burst: he looked at me with relief and love and said, "I would like that so much." So I bought the two of us tickets and we leave first thing tomorrow morning. I think it will be a good experience for us and certainly a time of closeness and connection.

As Tom made our coffees this morning he noted that Silvia, our espresso maker is nearing 11 years old. She was my first present from Tom; he said he gave it to me with the belief that it would be ours, rather than just mine, in the near future. We did the math on the not-going-out-for-coffee-each-morning and think we've saved nearly $30,000. Isn't that insane to think about?! That's before minusing out what we spend on coffee beans, but still!