a day in the life

Today has been so shimmery I think I should write it. At the same time I fear that writing now, 17 minutes before midnight, may somehow take away from it. I'm not sure I've enough skill to write shimmer, and I'm so tired and filled up that my bed wants to wrap me up and pull me underneath at once. Still, I'll try.

My roommate and I woke up, emptied our desks and hauled them to a West Dallas garage sale. We are not moving anytime soon, but they were having a sale and we realized we don't ever use our desks. They serve mostly as what my dad poetically termed, "crap-stackers." So we emptied them and whisked off to a garage sale. Along the way we had confession, tears, good conversation and some earl gray tea. When we got back, I had to laugh at the stacks of stuff piled up in my room. I whined, "Chels, I don't know what to do with this stuff," to which she replied, "look! more room for piles!" I thought this was great, and now I think I like my pile room better than my room with a pretend desk where work was never done. I prefer to work at the kitchen table or my couch or the coffee shop or any place but that desk. Now, I have piles.

I felt cleansed from getting rid of something I don't need, and from good honest hard conversation with my roommate who loves me without judgment.

Next I caught up with my baby sister on the phone and we laughed and exhorted one another and watched for truth in our conversation, and I organized my piles. Shortly after, I went to a local nursery to browse their flowers and spices. I decided I wanted to grow things, but that now I can't. So I will someday. Someday, I will have a garden.

Then a friend called with a direct answer to prayer. We went to White Rock Coffee and he poured truth into me and we prayed and I understood things more. And that is ambiguous and unclear but he was a good friend to me and I needed one.

Then I went for a walk at my lake. (White Rock Lake is my lake. It is also a lot of other people's, and we get along quite well). White Rock Lake hosts the most eccletic group of people a lake has ever hosted, and I couldn't help smiling watching the old men who take care of the ducks, the spandex people, the hippie hula hoopers (I was secretly jealous of them), the girl walking in silver stilettos, and the couples wrapped around each other around a bench around the lake, soaking up the sun's reflection on the water. I wished I were a photo-journalist, and I would have done an essay on love at white rock lake. A brother pushing his sister on her training wheels bike and the girl in the stiletto's with her boyfriend would have had the central focus.

I came back, got super cute, and my picked up my friend for a completely unbelievable evening. She had two free tickets to Savor Dallas, and she gave them to us! This event hosts sixty of Dallas' finest chefs offering samples of their best dishes over 400 wines. For $175 you can eat/drink as much as you desire. I had NEVER had food like this. Steak tartar, lobster bisque and the winner of the World's Best Chocolate award four years running... We walked around for hours, tasting, talking and listening to a band whose lead singer had one of those smooth-twenties voices and the big silver stand microphone to go with it. He sang and between the people watching, the fancy food tasting, and the laughter and live music, I was well filled up, and pinching myself to see if it was real.

So I started the day at a garage sale and ended the day with Dallas socialites. In between I had flowers at a nursery and beautiful conversation. I am... tickled, and so grateful.